We have now settled into a daily routine for my care and maintenance, and we are both getting back into the swing of things with our jobs.
Terry has started her fall schedule of school programs with HealthMPowers and I've been to my office a few times, soon to start getting ready for fall classes.
The biggest and best development has been my ability to inject my water and liquid food directly into the PEG tube, which takes only about 15 minutes per "meal." I use a product called IsoSource, which looks like a very light and thin chocolate milk and has a neutral kind of flavor that I can get a hint of in the feeding process. Interesting stuff--it provides me with all of my caloric and nutritional needs, but with none of the enjoyment of eating food. There is also no food prep or cooking to do--which I also miss. Just pop open the little containers, pour the IsoSource into a large cup, draw it into the large syringes, and inject it into the tube. I also miss being able to share the same meals with Terry, and going out for dinner--which we did 2-3 times a week.
To help a little, I've done a bit of cooking for Terry recently, which gives me some of the enjoyment of meals at home, but it's a far cry from the real deal of prepping, cooking, and eating the same meal together.
It looks like I'll be eating only Liquid Chicken for at least another month. I have my next swallow test in 3 weeks, and even if I pass it, it will be a very long and gradual progression from 100% IsoSource to a sustainable level of oral eating.
As always, it sure beats the alternative, so no whining from this boy. I'm getting stronger every day and ready to gear up for my last full year of work.
Mike
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