It Might Get Messy

So, many years ago, I had a business meeting in Hawaii (actually, it was after a grueling 2 week trip to Guam to work for the Air Force, but that’s another story). So I asked the staff in my Waikiki office (believe it or not, I had global, office-specific responsibilities at the time) what I should wear. They said “one of your Aloha shirts, of course”. I said I didn’t have any Aloha shirts. So they dragged me over to the mall and made me buy a state-of-the-art, inside-out-fabric, Aloha shirt (which I still have). Next morning I meet the guy for breakfast. He shows up in a mainland-style white business shirt, with creases from where he unfolded it after buying it at the same mall the night before.

That kind of misunderstanding pertains throughout life. For example, I met with my Oncology Surgeon a couple weeks ago. His main concern, properly, was residual or recurrent cancer. But I’ve also been suffering with a longstanding, ongoing, nasty throat infection. My doctor kind of made that a side issue, which we’re “treating” by having me regularly change out the internal plumbing on my tracheotomy.

But in fact, absent ongoing cancer (cross-reference last week’s entry to this weblog), the infection is a serious problem. I wake up in the morning, relatively dry and smelling reasonably like a human being. By evening, I’m weeping mucous from numerous portals-of-bodily-entry and I smell like a decaying cadaver. It’s just nasty.

So I emailed my surgeon. He sent a new scrip to the pharmacy, upgrading my antibiotic from “Cipro” to “Augmentin”. Yeah, I think that’s the same stuff they use for persistent ear infections in kids. Hopefully he’s giving me a massive dose. We’ll see. 

I wrote the above on Thursday, day the scrip hit the pharmacy. Now it’s Saturday. I’ve been hammering Augmentin for 3 days. I’m feeling better…and worse. Better, because it seems to be taking care of the throat infection. Mucous production is way down, and I don’t smell like road kill anymore. Worse because it’s played hell with my gut flora. Now I have vomiting fits and loose bowels. Sigh. It’s just not easy.

However. For the first time in my life I had this experience. Instead of thinkin’ “holy shit, it’s August already!”, I’m thinkin’ “shit, it’s August and I’m still alive!” Now THAT’S the way to ride the calendar!

I’m afraid I’m still behind on the rest of the weblog empire. Best I could do was get a piece submitted for my professional blog at www.aehsfoundation.org .  That’ll be up in a day or so. Thank you all for being here for me. As I gain strength, I realize more and more how much you’ve meant to my recovery. And I am incredibly grateful!