The Banana

When you get a chance, peel a banana and look at it. I start my day with a banana, and I actually look at it realizing it will take me 20 minutes to get it down. I am absolutely flabbergasted at how rapidly I deteriorated in terms of "regular" caloric intake. I tried a pot pie last night and got through maybe half of it. I could eat the vegetables but not the meat or crust. Eating is such a normal part of our everyday activities that it is almost impossible to comprehend going from liking everything to really liking nothing and finding ingestion of all most anything difficult at best. The PEG feeding tube sounds like a good idea, and I haven't even gotten close to starting treatment yet.

What I find so troubling is that all of this is so "un-Gordy Taylor like." While I'm married to a gourmet cook, I like dining out also as it is both a culinary and social experience. Now, if you see me on the street, I will still be upbeat and positive but within the confines of 35 Indian Trail battle lines are being drawn as I need to find a way to get the necessary calories and protein to fight this disease. Please don't be angry with me as I lament this part of "the process" but my intent is to be honest concerning what I am experiencing. I'm sure "eating" is just one of the many adjustments I'll have to make in the months ahead--believe it or not, I am down to one Diet Coke a day and my favorite food is now a chocolate soda.

There's also plenty of good news to report. While taking my daily walk around town, I was surprised when Diane drove by as she said she would be home dusting--oh yes, the Nagasaki Kitchen is still in process but making progress--lots of dust all over the house. As I talked to Diane, I looked over my shoulder and there was RYAN walking towards me. He didn't tell either of us but he had taken the morning train from Chicago to Macomb and walked to our house. Since I'm a creature of habit (I know you are amazed), Diane was able to intercept me on my route. What a pleasant surprise. Ryan and I continued walking around the square and took in a couple of innings of WIU baseball. It was a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful time.

At 6 p.m. I got a bit of a wake-up call as Diane and Ryan had a glass of wine on the deck and then went to the Red Ox for dinner while I battled the pot pie and watched Judgement at Nuremberg--a real pick me up.

Today is another beautiful day. Ryan and I will mow the lawn prior to his return to Chicago on the train this evening.

Tomorrow is CT-scan and mask fitting time at Burlington in preparation for my treatment. I left out a rather signficant piece of information concerning my visit to the doctors April 9th. My treatment consists of 7 weeks of radiation--5 days a week with a 3-hour chemo treatment added in weekly. I will lose some hair but we don't know how much.