Another spring forward

   It has happened again. 

   Last year, at about this time, I decided, literally overnight, that I was through with convalescing.  I decided one morning to get out of bed and spend all or most of the day up in my chair.  I also decided to begin to go out on my own, and I soon had my bed moved from the living room back into my bedroom where it, by definition, belonged and began posting here again after two years. 

   It felt like a miracle, an overnight miracle.  It felt freeing, liberating.  It felt right.  (Go back and read my post then.)

    This Spring, I haven’t yet gone out in my chair, partly because it has been unusually chilly here in sunny So. Cal. (my neuropathy has made me much more sensitive to cold, and my arms tighten when I’m cold – plus, it has been, like all this week, unusually wet). Also, I’m debating whether it’s safe for me to go out during this time, although I believe and suspect that, as we’re told, a solitary stroll is okay.

   However, another overnight miracle, one that feels freeing and liberating, that feels right, has happened.  After much thought on Tuesday evening, I decided on Wednesday  to start taking liquids and medications by mouth – and not to use the g-tube. 

   I decided this for two reasons.  One is that I’m tired of the hassle of using the g-tube, and I miss drinking juice, tea… The other reason is that I’m very worried, yes, terrified of the g-tube falling out and having to go to the E.R, the last place I want to be with COVID-19 – and will they even help me? (Funny how this pandemic, as horrifying as it is, keeps causing, inspiring positive changes.)

   The trick is for me to take in enough liquid, either with a straw, ideally, or with a syringe, to help prevent a U.T.I or prevent them from happening so often.  It’s a lot, and, before my surgery three years ago, drinking from a straw was easier, and I had a big bottle of water attached that I sipped from all day in addition to the juices and teas I had at meals.  Also, as I discovered last night, drinking in bed is too difficult (I get too much air in my stomach, so I may have to keep using the g-tube at that time, which means I can’t just get rid of it, which feels like a failure and is really disappointing. 

   But it’s nice not using the g-tube during the day, and that apple juice, orange juice and raspberry/pomegranite herbal tea sure tasted good.