extreme bonjela testing - update

my apologies for not updating you on the extreme bonjela testing that was mentioned in a previous post.

having written my intentions to numb the ulcers on my tongue and then try to consume either the sweet chilli flavoured crisps (impulse buy) or some chocolate (thanks to some of my visitors), i begun the experiment.

as the chocolate was already open i decided to start with that (why waste a whole packet of crisps?), having given the gel time to work, i then consumed one piece of swiss chocolate. a slight tingly sensation, not too bad. i then tried a second, that hurt!

i'm not sure if it was the saliva washing away the bonjela after my first mouthful or if i hadn't applied enough (apparantly you need 1cm of gel - but i'm not sure if it is for each ulcer or the entire tongue) but i have to report that in my case the bonjela let me down.

the ulcers have nearly gone and are probably doing me a favour at the moment as i can only eat small amounts of chocolate. this is good as i have a small pile of chocolate to get through from both the kindness of my hospital visitors and the easter bunny! i have however eaten the crisps, one side of my mouth is worse than the other, so as long as i crunch on my left, it's not too painful!

on another note, according to this months good housekeeping magazine, you can use bonjela to numb your eyebrows before plucking them - bet you never thought of that...

extreme bonjela testing

in order to keep myself amused this morning i have decided to undertake some extreme bonjela testing. this has come about for two reasons.
firstly, as previously mentioned a crop of ulcers and a fungal infection have taken up residence in my mouth over the last week. yesterday i was given a bottle of liquid antibiotic and a tube of bonjela, these, along with an illegally smuggled steroid mouthwash, have begun to make some impact on my unwelcome visitors.
secondly, when i bought the paper yesterday i made a rash impulse buy of a packet of walkers sensations sweet thai chilli crisps (a fave of mine). it is hard to believe but it is obviously possible to impulse buy in hospital. anyway once back in sideroom 2 i realised that that might not have been the wisest way to spend 99p. crisps, chilli flavouring, mouth ulcers... so the packet remains unopened.
thirdly, yesterday was chocolate day, ie some of my visitors had bought me some chocolate. matthew and i had some in the evening whilst playing cards and i realised that mouth ulcers don't like extreme sweet either.

so in a minute i will be liberal with the bonjela and once it has had time to work, try eating either the crisps or the chocolate. i will off course update you with the results later.

on a more positive note i understand there is now a bed shortage and the 14yr old can see no reason to keep me here, we just need a more mature doctor to sign the form. the only possible fly in the ointment is that i will need some antibiotics to go home with, if it is only for a couple of days there is enough on the ward. if i need them for longer they will have to be ordered from pharmacy... and because of the bank holidays this weekend i will need to get them from here.