Week Twenty-Six

(Header is group of goof-balls at Echo a couple years ago)

 

Well, my goodness…Week 26…that means we’ve been at this for six months.  Wow, and 12 weeks since the surgery, that’s nearly three months ago.  And there’s a long way to go still, and many new adventures between now and then.

Speaking of new things, I experienced another aspect of my new stomach ‘arrangement’ last week.  We went to a tamale making (and eating) party last Saturday, which included munchies and libations (I hardly partook of the latter), and a lot of visiting and making of tamales.  When it came time to eat, I was pretty hungry, and the tamales, with beans on the side, were very good.  So I ate two tamales and started on the beans when I realized I was too full to continue.

After a little visiting at the table, I excused myself to rest in a more comfortable spot…the front room couch.  Three or four of us were in the room, chatting about this and that when I started to get a funny feeling in my throat.  I quickly excused myself and went to the bathroom.  There I had a modest overflow come up out of my stomach, maybe two or three ounces.  It was not a retching, vomiting experience, just the simple rejection by my stomach of too much food.  And the food has an easy way out, with no sphincter muscle to get past.

I guess that’s just one more thing to be aware of in my new stomach configuration.  And, actually, it happened again the next night.  We went to the Christmas celebration in Nevada City, and again a meal was skipped with all the travel and parking hassles.  On our way home we picked up an In ‘N Out cheeseburger with fries to go.  Once home, I ate the cheeseburger pretty quickly and some of the fries, when my stomach started saying “too much”, and again the last few bites were rejected by my shrunken stomach.

Well so much for that.  But actually I was a bit worried about a repeat performance when we went to Kenny’s Bar on Thursday for a barbecued rib dinner with beans before Pedro.  However, I ate slowly and in moderation and everything was okay.

I did have a chance to talk to Kenny, who had basically the same operation as I, although his was back in March.  His procedure wasn’t as extensive, however….no chemo or radiation, and they only took out four inches of his esophagus, but they did take about a third of his stomach.  Nonetheless, we have had many of the same experiences….he lost 30 pounds, and after nine months has gained ten back.  He used to bike 40-50 miles on the weekend, and now can barely do 15 miles.  And he’s had the ‘overflow’ experience as well.  So I guess I have a few more months of rehab to go through before ‘normal’ is approached.  Also, he only ate one rib, while I had two.  Not sure what that says.

Weight management has not been good this week.  I was 122.5 lbs last Friday, and I’m 121.5 today.  But I think a lot of that is due to the somewhat erratic eating pattern of the past week, which may, unfortunately, continue through the holiday period here.

I’m keeping up on my physical therapy, and my walks…Carol and I walked for 40 minutes yesterday.  But the ol’ heart rate really gets up there after the PT or after walking up the stairs.  I doubt that I could swim two laps in the pool right now without a huge spike in the heart rate.

Speaking of swimming, the morning masters had a Christmas party at the pool today, and I joined them for the food and festivities at 6 am this morning.  Great to see them all, and I’m afraid I may have to gain about 10 pounds before I can rejoin them.  If I took off my shirt now, everyone would run away, screaming.

That’s about it for this week.  And Christmas is near upon us.  Have a grand holiday with family and friends, and I’ll see you next week.

Here’s a little something that sort of fits the season:

Love Lookout

this thing called love is everywhere

if you take the time to look

it first begins within yourself

before another you can hook.

 

there is the love that spouses have

each for one another

the love for mom and dad and child

for sister and for brother.

 

but still more love out there exists

that is waiting to be shared

it’s the love between two strangers

and it can happen anywhere.

 

it happened with a lady

at the intermission of a play

we asked if we could sit with her

and we all laughed the time away.

 

then also at a corner store

when i was looking for a treat

the ice cream man just happened in

and told me of great things to eat.

 

look for the chance to open up

and greet another passing soul

to bond for just a little bit

and bring some warmth into the cold.