Did You Miss Me?

I'm back, folks.  Sorry to skip out but my last post was written before the "crud" did me in.  Yes, I was under the weather.  I brushed shoulders with a summer cold which escalated to a minor bronchial infection and then became complicated with a severe sinusitis attack.

In other words, I was out COLD.  The only difference between me and the body at the morgue?  I was breathing - barely.

I found that the best thing was for me to sleep.  And I do mean - SLEEP!!  I had the television on and would be watching Rachel Ray and wake up to Trisha Yearwood.  During one weekend, a channel had a Lord of the Rings marathon going on.  I went to sleep during "Fellowship" and awoke for a potty break during "Two Towers" and finally woke up during the final battle scene of "Return."

I couldn't eat.  I mean it.  I could barely swallow food and any food I could get down, stuck in my throat, choking me and blocking my airway.  It was a small bite, chew, swallow and grab the bottle of water and pray I didn't choke up all of it while trying to drink.  You have no idea how many times that happened - choking up.  So, with the idea of eating substance biting the dust, I turned to liquids.  Mmm.  You can't beat beef and chicken broth.  I was smart - I went low sodium.  I discovered the beef broth tasted better than the chicken.  I also moved to Ensure when I finally got the art of swallowing liquids that weren't watery under control.  Yes, thick liquids - think tomato soup - were a no-no.  Even a strawberry shake was too heavy of consistency to swallow.  I'm a diabetic so I also added Glucerna to the diet when I could.  Sure, I'd try to eat something.  My wife tried pureeing some chicken rice soup.  Nope!  That would not go down.

Now for the strange thing.  PILLS.  I had to take my meds and the doctor had me on horse tablet antibiotics.  Believe it or not - I could swallow them and they went down.  No problem!  Who knew?

Finally, after 2 weeks, I returned to the doctor who put me on a different antibiotic and I am still on them.  I am able to eat real food now but that really has only been the last 5 days.  Yes, it was touch and go at first.

So, what has been the silver lining to this escapade?  (Always look for a silver lining!)

At the present time, I am twenty-eight pounds lighter.  Yes, you read that right.  28 pounds!!  Since I couldn't eat much, my stomach tightened up over the last 4 weeks.  Now that I'm eating again, I see no reason to stretch it back out.  I kid you not.  We had to travel and my granddaughters wanted to eat at McD.  I had a McDouble, small fry and glass of water.  I couldn't eat all the fries and literally felt stuffed getting the last bite of the burger down.  Yes, this is the guy who had no problem wolfing down a BigMac, Filet-o-fish, large fries and drink.  I'm eating more salads and although it goes against my grain, I can actually leave food on my plate.  I find myself eating more often, but not as much.  For those who were wondering - my weight on January 1 of this year was 265.  I am now 237.  A goal for New Years was to lose 25 pounds.  I did it.  Now I hope to lose even more.

Drink!  I've almost totally given up pop - soda - whatever you want to call.  Carbonated drinks.  I was a big Diet Pepsi fan.  Since June 1 - I have had 3 cans of Pepsi and one 32oz Diet Pepsi when I took the granddaughters to the theater.  My wife had bought me 2 12-pk of Diet Pepsi about 3 days before I came down sick.  I figure they should last me through the summer.  I drink a lot of water.

Am I well.  Not completely.  But at least I am up and able to do things again and walk once more among the living.  I'm still under the doctor's rule - at least for another 2 weeks.  We'll see what he has to say after the next blood draw.

So, until next I ramble on...