Plans for My Physical Limitations - Can you add?

Had to give up the banana cream pies - being dairy, they just added to the mucus I was dealing with. Sigh...

Pardon my ignorance and please don't take offence but, what's wrong? For all that you are going through what caused it?

Squamus cell cancer of the mouth and neck - I wear a prosthetic in my mouth on one side because half of it was removed, and I only have one half of my neck intact. All muscles including jugular vein was removed on one side.

Who knows what caused it - the tumor was first deep inside of my palate on one side of my mouth. Then after I got a clean bill of health last Sept. out popped another one on my neck that required extensive aggressive cutting away of nerves and muscles.

Lynn, I don't drool - just need to swallow a lot to keep it in.

I appreciate all the wisdom posted here. And ideas. And how you all care!

God bless you, such an inspiration and example of the tenacity of hope in God. May God's glory shine through you!
Perhaps looking into ventriloquism techniques might be of help? I've always loved Sheri Lewis and Lamb Chop.

Hmm... my nerd reflex is triggered.

Speaking as a music nerd:
I listen to music the same way - either I want to LISTEN to it or not have it playing. But I find if I already know the whole song very well, I can let it play in the background and I don't have to pay attention to it because my brain is automatically filling in what I don't consciously listen to with what my brain already knows about the song.

Try making a playlist of songs you already know very well. If you know every word, beat and note of the song, you might find you are much better able to have it playing in the background when company comes to call. (Or you may find your mentality is totally different and this doesn't work at all for you... but it's an idea that works for me, so I thought I might throw it out there.)


Speaking as a tech nerd:
You could get a sensor at the front door, bluetooth-connected to your phone, so your phone will start broadcasting background music when the sensor is triggered. Set the music program to turn on when somebody crosses the sensor and turn off manually. Also you might set it to fade in over about ten seconds or so, so the visitor won't suddenly hear music turning on every time. Then you can have your quiet, you won't have to remember to start music playing when somebody comes and the visitor won't think it odd that you suddenly start music playing every time they come to call. Strategy! =^.^=

Create a website where you share your testimony for thousands to see. I created one back in 1994 when the internet first started out and from 94-2005 (before I had to reform it) I had over 20000 visitors Like I said I redid it recently on another site and share my story with other things

A friend set up a private group for me on FB, and there are 70 people who see my postings. I have shared each step of this journey and they respond. It really has helped me and, they say, inspires them.

Happy to hear that most happy for you

I make smoothies all the time. Here are my favorite ingredients:

Almond ice cream - Soy ice cream - many flavors. coffee flavored, yum. And mint/ chocolate.
Avocadoes
Bananas
Almond butter
Almond milk
Coconut milk
Small choc chip cookies (yep, just put them in the blender)
Sorbets
Protein powder - vanilla and chocolate
Sparkling water
Little amount of cocoa powder and vanilla when called for.
Frozen bits of fruit - pineapple, berries.
Protein drinks - different flavors.

I can eat soft foods like scrambled eggs with hummus, veggies cooked in broth until soft. Pastas soft, etc., pancakes

I have to eat every four hours - two shakes a day - to gain weight. It is slow going.

The first thought that came to my mind while reading your post was writing things in order to communicate, but Blain already mentioned that. Instead of banana cream pie, you could try banana pudding. Instead of using milk in the pudding mix, you could substitute almond milk. It is very delicious. Our pastor had cancer, and banana pudding was one of the few things he enjoyed eating in order to gain weight when he was ill. He said it was “ambrosia”. If you don’t know how to make it, it is very simple. You use a box of vanilla pudding mix, layer a trifle dish with sliced bananas and Nilla wafers. The cookies get soft when you put the hot pudding on top, then keep alternating the three layers. It is kind of like a trifle rather than a pudding. Most people in the South really go for banana pudding. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it. It is best served warm, but you can put the leftovers in the refrigerator and eat it chilled.

Gotta disagree about the banana pudding.

Real banana pudding is a treat for the gods. But real banana pudding has nothing to do with instant pudding. Instant pudding with bananas is what the grocery stores sell. Real banana pudding starts with milk, egg, butter, flour, sugar, vanilla, cooked in a pot. Then you layer that cooked mixture with banana slices and nilla wafers.

I know some people who will never speak to you again if you try to give them instant pudding with banana slices and tell them it's real banana pudding. We take our desserts seriously down here in the south.

She can not have dairy. I did not suggest instant pudding, but the type of mix you cook on the stovetop. That way, the banana pudding is warm and the Nilla wafers are softened by the hot pudding. Instant pudding is too cold, but pudding does not need to be made from scratch. It can be made from the mix that you cook. Plus, my version is very easy to make.

Hot or cold, "a box of vanilla pudding mix" is instant pudding. You'll get a lot of funny looks if you try to serve people that in my area.

Fortunately, I don’t mix with very many gourmands. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis described gluttony as being overly picky about one’s food. It was an interesting thought. In layman’s parlance, “Rub a dub, dub- thanks for the grub”.

I'd must disagree--refusing to eat fake food is not being picky . (I'm teasing ya. It sounded like a great idea). But making everything from scratch does seem to spoil a body.

Lol, convenience food is convenient! Home made everything is best, but not always practical. If I go to a person’s house, and they give me a dessert not made from scratch, I’d eat it and say “Thanks very much”, but I was raised to do so. My great aunt used to make us drink fruit tea. I hated it- tea mixed with pieces of fruit, but she was insistent, so we drank a glass and said “Thanks.” I think this is what Lewis was getting at. He was describing a querulous woman who would not eat this and not eat that and put her hosts out tremendously. Lewis was a good trencherman, so probably did not understand finicky people, lol. In the book I just read, the authors talked about his “beef and beer” diet.

Oh, well...eating at someone else's house is an entirely different matter. I once made myself ill on Thai food to make my new aunt comfortable and happy. But I've never willingly eaten so much as a scrap of Asian food since! (I loved that part in Screwtape, btw. Very insightful, as per usual).

I sometimes make "books" for my grandchildren of assorted images I find on Google. I then use a photo shop site to enhance the pictures, adding details or just making them brighter and more colorful. I put them altogether like a story and then email them to my grandkids. It's so much fun to do and my grandkids love them!

Maybe you can make books of photos like that for dear friends and family members. You are so artistic and creative, you could probably make way better books than I do. I can also help you enhance them, if you'd like.

Another thing I do is play online games. You don't have to download these and there's quite an interesting selection. The site owner is my Facebook friend and he's such a sweet Christian guy. Many seniors (like me) in particular love his game site because it's easy to read and fun to play. He's got quite a following of players, including Mark Hamill (of Star Wars), of all people. I can send you the link in a pm if you'd like.

For some reason I've not been sleeping as soundly as I used to, don't know why. But when I'm lying in bed staring into the dark and am unable to sleep, I stare at God. That's it. Just stare at Him and practice surrendering my mind completely over to Him, until I feel fully abandoned into Him. Like falling into His Presence and having no thoughts at all, just peace and light. I love doing that! One night last week, we had strong winds and I got excited about staring at God with the wind blowing. So I opened my bedroom window, jumped in bed and stared at God in the dark while the wind howled. It was so thrilling, I felt like I was in His throne room with Him. *ahhh*

I also like to play around with scraps of paper, cloth, ribbon, sequins, or buttons and make mosaics or greeting cards. That's fun and the sky is the limit with designs. I even made strings of 3D hearts for my son & daughter-in-law's wedding.

If I come up with any more ideas, I'll post them here, too. Love and peace and blessings to you, dear sister Joi. ❤