Finally...

Greetings and sorry for the delay in posting this blog, I had every intention of doing so upon my return from the cottage Sunday evening but my computer had other ideas. After much gnashing of teeth and assistance from my son Dane is very clear that my hard drive has crashed. Another item to add to today's to-do list.

The cottage was great in that we were there with my son and his wife who are heading to England for two years in a few weeks. There was much to be done on the property and they, as well as three of my neighbours were a tremendous assistance. There were two docks to put in, a tree in the water that had to be removed that the beavers had cut down and much weed eating and cleaning up to be done. As much as I enjoyed the weekend is very clear to me that the cottage is not the place for me to be at the current moment. Not only did we have to take up a ton of stuff to support me but our general water supply comes from a lake and I need to sterilize everything. There is also the question of my being able to control my urge to do more because, at the cottage, there is always more that can be done.

The week, as every week seems to, had its ups and downs. The downs are all around food consumption. I express and have a desire to take food by mouth and yet when even a small amount is put in front of me I often fail to finish it. There are a lot of reasons for this including lack of saliva, discomfort, things not tasting normal, and the fact it takes forever to consume even a small amount of food. I'm hoping to get some answers or at least direction on this issue this coming week. I have a meeting with a friend of mine who has been through this to pick his brain as to his experience and, on Tuesday of this week, I meet with my medical team at Princess Margaret Hospital for the four-week follow-up. Among other things they will be putting a camera down my throat so I’ll get some idea as to its condition.

Had some visitors this week and they all say pretty much the same thing... I looked great and am further along than they expected and my voice appears to be pretty much back to normal. This is wonderful feedback and very welcomed. I met on Monday with a speech therapist. She has given me a series of exercises for my throat and tongue to help break down scar tissue and move back to more normal functioning. The only disappointment is that I have to actually do exercises on a regular basis. I have to start incorporating them into my plan this week. Here's one you can try at home. Stick your tongue out as far as you can, bite down on it, now swallow five times. There's a workout!

Time for me to close up here and get this posted before it runs into next week's blog. Thanks once again for all the support and encouragement.