October 20, 2011 - A Hamburger and Fries!! Wow!!

Yes, it’s great to be able to eat unhealthful food again. I seem to be progressing at a very rapid rate the past few weeks adding things I didn’t think I’d ever eat again. For lunch today I decided I just wasn’t in the mood for yogurt or scrambled eggs again so I ordered a hamburger and fries from PT’s Grill (a local hamburger chain). I was amazed at how well I was able to eat that even though I needed to wash it down with some extra liquid.  Since I wrote last week I’ve eaten the stated hamburger and fries but also garlic bread (soft but good) regular bread with butter,  5 peanuts (that didn’t work out too well) candy bars, a pecan pastry my wife made for another occasion, and some other things that seem to be going down easier than I expected. I’ve yet to try a deli sandwich because hard bread still seems impossible to me.

I think I’ve finally gained a few pounds. If I keep eating junk food I’ll probably pork up just fine – then die of a heart attack! I had a visit with RadDoc today and it was the best visit I’ve had so far as I was finally able to convey how well I’m doing. Most of my visits have been a litany of complaints about how miserable I was. From now on I’ll see RadDoc every six weeks and my ENT doc every 6 weeks alternately. So I’ll see each of them 4 times over the next year.

My band practiced again last night and I found that my new chewing gum habit is helping me maintain my voice. It’s not quite as croaky and it’s also a little deeper and richer that before my treatment. My voice was always marginal anyway as far as singing leads but now it seems to have a new fullness with a deeper tone. It sounds a bit like I would if I had a slight cold. We’ll see what happens down the road as my throat continues to heal. As far as guitar, I’m back 100%.

It’s great to feel mostly normal again and if my progress continues maybe I’ll get more of my taste buds back (still can’t taste sweet things) as well as more saliva to make eating more enjoyable.