Medical City Dallas Area

It's been a tough week for me, loyal followers. As I was sitting there, really enjoying Matt McCallister and J Chastain's Play Dinner at 2nd Floor, I received a text from one of my sisters letting me know my mom was being admitted to the hospital. It was quite a scary text and I immediately lost my appetite before I even got a chance to eat dessert. Bummer. It looked good.

We spent the next several days basically hanging out at Medical City while they tried to figure out what was wrong with Mom's ticker. If you are ever admitted to Medical City and required to eat from the cardiac diabetes menu (and I hope you never are), here's Mom's review of various items:

Chicken sandwich - she liked it so much, she had it twice

Pasta with meatball - When she first tried the meatball she insisted that it was too salty and forced my Dad to taste it to prove her point. After Dad told her it wasn't too salty, she believed him (wow, she must have been sick if she was listening to Dad) and declared it her favorite.

Pork chops - "Yuck"

Cottage cheese with peach slices - this warranted a wrinkled up nose with her tongue sticking out in disgust.

They have an option at Medical City where you can order your guests their own plate of hospital food for $8. As delicious as those pork chops sounded, I passed and explored some of the restaurants on Forest across from Medical City. There's actually quite a good selection.

Boston Market - In law school, I used to love Boston Market. It was well-priced for a student on a very tight budget. Roasted chicken, creamed spinach and cinnamon apples for under $5 (yeah, it was a long time ago). Plus that chicken was always so juicy, the creamed spinach was high calorie deliciousness, and I convinced myself that the cinnamon apples were "healthy". And the corn bread was sweet and oh so good.

Dad had requested that I bring him Boston Market when I stopped by on Sunday. He knew his exact order 3 Piece Dark with squash casserole and spinach. I ordered the white meat meal with mac n cheese and steamed vegetables. Dad liked his but mine was blech. Dry chicken, way too gooey mac n cheese and vegetables that had been steamed within an inch of their lives. And that corn bread I used to love, stale. So disappointing.

Asian Mint - The original and still my favorite. Unlike The Mint on Oak Lawn which has a blue, clubby theme, Asian Mint is green and zen. The two menus are virtually identical but Asian Mint has sushi. It was cold and I was exhausted and needed some comfort food so I ordered the pad see lew. Wide noodles with broccoli, bok choy, egg and black soy sauce with pork (or chicken, beef or tofu). So warm, filling and delicious. I also love the many different sea bass choices. You can get sea bass pan fried, crispy or steamed. My preference is the healthiest option, steamed with the lime lemongrass sauce with steamed veggies. Yum, might have to get that some time next week.

Mattitos - They have built a new one on Forest. I didn't go there because I couldn't quite bring myself to have some Bob Armstrong dip (which I love, love, love) while spending so much time with cardiologists. Mattitos is not the best Mexican food in Dallas but it's great for big parties and they do have a fantastic Sunday brunch (a little breakfast, a little Mexican food, and a chocolate fountain. What's not to love?). But we have about 5 more days at Medical City so I will probably be checking it out at some point.

Dickey's - Bar B Que is such a personal thing. Your bbq preference is so regionally specific, it's a hard thing to review. But as we were all gathered in the Cardiac ICU waiting room yesterday waiting for mom to get out of surgery, Dickey's was the perfect choice. The family pack allowed us to get a little bit of everything so the entire family could enjoy something. The vegetarian got a baked potato (which she thought was very dry). The pregnant one got her chicken. Dad, who knows once Mom gets home he'll be eating nothing but chicken and fish for some time, wanted brisket and sausage. Multiple choices of sides - mac n cheese, corn on the cob, potatoes, baked beans. All tasty.

I think I can speak for the entire family when I say it was the best meal we had all week. Of course, we could have been eating the horrible food from the Banned List's Nick & Sam's Grill and I would have declared this meal fantastic. That is because the doc came by as we were finishing up and said Mom's valve replacement surgery was a great success and she was doing quite well. Dickey's is now my favorite bbq place ever! :)

Well followers, I'm really glad this week is over. We have a few more days in ICU, a few more days in the hospital and then Mom will be home where she belongs. Once she's home, I'm going to be very, very happy to put Medical City on the Banned List. This is the second time in two years my sisters and I have spent quality time together in that waiting room waiting for a parental unit to get out of heart surgery. No offense, but I never, ever, ever, want to spend any time there again.

I want to end this post with a personal note: Thank you to all who provided their good thoughts, prayers and support to me and my family during this trying week. It has meant the world to us and really helped us through this very tough week. And to my Mom, I love you more than words can say. You're the best and I'm so very lucky to be your daughter. Get better soon.

Cheers!