Who knew............

Down twenty pounds and still can't taste anything. The doctor said it could take a couple of months for the taste buds to come back and that my saliva will take even longer and may not come back all the way. Funny thing happened yesterday. It was my bosses birthday so I had to get her cake and I got vanilla ice cream to go along with it. You know that saying that when you lose one sense others get stronger? Well I was eating the ice cream because it goes down okay but I had bought vanilla bean instead of plain vanilla and could actually feel the tiny vanilla beans in my mouth. I'd noticed this before when eating yogurt I could really feel the seeds from the fruit but the vanilla beans were unexpected who knew I'd be able to feel something so tiny. Weird!

I week post radiation

It's one week post radiation and I'm feeling about the same. I was warned that I would continue to "cook" for a couple of weeks so the side effects could still peak. The problem I have is eating. It's not that I can't eat or that it's painful but that I just can't seem to force myself to eat. Everything tastes like cardboard so I don't WANT to plus with the disgusting thick mucus I tend to gag on everything even water. I had been chugging ensure but after last weeks fiasco I can't even look at one. Yesterday my total intake was a bannana, mini Haagen Daz ice cream bar and about 32 ouces of water. About 350 calories! You would think it would be really easy to just to eat something but it's like a mental block where I just can't force it down. I'm really hoping I have a quick recovery because if this keeps up for a long time I'm going to be in trouble.

Only one week to go!

Another week down and just one more week to go. I'm feeling remarkably well and am looking forward to the weekend. On the agenda this weekend......shopping, cleaning and laundry, just the normal weekend stuff. Krysta and I usually go out to dinner and a movie on Fridays and she is missing our regular routine. She asked to go to "Famous Dave's" a BBQ place here in town and was a bit frustrated when I said no. I can't possibly go to a restaurant where I can smell the yummy food but can't eat! Talk about torture! Which is kind of funny because the last movie we saw was Julie and Julia (Meryl Streep is awesome) and that is all about food too! I think I might let her pick the movie to make it up to her. Just as long as it's not Halloween II...........

Got lectured.........

In the nicest way possible about needing to keep up my caloric intake yesterday during the Swallowing Clinic appointment. So today I decided to drink the Ensure I had bought just in case. All I can say is YUCK!!!! It's basically soy formula for adults. None the less I forced myself to drink it then promptly brushed my teeth afterwards. I've also discovered the next "side effect" of the radiation. My throat is raw and since I have 2 1/2 weeks left I'm guessing it is going to be painful before all is said and done. This is going to make my calorie intake even harder to do. I told the Speech Pathologist that there are many people that would pay good money for a diet plan that was absolutely guaranteed to produce results such as the one I'm on. If only there was a way to mimic the side effects without the actually radiation I could market it and make a bundle!

Almost halfway there!

I'm almost at the halfway point in my radiation treatments. I can't tell you how happy I will be not to have to drive to Westwood everyday! Unfortunately I've started losing my saliva which with the taste buds being gone really really sucks. I had no idea what saliva actually does before I started treatment. It helps break down food as you swallow. So now whenever I eat not only is the food unappetizing but it's also hard to swallow. I guess no more bread for me for awhile. I'll have to get used to a liquid diet. This is crazy to ask because it looks like no one reads this but does anyone have any really good smoothie recipes?