Return to Solid Foods
The recovery has hit an important milestone this weekend. Namely, my path to eating solid foods has begun in earnest. While the first week post-treamtent was a little tougher than I had hoped (particularly around the issues with my hearing and dry mouth), the past few days have seen some good progress. My energy level has increased; my speech is more clear; my pain is more manageable; and I'm reducing my reliance on medications. However, while my weight loss has slowed, I have not yet gained any weight.
On Thursday, the home nurse (who comes out to change the needle to my port) provided some good advice. She encouraged me to try to eat and drink more and to reduce my painkillers. The doctors / PA have prescribed my Norco 10-325, which is hydrocodone (10mg) and acetaminophen (325mg). The nurse reminded me that hydrocodone is an opioid, which can be addictive as it changes how the body processes pain. At her behest, I cut the pills in half to reduce the dosage (but still at the same interval). The pain is still tolerable, so I'll keep with the lower dosage for now. The PA said that they usually cut the dosage at the next refill, but I'll continue on the reduced dosage so long as I can handle it. I don't want to deal with withdrawal issues later on.
My energy level has seemed to pick up the few days, so I was able to go out more. Thursday afternoon, Al invited me and some other Kellogg classmates to a game at Wrigley. Not only did I stay for the entire game (though without any beer, peanuts, pretzels or helmet nachos, as per normal), I got to witness a come from behind walk-off HR in the bottom of ninth for a Cub's W. On Saturday, I was out of the condo for much of the day. Aiday and I went to the Green City Market in the morning, then spent some time at a street festival in the afternoon before going to a movie that night. The farmer's market visit was a little mixed, as I'm still a few weeks from being able to properly enjoy the tomatoes and fruit. I could see and smell great produce, but couldn't eat them. While the dry mouth and thick saliva were a problem throughout the day (sometimes I look like a rabid dog, as a white film forms around the corners of my mouth), I could at least manage it enough to be out of the condo.
My throat is feeling better (though it's still looking quite nasty), enough that I'm starting to test what I can eat. A man can only "enjoy" a liquid diet for so long. A friend recently asked what my favorite flavor of Ensure Plus is. I didn't have any answer, as all of the roughly 75 Ensure Plus that I've consumed have been Vanilla. The chocolate and strawberry flavors could have been nice to try, but a) Costco only sells Vanilla and I'm too cheap to buy them at regular price and b) I was pretty sure that they'd irritate my throat, as even my own chocolate ice cream did not go down well.
On Saturday, I made my first attempt to eat something that wasn't Ensure. I was able to drink a small amount of milk and eat a little bit of yogurt. That was a big improvement, as I was still not comfortable drinking thin liquids like water. I figured milk would be easier as it's a little thicker (but not as thick as the Ensure), so I'm glad that went down. I also managed to finish some vanilla pudding. This was a little too thick, so it took some effort. All of these were eaten after taking the numbing mouth rinse.
With Saturday's success in mind, Sunday's experiments proved to be more encouraging. First, I switched from Ensure Plus to Boost VHC (mixed with Benecalorie and milk). The Boost VHC had caused some irritation before, but I was able to drink it for breakfast. In addition, I was able to eat 1/2 papaya as well. This was one of the last things I ate before going on the liquid diet. In the afternoon, Aiday, Andy and I went to Chinatown. While I didn't expect to eat a full meal (I was more of an observer), I was able to eat a small amount of noodles in soup and the fillings of some dumplings (the wrapper is still too doughy to eat comfortably). I tried a little bit of fried egg (went down without a problem) and BBQ pork (still hard to chew, as there is no saliva to break it down). Both needed a liquid assist. The Thai rolled ice cream went down alright, and that was fun to see how it was made. Also, I was able to drink some water - cool but not ice cold works best for now. If this improves, I won't be so reliant on the home hydration, and I can try other foods as water can help wash them down. Later on, I tried another experiment which turned out successfully. I took the Boost VHC/Benecalorie/milk mixture at night without the numbing mouth rinse. This didn't result in any more pain, so perhaps I can eat without needing that rinse. A week ago, I was nearly in tears for about 3 minutes after forcing down a Boost, even with the benefit of the numbing rinse.
Thai rolled ice cream - green tea flavored (with marshmallows and Pocky)
While I am starting to eat, I'm not sure about how well I'm tasting. The good news is that I can generally make out the flavors. For example, I know that I'm eating a lamb and cilantro dumpling. However, I'm not sure if I can taste what's really good. When I drank the local 1871 whole milk, it didn't taste as good as I remembered it last year. Same with little bits of fruit (peach, papaya) I tried. There is sometimes a disconnect between what I smell and what I taste, with the taste being the disappointing part of that equation. I expect that there'll be some waste as I figure out what I can and can't eat, but hopefully not too much. I'm still wary of trying out the spicy and acidic foods that I enjoy so much.
With respect to my appearance and weight, thank you for the positive feedback. I guess I won't be in such a rush to put back my lost weight once I can start eating again. The increased activity is offsetting the increased calories (over 2,000/day), so my weight is still down. My scale has not shown numbers like these for me before.
Hoping this is the low and I can start to gain weight
My skin is doing well. One issue now is that after showering, I still have to clear stray hairs from my neck and shoulders. It seems like the hair on the back of my head has not stopped falling out.
So, this has been a good weekend in terms of recovery. Hoping my mouth can catch up with my nose and appetite soon. It'll be nice to be able to meet up with friends where I can actually participate in sharing a meal.