Apparently a friend of my sister's beat cancer through diet. Avoided chemo and radiation.

I don't know your sister's friend, but I guarantee you this did not happen. Correlation not causation, confirmation bias, etc etc etc.

All cases I've read about where someone claimed to have cured cancer through diet have turned out to be either (a) not cancer or (b) diet + conventional meds.

Apparently it takes being depressed (and having illness-affected depression) to get that.

I think that's true, for most people. It's the kind of thing that it's hard to imagine if you haven't actually felt it, I think.

In lighter news, I am ridiculously proud of myself for having just returned something used to CVS!

Lee points out one of the things that concerns me about treating cancer with diet, which is that the main thing that counts in chemo is calories in. I pretty much avoided severe nausea, but there were a lot of days when looking at food made my stomach say, "No, I don't think so." I could usually fall back on some soups, ice cream and plain crackers.

Chicagoistas! ... Suggestions?

[link] can be useful. Especially if they are willing to venture out into a variety of neighborhoods.

I guarantee you this did not happen

See, I'm not willing to be sure it did not happen. I am sure, however, even if it did go down like that, that my mother doesn't have enough information to be able to duplicate it, including knowing if she's even capable of it herself for a million reasons.

So even if it didn't happen, stressing out that you're not doing the right things to make it happen for you? Completely counterproductive. I think my mother should eat as healthily as possible, but if she doesn't end up alkaline or whatever, fuck that.

*That's* the kind of skeptic I am.

All cases I've read about where someone claimed to have cured cancer through diet have turned out to be either (a) not cancer or (b) diet + conventional meds.

Since this is my sister's close friend, I'm going to steer clear of challenging her claims on the topic, and just try and focus on it not being important to my mother's case. I can't afford to alienate Sis.

finding foods I could eat was more important

Her appetite has been...reasonable so far, but I worry she's going to end up in a battle of wills about the whole thing. My family, uh, can be stubborn, and it's nothing my sister and I made up out of whole cloth. It's well earned and learned. The idea that she might get turned off some food I don't think anyone has raised. I will mention it to her next time we talked.

If one's visiting Chicago and one likes nice views, a visit to the bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building is fun. (Assuming it's not foggy and there are no low clouds.)

he idea that she might get turned off some food I don't think anyone has raised. I will mention it to her next time we talked.

In case specifics would help--seafood of any sort was completely out of the question for me (and consider the source on that one), I had to cut way back on chicken because it started grossing me out, I probably ate more peanut butter during chemo than I had eaten in the 45 years before chemo, and I still haven't gotten my taste for salmon back.

eta: My appetite stayed pretty okay during the whole thing--there were only one or two days when nothing looked like food, and even then, I got hungry enough to eat peanut butter toast anyway. A lot of people actually gain weight during chemo, between the change in diet and the change in energy levels/ability to exercise.

Sue,

I really like Adobo Grill on N. Wells. They do tableside Guac that is a KEY feature of the place. Whenever we go to Chicago, we always go here.

Frontera Grill is supposed to be excellent, but we can't ever go because of the wait times.

If you book now, they can get to Rick Bayless other restaurant. We also haven't been able to make it there because of not being able to get a reservation.

They also might try Bayless' other restaurants: [link]

May I also recommend the Grand Lux restaurant. It is a little chain restauranty, but the portions are HUGE and whenever I go to Chicago, I feel like I have let go of all of my cash and the GL is decent food and doesn't make me feel like I have to take out a second loan to leave the city.

Grand Luxe is a chain -- sister to Cheesecake Factory.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!