I started with a shower and the daily turning of the feeding tube and the cleaning around the hole. It pierces through your skin and into the stomach so there's always a wee bit of snotters to clean away.
Prior to this at 6am, my dental delight with the flourine mouth guards, known as the happy hour by me. I'm still not meeting quota here but with the Western visit must come the "Yes, I did this morning for an hour but, I've been bad", aka the naughty step confession.
After the shower came my double Weetabix and then off to the western via the pitch n putt.
The seasons have come and gone on the Camino Can'cerre and it's one of the longest I've been on. It's certainly the most sober Camino ever. I've also got it down as the slowest I've ever walked too.
I'm feeling good today as I've loads of questions that I've saved up during the process. Many would ask as they went along but I felt most would get answered as we ventured along the path and the rest would probably be irrelevant. That's largely been the case so now I've only got a few to ask and none particularly urgent. They range from COVID and flu jags to products to stop the mouth ulcers singing so loudly. On the plus side when I do a cavernous yawn it doesn't hurt. I used to find that big yawn eye watering which was really handy if I got some grit iny eyes. It doesn't hurt now so eyes are as dry as my mouth, another reason to celebrate Tuesday.
So it's 9:15 for speech therapy, nutrition, bursingt and dental. Then it's 4pm for the consultant. During the rest of the day I can take in the bookies, badgers on the water of Leith or possibly my bed.
I decided to celebrate with a trip to Cafe Gallo where I had a coffee and a scrambled egg roll. I got such good feedback I'm off the shakes for the time being and happy to have my snacks and strolls. Stroll to a cafe and have a snack.
Stroll home and have some more. In this case, yes, it's now 12 so time for poor man's quiche, aka, the eggy bread rolls. Oscar put a bit of pepper in the scrambled egg roll so that was a good challenge that I met, so I tried to crisp up the second side of my french toasty roll.
It's ridiculous how close it is to the texture of quiche, just lacking a firm base. The moisture level is off the clock so I don't need to worry about having a drink as I eat and it cools quick enough that I don't burn myself either.
It an absolute winner and another reason why I have learnt loads on the Camino Can'cerre as I told all the professionals at the Maggie centre today.
They were great and I can't thank them enough, so that's all I did. They told me I was doing amazing and I said I'm just a reflection of you amazing people. You told me to do this exercise and that. You told me about this and how to overcome that. If I had trouble eating use the shakes down the tube. The mouth guards and the teeth, well, I said, I've a confession here, I managed it this morning but I have been intermittent.
All in my weight was 99 kg which is below the 114kg I started at when I first started reducing my alcohol and then when I stopped altogether it was probably already down to 110kg. I got a chance to thank them again for encouraging me to present myself in the best way possible for treatment and my pre season training was merely a reflection of their advice.
To lose 15kgs is absolutely superb but I appreciate I'm only to put weight on until January, like that's ever been a stretch for me. I just need three nights out on the bounce and I'll be 104kgs.
From my birthday weight of 16/10 I've seen me rise to 17/10 by the new year. The very first time I ever tipped the scales at 17 stone I said to Caitlin, unbelievable, I'm so over weight, and before the week was out I said, I don't need to worry about being 17 stone anymore, I'll be 18 stone tomorrow as I was 17/12 this morning. This is how sedentary I can be. It's also how greedy I can be if fully rocking and rolling with my favourite cheeses getting washed down with gorgeous Christmas wines.
So after lunch and surviving the onslaught of school kids boarding the bus in Stockbridge I got on the scales at the western and was 100.55kgs. this indeed pleased the Doctor. All the examination also pleased and hearing me slaver a load of nonsense also left him smiling. My usual gratitude for the fantastic professional teams which I never tire of saying as I genuinely appreciated all the help they and others, not least fellow accomplices in the treatment cycle of throat cancer, like Stu or Alex have given me on the journey.
The next phase won't be in 3 weeks, rather it'll be in January with the scan. The doctor duly noted I was at week 12/13 in my recovery not week 10 so another check up would not be required.
We discussed the scan and what they'll look for and then end of January I'll get to discuss the outcome of the scan. Like a good fairytale I'll be willing my Camino Can'cerre to have a happy ending.
Happy Tuesday everyone and I think it's time for a pint.
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