Welcome back world. I hope you had a glorious Tuesday! My Tuesday was okay.
I woke-up feeling okay. My throat way dryer than the Sahara Desert in mid-summer, but despite that, I felt pretty decent. I got-up around 6:00 and was blessed to sit down with my wife to enjoy our breakfast together. I tube fed a delicious bag of Liquid Hope, while she had eggs and toast. I also ate some honey, which is meant to sooth my throat, but it makes me gag.
Speaking of swallowing... it is getting much more difficult to swallow now. I can now see how so many people dependent on their feeding tubes loose the ability to swallow. I would like to avoid this, but to be honest... its very easy to ignore the need to swallow when there are alternative methods to nourish the body.
Jess left for work almost immediately after breakfast. I was feeling the effects of my morning medications mixed in with a full belly from breakfast. This caused me to get tired again. So, at 8:00 I retreated to my bed, ready for a morning nap.
I woke-up at 10:00 to get ready for my one and only appointment - radiation. I turned on some tunes and hoped in the shower. For the first time, I could sense some heat coming from my neck and the hot water hit me. It wasn't painful... just noticeable.
I was ready to go by 10:30, which gave me enough time to eat again. So, again I was back at it with the Liquid Hope. I decided to eat via syringe for all my meals today. It is quicker than waiting for the gravity bags to do their thing, and a lot messier.
Jess got home with plenty of time to get ready and eat some lunch. I'm glad she did, because sometimes she gets home late and we're forced to run out the door. This wasn't a problem when I was still an eater because we would stop for lunch, but now... things have changed. I wouldn't mind if she stopped for something to eat. I would stay in the car to avoid the smell of food, which is why she wouldn't feel comfortable stopping; she wouldn't feel right leaving me behind.
My radiation appointment went well. I think the entire staff decided to eat lunch just before my appointment time, so we had to wait for a little bit. It turned out to be okay since we got to talk to some new friends. The wife is the patient. She was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Today was her second to last treatment. Tomorrow, Jess and I will have to say good-bye... as we have with other patients we've met. It really is a bittersweet sorrow.
Today's treatment marks number 19 for me. I have 11 radiation treatments left, with only one more chemo infusion. The end is in sight! The end... it cannot come soon enough!
I had the afternoon to myself. Jess took Oscar to the pool and then to a military recruiter to inquire about future options. I spent a majority of my alone time sleeping. The first two days following chemo are always hard on the body. I expect I will sleep a lot tomorrow as well. But, don't worry... I went out for a walk with the dogs this evening. The temp has been in the triple-digits, so walking in the daytime is out of the question. I have enough of a problem trying to stay hydrated.
I ate again around 4:00, and then again around 7:30. I successfully got four bags of Liquid Hope in me today without having any the gnarly gut circus going on. I think my stomach is getting used to the tube feeding formula. Now... if I could only get my digestive track to fall-in-line.
I spent an hour and a half trying to personalize my blog page, but I'm not computer savvy enough to design something original. So, I'm left with one of the generic one's the website provides. I used to know HTML (somewhat) but that was nearly 20 years ago. If anyone is good at graphic design and wants to help me out, I'd be much obliged.
Tomorrow is hump-day. Do something amazing on hump-day... if only to annoy the people around you that fail to see the good in everyday!
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