Food for thought... and dreams.

Waiting for a heart has put me in a situation where I think a lot of food.  I have lost 25 pounds in body mass over the last year because I am not eating.  My heart has a hard time moving fluids and I need to limit my intake of salt.  I challenge you to look on the back of a food box and put it back if there is more then 20 mg of sodium per serving (pop, pasta, practically anything processed).  Early in the detection of my heart problems, I was told to limit my salt intake.  I was not happy about it.  One day at the office I had this craving for something bad, a $0.75 bag of Freetos corn chips.   I remember lifting each chip out of the package and sucking the chip, enjoying both the salt and oil it had been cooked in.   The next day my feet swelled up like sausages with fluid retention and I gained several pounds.  Apparently, (according to a Dr. friend) sodium (NaCl) transfers very well across the cell membrane making each cell like a sponge.  As part of my medication I am given a salt that does not move across the cell membrane (Potassium Chloride), which helps me maintain proper salt and fluid levels.   The potassium and diuretic are balanced to keep heart and kidney function proper.  Well back to food,  not only do I have to limit or eliminate salt altogether I have a low appetite and food just does not taste that great any more.   I have been told that sometimes a side affect of the medications I am on will cause food to taste different.  During the months of April and May, when I as in the hospital having tests and pulling off fluid, I would watch the "Food Channel" on TV.  All these exotic foods, sea food, oriental foods and Philadelphia Sandwiches that were 8 inches thick, oozing with cheese and sauce.  Those are the things I think about when I close my eyes.  My cravings come and go.  I was a serious coffee drinker until the Christmas holidays.  I had one week where I really wanted a cup, but today I am fine.  Two weeks ago, it was a greasy cheeseburger with frys and a coke.  That craving is subsiding some.  I do look forward to getting my new heat, because I will not be limited in what I can eat (no issues with Cholesterol, which is what limits most heart patients) .  I told a friend, while in route to the hospital to get my heart, I wonder if I would have time to get that burger, fries and coke?