Put Week 5 behind me. Facing Week 6. Have seven weeks plus three days of radiation in my schedule. Thirteen more days of radiation, and one chemo on the 20th. Wednesday after next. Early this weekend I had decided to have the PEG tube inserted, as I just couldn't see myself finishing being able to eat on a regular basis. I have a case of thrush in my mouth, which makes my mouth feel like it's full of sores, my tongue feels swollen, my throat is extremely sore, and the production of thick mucus is getting worse. Can't seem to get rid of the mucus. Combined with a runny nose, it is really difficult. I can't spit it out of my mouth; sometimes I just have to pull it out of my mouth with my fingers. It is like trying to blow thick snot across a piece of velcro with a hairdryer. It has affected my voice. It is getting very difficult to speak. I talk like I have a piece of cotton in my mouth, as my tongue is quite swollen and painful. I mostly nod and use hand gestures when talking with Lise....or uh-huh or uhn-ah (yes or no) grunts.
However, after having watched the stories in the Olympics this weekend, I am going to give it one more week of eating without the tube. Some true stories of never giving up. I feel inspired.
Thanks again to my wife and sister for their unswerving love and loyalty and constant checking on me. My sister's recommendation for today's song:
Song of the Day: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Won't Back Down
The photo is of her on a whitewater trip with her family. I'm going to have to try that when I'm all done.
I am somewhat disturbed by the fact that you KNOW what it is like to blow snot across Velcro with a hair dryer. As someone who has known you for a very long time, my first thought was that it was something you experimented with as a child (and that the hair dryer was mine). However I later realized they hadn't invented Velcro yet......
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