Well sleeping was a bit of a test. Somewhere along the line Donna and I began watching The Postman, and before I knew it she was in bed, it was midnight, and I had an hour left before the film was over. I was feeling just ok, and knew if I waited until 1AM I could take another dose of painkillers before bed.

When I went into the bedroom Donna had my pillows all propped up for me. The ENT wanted m to sleep with my head raised, which annoys me because I am such a flat sleeper usually. By about 2AM I was able to fall asleep relatively soundly. I did wake up every so often to try to swallow, so it wasn’t all fun and games but I sure did make it all night.

Around dawn I woke up to realized two things. 1) I forgot to put on my humidifier, & 2) it was time for more painkillers and I sure could use it. I wasn’t screaming out in pain, but I sure was a little uncomfortable. I crawled out of bed, took my meeds, had a little water and went back to sleep. I remember Donna saying something about lying too flat on my back (even though I know I had way more pillows under me than usual), and then I heard Claire shrieking. This was about 945AM and after checking on her, I fell back into bed until Donna called to make sure I was not still in bed at 10AM.

So it was time to transfer myself to the couch and take more meds. Got some painkillers and antibiotics, and Claire brought me orange jello. We mostly just sat around all afternoon. She wanted to color on the dry erase board with me, so I convinced her to put it across our laps. I also realized how many of her dry erase markers were dried out. She and I spent an hour drawing before she moved onto a show. She was looking forward to some Dora so I popped Forgetting Sarah Marshall into my laptop with my earphones. I don’t know if it was the painkillers or what but the movie was utterly terrible.

I moved onto some Pomegranate Sorbet and it tasted pretty good but since I’d just taken my meeds, it had an odd taste. I was still spitting a lot of gook but there’s still no blood, which is really good. In the late afternoon Donna picked Claire up to go to Karate, and Donna suggested I take a nap. I headed into the bedroom and was able to put together about an hour of fitful sleep.

When Donna and Claire came home, I was ready for the next test. Hot fluids. Donna had purchased several pureed soups, including a smooth corn soup. When she brought the bowl over, it was really warm, which concerned me. I let it sit until it was lukewarm (as I would rather warm it up again than to drink it too hot), and then I began to sip it with a teaspoon. It was very tasty and went down surprisingly well. I did have to warm it up once and I ended up eating most of a bowl full.

The only concerns I see right now is that occasionally it does feel like some of the fluids do go up into my nose a little bit. I know this can be a concern and a side affect that may never go away. I sure don’t want this to be permanent, and it is definitely one of the things I need to talk to the ENT about next week.

After the soup, I felt well enough to help Claire with her bath. I kept upright as much as possible, I am talking a little more, and I am feeling pretty ok right now. I had a little sorbet this evening after the soup, and the ENT is correct that citrus isn’t the best thing since it’s lemon flavored and a little sore.

My attitude’s been good, and Donna and I both expected me to be more out of it still. For example, I think we both expected me to be unconscious all evening last night and in bed much of today. I’ve been laying low, and I want to thank all of the people who’ve messaged me their well wishes.