Throat Cancer Week Three: Everything tastes like ..........
What a thrilling week. Heh-heh.
Pretty much lost any semblance of taste buddage I had left.
The docs warned me about not eating because of my throat being sore - I figured I would be able to gulp chow past a burning throat. That is tougher than it sounds me droogies, because my mouth n tongue and froat is swollen, so sometimes I gag when trying to get something by.
In addition to that challenge, I cannot taste anything anymore. Sounds like no biggie, right? Well, I would not wish it on a dog. Julie makes some fresh green beans and a beautiful roasted chicken - something we have enjoyed in the past. I KNOW HOW THIS IS GONNA TASTE - wait, when I chew it up not only is it hard to swallow, but it tastes like (see below):
Best I can speculate is that when I try chewing ANYTHING, my now sludge-like extra thick saliva makes it taste like Bah-Nooor. What makes it worse is that I am married to a very talented cook and she has trained my palate over the years for Yummy. Not only that, but Ella makes deliciousness over at her restaurant five days a week and Lil Amy bakes top shelf cookies and treats. In short, I am spoiled rotten when it comes to food.
Not so much anymore.
I pretty much have to force food down my throat. I make Instant Breakfast milkshakes by adding some ice cream for calories (can't taste it - it is just thick, cool liquid). Bunless hot dogs with a quick dunk in mustard in small slices go down without much chewing. A scrambled egg with some cheese can be broken into small bits and swallowed quickly. Anyway, once you lose your ability to taste you realize how much of life's daily pleasures come from your stinking taste buds. Can we all pray together that my sense of taste RETURNS at the end of this shizzle? Tanks.
Did I mention the infection that hit me this week?
Being the bright boy I am, I remembered something I read in one of the side effect books they gave me about lymphedema - which is swelling that can occur from the radiation. So I convinced myself I had me some of that and waited to see the doctor on Thursday (every Thursday is Doctor Day when one of them gives me a look see). Nope, was not lymphedema and I was running a fever.
Holy Chipmunks Batman!! I ended up seeing Dr Reagan and he took some x-rays and thankfully did not find an abscessed tooth. Best explanation is that maybe the radiation caused an infection to start up above a tooth in which he performed a root canal in 2010 and then the infection followed the path of least resistance and moved around in my sinus cavity.
Anyway, doing a 7 day course of penicillin and the swelling went down pretty dang quick and there is just an itty bitty pocket of pain left.
Onward and upward.
Comments
Plus - if I told you how scared spitless I am now and then and how sometimes I cannot even....who is gonna get any laffs outta that?
Lotta funny people gonna be in hell - the FUNNIEST group is going to be the gang that spent their whole life pointing out everyone else they thought would burn...and WHOOPS.
Sandra Haifley