In 2013, my son and I went to see a Steven Sodergergh movie, Side Effects-a cautionary tale on the effects of an experimental drug that hit close to home for me (not the crazy wife part…but the using of new-to-market drugs and seeing what they do part). I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet, but I would definitely recommend. I think I’ll add it back to the Netflix queue for a another look see.  Of course, anything with Jude Law in it can’t be half bad. In the continuing beat-down of cancer cells, my doctor and I are always in quest of the perfect medicines with minimal side effects.

In addition to being the Professional Vomit Queen, another issue I am  fighting is increasingly high blood pressure. My oncologist says that the numbers are pre-hypertensive (at 140/90) so not yet treatable with medication, but a bit concerning. He is “not worried yet.” I want to avoid yet another medication to treat the side effects of the medications I am taking… So, in the words of Tobias Funke…”Let the great experiment begin“…

I am making the decision to cut back on salt. If you know me at all, you know that I love salt! Have you watched any episodes of Chopped? One of the primary reasons chefs get “chopped” is chronically under-seasoned food. (The “spa” chefs invariably go home in the appetizer round.) The translation-more salt! I know Amanda Freitag would be disappointed to hear that I will be using less salt instead of more. I’m so sorry, Amanda. It’s probably not permanent, but it’s in my best interest.

Nothing tastes better than a boiled egg rolled in salt. I could actually eat this every single day. Well…there are things that taste a little better, but not a lot. (Buttered popcorn with salt…) We even have a container of table salt in the teacher workroom that often finds its way to my desk. (I really consider it my salt.)

Salt intake is something I can control. In the oncology world, so much is out of my control. We’ll just assume that my starting blood pressure is mediocre at best and go from there. Next Wednesday, I’ll have my next check-up and Friday the 13th (that doesn’t even sound good), my next treatment of Avastin and a PET scan. Double whammy!

Starting now….I will try cut out table salt and soy sauce (How is that even possible in Hawaii?). This will be step one.

Sound off! Have you tried to cut back salt in your diet? Tips? Thoughts? How much of an effect will this really have? Let’s see.