We all have our morning routines, who makes the coffee, who gets the bathroom first, who’s out the door first. For all my married life with Suzanne, our first routine has been to share a cup of coffee in bed while we watch the news and talk about the day ahead. This routine is such an important part of our day, I built a coffee bar in our upstairs hallway just outside our bedroom door so we didn’t have to go down to the kitchen to make the coffee. So, when we wake, I just tell ‘Google’ to turn on the coffee pot and we are ready to go.

Well, that’s what it was like until February 22 when Suzanne had her 14-hour surgery. At that time, the surgeons removed her tongue, the gatekeeper to your ability to swallow. She was no longer able to eat or drink anything because she had no control over her throat as well as the pain and discomfort it caused. We still woke up next to each other, we still watched the news, but only one of us got to enjoy our morning cup of coffee.

At first, it was difficult for me to get used to. For the longest time, I still made a full pot of coffee; I would kind of hide my coffee cup on the other sided of the bed from her; I even felt guilty that I somehow was the only one who was able to enjoy that morning tradition, until today.

This morning, thanks to a product we found called SimplyThick, Suzanne was able to drink her first half a cup of coffee in months. This product changes the consistency of liquids from watery, to nectar, to honey to pudding depending on how much you add to the cup.

Learning to swallow again continues to be the biggest challenge she has ahead of her. I’ll try to explain the best I can and hope the terms I use are correct. The problem lies where her tongue used to be, the windpipe, esophagus, and the epiglottis (the flap that covers the windpipe when you swallow) It’s all automatic for us, but for Suzanne, not so.

I equate her current routine to swallow like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. To swallow, Suzanne puts the liquid in her mouth, takes a deep breath and holds it (that closes off her windpipe), tips her head back to let the liquid run down her throat, and then has to cough to clear any liquid that might still be hanging around on top of her windpipe so she doesn’t aspirate it. There is a fine line between a liquid that runs too fast down her throat and one that is too thick and just doesn’t move. That’s where this new thickener comes into play. Suzanne is able to find that right balance she needs to be able to control her swallow.

Starting about 8 weeks ago, trying to get a teaspoon of anything down was difficult. Finishing half of a cup of coffee this morning was monumental. It still takes a while to drink that much liquid, but that too will improve over time.

So this morning, life seemed to be just a little more back to normal. Coffee in bed with my wife brought a new level of joy to my heart.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

Psalm 16:5