Here Comes the Sun

Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo,
Here comes the sun, and I say,
It's all right.

And besides beautiful sunflowers from a friend (thanks, Linnae!), nothing says "sunshine" more than a recovering spouse.

So let's get to it!

What's still bad this week? Well, sure—the mucous. Plus he's having one or two coughing fits a day that are like coughing up a lung. And although most pain is gone, the pain that remains is so far down his throat that existing pain medications can't reach it. What about the Vicodin, I hear you ask. Well, the Vicodin is a really, really, really big pill that's hard to swallow, so it's not working out so well. And finally, there's still an overall feeling of malaise—just an "I may be feeling better than before, but I'm tired of not feeling good" feeling. I know. That's a lot of feelings.

But what's good this week? Taste. That's right, folks, you heard it here first. I said taste. TASTE. No, it's not perfect, but it's a pretty big baby step. I went to Atlanta for a few days earlier this week and brought home some pralines—always a Love Shack favorite. I handed him a small bite. He gingerly put it to his lips and took a bite. And ... and ... not only did it not taste horrible, but it actually tasted good! Now swallowing—that's another story. He couldn't swallow the praline very well. It got hung up in (what's that, Liz? You know the answer already?), that's right, the mucous. Same with the oatmeal he tried the next morning. But he did drink a whole can of Pepsi the day I came home, and now he's trying other new things. Last night:

Vegetable soup! No, it's not what I would have tried for my first foray into food, but I don't suppose bun-burger-cheese-bun would have been advisable. Anyway, no he did not eat that whole bowl, but he ate some, and it wasn't disgusting. Then he tried some ice cream. Guess what? Yummy! And he drank another whole can of Pepsi! This morning, a bite of banana (yum) and a bite of apple (yum, but stuck in the throat, so no thank you).

So taste is coming back, and we're really grateful for that, but it's just a baby step. Swallowing is still an issue, and reintroducing food into a tummy that's had only an Ensure-like substance in it since July is dicey. So we're not booking a table at the Flagstaff House just yet. But Thanksgiving is looking more promising.

Now I know many of you are clinging to the edge of your seats wondering what is up with Wags? Well, Wags is doing her normal Wagsian thing, which is to say waiting for someone to throw the ball.

Also, she is really excited to report that she got a new toy this week: Snakey!

Snakey has already made friends with Ball. And yes, Snakey's squeezy noise thingy has already been destroyed. It's the first thing Wags does with a new toy—make the noisy part go away.

So the week—well, it turned cold here, but we are still warmed by the love of friends and family, each other, and Snakey.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.