It Might Get Messy

Following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, radiation-exposure deaths peaked at about 4 weeks and continued until 8 weeks [1]. This timeline possibly explains why I am still so sick. I remain unable to eat (except for feeding myself U.N. emergency rations through the feeding tube to my gut), I get tired after a couple hours of being upright, and my throat hurts like a son-of-a-bitch if I talk for more than 20 or 30 seconds at a shot. 


With that whining out of the way, I’m definitely getting better. Except for occasional waves of stinging pain and runny mucous in my throat, I’m mostly pain-free and my mouth functions. Still can’t talk coherently, and some of that may be permanent because the primary tumor took tongue mass with it when it croaked. But I think at least some of the voice issues are residual from the radiation and will heal themselves. 


I wrote the two paragraphs above last night as I was trying to get to sleep while flopping the TV between the soccer game and Bitchin’ Kitchen. Weak as I am during the day, sleep remains elusive at night. Although that seems to be getting better as well. Anyway, I had a little bit of a breakthrough today. Able to eat a cup of chicken broth with egg. You might recall from a prior entry that that is Tier 2 on the Italian Household Illness Remedy scale, one better than plain broth and below “with grated cheese” and “with grated cheese and peas”. So it’s a start toward recovery, as recognized by the Counsel of Ancient Aunties.


I would’ve figured I’d be further along by now. 


There’s new material over at http://docviper.livejournal.com/ . The other two sites I’ll try to update later in the week. Thanks for stoppin’ by!


Notes


[1] According to http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp22.shtml which seems to be well researched and referenced.