I'll get this off my chest now. This saliva thing continues to throw out curve balls, and the latest was one I would never have thought about in years.
I had reason to post something at work the other day, and the envelope was of the non-self seal variety. Have you ever tried to lick the sealing strip when you don't have saliva? Well I started the task oblivious to the pending problem and quickly got to the "what the" stage. OK, so what next? Hmm. trying to tip drops of water out of the water bottle to substitute for saliva wasn't exactly a) easy or b) successful. For the record, water doesn't work as well as saliva. Thank goodness for cellotape. Note to self, only buy self-seal envelopes for home.
And, I'm going to dispel an urban myth today as well. Pantyhose are not an effective temporary fix for a broken fan belt. On the way home on Thursday night, the fan belt in the car sucked the kumara and caused some serious overheating (unknown at this time if there is any long term damage to the motor - fingers crossed answer is no). Service stations these days don't stock such life saving items, so the pantyhose idea sprung to mind. Well, that was a waste of money. Seemed to work for maybe 30 seconds before it all turned to custard. Another note to self - when fan belt on 31 year old car starts looking a bit dodgy, replace the sucker.
So, what about the recovery, etc? Well, by in large, things are going really well. I'm told I'm looking pretty good - my colour is back and I'm not looking so gaunt apparently. I'm certainly feeling a lot better, but still struggle with energy levels, etc.
Case in point, the boys and I went out last Friday night (25th Feb) and started by going to the driving range to hit a bucket of 50 balls each. Obviously, this sort of activity didn't feature much during last year, but I was surprised how little strength I had in my arms. I know technique is more important that brute strength, but my golf abilities are purely social, so technique doesn't really exist. So, sore arms were the order of the day on the weekend.
On Sunday, Sharon & Phil came up to remove the remainder of the cursed bamboo and I'd got up early to finally sort out the garden shed. By the end of the day, with both tasks duly tackled, I was knackered. Yet, in a perverse sort of way, I was really happy about it. At last I was getting back into doing things, and despite the discomfort, I know I have to keep pushing the boundaries to get my energy/stamina levels back.
Work has been really quite hectic this week and, again, by pushing myself a little too hard, I "suffer" when I get home by falling asleep in the chair early in the evening. Despite all my banter about pacing myself, etc regarding work, the reality is I'm buzzing with the current challenges and forget myself at times. It is so great to be doing this stuff again that I'm somewhat torn between the buzz and looking after myself.
I know the latter has to win through in the end and this week's challenge will be to start balancing/controlling that workload a bit better.
Eating wise, things are still ticking along nicely. Got back into adding gravy to some of the meals this week and that certainly meant things like chips became more manageable. Still don't see me having gravy with fish and chips though. Had this random thought during the week as well regarding, of all things, toad in the hole. Given it is basically sausage in a dough/yorkshire pudding "base", and given my inability to eat buns, etc (which have a similar texture), does this spell the end of this tasty treat from my food choices? Moira has agreed to knock one up, so time will tell.
Also going to try a hamburger at some stage over the weekend, so watch this space on that one.
Have my next appointment with the gang of seven now confirmed - Wed 13th April - so not long to go. That is only a couple of weeks before the anniversary of the initial confirmed diagnosis, and I see it as another important step on my path forward.
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