Yesterday I was feeling a bit sorry for myself because there was a possibility that I would still be on tube feeding.and miss my Christmas dinner. I know that coping with any kind of hardship or problem is all about having the right perspective. One of my friends gave me the perfect perspective for this issue in an email today.
He said "You do realize that a good third of the world would kill to have a bottle of nutrients running into their stomach via a tube through their nose while twiddling their thumbs, sitting in front of a TV." Now that is powerful medicine; an instant cure for self pity!
Us older folks have gone through life accumulating a whole range of perspectives. The memories of the difficult times that we experience help us deal with hardships in our present lives. Young people are shocked to learn that we didn't have cell phones and that my first experience of TV was at age eight and there were only two black and white channels. Of course we do sometimes exaggerate as in one of my favourite Monty Python skits:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAdlkunflRs
Today we met with our local dietician and decided to increase my daily calories to prevent my gradual weight loss. My breathing seems to be a little better but it could take several weeks before it returns to normal. My big treat today was driving into town to see my family doctor to chat about cycling and renew my prescription for pain medication. I have meetings in Ottawa on the 15th and 20th December with the radiation oncologist to review my swallowing problem and the results of the radiation treatment.
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