August 24

Hi. It's me. Back from the dead. Or at least I feel like that's where my latest visit was. JT came in with me this year and got to see a little more of the circus than normal. Heck, even I got to see more than normal. Last year I was asleep before we even left the hall. They couldn't do that this year because of my breathing difficulties and placing the tube to put me to sleep. So I got a lovely view of the big metal surgery room which I could have lived without. Waking up sucked as much as I feared too. They DID have Ativan on hand for me, unfortunately combined with the anesthesia and pain meds it kept stopping my breathing which was scaring the crap out of them. So, instead I've been living with some anxiety and they've now been worried about my ongoing elevated heart rate. Just can't win.

The nurses here are very sweet. I've been up and walking around, at least to get to the bathroom. My leg is in rough shape as well as me neck, face and tongue. Everyone keeps telling me how great I'm doing though and since I have nobody to compare myself to this year, I just have to take their word for it.

My excitement for today is a visit from Kunkel and watching a video about learning how to live with a laryngectomy. Now I'm off for another nap. :-)