A Whiff

A whiff of Trader Joes Pad Thai made me giddy! It hadn't occurred to me that smell would be another casualty of this cancer. But guess what - when you don't breathe in through your nose and mouth the air doesn't move into your nose and you don't smell. Today we got a small hand fan and i held it up to Siena's steamy bowl of noodles and shoved my nose into it...THERE! I smelled it! How divine smell is when its been missing.

I had another first today, as well. We had the follow up with my reconstructive surgeon, Dr.Seth. Aside from a small skin infection, everything looked great. My 'Thongue' is healing well. (We dubbed the dummy mass replacement for my tongue 'Thongue' as it was created from a swath of my thigh). It even has a dent in the center like a tongue does. The scary part of the appointment was that it was time to remove the tube that went down my esophagus and up my nose. I gripped the chair arms hard and he fished into my throat and withdrew a large beast.

Yes, that horribly large tube with the red extension was inside my throat! Once extracted there was an immediate relief, a constriction, a tightness in my throat was gone. Don't get me wrong, i still have exterior tightness from swelling but part of it gratefully subsided with the removal of the tube.

Then we proceeded down for a swallow study. Before surgery I assumed i would never drink again. I was nervous, without a tongue to use would i just sputter out the liquid? The cool liquid funneled down the back of my throat. No taste (although it was said to taste bad) - but the coolness was a pleasant surprise. We must wait to see if it's an all clear, but it if is, i will drink again!! Ahhh water....i miss you water....