October 4th, Thursday

Dear Family and Friends,
Hello to all. Well, the pain meds have helped, but now I"M for sure the driver---which always seems strange for me. Sick or not, I am used to Marty wanting to drive. But since Wednesday morning, he has relinquished that to me.
Wednesday treatment and weekly visit with Dr. Hitchcock went well and then we went directly out to see Mom before Marty got too tired. I think we may have stayed too long because he was really miserable by the time we got back to our room. It was a nice visit and she was awfully glad to lay eyes on him. We learned a bit about the cruise and saw her pictures and heard how things went. Her apartment is very nice and in a very nice part of town.
Marty got about 5 hours of sleep last night which felt like heaven and we both slept until 8 am. We tried the shuttle today instead of driving, You know me, I like to know of and try out all the options! The trip up was a piece of cake and we were dropped off just feet from where he checks in. The trip back involved a bit of a wait which was aggitating to him, but I thought it was nice to just be passengers with no decisions to make. He has now had his applesauce and instant breakfast and is now napping. I'm really glad we came right back to the room today and did not go on any adventure. I came down to the lobby so I won't be noisy and can make some calls and mail some insurance forms out and perhaps get a little sun on the deck. It is a beautiful Indian Summer day here. Hope it is for all of you wherever you may be.
I see so many physical changes happening to Marty in just these 4 days. He has gone backwards in the healing process and it has become harder and harder for him to get the nutrition he needs and I am being a major nag because he does not even think about food. We brought a huge stash of foods that were working for him with us, so its just a matter of reminding him to eat and opening something up for him. I keep thinking of new things to try and it just makes him mad, so I will stop doing that. His mouth is so sore inside and his face and jaw hurt constantly. Dr. Hitchcock was pleased with everything at yesterday's weekly visit, but does want him to shave before treatments!!! Easier said than done! That was really bad news for him. He has only shaved once since the 2nd surgery and it was torture and pain. But, he minded her and though he did need a bit of help from me, mostly did it on his own. He kept taking breaks from it so the whole thing took about an hour. Who knew just a simple thing such as shaving could be such a PAIN. ???? I really hope the whole nerve thing that is going on there will be temporary and that this is not how his face is going to feel for the rest of his life. All I can say , for now is "Kiss him gently and be really careful where you touch him" -----the slightest tap on the shoulder or back even hurts. For someone who has always been so tough, it is hard for me to see. Pray for his comfort and his ability to sleep.
I am grateful for his strong nature and his need for independence. I feel most days I am here mostly for moral support and not so much to be his nurse, but I do know that he appreciates that I CAN be his nurse if he needs me to be and can just be his wife if he needs me to be. My biggest challenge right now is to BE QUIET. It hurts for him to talk and he has become so deaf that it's am effort just to listen. I know this will come as a HUGE shock to those who know him best. The TV stays off a lot of the day !!! No, I am not lying.
As always, I have my cell on me and will try to communicate as much as I can with email and with this BLOG. For those of you who do not know, my email is glcb@dcdi.net ---short and sweet and easy to remember.
Thanks to all who still have Marty in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to all who are covering our "real life" at both our work and home. Love,
LaRee and , of course, Marty