Not Dead Yet !: clearing the air

Another week of … this and that. Nothing major but quite busy. Time to document as much as I remember.

It's a comic strip that cements my view of farting. I've had weeks' of excessive farting, I blame it on drug side-effects, change of taste and change of diet... The last (I now believe) is part of the truth.

I don't (during and after the chemo week) enjoy tea or coffee. Water tastes odd. A TV show makes me think, yes, possibly a "metallic" taste. If I let tea cool a bit before adding milk, that helps. Milk drinks -- taste good. Lots of milk, plus sugar? Whatever, I drink a lot more flavoured milk.

I begin to suspect that milk is causing flatulence...

Then a daily comic strip links cows, flatulence, lactose intolerance. Bingo!

I am gradually recovering my normal taste sensations. Drinking more tea, coffee, water -- and less milk. And there is less flatulence. Back to normal, almost acceptable levels :-)

My analysis: I may not be "lactose intolerant" -- to normal levels of drinking milk. Drink several containers of flavoured milk each day -- and my digestion rebels. Lesson learnt! Though if I'm thirsty -- I still like to drink flavoured milk... be warned :-)

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Feet and fingers: The soles of my feet have tingled, probably since my first chemo, twelve months' back. The recent chemo has made it worse. Fingertips and toes do more than tingle, they itch, and are sensitive. I need to be careful opening a jar (for example) because it hurts my fingertips. (I was completely wrong on the possible cause when this first happened.)

Anyway, it's trivial. When I say "it hurts", I mean that it's a very minor pain, avoided by use of more palm than fingertip. The fingers are a constant reminder of not being 100% okay. Itchy toes come and go.

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Going back a bit... We stop for lunch on the rogaine -- and I can barely eat. Serious pain as I bite. Still, I eat -- suck and absorb :-) most of my lunch. Monday, it's a urgent trip to the dentist.

The dentist cleans under an implant. Can't see any obvious problem. Suggests a minor gum infection. The pain eases -- but is replaced by a nasty ache. I can eat, very carefully. The ache doesn't get worse... nor better.

Friday, back to the dentist. He taps my teeth. Applies dry ice. I fail to jump. I remind him that I have never been sensitive to dry ice. The ache persists. Do I have a bad bite? Out with the carbon paper... No, no sign of mismatched teeth grinding.

There's a live tooth -- a rarity in my mouth -- next to the ache. It has a crown. Neither of us want to drill through the crown to check the nerve. The dentist prods the jaw muscle going up from the ache... Does that hurt? he asks. No. And then: He pushes near the top of that muscle... That's better! I say.

I may have been grinding my teeth -- and caused a "cramp" in a jaw muscle. I rub, I stretch, I move my jaw -- and the ache fades. Okay, there's still (days later) a very minor ache. It comes and goes. It does not affect my eating. Problem solved -- with a nice, simple solution.

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And then… it's election day. (For those who came in late: Vote [1] for Nick for HEMP. We don't expect to win a seat. We are not disappointed :-)

My "campaigning" is limited to a blog and emails. Emails are mostly in response to lobby groups who want me to swear allegiance to their cause. Most of their emails are polite, informative and... well... an eye-opener to someone who has never really thought about political issues.

Saturday, I actually meet my co-HEMP campaigner, he's over from SA. We hold a few hemp banners and chat a lot. An interesting day.

Sunday, Deb runs a 12km fun run, I walk the 4km fun "walk". Of course we both do well :-) It's tiring but satisfying.

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Monday I sleep all day. I may not have done much electioneering but it did keep me awake. Now I can relax. Tuesday, more sleep. Interspersed with helping Deb mind our grandson, that's fun.

Today, Wednesday, I start by resting & reading... Till I suddenly sit up, feeling ready to "do something". Okay, I'm now well and truly rested ! It's a series of web reports which make me think, time to get up and do. More on that later, hopefully in a blog post later today...