August 27 - Saw the doc again today since Monday is my normal day to check in with her. She asked me if the medicine was helping the thrush at all. I actually sat there and did a little verbal list as I was thinking it through. Tongue is still bleeding at the slightest provocation, swallowing still EXTREMELY painful, mouth full of this phlemgy goo that makes it really unpleasant to talk..........um, yeah, no......haven't noticed the medicine helping at all! So, she got out her head lamp and checked things out for herself. She agreed that it wasn't any better after 3 full days on the meds so tonight I have a new mouthwash that I'm using.

Have I mentioned that everything tastes like black pepper?? Split pea soup, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, the medicated mouthwash, you name it.........it all tastes like pepper. Bleah.

I told the doc on Friday that on TV, people are always talking about what stage cancer they have but I never found out what stage cancer mine was. She told me that she would have to review my pathology report and then she could let me know. Today, she gave me a copy of the pathology report and went over it with me. Everything that she mentioned had been told to me previously but I think that she wanted to give me a ton of reassurances about all the good things in the report before she got to the fact that it was a stage 4 cancer. An early, stage 4, squamous cell carcinoma, mind you. Which I'm assuming is better than a late stage. ;-P

JT suggested today that I make a paper chain where each link represents a day so that I can count down to the end of radiation by removing a link when I get back from the radiation appointment. Cool idea. It's now hanging in my cubby at work.

My new humidifier finally arrived today. I just set it up in the bedroom and it is happily blowing cool mist all over the place. Hopefully, when I go to bed in an hour, sleep will be slightly more comfortable.

Got lots of hugs from Patilda this past weekend. Also managed to eat a cup of bisque at the Crab Shack where I took her for her birthday dinner. Since jumping back into the full liquid diet without so much as a how-do-you-do, I had a fridge full of food that was going to wind up in the garbage. Packed it all into a cooler and sent it home with her instead. Phew. I feel so guilty when I toss food!

Tomorrow night is a milkshake/smoothie date with Kit. Woo hoo!