Why thank you Mr. Bathroom Scale…that is 3-5 lbs I’ve gained back!! And I’ve even been throwing in a handful of 5-6 mile runs as well. My sit down meals are slow and patient to make sure everything goes down, but I continue to keep much larger portions down. And I know when to stop (usually).

Now that my body is letting me take in more food, I have to say my “new issue” is gastric discomfort if I get a lot of food down that’s higher fat. Aka I ate a bunch of French fries and a half of a hamburger the other day…my gut was mad at me. It’s kind of like that feeling you need to go poop, but I know I just overdid it. You just wait in discomfort for your intestines to churn through the food until you feel better. This doesn’t happen often to me.

My other continuing issue is when I accidentally put myself into a “sugar coma”. I’ve noticed I’m generally able to handle more sugars now than right after my surgery (like my body is adapting). But if I eat a huge handful of peanut butter M&Ms very quickly, I can induce a sugar, feel-like-crap feeling. It passes within 10-15 minutes, but sucks when it happens at work. If it does, I have to walk it off because I don’t feel well enough to concentrate on a computer monitor.

Generally my issues are around when I eat unhealthy. And this isn’t such a bad thing. I’m able to snack now enough that I am putting weight back on. And that even includes my much increased activity level, including my 5-6 mile runs 3x per week ( with the hopes I’ll be motivated enough to increase my running frequency).

To note, I can drink my cup of coffee every morning! Hooray!

My brother will have his surgery this Friday. And this weekend will also be my first half marathon stomachless. This race will be a shout out to my brother and his recovery! On a side note, to stay true to stomach cancer awareness, I’m even presenting at work this week. It’s going to be a wild couple of weeks.

Our church lesson this week was around perspective. We’re in Romans. I found this incredibly relevant to someone like myself with the CDH1 mutation. It’s easy to question why me or complain about the challenges associated with the surgery and recovery. But you have to keep perspective. I have options my dad didn’t have. I have a blessed life, wonderful family. I can live a completely full life with or without my stomach. And maybe this was meant to be my life challenge. There is a reason for everything, whether I know that reason now or not.

The relevant verse I had to stew on was Romans 5:3:
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope.

Have a great day!