Day #5 5 Down and 30 TO GO

Day #5- Day 5 was a treatment that I wasn't looking forward to. The reason being that I had not been under the mask since my mouth has changed and the mucus started to drive me nuts. My brother Todd is here in Wshington visiting Kari and I. It has been such a good visit this week. He arrived Dec.26 and will stay until Jan.2,2010.
I think he is enjoying our slow pace of life here. Of course, I have all this illness going on, Kari is having problems due to carpal tunnel in both hands and Todd has either a cold or sinus problems. We have had a few laughs about neither one of us making good glue! We took Todd with us and gave him a tour on the way to OHSU. We had such a beautiful day. We were able to see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood in all their natural beauty. We arrived at OHSU and took Todd to a higher floor to get an even better look at Portland. I have to say, she sure looks pretty yesterday. We haeded back down to floor 4 for my treatments. Before they called me, I went to the restroom to rinse with a formula to help break up some of the mucus. I was able to clear up alot and felt confortable about having the mask on. They took me on time at 4:30 pm. When I got into the room I had to rinse again just to be sure. I was afraid of getting the mask on and having too much mucus in my mouth and not being able to breathe. Well, here goes nothing. The mask was slipped on and I was ready for treatment #5 . The technicians left the room and I was ready to listen to ESPN and have the time pass by fast. Well,there was a big curve in the road. As all of you should know by now, I bleed New Orleans Saints Black and Gold. Well, Sunday is a day in Saints football history that me and so many other fans like me will try to forget. I had not talked about it or listened to any talk show that was talking about the game. I was ready to watch Monday Night Football and see by some miracle, Chicago could beat the Vikings. So, ESPN is turned on and the first thing I hear is- " So John, give me your take on the Saints game against the Bucs and what to do think will happen to the Saints in the playoffs". I almost broke out of the mask! I mean come on, I didn't need to hear the now. Well, the interview went on for a while and then guess what???? The treatment was over that quick. The interview had helped the time pass by qucikly and I was done with #5 5 Down and 30 To Go.

At this point I feel like I have taken a few steps back. I am not able to talk as well as i had been just 2 days ago. I am not able to drink or eat by mouth. I have tried a few sips of chocolate and strawberry milk. These really fell good on my throat since they are so cold but, I am not really able to swallow them. I will try to eat some pudding today. I was enjoying eating pudding last week but, I don't know if I can get it down now. The feeling in my throat is that it seems to be swollen and not able to get things through. All of the information we have says to keep trying different things. I must keep my throat muscles active. If I don't use them, scar tissue will build up and that could cause other problems. I am also doing tongue and neck exercises 3 time per day for the same reason. I know I have said many times how I would love a good cold glass of iced water. Well, I'll say it again. I would love 2 glasses of iced cold water. Next time you drink a glass of water, take your time and enjoy it, things in life can change pretty quick.