Phone call (2 of 2): coffee

"They're checking my blood sugar levels all the damn time now. If it goes above 200, they come in and give me a shot, and if it drops below 100, they bring me food and make me eat."

He stopped for a second or two. I heard indeterminate noises; I think he was eating.

"Those shots hurt, you know. Had four of them in one day a couple of days ago. I don't particularly want that again."

He laughed."I've about figured it out, though. Mom found where they're keeping the coffee pot. It's just a couple of doors down from my room. I can pretty well avoid the insulin shots if I don't put sugar in my coffee. So I get your mother to get all the Sweet&Low packets she can, and I put those in my coffee."

"Is the coffee pretty decent? If it's not, you could get Mom to bring up that little travel-sized coffeemaker I got for you a couple of Christmases ago."

"Nawwwwwwww. The coffee's pretty good, actually. They've got plenty of creamer and stuff like that. As long as your mom brings me the Sweet&Low packets, I'm all right. Gotta have my coffee, you know."

I just keep having these visions of Dad with two IVs; the morphine drip in one arm and the coffee drip in the other. Somehow, I don't think he'd mind that needle quite so much.

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Comments

On , heather said...
Gotta have the coffee. Tell him that Splenda tastes much better than the evil Sweet&Low. :) Coffee drinkers of the world, caffeinate!

On , gfmorris said...
If he's laughing, cutting up, and otherwise being your dad, I'd say that he remains unbroken ... and that'll make us all smile just a bit brighter.

On , siliconchef said...
Splenda good ... but caffiene can screw with your blood sugar levels. The things you learn reading about the Atkins' diet.

On , Erica said...
That's like my dad. He lives off diet coke tho, but if he has his coffee out comes the sweetener. I don't know if he has a preference.

On , domesticat said...
I so wish I could appreciate coffee like the rest of the world seems to. But to me it tastes incredibly bitter, although it smells wonderful. If only it tasted like it smelled.

On , jowilson said...
You can get coffee that tastes like it smells. And it will only cost you 2,500 dollars. Get a round trip ticket to Nairobi Kenya. Hire a matatu to take you to the Nairobi Java House. Order a cup of coffee. Drink it and get on the plane and come back home. Seriously. I think I can honestly say that the only cup of coffee I have ever *enjoyed* was in Nairobi. But the funny thing is, I bought a half kilo of fresh beans, and brought them back to the US. I gave them to my sister, who owns a coffee shop. She ground them and made a pot -- bitter as hell. She thought it tasted excellent. There was a faint hint of the original smoothness, but it was nothing like it was in Kenya. The only thing that I can think of is that the coffee makers are somehow different.

On , Ellen said...
Ahhhh...coffee... french pressed freshly ground is the best and without it i am one very mean teacher! Your dad...and all of us should take whatever small pleasures we can! So glad to hear he is in good spirits.

On , kat said...
John, Most likely because as coffee ages it gets more bitter. That's the reason coffee has a shelf life. If it wasn't ground, though, it should have lasted longer. Amy, All I have to say is Kona. If it's fresh and pure Kona, smooth as anything. I'll even drink that stuff black and I normally have to have sweetener.

On , ruminator said...
gotta add my two cents for the splenda. i use it all the time now and actually prefer it in coffee to sugar. in fact, i never drank coffee with sweetner until recently. it comes in little packets as well as a box. kona is very good. i had some when at a workshop in hawaii a few years ago. it's very good. the water has a lot to do with coffee flavor. i use reverse-osmosis treatment here to get a decent cup. (same for tea, btw.) hang in there amy!

On , shauny said...
great entry amy :) i am with you re coffee tasting yuck smelling nice...