Ding Dong the Tube is Gone

Not too much has changed since my last entry; the tongue is still sore and I still have a lot of mucous. I have been maintaining my weight at 173.8 where it does fluctuate but that seems to be the right weight. Today was a good day. I saw Dr Dekovitch and he removed the feeding tube. How was that done you might ask? Well, he just pulled it out. Took all of five seconds. It feels goood to be unencumbered. At last my body can return to some normalcy and that's a good thing. Now, if only my tongue would heal and the mucous thin out I would really be in good shape. Of course there's always not being able to taste everything, but I guess you can't have it all.

Tuesday's Results

We arrived at M.D.Anderson at 6:15 AM for our day of tests and meeting with doctors. I got a very good report. There is no sign of any cancer; the lymph nodes are reduced by 90% and there is no sign of any cancer there so the Radiation did what it was supposed to do. Dr. Weber said there is nothing worrisome and Dr. Beadle was more effusive in her analysis. I return in six weeks for a PET scan and an ultrasound with a possible F/A biopsy. Both doctors were pleased with the results so I am, too. All in all, a good day

An Important Week Starts

I slept well last night, that's two nights in a row and I consider that pretty good. My weight seems to be stablized at 173.6 and I have no complaints with that. This morning I had a cheese and vegetable omlette, I was even able to taste it.

I met with the dentist today and he said he could see where my tongue was sore. He felt it was on the edge of healing but I needed to do some things to help it along. I am to stop using the carafate and am only to use the lidocain three times a day. I am to continue doing the baking soda rinses and am to wear the upper tray at all times except when eating.This is the tray I was supposed to use when applying the fluoride. He gave me a new antibiotic which he refered to as the golden bullet. It will deal with any infections the last antibiotic may have missed. He feels this will take care of the problem. We'll see. Tomorrow is my big day. I meet with Drs. Weber and Beadle and I have my scans.

For lunch today I made some pasta and fixed it with tomato and mushroom sauce and added some of my vegetables. I know if I could have tasted it, it would have been delicious.

One of My Favorite Days of the Week

Things have settled into a routine. I didn't sleep too well last night as my tongue was hurting and the mucous was pretty thick. Monday I hope to get this resolved when I see Dr. Chambers. Other than that I am feeling pretty good. I still don't taste half of what I eat but I suspect my taste buds will return at some point or other. One of the more pleasant side effects of the radiation has to do with my beard. I no longer have any on my neck and the lower part of my face. It's almost as if I had a peel; anyway it makes shaving a lot shorter and a more pleasant experience.

I think it may soon be time to phase out my daily blogging; perhaps next week after my appointment with my doctors might be the appropriate time. I'll let you know.

Over The Hump

I slept much better last night but my tongue and mucous are not better. talking hurts and I use the numbing medicine before meals but it doesn't last long enough. I guess I'll tough it out until Monday. Today was Grandpareents day at Kolter and we spent a delightful hour with Miriam as she ate lunch, talked with her friends and picked up a couple of books at the Book Fair.It was enjoyable. Nurse R just called from Central Market; she's planning my dinner, I think it will be a surprise. For lunch I had a quiche and vegetables. My tongue was in agony. Maybe tomorrow will be better. One can always hope.

Foggy, Rainy Tuesday

I slept fairly well last night and my major complaints of the day are my tongue which still hurts and the heavy mucous which seems to be a tad better. I'll hope for the best. I see Dr. Chambers, the dentist on Monday and maybe he can do something about my tongue. I have been using the swish and swallow medicine although I have been doing swish and spit. It seems to help enough to allow me to eat with out causing too much discomfort. My weight today was at 173.6. I am getting better each day and as soon as my two problems clear up I will really feel good. Today for breakfast I had oatmeal with brown sugar. It had a little taste so that was good. Today I will not stray too far from home.

Monday, Again

The Condo party was last night and it was a good one. The food was exceptional and I was able to partake. Of course a lot of it had no taste but it looked good. I slept fairly well last night; my tongue seems to have gotten worse but I am applying the numbing solution before meals so it doesn't impede that progress. The mucous is still thick and shows no sign of thinning which is disturbing.

Today it is cold and rainy so I will not venture too far from my front door. At the weigh-in this morning I was at 173.8, up two tenths of a pound. I had a cheese and vegetable omlette for breakfast. I don't think Dr. Willerson will be too happy with my cholesterol level. Oh well, can't please 'em all; but the "Swallow lady" will be thrilled. So, I'm thinking that I am now off the feeding tube and will have been off it for more than two weeks when I see the doctor on the 15th, therefore I should be able to have it removed in the near future. That will also make me feel a lot better.

