Caviar?

[RichardMEL]

bit of an odd Q I know.. but... is Caviar OK for tx patients?

I'll be flying to vegas first class and there's caviar service? it's fish eggs, but I believe processed and heated a bit? so maybe OK? any comments on this?

 

[MooseMom]

Seems to me that if you have to ask, then there is an element of doubt, and that's not what you want 35,000 ft above the Pacific.  As a matter of fact, so soon after a tx, I'm not sure I'd trust airplane food at all, first class or any class.  The last thing you want is to get sick in the US.  I hope you have travel insurance that covers medical expenses incurred in the US with at least a US1,000,000 limit.  You know how expensive health care is over here.  And in your travel policy, you might want to make sure it covers evacuation back to Australia.

[edersham]

From my 35 years in Alaska experience some caviar is pasturized and some not. No matter how you slice it, it is still basicly salt cured fish eggs so it isnt something I pine for as a tx patient.

Ed

[RichardMEL]

Seems to me that if you have to ask, then there is an element of doubt, and that's not what you want 35,000 ft above the Pacific.  As a matter of fact, so soon after a tx, I'm not sure I'd trust airplane food at all, first class or any class.  The last thing you want is to get sick in the US.  I hope you have travel insurance that covers medical expenses incurred in the US with at least a US1,000,000 limit.  You know how expensive health care is over here.  And in your travel policy, you might want to make sure it covers evacuation back to Australia.

lol MM it's all good - I survived the last bout of plane food - and that was United (ugh!) - actually it was decent in Business - not great, but decent. Your point about the doubt is well taken and I'm definitely thinking to err on the side of caution with this one. I've never actually *tried* Caviar, since I hardly mix in those sorts of circles, and yeah salty fish eggs aren't very appealing, but it's the sort of thing that I'd normally try just so I could say I had (like Escargot in Paris - yuck!  ). However with the delicate nature of Danny's situation it is probably best to skip.

As for avoiding food across the pacific. It's 12+ hours of flying. I can't starve, and I can't bring my own with me. I avoid the cold stuff (unless it has bubbles - hello Krug Grande Couvee ) and make sure the hot stuff is properly hot, and I think I'm going to do OK. I'm sure as hell not going to sit up in my bed in F eating peanuts.... 

life's for living, but with a degree of being sensible. I think if I *try* caviar it would be a moutful. Perhaps I'll ask if it's pasturised...... or maybe just skip it. See how I feel in about 30 hours time

[texasstyle]

Caviar? Oh my Richard lol.

[cariad]

I'm for having the caviar, Richard. I've had it several times in my life, post-transplant every time. My mother once sent a small jar of it to me in San Francisco, so I sat in my starving-artist flat eating caviar on table water crackers. Why the hell not? I always indulged in the caviar at special brunches, including the one New Years Day in Wales the night after G proposed when we staggered down to try to eat through the sore head and nausea. I also ate a fair amount of sushi with roe back when this was the fashion in California.

You know pregnant women are told to take most of the same precautions as transplant recipients. This is why Gwyn is such a perfect match for me. I was told to avoid soft cheeses through both pregnancies because of the theoretical chance of getting listeria from it. Gwyn told me not to worry about that, with a very convincing point: "Can you imagine French women avoiding soft cheese?" I apply the same logic to Japanese people and sushi, maybe Russians and their caviar - the risks are small, millions of people are eating these foods every day with no ill effect. If it were me, I'd try it. Well, if it were me, I would have never even thought to worry about it. (The one food I would avoid on health grounds is raw oysters, but thousands of Louisianans would tell me that life is meaningless without trips to the raw bar, so there you go.)

Oh, but that insurance advice is pitch perfect. Please heed it.

[RichardMEL]

re insurance. I have travel insurance, but it won't cover tx issues(pre existing condition) however I *can* hop up to Canada if things are dire. They'll sort me out.

Really this is fine It's a weekend in Vegas - what can possibly go wrong... 

 

btw the day I remind anyonf of a French Woman is the day I know the transplant is doomed! 

[cariad]

btw the day I remind anyonf of a French Woman is the day I know the transplant is doomed! 

 

I think you're seeing the cultural differences here with the insurance issue. Americans are hard wired to mention health care and money in the same breath.

I know you're a travel pro, Richard, and you'll be able to handle Vegas just fine. Whether Vegas is adequately prepared for the IHD invasion is the bigger question.

[YLGuy]

(The one food I would avoid on health grounds is raw oysters, but thousands of Louisianans would tell me that life is meaningless without trips to the raw bar, so there you go.)

Oh, but that insurance advice is pitch perfect. Please heed it.

LOL.  I guess luckily I have not had a transplant.  I plan on going to the Orlean's Hotel and Casino while in Vegas.  They have a great raw bar.  I will have to get an oyster shot.  It is a raw oyster with vodka and cocktail sauce in a shot glass. It has been about 6 years since I have had one.

[RichardMEL]

Well just to close this up I can inform those that weren't in Vegas that I did, indeed, end up having the Caviar !!!!  It was salty so I had extra Krug champ to go with it (it's a hard life, really!  )

As an amusing postscript - in clinic today I asked the TC what her thoughts were on Caviar.. and she said umm oh.. I don't really know.. Nobody's ever asked and we've never said no to it !!  We had a bit of a laugh about that!! She pretty much said that if it's from a reputable source then it's probably OK. Well i figured Cathay Pacific Airways First Class is pretty reputable!!!  !!!

So anyway, the proof!