On the Path of Recovery - Day 3

Thank Goodness It's Friday!

I don't know about you, but I have big plans for my 4th of July weekend. First, I'm going to wake-up every morning and hack-up tons of mucus. Shoot... I might even throw-in a good vomiting just to mix things up. Then, I'll sit in front of the T.V. and watch a T.V. series...maybe a good movie. Instead of popcorn, I'll pump my belly full of yummy goodness called Liquid Hope. If I'm lucky, I may even work-in a nap or two, but I don't know... I may be asking for too much. At night, I'll watch some more T.V. with Jess and head to bed.

I know this sounds like the dream vacation plan. If you would like to talk to travel agents, let me know - I'll text their numbers to you.

Okay... enough of the sarcasm.

I'm starting to go stir-crazy. Being home this much cannot be good for someone. Unfortunately, Jess has to earn the bread money, so I'm stuck here. I'm am an extrovert, which means I draw my life energy from being around other people. The worst thing you can do to an extrovert is close them off to society. I don't even need to necessarily talk to people... I could just sit and watch people at the mall. It would be better than what I'm doing now... which is nearly nothing. If this keeps-up, I might be forced to start playing World of Warcraft. At least then I can talk to people online.

Okay, I'll end my little pity-party and get back to what you want to know.

Today started of horribly. I got out of bed the same time Jess was getting ready for work. I immediately went to the sink, knowing I would need to hack-up a cup or two of mucus. As expected, I coughed-up a good amount on the first go. But, there was something a little different in the way my throat was feeling. My windpipe felt closed off. I attempted to swallow, but it was immediately met with resistance and my gag reflex going into full vomit mode.

I quickly stood-up and began to take nice slow breaths... hoping I could reverse the urge to throw-up. Luckily I was thinking like a genius and began pumping water into my feeding tube. I knew that if I was going to throw-up, the water would help dilute the bile, making it less caustic. I went back to my breathing, but I was having such a hard time. I started coughing, which only irritated my need to vomit, and then... all poop broke loose.

I entered into an extremely violent combination of gagging, hacking, vomiting, coughing, wheezing, gasping, and grunting. The entire thing was a nightmare. I was fighting for my breath while attempting to do my best to rid as much of the mucus as I could. It was so violent that I immediately developed a killer headache. My entire body was shaking and felt weak. My skin felt cool and tingly... as if I had almost hit that point of passing-out. My face was colorless, and covered in cold sweat.

Jess was standing behind me, rubbing my back. She knew there was little she could do other than cheer me on. I wanted to cry.

I don't know how long this mucositis will last, but I'm pretty confident this violent episode may become a normal part of my morning routine.

The good news is, my day was pretty much smooth sailing for the rest of the day. I was still hacking-up mucus, but nothing outrageous. The ulcer on my tongue didn't give me too many issues today. In fact, I used much less mouth-rinse today than I normal do. 

As night approaches, I can tell my mucus levels are increasing. I'm spitting-up way more than I did earlier... in both volume and duration.

I hope you all have a swell Fourth of July weekend. Remember, it's not about how many hotdogs you can shove in your face. It's a time for US Americans to stop and give thanks for our independence as a nation. Do us all a favor... stop a child and ask if they understand why independence is important. If they don't know... educate them. Then... give them a big hug. Once you're filled with all that Care Bear happiness... find someone of a different political party and give them Big Ol' Hug. Tell them you love them as a fellow American... no matter how much y'all disagree.

Finally... remember we still have men and women in harms way fighting to protect our independence and freedoms. Take a moment to give thanks to their efforts!