Reality bites

I received a reminder this evening that these cells growing inside me are more than theoretical. I've been feeling near normal so it has been very easy to just enjoy life experiences without feeling like a sick person.

Abby dropped in and we decided to go out for dinner at Charlie's, a place we really like but for some reason rarely think of going. They had great specials, we ran into friends, the waitress was terrific and the food that came to our table looked amazing. It was a great start.

Since my only symptom has been food occasionally getting stuck at the juncture of my esophagus and stomach, I've learned to chew carefully and eat slowly. Even with those precautions, food occasionally still gets stuck and I need to sip a bunch of water and swallow repeatedly to make it go down. To an observer, it looks a little like when your cat is preparing to throw up. If you have a cat, you know what I am talking about. Not exactly a pleasant thing to witness but it is over in a few seconds. My family has gotten used to it. You may want to stop reading here.

As I was saying, the food looked (and tasted) great. This may have contributed to a lapse back to my old bad habit of wolfing my food. And something got stuck. I reached for my water and started swallowing over and over but for the first time, it would not go down. I sipped more water but it still wouldn't go down. This means that the water came back up. I started sputtering as the water gurgled at the entry to my windpipe. I had to push Mary to the side and run for the door to eject what I could in the parking lot. When I sat back down, the food was still stuck but a couple more sips and it successfully pushed through. It kind of put a damper on things as you might imagine.

I debated whether I should mention this in my blog but decided that the blog is for me and this was a profound experience. For guest readers, I will continue to remind you when to stop reading. Let this be a lesson to you!