Dark Chocolate, French Vanilla & Bittersweet Notes

TGIF. "Thank God it's Friday," yes, indeed, but more importantly, "Thank God It's Finished" (as in the Constant Health protein powder is finally finished and ready to send off to manufacturing).

The final sample came in today (the usual UPS guy in brown was a UPS gal today, who showed up earlier than usual). I found a new source for helping with our flavoring. We liked their dark chocolate and French vanilla flavorings much better. Dr. Rodier, just back from a trip to Australia, showed up for our lunch meeting. He was game to be my final guinea pig and so we both tasted both flavors this afternoon. Dr. Rodier's assessment: "I would enjoy drinking this!" Yeah! High five!

Teri and Stephen and a few others who have helped us along the way will get the final preview samples. Meanwhile, I have pre-orders for dozens of cases already (this without asking for orders yet!). The big question now -- which flavor will sell better. We're ordering an initial run of 50% Dark Chocolate and 50% French Vanilla. Anyone want to place bets on which one will be the "favorite?"

Meanwhile, it's a bittersweet time as we go into production on Constant Health. My dad, whose illness last summer was the inspiration for the formula, is back in the hospital. The diagnosis is unclear, besides weight loss and malnutrition. I wish I could do more for him right now. I had Dr. Rodier visit him today and discuss the treatment plan with the chief resident on my dad's case. At least they are doing some reasonable nutritional intervention and this younger-generation doc was open to having Dr. Rodier consult on the nutritional front.

Alas, I'll always wonder if he would have been in better shape if I could have gotten him on this formula earlier (he hated the taste of the commercial product we tried to get him to drink and flat out refused to drink it more than a few times). Many of my readers have expressed their own emotional dilemmas in trying to help a family member navigate nutrition while dealing with an acute health crisis.

All I can say is "It's hard" and I wish I could do more.