On the Path of Recovery - Day 8

Welcome back. I hope you all had a swell Independence Day weekend. I apologize for the sudden pause in blog posts... I needed a break, and I figured the holiday weekend would be my best excuse.

I do apologize if I caused any worry, but I assure you, I am alive and well. In fact, I made some significant strides over the last couple days. I haven't been forced to vomit since the episode I reported to you in my last log entry. So, that's... three days now! A significant factor seems to be that my mucus build-up had changed significantly overnight - for the better. Instead of having the super thick, ropy mucus... it is not much lighter, clear and more like baby snot. It's still annoying and consistently prevents me from being able to talk like a normal human. The mucus seems to develop quicker than it did, but it is easily cleared, which prevents the activation of my gag reflex.

Aside from the mucus, there have been other development. I can also feel new hair follicles growing both on my neck neck and in my hair line (rear). I can also tell my tongue sore is starting to heal. The lesion has gotten smaller, but still hurts and requires me to numb my mouth using a variety of mouth rinses. I told Jess I thought I had experienced a taste sensation, but I was unable to replicate the experience, leading me to believe that it was a false alarm.

As of today, I am pulling myself off all opioid based pain medications. This means I am also holding-off from taking any medications associated constipation. My plan is to slowly re-introduce my body to a normal life of no medications. This way, I can begin driving myself around and prepare to re-enter the world of work!

So, as of now, my biggest fight is fatigue. I get tired extremely fast... especially after exerting myself. I want to give the exercise bike another shot, but I'm afraid the mucus will only complicate my efforts. Once this mucus stops, I will be on the bike.

I almost forgot... my throat. My throat is still sore, but gets better with eat passing day. It is still difficult to swallow, but not nearly as bad as it was. I'm still struggling with drinking water like a normal person. Its not that I can't, I just have not desire to do so. I'm afraid I've become too dependent on this feeding tube.

My weight has dropped a bit. I started the whole cancer thing weighing almost 340 lbs. This morning I weighed-in at 206. So... I've lost a little over 30 lbs. Now... I know we've talked about this before. On any other occasion, me loosing 30 lbs would have been encouraged. But, because I am battling cancer... any weight loss can be detrimental to my healing. The truth is... I'm not taking-in the calories I was told to. But, in my own defense... it is not as easy as you might think. The LH causes a bit of acid re-flux and I'm having to substitute tube time with hydration sessions. I can't just pump as much as I want into my stomach. It only holds so much before it requires some time to digest.

Well... I hope this gets us all caught-up. Again, I apologize for the break. It was needed!