Almost Ended up in the ER Last Night!

Things have been uneventful here at the Mik Homestead, so I haven't posted much.  Aside from the lawnmower breaking down (AGAIN!), things had been going good . . . . until yesterday, that is!  

As I've stated in the past, Greg was advised by his doctor to eat at least once a day, in order to keep his throat and swallowing muscles working.  Usually that's been dinner, which is, of course, the best meal of the day!  Well, we had gotten quite a deal on some beef tenderloin steaks a few weeks ago and decided to have them for dinner.  It can be hard to cook them to perfection on the grill, so we decided that I would cook them on the stove.  I have an amazing cast iron grill pan and I've learned to cook steaks to a perfect medium rare on it.  So, we had the steaks and sauteed onions, together with roasted asparagus (it was on sale for just $2.29 a pound, so we grabbed one bunch of it while at the grocery store) that I marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic and I made teriaki noodles to go with. 

After about two bites, Greg started coughing.  And gagging.  And coughing.  And gagging.  Apparently, what can happen is that with the tumor in the throat, food has to go around it, so it goes down one side or the other.  Sometimes, food gets stuck.  It's not like when you're choking and can't breathe, but you can't drink or swallow much and you need to be able to cough it up. 

I hate to say it, but it really sounded gross, and both Abby and I were almost gagging just at the sounds he was making in gagging and trying to cough it up.   We watched and we waited.  And waited and waited some more.  After about 45 minutes, Abby and I decided enough was enough, and we were taking him to the Emergency Room.   It was late enough at night that there was no urgent care facility open at that time.   

As we're all getting ready to go to the ER, Greg actually manages to cough up whatever it was that was stuck in his throat!  Whew!  No ER visit!  We both commented on how something like this was supposed to happen and happen fairly often.  It's part of the reason why so many with this horrible cancer don't eat and lose much weight -- and hence the need for the feeding tube.   

So, I guess we're lucky that this was the first time this happened.   Greg has chemo one more time next week, and then he will be done with all his treatments.  It will be a month or so after that that he has any new scans or tests done, so please keep your prayers going!  

Blessings to all! 

Julie