Johnboy, I wish I could have had some decent drug therapy but was left to suffer with pain at a steady 9, sometimes 10 whenever I tried to swallow. If you’ve been through it, you know. Never had pain like that before.

But yes, I am doing much better than last week and only have moderate pain swallowing. Still haven’t had the courage to eat anything spicy or salty yet. Had my tonsils out at 13 and learned from that. Ate a potato chip after 2 weeks and thought someone had stabbed a knife in my throat! So my memory of that is still alive and kickin’. Maybe in two more weeks I’ll try spicy food, which I love.

Funny thing is, after eating mostly soup with extra rice, my stomach has shrunk and I’m not used to high fat foods and don’t crave them anymore. All I could think of in that first week was pizza, burgers, and taco’s. All I really want to eat now is soup and light foods. Lost about 10lbs which really isn’t much for what I’ve been through. I will end up losing more after the radiation starts so I will need to put the weight back on. Need new levi’s but don’t want to buy a pair when I’ll probably put the weight back on later. Kind of glad I did have some extra fat on me to get me through the tough period. My wife says I look like the man she married 21 years ago.

They haven’t scheduled my last surgery yet and now that I feel better I may as well get it over with ASAP. He will cut the shit out of my mouth so my throat will work but my mouth won’t.

Now for the honesty. Ever since the pain went down considerably, and now that I can actually FEEL the pain meds, I have been taking a wee bit more than I should. Damn addictive brain took over as my tolerance got higher. I don’t have enough pills to last until my next surgery so I will go back on the lowest dose of Sub that will keep my w/d’s at bay. Sorry guys, I slipped. I HATE BEING AN ADDICT!!

You guys are really a second family to me and know that your support has been helpful.

That’s the truth for today.