Weekend Update

All this eating seems to be working. My weight is up to 174.4 and I'm thinking about scaling back but Nurse R says that's a no no and I will lose weight once I get on my normal diet. This morning I had a vegetable and cheese omlette. It was delicious. I decided to dispense with the morning Ensure as I packed more than enough calories in that omlette. I slept fairly well last night, only up three times. I still have thick mucous and my tongue still hurts but I am feeling better.

Sunday-

Last night we babysat and had dinner at The Silver Palace, a Chinese buffet. I sampled a lot of different dishes, many of which had no taste but some of which did. The broccoli was particularly delicious and a couple of chicken dishes did but most had little or no taste. It was quite good. Tonight is the Condo Holiday party an it will be another opportunity to sample different foods. Today my weight was at 173.6 so it seems to be holding. If I can maintain that I will be happy.

Hey, It's Snowing

What a rare sight, snow in Houston. Happens once every 10 years, we must be due. As for me, I had a not too good night. Mucous seems to be thicker and I was up at 4:00 doing a a rinse to see if it would help. It did, a little. Now I'm up. Breakfast this morning was two packets of oatmeal (no taste) and an Ensure. My weight was 173.6 so it looks like it is holding. Today is my second day without the tube and I'm loving it. Nurse R has not discussed lunch so that will soon be on the agenda. More later

The snow continues to fall making the outside look like a winter wonderland. It's not sticking, yet; if it does we will be in for some real problems. For lunch I had corn pudding and an earthburger, one of my vegan recipes which is normally quite good, however this time it was tasteless. Now I shall go and watch the snow.

Another Beautiful Day in Houston

I slept fair to poor last night. Terrible thick mucous. It doesn't seem to be thinning. The breakfast highlight consisted of waffles with tons of syrup (tasteless) and an Ensure. My weight this morning was 173.2. I'm off the feeding tube and that makes me feel good. Of course I had to make my deal with Nurse R in order to achieve this and that is two Ensures a day. We had a brief discussion of lunch and at what time I would be eating it. Today is a telephone sales meeting and the break time for lunch is 1:45 Houston time so that is when I will be dining. An individual quiche and corn pudding is on the menu. More later.

Lunch was very good. The quiche was most tasty and fattening, as was the corn pudding. I opted out of the second Ensure as I was totally full and had no room for anything else. I did have three of those little chocolate tidbits (50 calories each) All this was done during the 30 minute lunch break from the sales meeting.

It's Wednesday and The Sun Is Shining

Looks like another beautiful day albeit on the chilly side. I will try to get out later and enjoy some of the weather. Last night I had a spinach quiche which was tasteless but loaded with calories. This morning I tipped the scale at 173. I seem to have no problem gaining weight. Nurse R noted that I did not have an Ensure yesterday and vowed that would not happen again. I am feeling pretty good; I still have thick mucous and my tongue still hurts but not as much. Maybe it is starting to heal. More later

Lunch was not spectacular have even forgot what I had but I did have half a nutrition bar which was tasteless. Dinner on the other hand is guaranteed to bind one up. Two enchilladas and corn pudding. My corn pudding supply has been increased and I'm loving it. Nurse R and I discussed the morning feeding and decided we will dispense with it tomorrow. I had to promise to have an Ensure with breakfast and one more later in the day. We'll see how this works. We even discussed tomorrow's dinner which will be a veggie pizza supplemented with additional vegetables.

I did get out this afternoon but it was cold and windy and I soon returned to the warmth of my home where I had the heat set for a comfortable 75. I finally got warm.Nurse R returned and immediately put on the air conditioning. I retreated to my robe and blanket. And so it goes.

Tuesday, Again

I didn't sleep so well last night, the mucous was really thick and causing me some problems. I guess I just have to wait for that to get better and Dr. Beadle assured me it would. Weigh in this morning 172.6 I gained 2 ounces. Nurse R has told me she will probably have to supervise the weigh in to make certain I have no additional weights on my person. She told me about a woman who went to her weigh in's with stones in her pockets. I told her I had no stones on my person.

I had pancakes for breakfast today with vegan butter (80 calories per tbs) and a lot of syrup. I made my appointment with my cardiologist Dr. Willerson and I am certain he won't be happy if my cholesterol rises. You just can't please 'em all. However, we deal with first things first.

I had a fine lunch. A big bowl of barley soup and the rest of the corn pudding. This was soooo adequate that Nurse R didn't mention having an Ensure. I'm certain the next conversation we have will be about dinner.