Hi Margaret

I did not have problems with cooked tomatoes or salt. The raw tomatoes and citrus doesn't hurt but it does cause a massive desert dryness that takes an hour or so to overcome. Besides that, it still just plain tastes weird. I am slowly getting a small amount of pepper tolerance back. I miss my tabasco! I have to keep reminding myself that I am ONLY 8 months out of treatments sometimes

Kevin

I lived on nothing but Ensure and some weight gain stuff mixed with milk I got from the health food store- for four months. The Ensure has everything you need to stay alive and healthy. You won't have much energy, but it will keep you going.

Hi Billy:
Good to hear from you!!
I ate a lot of eggs, oatmeal (although it was a little thick for me), grits, gravy (mixed it in the eggs for the calories!!), and cereal (but I couldn't drink the milk, it burnt!!).
I ate the eggs runny, and let the cereal get soggy, but it worked, and breakfast is still my biggest meal now. I even eat cereal for dinner a lot of evenings. Just keep experimenting!! Kevin, I agree about the hot sauce, man I miss my spicy food but feel fortunate that I could shed the tube and get back to "normal", even though it's a new kind of normal.
Best wishes to all,
Steve

Well I actually got grits and eggs down today. It was great to taste that taste again. That is one of my favorite meals ever. I am a little apprehensive about swallowing because I dont know what will go down and what wont. One of my biggest fears is getting choked on something. I had an Uncle who had oral cancer, got choked and died and that scares the crap out of me. That is the main reason I still have my trach in. The doc tells me that we can take it out but I know if I get choked I will still have a way to breathe. My speech therapist tells me that swallowing will be a lot easier with the trach out. What is one to do????

While I have everyones attention here I want to ask a question without starting a new thread. I have a hard time getting up before noon everyday and I really think I am ready to go back to work. Please tell me what you guys did when this arose. I know there comes a day when you have to force yourself to do stuff and I really think that day has arrived. I am still tired most of the time but I have gotten to where I am helping out around the house more with chores and am also walking about a mile or so a day. I even got out and cut the grass one day last week.

So, once again, please tell me from experience how yall got over this hump and got back to work.

Billy

Billy, so glad to hear you are doing better. Thats great about eating eggs, don't let the fear hold you back!! Keep trying new food items, and your walking is great. I don't think Tom could walk a mile yet. But you are right about getting over the hump. I think you just have to get out and do it.Tom cut the grass and I was a nervous wreck, he had to stop 3 times but he did it and he said it felt great. So heres to one day, one food, one project, one accomplishment at a time to claiming your life back! Take care, LJ

Yea LJ it felt great having the strength to cut the grass. I didnt think I could do it to be honest. I also didnt think I could walk as far as I have been. I have a stop sign that I would walk to and then turn around and walk back. The other day instead of turning around I took a left and walked around apartments and then back home. I have been doing that everyday since then. I even went to a high school football game Friday night to watch my daughter march in the band at halftime. The swallowing thing and the tiredness is the main concerns right now. The doc had me on Paxil and then changed it to Prozac and I didnt like the way I felt the next morning after taking the Prozac so I just quit taking all of that stuff. Maybe when my head clears out I wont be so tired. All of my family thinks that the anti-depressants are what is making me so tired. I guess we will find out soon enough.

Thank you for posting LJ, you always know what to say to make my day a little brighter.

Billy

Hey, Billy- sounds like you are doing really well. But "GrandMa Amy" has a question or 2 Since you don't feel like getting up before noon- I want to know what time you go to bed at night and How Much Quality sleep you get at night? Is it consistant or are you up and down? There is no doubt that Paxil and Prozac could slow you down-BUT so can the treatments you've endured.Can you go back to work on a 1\2 day schedule to start to see how well your body tolerates it? You are in a different position than someone who sits at a desk- remember that. Everyone wants you to get well, and no one wants to read about you ending up in the hospital from "overdoing". Amy in the Ozarks

I had been going to bed at around 9pm until recently. I have been going to bed at around 10:30 or 11 here the last few nights. As far as quality sleep goes, well, thats a different story. I am hooked up to a pump at night and I wake up around every 2 hours to use the bathroom. I am trying to get to the place where I am eating more during the day where I wont have to use the pump at night. As far as not wanting to get up before noon that is far from the truth. I know in order to go back to work that I have to get up when its time to go to work. I tell myself everyday that I need to get up but I just lay there. I do feel like its because Im not sleeping well at night. I feel like this is what is holding me back from going back to work. I know it will be real tough to start with but it should get easier with time. I dont think 1/2 days would be an option with what I do(drive a truck) but I will ask. I have a call in to my dispatcher and should hear from him tomorrow and that is one question that I will ask him as soon as I hear from him. I dont want to overdo it either and end up worse than I am now but we are about to the point with our finances that we have to do something real quick.

As always Amy, I appreciate you concern and desire to help. Any suggestions would be appreciated as always Grandma...LOL

Billy

O.K, you are between a rock and a hard place right now. You are not getting enough real sleep at night to feel rested, you need the night feedings to maintain your caloric intake- which you can't do driving a truck during the day- and you need a steady income. So what alternatives are there? Have you applied for Disability [I can't remember]Have you explored other jobs that are not so physically demanding? Could you be a dispatcher?. Could you work driving 3 days and off 2 until you are really well? If you have a mortgage, you could go talk to your banker about a 3 to 6 month hiatus on your monthly payments [the bank doesn't want your house and they can just tack those payments on to the other end of your loan] your utility company might work with you on a levelized billing,spread put over the year,to make budgeting easier[ours does]. I know that there is a contingent here that feels that you must force yourself back into "normal", but I am not one of those. I do believe you have to work hard to recover, but I don't believe you have to push yourself past your limits of endurance[not everyone is Lance Armstrong}. Take care, Billy, you need to do what is best for you. Amy in Oz

Amy,

I had no clue that you responded to my post until I just came in here to post an update on my eating. What I am doing is taking it one day at a time here. My wife tells me that I am not able to go back to work yet. She also tells me that the good Lord will provide. She doesnt know how but knows that He will do it. I have talked with one man that I used to work for and he is trying to give me the opportunity to drive at night as many hours as I can stand it. The only problem I have with that is I really dont want to get my days and nights mixed up. I still get up late but they arent mixed up yet. I am still going to bed between 9 and 11pm.

I am also trying hard to get my calories in during the day so as to not run the pump at night. I havent run the pump in 2 nights but I am still getting up to use the bathroom alot. I think I am hydrating too much. Is there a formula for how much liquid one needs to take in per day in order to stay hydrated?? Is hydration still a major concern since treatments are over?

Ok, enough rambling. I came back to this thread to post what I have been able to eat as of late. Things seem to be getting better. Keep in mind that not all of this goes down easy but it goes down.
grits and eggs
tuna
pudding
soups(chicken and rice and chicken noodle O's)
yogurt
mashed potatos and gravy
ice cream
And, tonight, my wife went to McDonalds and got a hamburger and I ate 3 bites of the meat!!!!!
It was hard to get it down but I got it so Im sure it will only get easier(I hope...LOL)
I was told I couldnt have ice cream and the first time I ate it after my surgery it almost choked me. I had to keep clearing my throat. Tonight I drank a milkshake with no straw and didnt use a spoon and only had to clear my throat 3 times. I sure hope this is a sign of good things to come.

Thanks all for letting me ramble,
Billy