DAY 186 - Day 89 in Recovery Paradise

Things have been going pretty well. I have a bit of dry mucus in the back of my throat and a little problem with my stomach, but I'm doing well overall. I had a great Thanksgiving. I actually had a regular turkey dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie--everything except bread. I tried to repeat it the next night, but was unable to swallow anything. I guess I overdid it a bit on Thanksgiving, but I'm recovering from that too.

We have much to be thankful for. Good family; good friends. Good life ahead.

Song of the Day: Thankful - Josh Groban

DAY 178 - Day 81 in Recovery Paradise

A happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for here in this family, so it will be a special day. Hopefully, I'll be able to taste a little bit of everything. I had mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner, for practice. Today was a full day without any nutrient drink--all regular food. Zoom cereal, chicken and stars soup, mashed potatoes and gravy, more chicken and stars soup, peach-mango Greek yogurt (the full-fat kind), and a milkshake with one-half canned peach (but not enough to make it very peachy tasting). We went to Trader Joe's after Sarah's Nutcracker rehearsal this evening.

Tomorrow we're going to see the operetta, The Pirates of Penzance. We read the synopsis tonight, and we're all looking forward to it.

Song of the Day: The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun

DAY 175 - Day 78 in Recovery Paradise

My stomach has been feeling a little off lately. Had my first nutrient meal at about 6:30 a.m. Took a short nap, got up at 8 and lost it all. Had another one about 9 a.m., took a nap until about noon. Stayed down this time. Worked in the garage, getting rid of my past. Getting rid of a lot of sports memorabilia from the Sacramento River Rats hockey team, throwing away boxes of photos and game day magazines. Dinner was beef stew, green beans, salad and garlic toast. I had tomato soup and a glass of milk.

Song of the Day: The Ventures - The House of the Rising Sun

DAY 172 - Day 75 in Recovery Paradise

This has been another pretty decent day. My throat is a little constricted, but tolerable. I think it has to do with the apples. I had a hot apple cider drink and made a fresh apple cobbler. Very good. I had a big helping for dinner with a little whole milk on it. I nibbled on it quite a bit before dinner also. Ha. Tonight was sushi night, and I ate a half of one California roll. Too dry. Couldn't get the rice to go down for quite awhile. I was going to dip it in the soy sauce and wasabi, but I thought better of it. I haven't used my tube for a feeding in quite awhile. I consider that to be a great success. I'm still not confident enough to have it removed. But I did clear it out with about 400 cc. of water.

I will drive myself up to the dentist's office for teeth-cleaning tomorrow. Then I'll take Lise's car in to get the oil changed. I worked in the garage today, divesting myself of some of my worldly possessions. All the barrels are full--trash and recycling. I have a pile for Good Will, a pile for Habitat for Humanity, and a bunch of things in the trunk of the car to take to Sarah's school. The backs of my legs are sore still from working in the yard yesterday.

Song of the Day: The Monkees (Theme)

DAY 171 - Day 74 in Recovery Paradise

As you can see, I don't have anything new of any spectacular nature to report every day. I don't have much to complain about, so I won't. I had my standard nutrient drinks for breakfast and late morning ("elevensies"), had two servings of soup for lunch (minestrone). I was able to get it down OK, except for the bean skins. I had another nutrient drink for dinner, but the dinner I fixed for the family looked so good, I had some. Greek chicken with olives, tomatoes and feta cheese. I was actually able to eat a few bites. I also had a root beer. First soft drink I've had in months. It was cold and fizzy and reminded me of root beer, but it wasn't quite the same. My taste buds are back for the most part, just not 100 percent.

I worked in the yard and in the garage for several hours today. It felt good to be out of the house. My legs are so sore, however, that I can barely make it up the stairs.

We went to the grocery store, picking up ingredients for Thanksgiving Day. It wasn't that long ago when a trip to the grocery store was a big outing and I had to hang on to the grocery cart just to get around. We bought a turkey and supplies to make a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. We went to Apple Hill last week and bought a case of winesap apples, so we're going to make some apple crisp tomorrow. Everybody likes apple pie; nobody likes the crust.

168 DAY - Day 71 in Recovery Paradise

I'm feeling a bit stronger today. I had most of my meals in milkshake form for calories, but dinner was vegetable soup and two apples. Dustin and his girlfriend came over to visit and stayed for dinner. The family had chicken and cheese enchiladas with green beans and salad. I wasn't brave enough to try that. I'm making two drives a day, taking Sarah to and from school. I'm getting a little more comfortable on the road. I'm thinking about going in to work tomorrow. I walked around the block once today. I don't seem to have much of a mucus problem anymore, but I still have dry mouth. I had to give up on the last two bites of my second apple as my throat was constricted and I just couldn't get it to swallow. All in all, I feel good and I'm glad I'm not putting food in by tube. I do flush it out with water every few days so it doesn't get clogged. I enjoy the email responses from people who have been reading my blog and are giving me congratulations. I've been cold a lot, unable to get warm. Been walking around with a sweatshirt, scarf and a cap. We thought maybe it was my thyroid, but the test results came back today and it's in the normal range. I guess I'm just a weenie.

