Diary Entry 81: Saigon, Thursday Night, 28 October 1965

                                                                                          Saigon
                                                                                         Thursday Night, 28 October 1965


I am feeling some better with this cold but improvement seems to come very slowly.  Went to the doctor Tuesday and yesterday and got some pills and aspirin and advice to drink lots of liquids and get plenty of rest.  Was able to drink lots of water but did not get as much rest as was necessary.  The doctor did put me on quarters and Colonel Plate has kept me working right up to 7:30 or 8:30 every night.  By the time I get to a BOQ and get something to eat and then go to the Vinh Loi, it is 10 p.m.  The last 2 nights I just felt too tired or too bad to do anything more than fall into bed.  

And when it rains it just pours.  While my cold is getting gradually better my teeth are acting up again.  The jaw tooth on the upper left is swollen up again so it may have to come out after all.  That will make 2 out of the upper left considering the one pulled last week.  Then the wisdom tooth on the lower left is now hurting a little and appears (from the taste in the mouth) to be abscessing also.  I hate it, but if it keeps up I’ll have to probably go back and get it pulled also.  If this keeps up I’ll just be “Old Toothless Joe” when I get back home.  Have only one jaw tooth now on the upper left, so will probably have to get a partial put in there to eat.

Most of the time I try to maintain the fiction that I’m a tough and vigorous young Tiger and reckon I really felt that way for nearly 5 months.  Recently, however, with stomach trouble, one tooth extraction completed, perhaps more in prospect, and a real bad cold, I have come to regard myself as more of a kitten than a Tiger.  Hate the thought of it, but reckon I am just getting old.  No matter how hard I try, it is not possible to be as young as I was in Korea.  I recognize that it isn’t possible to be the man that I used to be, because I get “tired-er” quicker, “breathless-er” quicker, and sleepier sooner.  But maybe the Good Lord will give me an “A” in effort.  

While I was up at Qui Nhon and other places last week, Lee Surut made a special trip from Bien Hoa to Saigon to see me.  He left me a note, and I sure was sorry to miss him.  Will have to call him and invite Lee down to Saigon again in the near future and will be here to see him.