So next Monday marks 4 months post surgery. I’d say life has gotten crazy busy lately, in a good way. I keep focusing on lots of protein with my meals and it seems to work. Life is pretty normal (my usual level of crazy), but definitely normal. You might say “normal with minor food modifications”.
I am able to keep up with life having my “spit cup” on hand at work and in the car. I can consume larger volumes of food now, and I push myself in hopes that it’ll continue to improve. I stay away from most raw veggies and heavy, thick breads. (But don’t fear because I can enjoy those foods when I crave them.) I strip the skins off stuff because it’s still not guaranteed those won’t come back up. Example foods I can usually do after stripping off skin: sausage, tomatoes, deli meats, grapes (spit out skins).
My biggest focus continues to be protein. It’s interesting to compare diet notes with a coworker whose child was just diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. As long as her son has foods with some protein in it, it’s ok. But anything that’s sugary without protein doesn’t work. It seems to be the same for total gastrectomy patients.
Last week, our office lost one of our own employees to stomach cancer. This very nice man left a widow and 2 teenage boys after bravely battling his cancer for several years. He was only 52 or 53. It shocked me to hear his story and how eerily it sounded like my family’s exact story back 15 years ago. It reminded me how hard people fight this cancer and how lucky I am to be able to proactively beat it, even if I do face some minor life adjustments. My prayers go out to him and his family.
One thing on my mind lately… I beat my stomach cancer. Then I walk by people smoking, and it boggles my mind. I’m fighting to stay healthy and live a long life, so I can’t understand why people still smoke when they know the results. For as crazy of a decision as my total gastrectomy seems to most, I think smoking might be crazier.
On a running note, I busted out a measly 3 miles Monday morning before work. It went well, but I tire as the week wears on (me and 5 AM don’t always jive). My pace is still not up to where it was, but every run goes better. I no longer feel my incision tugging during a run and don’t feel like I have to be cautious with it anymore. My goal is to get a minimum of 3 runs in during the week (should really be 3 weekday runs, plus one weekend run). I’ll settle for squeezing in 3 this week. (Glad I only signed up for a half marathon.) Last Saturday morning, I managed a little over 5 miles. It wasn’t pretty, but I did it! Hubbie asked me if I was going to be able to do the half in January. My response, “Oh I can do it. Might not be pretty, but I’ll get it done!”
I’m planning to leave early tomorrow to hit the gym before work. Note to self, remember amphipod water bottle thing, else it’ll be dreadmill time for me!
Have a great evening.