Just got home from the hospital - spent the evening watching my mom and I's new favourite TV show - SMASH.  It's become a Monday night tradition and the hospital wasn't going to slow us down!  Pretty funny though - the TV in mom's room has next to no volume so we had to wheel down to the patient lounge at the end of the hall.   Mom has to be on continuous suction for her chest tubes so we have to take the portable machines which make noise like a helicopter landing ... no problem, we just cranked the TV volume.  A TV musical combined with an two incoming helicopters - what a racket ahaha!!

I guess making noise in that way is mom's way of compensating.  Since the surgery mom has very little voice - just a whisper.  On her PET scan earlier this month there was a questionable lymph node in her neck so the surgeon had to go digging to remove it.  In the process he managed to hit her voice box nerve and as a result she is left with just a whisper.  8/10 people with this "complication" regain their normal voice by 3 months.  For those who don't there is a procedure that can be done to get it back.  A bit disappointing but a small price to pay in the grand scheme of removing that lymph node.  Poor mom though, of all people.... she's going to have to cut down on her gossip (or should I say "networking) and cut down on her nagging ;) ahha.  She joked today that she is going to start a "call in service" on her cell phone at the hospital with her sexy raspy voice...a side job while she recovers.

Today was better yet - THIRTEEN laps of the ward -- 3 in a row at one point.  She is motoring now.... triple the speed.  I know I've said it so many times - but I am so proud of her.    Her energy is improving everyday.  She's getting a bit better rest at night which I think helps things dramatically.

Tomorrow is a new day.  The swallow test has been delayed slightly.  The surgeon that told her Tuesday was the covering surgeon of the weekend.  She saw her own surgeon today and he would like to wait until the end of the week for the test.  He says because of the chemo and radiation her tissues might be slower to heal....of course mom completely disagrees...but says she can't argue because she doesn't have the voice.  She jokes he went into this profession because people can't talk back after the surgery (not funny!).

Goodnight everyone!