Surgery--Again

I'm throwing in another whew.

Joe, It sure felt like a bad week. Too much stress. But the cancer hasn't come back. A very good thing.

soz, I'm only guessing that it was a mistake. I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Taste bud report: I ordered orange juice when I was dining with Thomas. My first encounter with citrus in several months. It didn't make me choke. It wasn't too sharp. It didn't taste like orange. Aaah for a little vitamin C.

I continue to try eating chocolate. Last night I tried chocolate ice cream again. It tasted close to chocolate ice cream. A real positive step.

Chocolate ice cream, oh, yaaaay.

...with a cherry on top

Nothin' like a cherry on top. Thanks, kid.

Saw the swallowing, throat, speech doc yesterday. I'm swallowing just fine. My throat is normal under the circumstances. Speech? Well, this is taking longer than usual.

I mentioned soz's suggestion for dealing with people on the phone. The doc is investigating getting me a tty, whatever that is. I think it's translation thing. I write, and an operator reads what I wrote to the person I'm speaking to.

Met a friend for lunch, so I finally got to eat at Au Bon Pain. Chose something that turned out to be tres spicy. Couldn't eat it. Opted for broccoli and cheese soup. I enjoyed it.

C'est tout, gang.

Well, hurray for cheese and broccoli soup, at least...and for Boida being out and about.

Good luck with your titty...er..I mean tty.

I have used it...it's tres cool.


However, let us invoke the spirit of Stentor to restore your voice!!!

Oh I wish the speech was not taking "longer than normal", Roberta!
For big communicator such as yourself, this is a truly terrible thing!

Just one question, dearie: what exactly is this Au Bon Pain you finally got a chance to eat (but didn't agree with you)? I'd love to know.

I now don't remember if I've been to au bon pain, in nyc or chicago, or some other pain. Just as well.

In my case, I wish people would stop murmuring on the phone. My ex called me on valentines day and said something sincere. We both know we know we know that we know zilch will happen re getting together, but we have a sturdy history, and sturdy regard. As in, we both care that the other keeps on living and surviving. I might go back if I could, or also maybe not, there is no there, there.

His comments were all murmur.
I don't add a load to that. It's his old treasure tone. I just can't hear it now.

Got to say, this is an odd circumstance. No, it doesn't mean he wants back. He's being straight, quietly.
Quietly..
he used to speak Yeats to me, quietly.

But, Au bon pain...

I'd probably like something there.

The Pain was different from what I remembered. It used to have wonderful crispy crusty bread and fresh-as-the-morning salads. The salads looked ok. But there was almost no real bread (for Au Bon Pain). Everything sandwichy was a wrap.

I spoke with my cousin last week. Or tried to. He's a bit hard of hearing. This was a painful (physically and emotionally) phone conversation. We both felt helpless. Sigh.

BTW, the last thing I said the swallow, throat, speech doctor:

There's the horse whisperer, the dog whisperer, and me, the whisperer whisperer.

She laughed.

Great about the doc looking in to getting you a tty! Again, I'm willing to send you my old one if needed -- it works, but I never use it anyway.

tty = teletypewriter. It's a device that uses the phone wires to send beeps that are received by another tty on the other end as letters. (As in, press the letter "A," a beep goes out over the phone lines that results in an "A" showing up on the other person's tty.)

If the person you're calling -- like a hospital, which is required by the ADA to have one -- has a tty, you two can speak directly on it. (You type to them, they type back to you.) If you want to call someone who doesn't have a tty, you can use message relay. Then you type to the relay person ("Caller Assistant" or "CA"), and the CA receives your message and voices it to the person you're trying to reach; then that person voices something back to the CA, and the CA types that to you.

Very useful thingies.

I now use either email to speak to deaf friends or internet relay (I type to the CA on my computer rather than the tty) to speak to hearing people, so I have no use for the actual tty anymore.

Which may be more info than you need, BUT, upshot is it can be very helpful and I'm glad that's something you're moving on.

Thanks for the offer, soz. I keep hoping I won't need the tty.

If, by the time I see the doctor again, I still can't talk, then I'm gonna have to do something.

Silently snarling.

Actually my snarling isn't silent. I can make phlegmy grumbly rumbly snory sounds. They sound a little bit like a growl, which could pass for snarling.

Hey there goil

How goes it with the Noo Yawk boid? Any improvements.... ear pain... taste?

Hugs to ya. x

Wow thanks for bumping this up Izzie. It has been a whole week since the last report hasn't it. So I'm off to make a cup of tea to sit with Boida AND wait for her voice unless she already has it and isn't there of course.

How about a pot of tea ladies?

Mebbe some chocolate chai? It's very tasty - more choco aroma than flavour, but I can recommend it to you all. We've also got some nice cookies and biscuits I could put on a tray and share. Game?

Oh, lovely. Thank you for adding the fruit to the tray. May I pour?

Tea and tangerines! marvellous.

Thanks Jespah. What a great tea set!

Adding some of what I'm using for my flu-laryngitis -- Throat Coat, which has slippery elm, (Ulmus rubra), licorice root, wild cherry bark, fennel seed, cinnamon bark, orange peel, and althea root. Nice, and it seems to help.
I don't know where I got this, probably back in California. I'll send you some packets if you want, Roberta.



I'll add as a throw-in comment, but not bring for this particular tea party, that I've figured out how to tolerate TheraGlu, no, I mean, TheraFlu. I use only half a packet at a time, almost a cup of water, and add raw honey and blood orange juice, since I just happen to have a couple of blood oranges - and microwave that. This doesn't knock me out and take over my body and personality like the straight stuff does, and does cut down the night coughing fits.

May I join you? I've been hoping for an update, too.

I brought some sugared pecans. Everybody here loves them...hope you do, too.


(If you don't, I'll just eat them all myself.)

Ladies.... I would love to join you at the tea party in Noo York. I will bring a chocolate victoria sponge with cream and kiwi....


I''ve got some Earl Grey too...




<feel better soon Osso - thinking fo ya> x

Osso grabs the dish of candied pecans and runs away.