Imagine having sores like large cankers on both sides of your tongue, about halfway back. Your tongue feels swollen. You can’t move it without pain. You can’t chew. They affect your ability to talk. And imagine having the condition for a couple of months. That’s been my world. Now, can you imagine the relief when you realize the sores are mostly gone. Happened to me on Monday. My speech improved. I am now able to brush my teeth all the way back in my mouth.
I have tried to eat several different things in recent days with little success. I can tell you that anything absorbent like bread or a cookie just won’t be possible for some time and maybe never. With only thick saliva, that type of food quickly becomes goo and almost impossible to swallow. I’ve had some soup, a cucumber wedge and have tried a little pasta. So far though, I am simply not ready for solid food. My throat and neck have been active. Hard to describe what it feels like. Suffice to say that the radiation continues to work. I still have very noticeable sore spots deeper in my throat on top of how the radiation makes everything feel right now. I am stronger although my stamina sucks. I am working on it though. We are getting out of the house daily for errands just to get me walking. My leg feels better but there’s a long way to go. I do tire quickly. I had to buy new jeans with a smaller waist size. I have lost 20-25 pounds which means all of my pants are baggy on my bones. So the liquid diet continues. Recovery is underway but slow. Baby steps remain the mantra and while I get it, it is hard to fend off the urge to be frustrated and impatient.
I have tried to eat several different things in recent days with little success. I can tell you that anything absorbent like bread or a cookie just won’t be possible for some time and maybe never. With only thick saliva, that type of food quickly becomes goo and almost impossible to swallow. I’ve had some soup, a cucumber wedge and have tried a little pasta. So far though, I am simply not ready for solid food. My throat and neck have been active. Hard to describe what it feels like. Suffice to say that the radiation continues to work. I still have very noticeable sore spots deeper in my throat on top of how the radiation makes everything feel right now. I am stronger although my stamina sucks. I am working on it though. We are getting out of the house daily for errands just to get me walking. My leg feels better but there’s a long way to go. I do tire quickly. I had to buy new jeans with a smaller waist size. I have lost 20-25 pounds which means all of my pants are baggy on my bones. So the liquid diet continues. Recovery is underway but slow. Baby steps remain the mantra and while I get it, it is hard to fend off the urge to be frustrated and impatient.
Paid a visit to the radio station this morning. Spent over an hour talking with our people. It was a big boost for me. We truly have great people at 1039 The Juice.
Have had many visitors lately, including friends from Saskatoon and Calgary as well as family from Vancouver. It’s been great to see everyone even though I am certainly no party animal these days. Great story from Monday. Our friend Dave from Calgary always goes home with a couple of cases of wine whenever he and his wife travel to the Okanagan. He wanted to tour some of the neighbourhoods nearby so he and I jumped into his truck and away we went. Well, we wound up at Mission Hill Winery. Dave did not realize that Mission Hill makes wine other than at a $14 price point until we were inside the wine store and he was reading about Oculus. One of the employees struck a conversation with us about the wine, answering our questions when I realized that he is the son of an old radio friend from Edmonton Stan Ravindahl. Troy is a manager at Mission Hill and had heard about me from his Dad. He proceeded to give us the royal tasting session including the Oculus 03, 04, 05 and 06. I had some wine for the first time in months, the 05. What a treat. And, Dave went home with several bottles to add to his cellar.
Ted
