Doc thinks the thrush looks much better than it did last week so I guess the big, bad medicine is doing the trick. Yay!
My neck is looking burnt to all get out. It's not bothering me but it seems to be bothering both the doc and the tech team to look at it. Doc asked me if I was using the lotion they gave me. I told her it wasn't lotion, it's a healing ointment that is really thick and greasy and does not absorb into the skin so it's endangering my clothes. Heck no, I'm not using it. She told me to go ahead and use Lubriderm on my neck.
Then this morning, tech Maggie was riding me again, asking if I was using the ointment. I told her no but that I had gotten permission to use Lubriderm but then was feeling so crappy last night that I forgot to use it. She told me to write myself a big sticky note and use it tonight. Not sure why she's in such a state but whatever. I actually have Lubriderm on my desk here at work so maybe I'll pop into the bathroom and apply some just to get everyone off my back. Sheesh.
Meanwhile, I told the doc I was almost out of pain meds. She handed off a prescription for more Roxicet which I will pick up tonight on the way home. This was a load off my mind because the pain is obviously still getting worse as the treatments go on (especially swallowing!) but after next Tuesday, I will no longer be in daily contact with the peeps that could help me. Not that I can't call them after my appointments stop but being the self efficient little thing that I am, I'd rather get set up now to hopefully not need anything later on as things slowly heal.
I'm almost afraid to say this next part out loud. I told the doc how bummed I was about the 6-12 month wait for taste buds to come back on-line. She told me that she didn't think it was going to take nearly that long. She said the treatment being done on the left side of me, where I still have actual taste buds, is very light in strength, so she thinks it will bounce back much faster than what the nurse told me. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, I gleaned a little insight into the reasoning behind not giving me a feeding tube. I guess if you're just eating through your stomach, you can start having jaw movement and swallowing problems. As it is, the doc said I should start opening my mouth as far as I can 4-5 times a day to start stretching things out because currently, I am not able to open my mouth very far at all.
Speaking of eating, I added two new cravings to my board. Cheetos (extra crunchy) and MickeyD's french fries. <sigh>
Met the new tech chickie today. I believe her name is Melissa. She was quite bouncy and in my face which had me backpedaling a little. After 5 weeks, everything is pretty much by rote and has a flow to it. Melissa was like someone throwing a boulder into the stream, shook things up for a few minutes. :-)
I'm now down over 30 pounds since the start of my adventure. Sammy and I have been using Lose It off an on for a year or two now to track what we eat, how much we exercise, and how much weight we've lost (or gained!). I obviously have no need for it currently but just for kicks I went in and entered my weight yesterday. The steepness of the graph was a bit shocking and supposedly if I keep it up, I'll reach my ideal weight by Nov. 11! I'm a little worried that I'm going to come out of this with some kind of eating disorder. JT thinks those are something you form when you're young, not something that suddenly occurs when you're older. Not sure I buy it but I can only hope. Dr. K thinks when all is said and done I will be eating like the French. Small meals and small bites throughout the day. Sounds like a plan to me!
The graft site on my thigh is fine. It's a little dry and itchy once in a while but for the most part, it's not something I ever really notice. The wrist thing is okay. Still shocks me a little when I look at it. And my tech friend Paul was teasing me the other day when I went to get zapped and he grabbed my arm to give it a squeeze to let me know he was joking and he grabbed THAT wrist. Felt kind of skeevy and weird to have someone accidentally touch it. Hell, I don't even like to touch it. But I feel that way about all the scars on my legs too. The first time I went to see Dr. K she ran her hand down one of the scars on my calf from my car accident and I thought I was going to puke on her shoes right then and there because it felt so alien and awful. I guess it's just a scar thing (or maybe a me thing but whatever).
On a bright note, my man-servant is still working hard for me. The two yew bushes in the backyard that were taking up so much room in my tiny, city dwelling, yard, have been chopped down! He just needs to dig up the nasty roots and voila, I have a whole new yard! I'm VERY excited by this development. I can't wait to be hanging out back there next summer.
Okay, that's all I've got. I have a couple more tasks to complete here at work and then I'm taking off for home to get some pain meds in me. My tongue is killing me!
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