Todd blogs again!

Sometimes is it one step forward and two steps back. This past weekend I had 2 rough days back-to-back. We tried reducing my last antiemetic drug to 2 doses per day instead of 3. That didn’t work out too well so I’m back at 3 a day. The good news is that this antiemetic doesn’t have any noticeable side effects. The pain spiked, a new thrush infection started, my ensure and water intake dropped and I felt crummy. How many times have I read and repeated here that improvements occur week to week (or more realistically fortnight to fortnight) but I think it’s human nature to look for changes day to day especially when I don’t really have anything else to focus on. Two back to back rough days really set me up for being depressed. Bonnie does a great job of not allowing me to think that way. So we reviewed all the improvements I’ve experienced over the last 4 weeks. That helped get me into the right mental state.

So far this week is going pretty well except for the thrush. The heavy phlegm problem seems to have gone away so I can sleep only slightly elevated now and only wake up to clear the phlegm 2-3 times a night. We succeeded in reducing my pain killer dosage so I’m not sleepy all the time. I tried a number on new foods, some of them worked (canned peaches) and some didn’t (peeled strawberries—the seeds are too rough‑-caused me to throw up for some strange reason) but I still can’t eat enough of any real food to reduce the number of Ensures I need to drink every day @ 350 calories a pop. Man, I am getting sick of Ensure but I’m probably months away from getting off them.

Glen returned from his Scotland trip and stopped over last night for a visit. Talking with him really helps me in so many ways. Later last night Neil came over to watch the Arsenal Champions League match and Vince dropped by and watched the 2nd half with us. Unfortunately Arsenal lost but it was nice have the two of them over. I didn’t have to talk as much since they carried most of the conversation workload which saved wear and tear on my throat.

The other change for the worse this week is Bonnie has gone back to work half time so I don’t have my sweetie with me 24/7 anymore. ;-)