Noob with floor of mouth cancer

Took a can of apricot nectar,

Took a can of apricot nectar, a cup of milk, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, vanilla instant breakfast, coconut, almond and orange extract and blended it for dessert.

My cancer seems really

My cancer seems really aggressive. 

OMG what an exciting morning!

OMG what an exciting morning!

I had half an omelette for breakfast!  Buttery, with dill and cheese.  

I mashed it up real good with a fork and took bites about the size of a kidney bean.  I tilted my head a bit toward the good side and chewed very slowly and carefully so as not to bite my tongue.  Kept having to remove bits from the other side and washed it down with coffee.  Last week I really couldn't picture myself doing this.

Still have soup to finish but so thrilled about being able to eat real food.

Am being very mindful of dental hygeine and brushing after each meal instead of just once or twice a day.

Oncologist is referring me to a more local clinic for radiation and chemo.  I don't believe that will start until the end of the month though.  Mouth still needs to heal.

Couple of quick victories I

Couple of quick victories I want to mention.  I can take pills now so back on my immune boosting vitamins and supplements and no longer grinding up my RX meds to slam in a shot of water. (yuckola!)

Slept in my bed last night for the first time since I've been home.  No more pillow fort in the recliner!

Unfortunately my husband is still in the hospital.  I have prepped for his return by clearing out the mountain of tube feeding and wound care supplies that were stacked all over his bed.  Was able to move some things around(I have a huge box of furniture moving pucks)and make the living room and dining room walker friendly for him.  It might be a while before he comes home though.  He is still sedated and intubated.  

The wound on my thigh no longer requires a dressing.  Every once in a while I throw some Aquaphor on it.  The hole from my trach is almost closed.

My mouth is still very swollen.  I am using manuka honey in my coffee hoping to speed up healing of stitches.  Will use before and after radiation when that starts.  Drinking turmeric tea twice a day hoping to bring down any swelling and inflammation in my mouth.

My arm is healing well but taking forever.  

I don't know what I did the other night when I was brushing my hair but I nicked something on my neck or turned it too hard and it bled just a bit.  Scared me.

Finally doing normal type things.  Played Monopoly with the Seeing Eye Kid the other night and helped her sew up some sleep shorts yesterday for when the weather gets warm.  She has been pulling weeds out back and watering what's out there.  I can't work in tthe yard now but she said she would prep the garden spots with her brother this year.  Her brother has been helping with the yards.

We haven't done grocery shopping since before I was hospitalized.  My son bought some milk, juices and bananas and heavy cream and instant breakfast so I could make smoothies but haven't needed much else because pantry and freezers are well stocked and I still have lots of canned and dehydrated items.  My daughter and I could hole up here for months and months and we eat cheaply with whatever we've got.  We are creative and cook a lot and we both hate processed foods and most restaurant foods.

I guess that's about it for now.  I'll be back if there are any new developments.

Thanks for reading.

Got a craving for tiramisu. 

Got a craving for tiramisu.  Daughter made sugar cookies but with half brown sugar.  I took about half a cup of cream cheese and smushed it up with some coffee and a spoonful of sugar.  This was spread onto two sugar cookies and we soaked it in coffee to soften it. She had whipped cream on hers but I added enough cream and coffee to turn mine into a liquid.  It was good.  We're planning to have it again.

I can eat just about anything if it's thoroughly blended and not too thick.  I have to go in for a swallowing study next month so I will be doing liquid until then.

Oh thank you for letting me

Oh thank you for letting me know what to expect.  Maybe I don't go too much farther with the food until they do it.  Supposed to be next month.

No word from radiation facility yet but referral was only done just last week.  I have a zoom meeting with the speech therapist at the end of this month.

Thank you for the YT links.

Thank you for the YT links.

I do remember reading about the piece of turkey that got stuck-makes me extra careful every time I eat.  That must have been really scary.  My kids cooked dinner tonight.  I didn't think I'd be able to eat any but I did.  The Seeing Eye Kid made her fabulous Chikfila knockoffs again and the boy brought waffle fries and mozzarella sticks.  I won't do this every day but omg it was good.

We are scheming on pancakes and sausage and biscuits and gravy-appropiately thinned down of course. 

I bought a food mill but I still use my trusty stick blender for most of what I make.  You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on special blenders-a quality stick blender will do a lot!

Here's a heads up for anyone

Here's a heads up for anyone who is on a similar path to mine.

My surgery was on March 9 of this year and my neck still isn't all the way healed.

I was given stretching and swallowing exercises and I believe it strained my neck enough to weaken the very end of the incision.  There's an angry reddish purple blister looking thing that wasn't there before.

The stitches absorbed or wore off a couple weeks ago but still....be careful you guys.

General update:

I started using coconut oil for my forearm scar and that seems to be working better than the Aquaphor they gave me

I almost don't have to use pain killer. I don't need oxy anymore and no more chills or other withdrawal symptoms.

I still have to do some gabapentin for the arm and my neck though.  It doesn't really hurt that much it's more annoying.

The place on my thigh where they shaved off the patch for my forearm is still angry and purplish red with one small white poodle shaped scar at the bottom of about a 3 x 5 rectangle.

The hole is completely closed where the trach was.  My mouth is still kind of meh, I guess it will always be.  They tell me the free flap should shrink a bit with radiation but it is still kind of a foreigh object but I am slowly getting used to it and I'm able to eat just about anything I want now and people can understand everything I say unless I'm wound up about something. 

My weight is still stable, I can bathe in the tub now(yay!)but I still get kind of worn out sometimes.  All in all doing quite well on the cancer front.  Still having a hard time with all the grief of being a widow though.  We were supposed to both finish our cancer treatment and look for a nice affordable place to hide out of state. And there's so many little details to work out to move ahead with everything.  COBRA, Marie Kondo-ing the snot out of the house in case I have to sleep in my SUV at a relative's house to afford everything...  So much stress.  

I still haven't bought his niche yet.Too much financial stuff to straighten out.  Might be a good long while before I can.