Hack. Cough. Gag. Repeat.

September 5

As my throat recovers from radiation, it is like having a sunburn. At first, the skin is burned (and feels like crap). Air, water, food, post-nasal goo...anything that passes irritates it. That was the worst time when pain was the greatest. After that, the burn pain eases a bit but everything stiffens up, making swallowing painful. Now, all the dry, dead skin from the burn is sloughing off, revealing pink and very sensitive skin underneath. Air, water, food, post-nasal goo...anything that passes it creates a rather large problem. I cough frequently and hard. That seems to dislodge more of the dead stuff, revealing more of the sensitive stuff. Play that pattern in repeat and you have portions of my afternoon yesterday and morning today.

When that isn't happening, I've noticed a lot of shortness of breath during simple activities. There's no chest pain which is good. If I get up from a seated position quickly, I often get light-headed and tingly. Even my forearms tingle (given I have blood clots in both arms around my elbows, that doesn't make me happy). That concerns me so I left a message for my doctor. We will see what she says.

I didn't sleep well last night. Just one of those nights I guess. I'm still hacking up a lot of grunge, not from my lungs but from all the post-nasal crap. The treatment obviously affected my entire ENT system so I am not surprised that I have lots of related symptoms, much like when you have a cold.

Many have expressed surprise that I have been able to stay on solid food the whole time. Last night was fried chicken. Yummy. I usually need 1-2 liters of water and pain meds to get through a meal.

That's it for now! Thanks for checking up on me. ; )