Pink Tongue Days

Monday, April 27th

Today is what I call one of my pink tongue days.

During the first few days of chemo, my tongue turns this odd shade of bluish white. I am sure there is a chart somewhere that tells me this corresponds to my liver, which at this point is stunningly obvious.  I did a Google search to try and find my color, but there are hundreds of charts out there, with some really scary looking tongues.  I didn't look too long, I gave up when my color wasn't easy to find.

After a few days of this pale blue, the color starts to recede to the back of my tongue.  It is gradual, until there is a patch in the very center that disappears down my throat.  By the end of the week, usually the Sunday after I am unhooked, I have the most lovely pink tongue.  It is like the tongue of a child, fresh, pink and clean.

It will last for the week, until sometime after I get my chemo on Friday.

It is a funny thing to me, my new obsession with the color of my tongue.  I have always brushed it in the morning, and checked it out to see how it looked, it's what you are supposed to do, right?   I never really thought about what I was looking for, although I guess a drastic change would have alarmed me, and caused me to call the doctor or dentist.

Every morning when I get up, and whenever I find myself in front of a mirror, I stick out my tongue to see how things are going.  I give my family updates, by sticking out my tongue to show off my color of the day.

It is silly, but it is a way to mark my time.  Not that I need my tongue to tell me whether I am feeling well or not, I can figure that out pretty quickly when I wake up in the morning.  Somehow it gives rhythm to the time between treatments, and the countdown to when I am done.  It is a small thing, and possibly a strange thing to be fixated on, but for now, it's my thing.