Treatment - Day 10: Can YOU eat while showering?

My stomach seems to have settled down enough that I pumped two 8oz cans of Iso-Source 1.5. However, the pump rate was rather anemic at only 75 ml/hr so it took about 7 hours. That's a long time. I pushed the pump rate up to 100 ml/hr at the end. I know, I'm really living on the edge.

The EntraLite pump is a little bigger than an index card and runs on rechargeable batteries. The sound it makes isn't too bad as long as it isn't sitting right next to you. It gets a little cranky if you turn it on but don't start the pump.

Since the pump is rechargeable I can take it and the bag that feeds formula into the pump anywhere. The feeding process was so long today that I took the pump with me when I showered (my weekly one). I hung the pump and bag on the outside of the shower and that worked pretty well. I just had to be a little more careful to not hit the longer feeding tube. I guess that means I can sing and eat at the same time.

Not that I can sing at this point. I'm talking a lot less today. My throat is hurting more, but along with that my gums are starting to hurt also. The radiation nurses said it was due to the radiation. Fortunately, the pain is - so far - only on the inside of the top left gum. My tongue is also doing some strange things. It feels a little numb and it has a white, pasty color. I asked Dr Davis about it today and he said it didn't look like Thrush. Cathy thinks it is and some pictures I found on the Internet seem to agree. I'll check back with the doctor on Monday during chemotherapy.

In news of the really bizarre, I was bit by an insect while in the radiologists waiting room. It was not a spider. At least I don't think it was. The bite swelled up a bit and left a red spot behind. I caught the insect and put in in a zip lock bag. After my radiation treatment I was visited by a Patient Advocate and a head nurse. Apparently getting bit in an office at the hospital is a big deal.