Song of the Day: The Ventures - Walk Don't Run - Perfidia

DAY 167 - Day 70 in Recovery Paradise

More eating progress. I'm still not ready for the cheeseburger yet, but I'm getting close. I had a regular dinner tonight: turkey meatloaf and some baked potato with gravy. I'm getting myself prepared for Thanksgiving. It was difficult swallowing, but I was able to do it. I also ate an apple. I had to spit the skin out. I'm only doing this for my dinner meal. I'm still having the milkshake meals for all the others. I can taste everything, so my taste buds are at least partially back. If my taste buds didn't come back any more than this, it would be OK. I'm still hoping for saliva to come back so I can eat regular food on a regular basis for all my meals. I also drove myself up to the video store and the grocery store to do some shopping.

Song of the Day: Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel

DAY 166 - Day 69 in Recovery Paradise

Another milestone today in ability to get my eating ability back. I had vegetable soup for dinner and was also able to eat two breadsticks and an apple. I also had some pineapple sherbet for dessert. I still have some mucus and a little bit of a sore throat, but really minor compared to what it's been in the past. I had a blood test today to test my thyroid because I'm cold all the time. Sarah had a short-sleeved shirt on, and I've got a T-shirt, sweatshirt, and wool scarf and cap down over my ears. I also have my bathrobe on, and I'm still cold. Of the symptoms I've had after treatment, this is one I can fix by putting on more clothes. I got my flu shot today, so I can eliminate that as another tribulation.

My sister came by for a visit today. She's the one who sends me a nice notecard daily. Lately, they have had photos from when I was a child, bringing back good memories. She came by for a couple of hours and a couple of hugs. It was good to see her.

Song of the Day: Sister Act - I will follow Him

DAY 165 - Day 68 in Recovery Paradise

Two hundred more days and it will have been a year. Had a great day today. Beautiful weather in the valley, so we decided to take a drive to Apple Hill where it was overcast and extremely cold. All in all, it was a pretty drive. Another first in the recovery process: They were giving away apple slice samples at one of the stops. Without thinking, I accepted and popped one in my mouth and started chewing, not realizing that I couldn't do it. Miracle! I was able to eat it. I ended up eating two more entire apples. It's the first solid food I've had in three months. So we bought a case of apples and an apple parer. It's a cute little tool. Sarah really likes it. It delivers an apple cored, pared and sliced into a spiral. It works on potatoes also, and probably a lot of other vegetables as well. I had vegetable soup for dinner, unpureed. I was able to handle the carrots and potatoes OK.

Song of the Day: The Beatles - Savoy Truffle

DAY 162 - Day 65 in Recovery Paradise

I'm starting to feel somewhat normal again. There's just a little bit of mucus and a little bit of sore throat. Other than that, the symptoms seems to be subsiding. I cut back on my double meals when I was having problems with my stomach. But the single meals are not giving me enough calories to gain weight. I'm holding steady at about 140 pounds. I'd like to be at around 145 or 146. If I can get myself in the habit of eating more double sized meals, I should be there soon. I had two soups today in addition to the drinks. I had one drink via tube, just to keep it cleaned out. I seem to be susceptible to cold. I've been walking around with scarf and a cap on for the bulk of the day.

I'm driving Sarah to school and back daily. It's a bit scary, but I'm getting better. I even made an excursion to the grocery store and to the video store.

Song of the Day: The Beatles - Yesterday

DAY 158 - Day 61 in Recovery Pardise

Today was a good day. There were actual moments when I had no awareness of any symptoms whatsoever. My biggest problem was dry mouth. There's a special gum that you can chew that relieves that, and while I was chewing it, it was like nothing had ever happened. My throat is just a little sore, but not very noticeable. I had three meals today that were regular, just like real people. Lise fixed up soup in the blender, and I had it for lunch, snack and dinner. I also supplemented this with an Ensure and an Instant Breakfast, just to get enough calories in for the day.

I'm going to start taking Sarah to school in the mornings. It's still scary to drive, but I've got to get back in the saddle.

Song of the Day: The Traveling Wilburys - End of the Line

DAY 157 - Day 60 in Recovery Paradise

Two months! Wow. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday, and sometimes it seems like it was long ago that I finished treatment. Except for the dry mouth, my mouth seems to be vastly improved. No sores, very little sore throat, and the lump on my uvula is gone. The one advantage of dry mouth is that you're not spitting all day with extra mucus. I had pureed bean soup for dinner tonight. It was a nice change.

We went to the movies today, and I didn't even take a spit cup with me! We saw High School Musical 3 in the theater, and then watched a family movie on the TV tonight, Kit Kittredge, American Girl. Today was a G movie rating day. After the movie, we played a family game of chess. I was the side-line observer, giving suggestions to both sides.

Song of the Day: Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife