tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55198814823904560762024-02-26T08:18:52.170-06:00How Breast Cancer Saved My Life: CDH1 – The gene nobody's heard ofFrom Breast Cancer to CDH1 to a Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy to Living Life Without a StomachLinda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-32282690207888643302024-02-21T22:06:00.006-06:002024-02-21T22:23:55.144-06:007th AnniversaryToday marks 7 years since my total gastrectomy. I haven't posted in a year and for the last few years, I've only posted once or twice a year. What that mainly means is that I'm doing great, living a normal life, so much better than I ever envisioned with this life without a stomach.<br><br>
It's been since my 3rd annniversary since I talked about weight. For people that are contemplating this surgery or recently had a TG, there are always questions around weight: How much did you lose? When did you stablize? Did you gain weight back? etc. etc. As with everything, each person is different, but I thought it might help to summarize the weight changes here and give an update of what has happened over the last four years.<br><br>
As I've shared before, I went into surgery overweight at 243, so weight loss for me was a fringe benefit of the surgery. I dropped to 230 basically immediately after surgery and continued to lose weight pretty rapidly for 9 months. In November, I started to stablize around 170, but then in December and Janaury started to lose again. Mid-late January (getting close to a year after surgery), I stabilized again around 161-164. After a few months at that weight, I dropped down under 160 pounds in late April (2018 - 14 months after TG). I stayed around 155-157 for about a year from July 2018 to August 2019 when I started gaining.<br><br>
I was very happy with my weight in the 150s and 160s. When I first started gaining (just over 2 1/2 years after surgery) and went back to the 160s in October 2019, I was OK with that, but unfortunately, I kept gaining. In March 2021, I crossed over into the 170s which I was less OK with, but OK, then a year ago, in February 2023, I crossed into the 180s which is where I am now. It's still better than where I was before the surgery, but I would be happier at 10-20 pounds less than the 185 I am now. The probem is, I've never been good at losing weight (except by having at TG). My even bigger concern is continuing to gain weight. I really don't want to do that.<br><br>
It's amazing that you can gain weight and be overweight without a stomach. Now to see if I can figure out a way and actually have the drive to lose weight so I don't end up a place I don't really want to be. If I don't lose, I will be OK with that, but if I cross over 190 or worse yet, over 200, I will not be OK with that. I need to reverse this trend.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-66914192189034861072023-02-22T21:05:00.009-06:002023-02-22T21:50:13.419-06:006th Anniversary and Facebook Memories6 years ago today, I was laying in a hospital bed at MD Anderson, totally out of it, having had my stomach removed the day before. Last year, around my 5th anniversary, I enjoyed all of the Facebook memories that popped up. There were posts from me as I was anticipating the surgery,from my husband giving updates during surgery and after, and then from me again when I was finally with it enough to post myself. I thought it would be helpful for me as I reflect back and for others who are contemplating the surgery and wonder what lies ahead to put those memories together here in one place.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - February 7, 2017, 8:04 AM</b>
<p>Two weeks from today I embark on the scariest journey of my life. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2015, I had genetic testing done. I tested positive for a very rare gene mutation, CDH1. While it is affiliated with breast cancer, it has an extremely high correlation with Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer, cancer that forms in the lining of your stomach and is undetectable until stage 4 or 5 and it is too late. The only recommended course of treatment is to have a Prophylactic Total Gastrectomy, ie have your stomach removed as a preventive measure. After much research and agonizing, I have decided to have this surgery completed at MD Anderson in Houston on February 21. I appreciate your prayers for a smooth surgery, uneventful and swift recovery and for a lifetime of learning to live a normal life without a stomach, it can and has been done.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - February 18, 2017, 8:11 AM</b>
<p>Sitting in our condo on Padre Island, looking out over the Gulf of Mexico. Flew down to Houston on Wednesday. Had pre-op appointments at MD Anderson on Thursday, Came down to Padre Island/Corpus Christi for the weekend. Will return to Houston on Monday and hope to have surgery on Tuesday. Right now things are uncertain. Started having what I thought were allergy symptoms late Monday, was really bad Tuesday and Wednesday, making the flight miserable. Hoped it was allergies and the allergens wouldn't be present in Texas. Am better, but still congested and coughing. Definitely not the flu but likely a cold and if I don't get this whipped in the next 3 days, it may delay surgery They have this thing about you being healthy and being able to breathe going into surgery.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - February 20, 2017, 6:12 PM</b>
<p>The good news is I think I am feeling well enough that surgery will happen tomorrow. The bad news is I think I am feeling well enough that surgery will happen tomorrow. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers. We report to the MD Anderson OR tomorrow at 5:15am. Surgery should begin around 7:30am.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith Stokes (my husband) - February 21, 2017, 7:17 AM</b>
<p>Linda just went back to surgery. The first update will be at 10, then every 2 hours.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 21, 2017, 10:57 AM</b>
<p>About 40 minutes ago, I was told the surgery was complete and the doctor would see me soon. Still waiting.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 21, 2017, 2:51 PM</b>
<p>Just saw the surgeon. She will be starting to wake in about 20 minutes and I may be able to see her in about an hour and a half. He said that all went well. Nothing looked bad but the type of pathology they will do will take about a week.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 22, 2017, 8:51 PM</b>
<p>Linda's heart rate is rapid, but it isn't bothering her beyond the annoying alarms.
We moved floors so they can monitor telemetry continuously. They took x-rays and blood for tests. The heart rate has not responded to drugs so far.
<p>Linda still sleeps as much as they will let her, but I told her of the KU victory.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 23, 2017, 1:25 PM</b>
<p>Linda's heart rate has behaved today.
<p>On her most recent walk, she took 2 of the very short laps for the first time. She has fewer tubes and is more comfortable.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 24, 2017, 12:37 PM</b>
<p>Linda is progressing and will try to walk and sit up more today.
<p>She is now permitted a tiny amount of clear liquid and hasn't wanted more.
<p>She has tulips from her sister in law and appreciates them, but there is no need for others. There is little room and we probably have at least one more room change ahead.
<p><br>
<p><b>Keith - February 25, 2017, 9:40 PM</b>
<p>Progress is very slow. Linda still sleeps often, but was up for 5 short walks today and would take more, but for the hassles of being in the hospital. The doctors seem to think that her progress is normal.
<p>This was the second day of liquid diet. The quantity permitted is very small, but Linda does not appear to mind the quantity.
I think she will move to soft food sometime tomorrow.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - February 27, 2017, 5:58 PM</b>
<p>Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and concern. It's hard to believe it's been almost a week since surgery. It's been an adventure. Surgery went well and as expected. I've had some issues with temporary high heart rates and low oxygen levels, but nothing has been severe and we continue to work on getting it all under control. Had nothing to eat or drink Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Friday and Saturday was on a clear liquid diet of 240cc every 8 hours. That's not very much. Was moved to mechanical soft diet on Sunday. Was frustrated over the weekend because even though I was given the go ahead to eat, had no direction as to what I should really be doing since the dietitians don't work over the weekend, made even more complicated because the heart issues had me being on the telemetry floor instead of the normal floor I would have been on with this type of surgery where the nurses understood a little better what surgery I had done and what my needs were.
<p>
<p>Today has been much better as I've got direction from a dietitian, got switched to a post gastric surgery diet that I was supposed to be on yesterday instead of the one I was on, and got up and walked a lot. Even went to the beauty shop and had my hair washed.Yesterday I was getting mixed signals on everything, including walking. They are talking that I could be released from the hospital as early as tomorrow. We'll see. Will then still be in Houston for at least a few days before returning to KC.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - February 28, 2017, 3:23 PM</b>
<p>Got out of hospital this morning. Am at hotel (connected to hospital). Will visit doctor and nutritionist in office on Thursday to evaluate if we come home Saturday or if it's an additional week.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 1, 2017, 11:41 AM</b>
<p>Yesterday was an adventure on so many levels!
<p>I got released from the hospital a little after 11:00, beginning the adventure of figuring out how to live and eat without a stomach...on my own! I'm supposed to eat something every 2-3 hours, so it was basically time to eat. 6 pages of post-op diet guidelines in hand, we explored all the food options at the hotel, including a small store and a "grab-and-go". Settled on a few chunks of watermelon and some cheddar cheese.
Then headed to the nearest grocery store. Was hoping Keith could push me in a wheelchair, but they only had scooters. If you've never used one of those things before, they are an adventure in and of themselves. Added to it, the grocery store was in the midst of a major remodel and had boxes and stuff all over the store as they were reshelving and such. It was an obstacle course to navigate through. With diet guidelines still in hand, we read labels and compared items like I've never done before, It probably took us an hour in the store and we spent less that $50.
Spent the afternoon trying to consume something every two hours. Had trouble keeping much of it down. Had not had trouble with this in the hospital. Reevaluated early evening using the food diary I'd been keeping all day and realized the solid foods were staying down, but liquids were causing more problems. Water seemed to be fine, but not really anything else. They encourage protein shakes and such to fill gaps between meals. I was trying them and some other beverages to keep hydrated, but that part just wasn't going well. I think I was pushing myself too hard and trying to do too much. I've backed off and am doing much better.
<p>
<p>The adventure last night was trying to sleep. I found the bed at the hotel EXTREMELY uncomfortable! It is super soft and I just couldn't sleep. Tried moving to chair in the middle of the night, but it wasn't a chair designed for sleeping. Finally woke Keith and traded sides of the bed and slept a little better, but not much. Am exploring other options today.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 2, 2017, 8:50 AM</b>
<p>Had a bed board under the mattress last night. Slept much better! Follow-up with doctors today. Will know in a few hours if we get to return to KC soon.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 2, 2017, 6:54 PM</b>
<p>March 2, 2007 - It was about 9:20am when I got the call that changed my life forever. That's the day my husband and the father of my two wonderful children, Jesi Lipp and Mary Clow, died. We've been through so much since then. 4 graduations, 3 weddings, 1 divorce, and so much more. I love my children so much. It is hard to be away from them today. I want to wrap my arms around them, but I can't because here I am on March 2, 2017 embarking on another journey that will change my life forever. I had the follow-up with the doctor and nutritionist today. He can't decide whether to let me go home on Saturday or not. A couple of the blood counts are not quite where he would like for them to be. Will have another blood test tomorrow and then decide. So much uncertainty, so much unknown about this future without a stomach. So much like 10 years ago when I didn't know how I was going to keep going, but knew I had to. For myself and for my children. I now also have a wonderful husband and son-in-law, and ex-son-in-law. They have all played such an important role also. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get through the last 10 years and who will be along on the journey for the next 10.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 3, 2017, 3:47 PM</b>
<p>I GET TO GO HOME TOMORROW!!!
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 3, 2017, 7:53 PM</b>
<p>After eating every "meal" since being released from the hospital in the hotel room or at the "grab-and-go" at the hotel, we tried the hotel restaurant last night. Keith ordered an entre and I ate just a very few bites of his meal. With success then, we decided to venture out tonight and do the same thing at a real restaurant. It went well. Feeling good about this. Wasn't expecting to do so only 3 days after being released from the hospital. It was nice for Keith to be able to have something other than hotel/hospital food.
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 4, 2017, 1:55 PM</b>
<p>GOOD TO BE HOME!
<p><br>
<p><b>Me - March 9, 2017, 9:30 PM</b>
<p>I'm supposed to walk 6 times a day. I just walked all the way around Rose's pond, without stopping, for the first time since surgery. It's getting cold and windy out there....I think that gave me extra motivation.
Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-77680140166878951862022-07-29T21:52:00.002-05:002022-07-29T22:07:02.189-05:00ColonoscopyA week ago today, I had a colonoscopy, the third one I've had, the first one post-gastrectomy. The prep for colonoscopies is never fun, but I was even more nervous about this one. I was concerned about being able to drink the amount of liquid required and being able to tolerate the amount of sugar that is common in prep.<div><br /></div><div>My first colonoscopy was in 2012. At that time, they said I didn't need another one for 7-10 years, but when I was diagnosed with CDH1 in 2015, my doctor ordered a colonoscopy and endoscopy because of the mutation. Protocol was to do 30 biopsies, the gastroenterologist did 3. He apparently missed the whole point of doing the endoscopy! A few years later, I received a letter that he was quitting his practice. I wouldn't have used him again anyway, so it didn't matter. Because they found polyps during that colonoscopy in 2015, I was supposed to have the next one in 5-7 years.</div><div><br /></div><div>I decided I had put it off as long as I should and I needed to go ahead and get it done, even though it made me anxious. I explained my anxiety to my primary care physician and she recommended a gastroenterologist that she thought would be good and suggested I have a consult with him before scheduling the procedure.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was pleased when I visited with Dr. Alsop in April. He had looked at my chart, knew about the gastrectomy and CDH1 and went through the various types of prep that can be done and suggested using Suprep which is a split prep. You do part of it the night before and part of it the morning of. That seemed like it would address some of my concerns regarding the volume of liquid. The biggest down side was having to get up to do the morning prep 6 hours before the procedure. They only do them in the morning, so I wanted the last possible time of arriving at 10:30 for a 11:30 procedure. Between that and the fact that this doctor is only at the location nearest me one day a week, the procedure was scheduled over 3 months out, but I was in no hurry.</div><div><br /></div><div>Suprep is a prescription. It has two 6 oz bottles. You do the typical clear liquids the day before and then at 3:00, pour one bottle into a provided cup and fill it with water to the 16 oz line. It took me at least 20 minutes to get that down because of the nasty taste. But then you follow it with two 16 oz glasses of water that you are supposed to drink within one hour after drinking the Suprep mixture. I had no problem getting them down within the hour.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had to go to three stores to get the clear liquids I wanted. You can't do red, orange, or purple. The first grocery store had no popsicles that weren't red, orange, or purple. I got lemon Jello (I was going to do lime, but they didn't have any). The instructions said I could have liquid Boost or Ensure (no substitutions) until 3:00. I don't usually like the premade protein drinks, but thought I should probably give it a try to get some protein in my system. The grocery store didn't have either, but the drug store had several different ones. I ended up getting Boost Women which I had never had before. I chose it because it only had 4 grams of sugar. It had 15 grams of protein. That was a much lower sugar count than most of the protein drinks. I had one in the morning for breakfast and another around lunch time. I don't recall now for sure, but I think I ended up having 3 of them before 3:00. They actually don't taste bad at all. I may get them again sometime. At the second grocery store, I found Halo lime popsicles. Not only are they not red, orange, or purple, but they only have 5 grams of sugar and taste pretty good. Add to that my regular iced tea that I always drink anyway, and I was set for my clear liquid diet. Thursday was not near as difficult as I had feared it would be.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did have one time in the middle of the night that I threw up a little. I don't know what caused it. It was long enough after the prep that I wasn't concerned about it affecting it. I had also bought some apple juice which I didn't use on Thursday. I did have a little bit then, just to help soothe my throat.
I'm not a morning person, so getting up at 5am to do the second half of the prep wasn't fun. But I again managed to get the Suprep down, this time taking closer to 30 minutes and followed it up with the two glasses of water with no problems. Not being able to have anything to drink after that was somewhat of a struggle as I am always drinking between meals to stay hydrated, that 5 hours between prep and the procedure was a long time to not have anything to drink, but I managed.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best news of all was that I didn't have any polyps or other abnormalities so I don't have to have another colonoscopy for 10 years! But I now know that when I have one, I'll be OK and I will be scheduling it with Dr. Alsop again (hopefully, he's still around).</div>Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-31032583315928028902022-02-21T08:12:00.002-06:002022-02-21T08:22:52.080-06:005th Anniversary<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Today is my 5th TGversary. I had my stomach removed 5 years ago today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's been awhile since I've posted. I post less when I am doing great. 5 years seems like such a major milestone. I definitely wanted to post.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">5 years ago I had so much fear and anxiety. I had no idea what my new life was going to be like. <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 years later, I can say life is good. It's actually been so much better than I could have ever anticipated. I won't lie and say it hasn't been without its challenges, but I have found a new normal...which is really close to the old normal. If someone meets me today, they have no idea I don't have a stomach. I do all of the things I did before. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently became a grandmother for the first time. My granddaughter will think it's normal for her grandma to not have a stomach, she won't know any differently. I'm so glad I will be around to enjoy her. And I am even more delighted that she will not have to worry about this horrible gene mutation. Her mother tested negative. My other daughter tested positive, but it unlikely to have biological children. So this is the end of the line. I don't have to worry about passing on the CDH1 gene mutation to my descendants. That is the best news of all!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEWqG8jJ-uokt8eQMRN8B5xgA2nItiVt47Jx2uFiUkrQ5GcKbn1y7mqBjK4uxlbHpgn26jByy9FZL7IFsz_iE5VY4QTsH7wdr4qUbXC21-6RqwHlzX_jfMJEpOvh-1iQRzSEk8jCU1lSBYtxNoPfvMmA8sAE4oZrxufhuZ2c9Ju1GYZajoVJVUCU1c3Q=s960" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEWqG8jJ-uokt8eQMRN8B5xgA2nItiVt47Jx2uFiUkrQ5GcKbn1y7mqBjK4uxlbHpgn26jByy9FZL7IFsz_iE5VY4QTsH7wdr4qUbXC21-6RqwHlzX_jfMJEpOvh-1iQRzSEk8jCU1lSBYtxNoPfvMmA8sAE4oZrxufhuZ2c9Ju1GYZajoVJVUCU1c3Q=s320" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwXgcfThZWr34FYtYj6FIe0Op2Oz7kIIFISLKI4yLOkW_SzmQ3feZuzOY_hihE7FbkTGacybhaGfZoAfm1ISSiV8xKzHwD9uWAGByLkY5j_yKwdDzqHDo48XmAx-KkiCsR5Ip-1Mvm4TDQpyfj79JLMCU7mMcgMgiaUJe9b8IU4Gtra0Eqf29nq313xA=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1131" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwXgcfThZWr34FYtYj6FIe0Op2Oz7kIIFISLKI4yLOkW_SzmQ3feZuzOY_hihE7FbkTGacybhaGfZoAfm1ISSiV8xKzHwD9uWAGByLkY5j_yKwdDzqHDo48XmAx-KkiCsR5Ip-1Mvm4TDQpyfj79JLMCU7mMcgMgiaUJe9b8IU4Gtra0Eqf29nq313xA=s320" width="302" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p></p>Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-78612352026534238272021-02-14T20:29:00.007-06:002021-02-14T21:02:12.981-06:00Let's Talk Dessert<p> Let’s talk dessert. Valentine’s Day seems like a good day to
do that.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Leading up to my gastrectomy there were so many uncertainties.
No one could provide a list of foods you would and would not be able to eat
after surgery as it varied person to person. Dessert was one of the biggest
unknowns. Having no idea whether I would ever be able to eat sweets again, I tried
to make up for it the months before surgery, having dessert with virtually every
meal. I figured if I wasn’t going to be able to eat them again, I was
definitely going to enjoy them now and I didn’t care how much weight I gained.
I was going to quickly lose it anyway.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I am thrilled that I can still eat dessert. It’s often just
a few bites, but I still enjoy sweets. I get to enjoy the wonderful
taste and am usually satisfied with just a few bites, but sometimes it’s nice
to be able to have a whole dessert. A couple of years ago, I made a favorite
dessert for a time we were having some friends over. It’s one I’ve made for
years. I made a couple of variations to make it better for me, but was still surprised
when I find myself eating the whole thing. Usually my body tells me when to
stop, but it didn’t. I wondered if I was going to regret it later, but I didn’t.
I’ve now made it several times, and I’m almost always able to eat a whole slice
of my <b>Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie</b>. It’s quick and simple to make: mix together
one 8 oz. tub of thawed cool whip, 3 8 oz. containers Greek strawberry yogurt, and
1 14 oz. container of sliced frozen strawberries. Spoon into a graham cracker
crust and freeze. Most people enjoy it best if thawed for awhile before
serving, although I also enjoy it frozen. The only changes I’ve made from the
original recipe is substituting regular yogurt for Greek yogurt and using unsweetened
strawberries instead of sweetened strawberries.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVV3njblGyU2ghW7R1rrexhPk2KDQAxPuDL3tgWJo8gorKSxs-2YxcHk4tKV7ChETXxHOpp8vjM8liwYEjTBzVabJEtaW6rnEGx8nnwKMEXQ-8S8ZGLs16Ae2GOBS2eLXY8JFBW-T2Elv/s2048/IMG_1381a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVV3njblGyU2ghW7R1rrexhPk2KDQAxPuDL3tgWJo8gorKSxs-2YxcHk4tKV7ChETXxHOpp8vjM8liwYEjTBzVabJEtaW6rnEGx8nnwKMEXQ-8S8ZGLs16Ae2GOBS2eLXY8JFBW-T2Elv/s2048/IMG_1381a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZear44RJDl16FxBke_5zy9jqmjtthOpnFMu0PravqyukoUYkoCPR5FcwDUFK5OMw9ZwY744NLjtbWJbQ7ZDZrh-NDmIBTbu0MA1g7AQbarACAqS716YKsCijGrdB09WuI62y21u4UK3eF/s2048/IMG_1380a.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1972" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZear44RJDl16FxBke_5zy9jqmjtthOpnFMu0PravqyukoUYkoCPR5FcwDUFK5OMw9ZwY744NLjtbWJbQ7ZDZrh-NDmIBTbu0MA1g7AQbarACAqS716YKsCijGrdB09WuI62y21u4UK3eF/s320/IMG_1380a.jpg" /></a></div><img border="0" data-original-height="1449" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVV3njblGyU2ghW7R1rrexhPk2KDQAxPuDL3tgWJo8gorKSxs-2YxcHk4tKV7ChETXxHOpp8vjM8liwYEjTBzVabJEtaW6rnEGx8nnwKMEXQ-8S8ZGLs16Ae2GOBS2eLXY8JFBW-T2Elv/s320/IMG_1381a.jpg" width="320" /></div><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I don’t usually worry about grams of protein or calories or
anything, but I have tried to calculate for those that do. The counts will vary
a little based upon the brand of Greek yogurt, etc., but cutting the pie into 8
slices, each slice is approximately 240 calories, 16 grams of sugar, and 6 grams
of protein.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Having discovered that I can eat a whole slice of this pie,
it got me curious if there were similar ones that I could eat as well. I found one that I modified a little, but
also enjoy: <b>Cream cheese chocolate Peanut Butter Pie</b>. Combine 8 oz. thawed Cool Whip,
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and
1/2 cup peanut butter chips. Spoon into a chocolate cookie pie crust.
Refrigerate. If cut into 8 slices, each slice is approximately 700 calories, 32
grams of sugar and 15 grams of protein. This one does have more calories and more
sugar, but also more protein. Since it is quite a bit richer, I usually
actually cut it into 12 slices. I can usually eat 1/12. I often can’t eat 1/8.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMECIeh6-N7V5CnRx-xaDoabJ3-gjB6iUrPAh4BNx2Yzs_dMDN0anWhJdnLeefj9nwqBGzo2M5QsFxUm5iNGwYoG68-fVjqpH8rQEPQKozLstBy8gzwy7ynCiTq8af4XISWPJ0erxIkGi/s2037/IMG_1729a.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2037" data-original-width="1948" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMECIeh6-N7V5CnRx-xaDoabJ3-gjB6iUrPAh4BNx2Yzs_dMDN0anWhJdnLeefj9nwqBGzo2M5QsFxUm5iNGwYoG68-fVjqpH8rQEPQKozLstBy8gzwy7ynCiTq8af4XISWPJ0erxIkGi/w306-h320/IMG_1729a.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6uTApb3FzjPWlNfNEa08hQX94ncYiUDwjuz_sr0uwdUR2VO_Jeih9sj55Hqd-lXcymEEoL6WuxwsJVdng91hEB6mJMPaYpIEFW6Q9ch3MqaSzTyId9fE88rGUZm93By6diOD3arN4R8L/s2048/IMG_1726a.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1759" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6uTApb3FzjPWlNfNEa08hQX94ncYiUDwjuz_sr0uwdUR2VO_Jeih9sj55Hqd-lXcymEEoL6WuxwsJVdng91hEB6mJMPaYpIEFW6Q9ch3MqaSzTyId9fE88rGUZm93By6diOD3arN4R8L/w275-h320/IMG_1726a.jpg" width="275" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I continue to look for other
desserts with high protein and low sugar, but these are definitely the best I
have found so far. The great thing is that as well as me getting to enjoy a
whole dessert, my friends and family like them too.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 304.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 304.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p>Happy Valentines Day!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 304.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-91200099293151919942020-08-12T23:07:00.001-05:002020-08-12T23:07:47.893-05:00CDH1 and COVID-19<p>2020 has been a year of graduations, not the high school and
college graduation ceremonies that have been canceled, postponed, or made
virtual, but leaving behind all things related to my cancer…except those that
can’t be left behind (like not having a stomach).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This whole journey started in April 2015 when I was
diagnosed with breast cancer. That May I found out I was positive for
CDH1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a double mastectomy in June
2015 and then a total gastrectomy in February 2017. That’s the background info.
Now to the graduations. I’ve already written about my follow-up at MD Anderson
in January of this year. At that appointment, Dr. Mansfield said I didn’t need
to come back and see him anymore, that I could be monitored annually by my
primary physician. Graduation #1.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Next up was the oncologist in June. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was actually hoping I could skip that
appointment, but I’ve always been one that if a doctor wants to see me, I go.
This was my third oncologist in five years. I was going to the same cancer center,
but the previous two doctors had left for one reason or another. My breast
cancer was ductal carcinoma hormone-receptive positive, so I was prescribed a
hormone blocker, letrozole, for five years. I had always assumed that once the
five years was up, I’d be done with the oncologist. Since five years would be
in June and I had enough drugs to get me through till past then, I called the
office and spoke with the nurse to see if I needed to bother keeping my
appointment. My breast surgeon who I saw in April, and will continue to see,
actually suggested this. The nurse checked with the oncologist and he said he
still wanted to see me, so I went. I met my third oncologist, he didn’t do any
bloodwork or anything, we just chatted, and he released me. I don’t need to
follow-up with him anymore. I did like him, and I did appreciate something he
said. He said he would still be my doctor and was still part of my medical
team, even if I wasn’t seeing him and that if I ever needed him, feel free to
give him a call. I don’t expect to need him, but I still appreciated that
sentiment. Graduation #2.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The oncologist told me to finish the prescription I had and
then stop taking the letrozole. Since I was receiving a 90 day mail order
prescription, that actually lasted me quite awhile. I just finally took the
last pill a week ago. Graduation #3. The only regular medication I now take are
vitamins.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As well as documenting my CDH1 journey, I feel compelled at
this time to document the COVID-19 journey that we are all on and this blog
seems as good of place as any to do that. This isn’t so much for those reading
it now but more for the memories later of what we went through and for future
generations that will read about 2020 in history books. I’m sure you, like me,
never believed that we would be living in a global pandemic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">March started out normal enough. My Kansas Jayhawks were
ranked #1 and were most people’s favorite to be National Champions. We were Big
12 Conference Champions again (after ending the 14 year streak the previous
year) and were looking forward to the Big 12 Conference tournament and the NCAA
tournament.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My best friend from college had ancestors from Fredonia,
Kansas, the same small town in southeast Kansas that my parents were originally
from, that I’ve had family in for generations, and where I still have family
living. We had talked since college about going down there and never had. The
last time we were together, we had decided that we were going to do it over her
spring break this year. She had information about where the farm was near
Altoona, cemeteries in Altoona and Fredonia she wanted to visit, and then we
were going to do research at the Wilson County Historical Society museum in
Fredonia. She is a professor at the University of South Dakota and her spring
break was the week of March 9. We decided to go down Tuesday morning and spend
the night, coming back Wednesday afternoon.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We had a great time. It was fun to get away and spend time
together. She learned some information about her ancestors. In doing the
research, I also came across names in my family tree multiple times and the
trip reignited the love of genealogy in me. It was a great trip all the way
around, but the best part was just spending time together. Little did I know
how soon and how much things were about to change.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before our trip there
had been some news about this coronavirus that had started in China and there
were a few cases in the US, especially in Seattle, California, and New York,
but nothing close to the Midwest. As a Department Chair, my friend started
receiving texts on Tuesday about being prepared for possible online learning
after spring break. That was my first indication that maybe this was turning
into something bigger than we had initially thought. Then, just before the
first games in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night, the Big 12 announced that
the games starting on Thursday would proceed, but with no fans in attendance. Then
on Thursday, just before the games were to begin, they canceled the tournament
all together. Many other conferences did the same thing, some in the middle of
a game. Later Thursday, the NCAA also canceled the NCAA tournament meaning the
Jayhawks would not be able to compete for the National Championship they were
favored to win. Disappointing for sure, but this was the reality check that
this virus, now called COVID-19, was much bigger than we had realized. The
World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on Wednesday and a national
emergency was declared on Friday, March 13.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I returned to work at the church on Thursday, everything
went quickly into COVID-19 mode. At first things seemed normal, but that all
started rapidly changing. Every hour was like a day with things changing so fast,
including the changes in sports mentioned above. My email inbox started filling
with articles about the coronavirus and how to prepare. We had a funeral
scheduled for the following Monday. The family had come to town to meet with
the pastor to make final plans. They ended up deciding to postpone the funeral
as they had family traveling from Seattle and other areas more affected. They
thought they would wait till June when it would all be behind us. (It is now
August and we haven’t yet scheduled the funeral.) We had a youth group from
Oklahoma planning on coming to Kansas City and staying at the church for a week
of mission the following week. Early Thursday afternoon, I had an email they
were still coming. By late afternoon, they had canceled. That’s how rapidly
things were changing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We still had in-person worship on Sunday, March 15, although
some area churches didn’t. We did make modifications such as no Passing of the
Peace, etc. Our attendance was half what a typical Sunday would be. By Monday,
the decision had been made to cancel all in-person meetings, events, and
worship at the church, so much of my time was spent getting that communicated
to our members and other groups that use the building, as well as assisting
with plans for online worship the following week. The original plan was to keep
the church office open.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That changed over the weekend when Johnson County declared a
Stay-at-Home order effective Tuesday, March 24, followed by the State of Kansas
on March 30. We had one day in the office on Monday to prepare to work from
home. I did occasionally go into the office to collect mail and other needed
items as well as to do some essential work that couldn’t be done from home.
That continued until May 11 when the Stay-at-Home order was lifted and the church
office reopened.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When everything was being shut down in March, we thought it
was all temporary and things would return to normal soon, at least by May or
June. The more time went on, the more we discovered that life wasn’t returning
to normal anytime soon. Things started reopening, not because anything was
better, but because there was pressure to open the economy. We had to make
adjustments and find the “new normal” – social distancing, wearing masks, all
these were part of the new normal. No one knows when, or if, life will return
to what we think of as normal.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While we couldn’t have in-person worship, we developed other
ways to reach the congregation, mainly though email and social media. One of
the things we did was send out a daily devotion via email and it was also posted
on Facebook.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I reflected on the devotion I would write, I realized
life being uncertain and developing a “new normal” was something I was familiar
with. When I was facing my gastrectomy a little over 3 years ago, life on the
other side was very uncertain. I knew things would never be “normal” again and
didn’t really know what the “new normal” would look like. Sounds a little like
how many of us have felt the last 5 months. Life on the other side of COVID-19
is uncertain. We’re not sure that our life will ever be “normal” again and are
wondering what the “new normal” will look like.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We returned to in-person worship on June 21. It has very
little resemblance to worship before COVID-19. In the summer, we always have
Worship in the Park, an 8:00am outdoor worship service. It has been the most
popular worship service this year. It had 51 people the first week and has
consistently had in the 30s or 40s, a significant increase over last year’s
numbers. The two worship services in the sanctuary have each been having less
than 20 people, that’s 1/3 to 1/4 the number pre-COVID. People are obviously more
comfortable worshiping outside than inside.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two sanctuary services are also live streamed. Congregational
singing is not allowed at any of the worship services, the hymns are sung by a
soloist or a small group of no more than 3. At the park, people are asked to
allow at least 6 feet between parties and they usually allow even more. In the
sanctuary, every other pew is roped off and families are spaced out. Many
churches have made the news by being a place the virus has spread. We don’t
want to make the news.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are living in a time I never thought I would experience
in my lifetime. I still have a hard time believing it, but here we are. We do
what we can to be cautious and stay safe, while not being fearful. In his
sermon last Sunday, our pastor talked about the difference between caution and
fear. The scripture was Matthew 14:22-33, the story of Jesus walking on the
water and how Peter got out of the boat with faith, but then started to sink
when fear overcame him. We need to remember during this crazy time we find
ourselves in that God always walks beside us and guides us, if only we let him.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We don’t know when this will all end, probably not till
after there’s a vaccine, which could be a year yet. In the meantime, we try to
figure out what the new normal is and to stay safe and healthy. That is my prayer
for anyone reading this blog.<o:p></o:p></p>Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-2482572301906431882020-02-21T17:14:00.000-06:002020-02-21T17:14:02.790-06:003rd AnniversaryHappy 3rd Total Gastrectomy Anniversary to me!<br />
<br />
It was 3 years ago that I had my stomach removed and my life was forever changed....but not as much as I feared it would be. Going into the surgery, I really had no idea what to expect. I had talked to one person that had had the surgery, had read several blogs, and done other research online. I hadn't yet found the CDH1 facebook group (which I would highly recommend to anyone with this gene mutation.) One thing that I did learn from what I had read was that everyone's experience was unique. What worked for one person didn't necessarily work for another one. No one could give me a list of foods that I could and couldn't eat. It would all be trial and error. This was one of the scariest parts. I didn't know if there were foods that I would never eat again.<br />
<br />
I've been fortunate. I don't know if it's because I had a great surgeon or because I did something right in my recovery or if I was just lucky, but I am in a better place than I ever dreamed I would be. I didn't get here overnight, but I can now eat pretty much anything I want to. There are some things I choose not to eat a lot of because I don't want to fill up on things such as salad, bread, etc. I focus on protein. But I do eat the other things also. The main thing that I really have to watch is sweets, but I do get to eat candy and dessert...just in small quantities. That's one of the things I wasn't sure if I would ever eat again. But when you only get to eat a few bites of dessert or one piece of candy, you actually cherish it and enjoy it more. I'll post another blog about dessert and a couple of desserts I have found I can eat a whole piece of soon.<br />
<br />
The other place I have made adjustments is in beverages. I've always loved unsweetened iced tea and drank a lot of it. Prior to gastrectomy, I would also drink Coke. I've never liked Diet Coke, so I would drink the real thing. I didn't try Coke for awhile after surgery because of the carbonation and the sugar. When I finally did, I found I could tolerate it (in small quantities), but I didn't really enjoy it anymore. So, I have pretty much stuck with the tea that I still love...and then I can enjoy other sweets more because I'm not wasting my sugar intake on a beverage. I've also made an adjustment to the alcoholic beverages I prefer. My preferred drink used to be a fuzzy navel with orange juice and peach schnapps. I have found that's now too sweet and have switched to wine more often. I also drink hard cider, that's something I've enjoyed before and after surgery. I don't drink much as without a stomach, the effects of alcohol are felt much sooner.<br />
<br />
I've talked in this blog before about my weight loss. I lost 85 pounds, going from 243 before surgery to 157 about 18 months later. I stayed at that weight for about a year and then about 6 months ago, I started gaining weight. I'm up to around 164 now. As opposed to many people that have this surgery, being overweight, I saw the weight loss as a nice fringe benefit. I was thrilled with my 157 weight and felt great about my body. I'm still happy at 164, but really don't want to gain too much more. If I keep gaining, I'll have to figure out what to do to stop it. Losing weight is something I've never been able to do until the gastrectomy, so I'm not looking forward to that if it becomes a thing..but for now, I'm happy with where I am.<br />
<br />
Many people find it hard to believe that you can live a good life without a stomach. I'm here to tell you that you can. I started this blog to hopefully help others faced with the same decisions I was. When diagnosed with CDH1, I found so little information out there. I found the blogs from other survivors to be so helpful. If I an help someone else, that's what it's all about.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-88049294555355609522020-01-05T14:45:00.000-06:002020-01-05T14:45:15.285-06:00Goodbye HoustonWe flew down to Houston on New Year's night for my follow-up with Dr. Mansfield at MD Anderson on January 2. It was surreal walking into the room at the Rotary House, the hotel adjacent to MD Anderson. We've stayed there for previous follow-up appointments, but I don't recall feeling the same way I felt this time. Maybe it's just that I am doing so well, I feel so removed from when we were there nearly three years ago for my surgery. I flashed back to then, being there the night before surgery and facing the fear and the unknown. I flashed back to being there recovering after surgery, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to begin life without a stomach, throwing up in the bathroom sink....it all came rushing back to me. Keith had some of the same emotions as he commented that he saw me as more fragile in that space. <br />
<br />
We went over early on Thursday for my blood draw appointment to increase the likelihood of them actually having the results before my appointment. Dr. Mansfield was also running behind so they had all the results except one at the beginning of the appointment and got that one before we were done. I was within normal range on everything. My B12 count was normal, but at the low end of normal. They suggested I increase my dosage to two sublingual tablets a day instead of just one. They also recommended getting a bone density scan done as they like to do that around 3 years after total gastrectomy, which is coming up soon. But that can be done in Kansas City with my primary care doctor. I will also want to continue having blood work monitored annually, but that can all be done up here. I'm done with follow-up visits to MD Anderson.<br />
<br />
Four years ago I had never been to Houston. Now, 9 visits later, it was time to say goodbye.<br />
<br />
I was excited to learn that Dr. Mansfield and a team from MD Anderson is doing a research study to put together a CDH1 Gene Registry to track those with the gene mutation and their medical information, family history, etc. Hopefully, through this research, they will be able to learn more and eventually people with the mutation will have more information and more options when determining whether or not to have a total gastrectomy. One of the most frustrating things when I was first diagnosed was that there was very little information available. I am thrilled to be a very small part of changing that. With this study, they will continue to be updated on my medical history and be in touch with me yearly for up to 11 years, but there is still no need to return to MD Anderson for follow-up.<br />
<br />
So, GOODBYE HOUSTON!Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-25097146100647288792019-08-18T21:19:00.000-05:002019-08-18T21:19:01.476-05:00Traveling without a Stomach<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many people ask how difficult it is to travel without a
stomach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does take more planning than
before, but is easily doable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When flying
in particular, I overpack food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I not
only have enough snacks for the anticipated flight time, but have plenty extra
for potential delays, especially, if we were to get stranded on the plane with
no access to airport food, I want to make sure I am prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pack protein bars, nuts, cheese, jerky,
peanut butter filled pretzels…pack whatever your go to snack is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last two times I’ve flown, they have had
you take any food out of your carry ons to be scanned separately. I think the
TSA agents, and other passengers, think I’m nuts when I keep pulling out more
and more food, but no one has said anything yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At home, I often bring home leftovers when we eat out and
then warm those up for my lunch the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, this doesn’t work as well while traveling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to order just a sandwich and eat the
meat without the bread or just an appetizer or something so there is less
waste, but I’ve also tried to get over it and if I throw away food, I throw
away food, and not let it bother me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqY59_XzhN14MU1vrvz1NGNUlF_i0cjv4wUws33WAuLPmmYnHk-Ipkjn6A5wNfyV2eQ0R1cDVdHQeKfuP4gXBvX5JENS3bByVl2QIVMp3DeQ-3_F3SENZh6pqdT0pgdUqrzrQDv2ikHMmN/s1600/30.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqY59_XzhN14MU1vrvz1NGNUlF_i0cjv4wUws33WAuLPmmYnHk-Ipkjn6A5wNfyV2eQ0R1cDVdHQeKfuP4gXBvX5JENS3bByVl2QIVMp3DeQ-3_F3SENZh6pqdT0pgdUqrzrQDv2ikHMmN/s320/30.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smoked trout dip with pita bread and carrots</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another option is what we did one day on Mackinac
Island during this trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many wonderful
places to eat that instead of just doing lunch and dinner, and me doing my
normal snacks in between, we spent one day just doing appetizers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting a little after 11am, we went to a restaurant
and shared an appetizer, then a couple of hours later, another appetizer, a
couple of hours later, another, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
had the last appetizers about 8pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
less of a need for snacks in between and I don’t think we spent any more money
than we would have if we had two bigger meals.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJyTlqVCdsEztx-rwruSwFQZ1KRd6uU0f-Cuwc1SeQ6ybBS2XUGMgJRVQYsWaFXAL_ZyBK7LS_ybcVXUulcpr9Yo65vzdoXY-YptRL9rxS7R5aL04TkjjJSJdN8zpEn1GX7LIM150hibN/s1600/IMG-1391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJyTlqVCdsEztx-rwruSwFQZ1KRd6uU0f-Cuwc1SeQ6ybBS2XUGMgJRVQYsWaFXAL_ZyBK7LS_ybcVXUulcpr9Yo65vzdoXY-YptRL9rxS7R5aL04TkjjJSJdN8zpEn1GX7LIM150hibN/s320/IMG-1391.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In just two days, most of the 10 oz. package of dried strawberries are gone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One highlight of this trip to Northern Michigan was stopping
at the General Store in Good Hart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
may seem odd, but returning to this little store in this tiny town is something
I’ve been looking forward to for a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A year ago when we were there, I purchased some dried strawberries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like dried fruit, but very seldom have I
encountered dried strawberries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were
wonderful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the fantastic thing is I
could eat several at a time and they didn’t bother me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was eating them like candy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> But unlike actual candy where I can only have one, or maybe two pieces at a time, I can eat several of these at once, and I'm fine, even though cane sugar is the second listed ingredient (behind strawberries.) If I eat more than one or two pieces of candy, watch out! Dumping is not
fun. But I can eat these dried strawberries by the handful. Most every time I
snack, I make sure to have protein, but once in awhile, it’s nice to eat
something just for the pure enjoyment of it.
For a year, I’ve searched close to home and never found dried strawberries. Thus, the trip to Good Hart, to stock up on
dried strawberries, both to enjoy now while on vacation and to take home with
us. The packaging says they’re good till
June 2020. I don’t think they will last
that long.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-82138342800818617622019-07-19T22:17:00.001-05:002019-07-19T22:17:58.528-05:00Lenexa UMC 150th Anniversary<br />
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Sunday, June 30, Lenexa United Methodist Church celebrated
their 150<sup>th</sup> Anniversary, being founded in 1869.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has been my church since 1983 and I have
been on staff as Business Administrator since 2004.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Business Administrator, I am the staff
liaison to the Records & History Team who was responsible for planning the
celebration weekend, giving me a major role in the planning and carrying out of
the celebration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything went really
well and everyone seemed to have a great time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had many former pastors, descendants of former pastors, former
members, and descendants of founding members come for the celebration.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORf8I1YSXOlFyc1-o9HhvNXBUcOmFea2DjHYAFp73ISHnpoiRkcO5PSuZnV4-ZT02BTz7dWZh2nnUqj54DIAZpM1BgVJUw3BN27_WkdAB-nnXkA_gt4UQkTiKKQVzApuvrJziY2d_q8wq/s1600/66790625_2434771643303710_7567945289965764608_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1194" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORf8I1YSXOlFyc1-o9HhvNXBUcOmFea2DjHYAFp73ISHnpoiRkcO5PSuZnV4-ZT02BTz7dWZh2nnUqj54DIAZpM1BgVJUw3BN27_WkdAB-nnXkA_gt4UQkTiKKQVzApuvrJziY2d_q8wq/s320/66790625_2434771643303710_7567945289965764608_o.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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In case the celebration wasn’t enough, I decided to write a
book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, when I started, I didn’t
know I was writing book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was just
trying to put together the previous histories that had been written (all of
which were just a few page handout), consolidate and expand them, and add
pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of the previous histories
had included pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next thing I
knew, I was writing a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Methodism
in Old Town Lenexa: The History of Lenexa United Methodist Church 1869-2019 </i>ended
up being a 200 page hardbound book with Table of Contents, Glossary, and Index
with almost 300 pictures, and included bios of all 70 former pastors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The previous histories had included very
little, if anything, about the former pastors, they had mainly been a list of
names and dates served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made them come
to life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkqj7rZcdrCbm0ChyAPmmke9vo3GZ4qWOCJqT7K3WkAMsxII4VtLWHWTCFmyawrSqYbb0dqj80f_WMdYwTyVPOA5d_15uCbGvgdk3s8O56ACOQI9KN6tI1RYJir0gYl6LzmcnREI4wxFN/s1600/17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkqj7rZcdrCbm0ChyAPmmke9vo3GZ4qWOCJqT7K3WkAMsxII4VtLWHWTCFmyawrSqYbb0dqj80f_WMdYwTyVPOA5d_15uCbGvgdk3s8O56ACOQI9KN6tI1RYJir0gYl6LzmcnREI4wxFN/s320/17.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me presenting a copy of the book to the mayor.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The planning of the celebration and the writing of the book
took over two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The amazing thing
as I look back, and the reason I’m including it here, is that this whole thing
culminated just over two years after I had my total gastrectomy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My gastrectomy was on February 21, 2017.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I returned to work part-time six weeks later
in early April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I look back, I’m not
totally sure when I started compiling all the previous histories and
information we had into a consolidated history to create a starting point, but
I think it was either just before or just after surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually think I may have started at home
during recovery before returning to work part-time. You would think I would
remember, but I don’t. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t return
to full days until September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a
couple of months of doing that, I started working on a first draft of what would
become the book, even though I didn’t know it was going to be a real published
book at the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In retrospect, I’m just amazed that I pulled off this major
event that took lots of time and effort on the heals of having major, major, surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only can you lead a normal life after total
gastrectomy, you can apparently go
beyond normal and commit crazy amounts of time to a project.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-39263412069689870172019-02-21T08:10:00.000-06:002019-10-01T12:23:38.900-05:00Two Year Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvC4AOiKOyE9-ZFp_MQXRk0raqMRmR280R8qIxgJh3RRH5W7M56xRp97Ju9n3i4G9GveypjtJHi1u36wzXP_V3MDIqcVQtDiSiooF1Ub6avOJUJtuSmc2tdb4KOaux3zhymbgli-9UcAP/s1600/40603704_1943777155736497_3632040897748664320_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvC4AOiKOyE9-ZFp_MQXRk0raqMRmR280R8qIxgJh3RRH5W7M56xRp97Ju9n3i4G9GveypjtJHi1u36wzXP_V3MDIqcVQtDiSiooF1Ub6avOJUJtuSmc2tdb4KOaux3zhymbgli-9UcAP/s320/40603704_1943777155736497_3632040897748664320_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Two years ago today is when I had my stomach removed. The past year has been a good year. I'm in a good place.<br />
<br />
Here's some highlights of the year:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIitC6ROlE-u7fPIZnzzKJOHz-eVVnvRkgM0qnlXMlki1mIJAOlKFnrDpnVyZY4C7SrN1teZThJqqP8Tv_5Nz4mBb-qnuzfvv8ak-1C9y_siJKGJL3NW6k-HC_yibmlSZ_dJwEzCpItfJ-/s1600/40694587_1943777119069834_6804206216751874048_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1009" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIitC6ROlE-u7fPIZnzzKJOHz-eVVnvRkgM0qnlXMlki1mIJAOlKFnrDpnVyZY4C7SrN1teZThJqqP8Tv_5Nz4mBb-qnuzfvv8ak-1C9y_siJKGJL3NW6k-HC_yibmlSZ_dJwEzCpItfJ-/s320/40694587_1943777119069834_6804206216751874048_o.jpg" width="320" /></a>We went to Mackinaw City, Michigan in September. Mackinaw is my husband's hometown and he has a website devoted to the region mightymac.org. One of the main purposes of the trip was to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day. It is a 5 mile long suspension bridge connecting the upper and lower peninsula. The entire walk ends up being about 6 miles. I'm not someone who does much exercising and when I do go for a walk, walking a mile or two is pretty much all I do, but I did the 6 miles with no difficulty. I had also walked the bridge in 2011, but I had a stomach then, so it was totally different. Last year we were there at the time of the bridge walk, but I did not walk; it was too close to surgery. But this time I thought I could do it and I did. I did make a point of taking snacks and a water bottle with me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2brP8IHRUpmNkYjaL11mnL8g4Z6ONQMwLQ_6dzxb6UFh4pXMAa085Qj5hMrU0MmkJCgjuQpn9PDnLfZU5ys4Kpdk0Wek5erAQpy-RANzC3_0MFbc_z9oydJN2hE8-o40JZaLtkxh3l9IW/s1600/40387314_1938689072911972_2611864402625822720_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2brP8IHRUpmNkYjaL11mnL8g4Z6ONQMwLQ_6dzxb6UFh4pXMAa085Qj5hMrU0MmkJCgjuQpn9PDnLfZU5ys4Kpdk0Wek5erAQpy-RANzC3_0MFbc_z9oydJN2hE8-o40JZaLtkxh3l9IW/s320/40387314_1938689072911972_2611864402625822720_o.jpg" width="320" /></a>Four days before the walk, we bicycled around Mackinac Island. It is 8 miles around the perimeter of the island. Here again, I don't bicycle. I think the last time I had been on a bike was the last time we bicycled around the island which was four years ago. There again, when I had a stomach.<br />
<br />
I was a little nervous about both of these adventures, but I had no trouble with either of them. My tag line when I posted the pictures on Facebook was "no stomach, no problem!"<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nRQQJyTopw7Fbm0NoJHjiR7bBPI3YnEJ9qR5vSYWsy5HeObutMnaCO5GAiEGVUUNBkROAbVge5GNM6imZ2mGbJwnYL7lomnL0igBkMZJvjjiOLfOKfCoS_vzwSpwg10GnT-Euk34SZfi/s1600/45148791_2021395814641297_8880095431397212160_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1354" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nRQQJyTopw7Fbm0NoJHjiR7bBPI3YnEJ9qR5vSYWsy5HeObutMnaCO5GAiEGVUUNBkROAbVge5GNM6imZ2mGbJwnYL7lomnL0igBkMZJvjjiOLfOKfCoS_vzwSpwg10GnT-Euk34SZfi/s320/45148791_2021395814641297_8880095431397212160_o.jpg" width="320" /></a>In October, we made a trip to Maine to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. I had fun shopping at the LL Bean Flagship store in Freeport and the J Crew and Calvin Klein outlets in Kittery. I might have went overboard on purchases, but on the other hand after losing 85 pounds, I still hadn't really replenished my wardrobe, so I had a good excuse.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to my weight. I have finally stabilized. After losing 1-2 pounds per week for the first year, from my appointment at MD Anderson in January 2018 to my appointment in January 2019, I only lost 8 pounds. And I think I lost 6 of those pounds as a pound a month in the first six months and just 2 pounds in the last six months, so I would call that pretty stable. Because I was overweight going in, I feel really good about my weight at 157.<br />
<br />
My follow-up appointment in January was a good appointment. In general terms, all my blood work came back with good numbers. My BUN number was a little high which could mean I have some dehydration. It wasn't significant, just a little. They did suggest more water and/or less caffeine. As I've mentioned before, iced tea is my go to drink and I don't really want to give it up. What I've started doing is making two pitchers: one caffeinated and one decaf. I drink the caffeinated during the day and the decaf in the evening. I've never felt tea kept me up at night, but having decaf in the evening I figure is a good idea anyway.<br />
<br />
My blood pressure was also a little low (99/67), not horrible, but not great. If you recall, my blood pressure was a little high going into the surgery (ever since I got diagnosed with breast cancer and then CDH1) and I went into aFib after surgery, so they put me on Metoprolol tartrate. The surgeon's speculation was that I may need to lower the dose, partially because of the weight loss. I finally got around to calling the cardiologist today and although I'm due to go in March, they can't get me in until June. But I talked to the nurse and we're going to go ahead and cut the dosage in half and see how I do.<br />
<br />
Those two things were both really minor. I continue to get an excellent report at my surgeon's visits because I am doing great! I really am doing better than I ever expected and better than many of the people that have this surgery. Dr. Mansfield said he wanted to see me again in a year, but after that, I would probably "graduate" and not have to come back any more. That sound great to me!<br />
<br />
Happy Two Year Anniversary To Me!<br />
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<br />Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-56927392674922012162018-07-22T21:58:00.001-05:002018-07-23T08:03:41.999-05:00Daily Food RoutineAs I get further and further removed from my gastrectomy, I find myself posting less and less often. I often think about posting, but don't make myself sit down and do it. I commented recently, "I was too busy living life to write about it." That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm going to try to make myself do better as I know it would be helpful to those who are going through the same things and others are just curious.<br />
<br />
I thought it might be good to share my daily routine as far as food intake. I am 17 months out from my surgery (and that's how I usually refer to it, "my surgery"; I've had various surgeries over the years, but this one is just "my surgery" and life is defined as before and after surgery, just like before and after children). But anyway.....<br />
<br />
Before surgery, I was never a big breakfast eater. I would usually eat a granola bar on the way to work. Now I emphasize protein every time I eat. I don't count calories or count grams of protein, but I try to get protein with every meal and every snack...and it seems to be working. Granola bars do not have very much protein, so they have went bye-bye. They have been replaced with Kellogg's Special K Protein cereal for breakfast. I have found that I like the Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch flavor straight out of the box. There are 7 grams of protein per 3/4 cup serving. I've actually never measured how much I eat, but I'm guessing around a serving. I carry it in a zip-lock bag and eat in on the way to work, usually finishing at work since I only have a 2 mile drive to work. I often don't eat breakfast until close to 9:00 (I'm not a morning person) and I usually eat lunch at 11:30, so I often don't have a morning snack. If I do have a morning snack, I like Atkins Peanut Butter Granola protein bars. They have 16 grams of protein. A lot of the snacks I eat later in the day, I don't like to eat in the morning; this is one of the few things I enjoy in the morning besides my cereal.<br />
<br />
As I said before, I usually eat lunch around 11:30. My lunch is, more often than not, leftovers that I bring to work and heat up in the microwave. It includes some sort of meat, potato, and sometimes a vegetable. It also includes unsweetened iced tea. Before lunch, I drink water periodically, but then I drink tea with lunch but not too much) and will continue drinking it all afternoon.<br />
<br />
In the afternoon, I have several snacks. Using the criteria of eating every 3 hours, it would only be one snack, but instead I tend to eat 2 or 3 snacks during the afternoon, eating every hour or two. At work, I keep a supply of cheddar cheese sticks, mozzarella string cheese, pretzels (that I eat with the string cheese) and protein bars. Protein bars vary a lot in the number of grams of protein. For the most part, I have stopped buying the ones that are only 7-10 grams figuring I might as well eat one that's 20 instead. I particularly like Pure Protein. They are small bars (I never have problems finishing them which does sometimes happen with bigger bars), but have 20-21 grams of protein. Costco sells a variety pack with 21 bars of Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chewy Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Deluxe. Others that I particularly like are Cliff Builder's Protein-Chocolate Mint or Chocolate Peanut Butter (20g), ProMax-Double Fudge Brownie (20g) and Balance Chocolate Mint Cookie Crunch (14g). I also really like Atkins Caramel Chocolate Nut Roll Bar. It's only 7 grams of protein, but I still buy it because it's almost like eating a candy bar.<br />
<br />
I also always carry snacks in my purse. I usually have peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets and nuts, either regular mixed nuts, peanuts or honey roasted peanuts. Lately, I've been mainly doing honey roasted peanuts. I didn't do them for quite some time, afraid that they would be too much sugar. I don't know if I would have had troubles earlier, but I've had no problems now. I stopped doing mixed nuts because I don't like cashews and I got tired of the number that were in the mixed nuts.<br />
<br />
At home on weekends, as well as doing the above snacks, I do a variety of cheeses with crackers. I'm so glad I don't have any dairy issues as I know some people do after TG as cheese is a big part of my snacking.<br />
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I eat a variety of things for supper. There really isn't anything I won't eat, but grilled fish and chicken are my "go tos". I also eat steak, hamburger, pork, etc. We often go out to eat, which almost always means I will have leftovers for lunch the next day as American restaurants serve too much food. If I fix my own dinner at home, I will often eat an entire frozen fish filet or chicken breast, partially because the serving size is smaller and partially because I don't fix as many side dishes. If I need leftovers for lunch, I'll go ahead and fix an extra serving.<br />
<br />
I had been having a smoothie almost every night as I found it did better than many other snacks in the evening. My typical make your own smoothie is 2 ice cubes crushed in the blender, add some juice (strawberry watermelon or mango), 4 tablespoons whey protein powder, 1 container Greek yogurt (any flavor), frozen fruit (some combination of mangos, peaches, and berries) blended all together. Just over the last few months, I have found myself having other snacks in the evenings and doing less smoothies, although I still like the smoothies too. I particularly do a lot of the peanut better pretzels and honey roasted peanuts in the evening.<br />
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It's nice that I've pretty much fell into a routine and have a system, but at the same time, I'm not afraid to experiment and venture outside of it. Occasionally, things don't go well, but more often than not, they do.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-15252481937129464452018-04-08T16:12:00.001-05:002018-04-08T16:13:38.279-05:00Drinks, Sweets and DumpingDumping syndrome is a condition some people experience after a total (or partial) gastrectomy. It is caused when food, especially sugar, moves into your small bowel too quickly. Symptoms of dumping syndrome include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness and rapid heart rate.<br />
<br />
I have been very fortunate. I have not experienced much dumping. Actually, in my first year, I didn't have any severe dumping. There might have been a few times that I had a little, but not really much at all. I don't know if what I had would even be considered dumping as it was so minor.<br />
<br />
Fear of dumping syndrome is one of the reasons I don't do a lot of sweets. But I have built up to doing them more often, a little at a time, and haven't had any problems....until a couple of weeks ago. It was the same day as my last post where I drank a whole can of Coke while watching the KU game that afternoon. I was fine, no issues. Then that night, I could tell I was going to have trouble getting to sleep, so I decided to have a mixed drink before going to bed. My go to drink is a fuzzy navel (orange juice and peach schnapps). Yes, it is sweet, but I've had it before, and I've been fine. I actually didn't have any orange juice, but had mango juice from my Smoothies. I've mixed mango juice with peach schnapps before and had no problems. As I was having the drink this time, I could tell it was starting to bother me. I didn't finish the drink and went on to bed. As I was laying in bed, I started having abdominal cramps really bad. I got up and went to the bathroom. Went back to bed, still cramping. I got up again. This time I was successful in having a bowel movement. Went back to bed, still cramping. I was laying there, curled up, in a lot of pain. Got up and went to the bathroom one more time. This time I had loose bowels. After that, I actually felt better. I was finally able to go back to bed and settle down and eventually go to sleep. I think that was dumping syndrome. My first experience with it and I hope my last. I really don't want to go through that again.<br />
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I haven't had my peach schnapps and orange or mango juice again yet since then. Not sure how long I'll wait before giving it a try. One of the frustrating things with all this is something that can be fine one day, isn't another day. You never know.<br />
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I did have a celebration with dessert this Friday night. We had some friends over to play bridge and I made a frozen strawberry yogurt pie (Cool Whip, frozen strawberries, and strawberry yogurt, poured into a graham cracker crust and frozen). I made it one other time since surgery. That time I was tempted to eat the whole slice, but made myself stop at half. This time I made it with Greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt. I figured adding the protein would make it better for me. It was still yummy and I did eat the whole slice this time. No dumping. No regrets. I felt totally fine afterward.<br />
<br />
There are leftovers from the pie in the freezer. I may just have to go have a slice....<br />
<br />Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-57622353549786138182018-03-25T20:27:00.000-05:002018-03-25T20:27:46.234-05:00Have a CokeI love iced tea (unsweetened!). Always have. Before TG, I was more likely to have iced tea with my meal than anything, but occasionally enjoyed a Coke...real Coke, don't like the aftertaste of diet. After TG, iced tea has been my go to drink. No sugar, no carbonation. I like it, I have no issues. <br />
<br />
Before today, I had had 2 cokes in the last year. Both times I had about half of a 12 oz. can. I don't know if it's been all the Coke commercials which watching the NCAA tournament or what, but I decided I needed to have a Coke. Partially, I wanted to have one at home so I would know if it was safe to have one while I was away from home. If I'm at a party or something, iced tea isn't always an option. I need to know if I can drink a whole Coke. So this afternoon, while watching KU play Duke in an incredible game and advance to the Final 4, I had a Coke. I drank the whole 12 oz.<br />
<br />
Truthfully, it didn't taste all that great. When you've got used to drinking drinks with no sugar, it just tastes sort of weird. But I did OK. My left side actually hurts a little. Not a lot, but a little. Maybe I should describe it more as just a little discomfort. I actually have had this happen several times over the last few weeks after I eat. I don't know what causes it. It's not that bad. I live with it. It passes in a few minutes and I'm fine.<br />
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I'm still going to drink lots of iced tea. That's not going to change. But if I want to have a Coke or if iced tea isn't an option, I can have a Coke!Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-43942875899561761152018-02-20T22:35:00.001-06:002018-02-20T22:35:19.136-06:00One Year!It's been one year since I wrote these words:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'm sitting here on the eve of my surgery. I'm freaking out. I can feel my heart rate accelerating. I try to take deep breaths to relax and stay calm. How did I get here? Am I really doing this? Am I really having my stomach removed in less than 12 hours? What will the rest of my life be like? There's no turning back. (View the whole post <a href="https://youhavecdh1.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-night-before-surgery.html">here</a>)</blockquote>
I had no idea what the future would bring. I was scared, probably more scared than I've ever been in my life. The year hasn't been easy, but in general times it hasn't been as bad as I feared. I had set myself up for the worst. There have been bad times, but the good times have far outweighed the bad times. I've been blessed. Some people have a rougher time than I have. I don't understand the difference. I don't feel like I have done anything in particular, but I had a great surgeon (Dr. Mansfield at MD Anderson), and I do try to listen to my body, eat every 2-3 hours (sometimes only an hour), eat protein every time I eat and keep hydrated by drinking mostly unsweetened iced tea, water, and smoothies. I have a smoothie that I make myself (I don't like the store bought ones and they don't always settle well) almost every night as I found it often settles better in the evening than food does. <div>
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My smoothie "recipe" is simple: ice, 100% fruit juice and/or milk (I originally used all juice, but have recently been using a combination of juice and milk), whey protein powder, Greek yogurt, frozen fruit. Blend.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2_Z4ifvpQfIVqaZCaqs5S2kJWckNLkMVSB-L43AAOlhoko6F2OsvrcFxfjiOuD4TKCN4eu9-BwI3o35-vpCkJz9qsZmFiH6BiEmoG5tN0DpqbiKh8mg3Ie7lLl1Aw2Nmh2Cpc8qipvs2/s1600/20180220_183806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2_Z4ifvpQfIVqaZCaqs5S2kJWckNLkMVSB-L43AAOlhoko6F2OsvrcFxfjiOuD4TKCN4eu9-BwI3o35-vpCkJz9qsZmFiH6BiEmoG5tN0DpqbiKh8mg3Ie7lLl1Aw2Nmh2Cpc8qipvs2/s320/20180220_183806.jpg" width="320" /></a>The amount of food I can eat in one setting keeps increasing. Sometimes, like tonight, my plate looks like a real person, eating a real meal. This was my supper tonight. I ate everything on my plate. When eating frozen fish fillets prepared at home (this one was salmon), I can pretty consistently eat the entire thing. Potatoes are a staple for me, these are sliced and coated with olive oil and garlic seasoning and then baked in the oven, along with the salmon which was preseasoned. I only started doing corn a couple of months ago, but it has been doing OK. I haven't really encountered anything I can't eat at all, but there are things I didn't try for months and corn was one of them. I still don't do a lot of it or salad or bread, but I can eat any of them. I mainly just don't want to fill up on foods like bread or lettuce that don't supply me with protein or many other nutrients.</div>
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I wish I could say that it was always easy and there weren't surprises, but that's simply not true. Sometimes after eating there's a few minutes that I don't feel good. I can't really describe it, but things just feel a little out of balance. It usually isn't severe. It seldom lasts long. It doesn't happen all the time. I just live with it. It's not a big deal. I don't know if this is something that will be part of the rest of my life or not. I do know it happens less often than it did 2 months ago when it was happening less than it was 6 months ago. So I'm guessing it may totally go away at some point or it may always be there occasionally. Only time will tell.</div>
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It had been a long time since something hadn't set so badly that it came back up. That was until last night. I had some peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets for a snack. Everything seemed fine at first, then I started not to feel well. I don't want to be too graphic but I want to tell it like it is for those who might be anticipating or recovering from a TG. It took two trips to the bathroom with it coming out of both ends before I felt better. But once it was over, I was fine. It would be easy to say that I just shouldn't eat the peanut butter pretzels, but I had some both Friday night and Saturday night and everything was fine. I didn't feel the least bit sick then. This is one of the mysteries of life post total gastrectomy. You never know what is going to bother you one day that didn't bother you another day.</div>
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My weight seems to be stabilizing. I've been right around 163 (162.7-163.4) for 6 weeks now, down 80 pounds from the 243 I weighed going into surgery. It is a weight I am very happy with and think I look good at. I will be thrilled if this is a weight that I maintain and won't be concerned about trying to gain weight. Actually, wouldn't want to gain any more than 10 pounds or so and if I end up losing another 10 pounds that would be OK too. I'm basically where I want to be.</div>
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Here's to one year of life without a stomach. Hoping and praying the second year is even more uneventful, which I am expecting it will be.<br /></div>
Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-61555321336711465042018-01-13T13:19:00.001-06:002018-01-13T13:19:24.887-06:00Almost 1 year follow-upWhen I saw Dr. Mansfield in June, he wanted to see me again in 6 months, which would have been December, but December is too busy so I scheduled the appointment for January. That means it is just shy of one year since my total gastrectomy on February 21, 2017. <br />
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As I said in an earlier post, I was a little concerned that I would get yelled out for losing too much weight as he had stressed needing to have the weight stabilize when I saw him in June and it didn't start to until November and then I started losing again (although at a slower rate) in December.<br />
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But that wasn't the case at all. The nurse actually commented about how much I had lost since my June appointment, but that I looked really good and that it appeared to be a healthy weight loss. Dr. Manfield's assistant reviewed all of the blood work and everything basically looked good. The only one that was a little low was the prealbumin protein (I think) which is better than it was in June, but still a little low, but not of major concern. B-12 levels and everything else were good. The only other thing she mentioned was so insignificant that she wasn't going to mention it, but of course, she mentioned it telling us she wasn't going to mention it and that was hydration.<br />
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When the assistant looked at my incision, I made some comment about how pleased I am with how the scar looks and she agreed and said it was one of the best she has seen. I don't think I can take credit for that, but I like it.<br />
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When Dr, Mansfield came in, he didn't even look at the lab results like he normally does. He too was happy with where I am weight wise and said that as long as it has slowed down and I don't lose it too fast, if I lose another 15 pounds or so (over several months), that would be OK. It was nice to hear that we are on the same page which I didn't necessarily feel in June. I'm not looking to lose another 15 pounds, I'm very happy with where I currently am. but if it happens, it would be OK.<br />
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The report was good enough that he doesn't want to see me for another year. So I'm good with that!Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-12351350776305517202018-01-10T22:40:00.000-06:002018-01-12T09:16:11.312-06:00New Clothes for Christmas <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrDLXuuKZ-TAz1PlIMk0nkH4oabEbQcAZ-B07vicpNgO6QVUs-hos6wtH6WF51gaL9RabF4kTgPmRQhGpEw3zdU3maPwH-Vm3yrS08Wb8FXlFF-B-2iaiECVucYbbIZHHrAUgTftsFLMR/s1600/2+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="407" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrDLXuuKZ-TAz1PlIMk0nkH4oabEbQcAZ-B07vicpNgO6QVUs-hos6wtH6WF51gaL9RabF4kTgPmRQhGpEw3zdU3maPwH-Vm3yrS08Wb8FXlFF-B-2iaiECVucYbbIZHHrAUgTftsFLMR/s200/2+%25282%2529.JPG" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's, size Small</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've lost enough weight that I definitely need more new clothes. I thought about asking for some for Christmas, but didn't really know sizes and it's also hard to tell other people what to buy for you unless you have something specific. I decided that I would be safe with asking for sports apparel for KU, Pitt State or Royals. That's the type of thing that I'm not as particular on the specifics and having some new t-shirts and sweatshirts that fit well would be nice. I went to Kansas Sampler, our local team sports apparel store, and tried on some random tops to be able to specify sizes. I knew there was still a chance something wouldn't fit and would have to be returned, but at least that would give a closer starting point.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn4VJkvq5X2E_T-HxkvP9Zz14xKsvfHwcRXeJuw6_tOPo5Ar6nstLvQ5rXGsIMyzbGRweV9Low5YVPsh0ojpZIQQIxFXUCc1ZGCXjcKdcvl36EzeBbOMypUAchjqSCbMiRHghODslOJeC/s1600/1+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="357" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn4VJkvq5X2E_T-HxkvP9Zz14xKsvfHwcRXeJuw6_tOPo5Ar6nstLvQ5rXGsIMyzbGRweV9Low5YVPsh0ojpZIQQIxFXUCc1ZGCXjcKdcvl36EzeBbOMypUAchjqSCbMiRHghODslOJeC/s200/1+%25282%2529.JPG" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's, size Medium</td></tr>
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I decided I needed a size small in men's t-shirts, a size medium in men's sweatshirts, and a size large in any ladies cut shirts. There were a couple of items that I really liked so I asked for them specifically, but mainly I was open to anything. Most of what I have is men's/unisex large or extra-large, so everything would be significantly smaller than what I have.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNRQp_3aBXQs13PbfkH4fCOxTnISedvqXOg_HFAkGxZKJKcBoOtUwK-DRtYJqA_zsaOPMZuUEl3GSy_lUTctJGhixsf4nL1etfjOe_kPx7olw-wtdko0BYJe0G4W-VaSGSV33inDDDm0L/s1600/3+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="381" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNRQp_3aBXQs13PbfkH4fCOxTnISedvqXOg_HFAkGxZKJKcBoOtUwK-DRtYJqA_zsaOPMZuUEl3GSy_lUTctJGhixsf4nL1etfjOe_kPx7olw-wtdko0BYJe0G4W-VaSGSV33inDDDm0L/s200/3+%25282%2529.JPG" width="121" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men's, size Medium</td></tr>
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I ended up getting five shirts total. A nice variety of clothing and sizes, but everything fit. The size differences are crazy, but that's how it is. It's fun to have new clothes that I look good in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYb2ZNvEZXOJ0OlYxAKA67Qz9sU_gUZlMHdRDvFVPPGsVBc_WpaUwign-P8a65HKIpcjqqChp-SHFq4UrIauM7mL5KPDLzKxKQkhfaeoYI7qu0CHRt8Muq60XZ_tGh1NRp4cAFqlPm1u3/s1600/4+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="357" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYb2ZNvEZXOJ0OlYxAKA67Qz9sU_gUZlMHdRDvFVPPGsVBc_WpaUwign-P8a65HKIpcjqqChp-SHFq4UrIauM7mL5KPDLzKxKQkhfaeoYI7qu0CHRt8Muq60XZ_tGh1NRp4cAFqlPm1u3/s200/4+%25282%2529.JPG" width="122" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ladies cut, size Large</td></tr>
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Everyone comments on how skinny I am. I tell them it's all relative. I have always hidden my weight well. I didn't look like I weighed 243 pounds before the surgery and I don't look like I weigh 165 pounds now. I get told "well, you're tall", but size 14 jeans has nothing to do with height and isn't normally concerned skinny. But anyway, I'm happy with where I am. I feel good about what I weigh and how I look. I am slightly concerned about how to tell my body to stop losing weight. I started to stabilize around 170 pounds, but then I started losing again in December. I think it may be because of eating too much junk food. Most people gain weight in December from eating cookies, candy and party mix, but I think I lost weight because of it. I didn't eat a lot, but ate more of that kind of stuff than usual and as a result probably didn't have as much good, healthy snacks with protein. I'm hoping that with the holidays behind us, I'll do better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0iqvcCv9aMWEtJutLuDiZzEiyz0iRauhy_s8P9Jm9mPZbynOluErOOVEjJ7kXD45owg0ecwU2cQZ-rtg9nJWvuRzni9DcNw8k38HfacBa9KRX0x4yeEbQPXEHa59e7lpojRp5FCyKNn7/s1600/5+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="384" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0iqvcCv9aMWEtJutLuDiZzEiyz0iRauhy_s8P9Jm9mPZbynOluErOOVEjJ7kXD45owg0ecwU2cQZ-rtg9nJWvuRzni9DcNw8k38HfacBa9KRX0x4yeEbQPXEHa59e7lpojRp5FCyKNn7/s200/5+%25282%2529.JPG" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ladies cut, size Large</td></tr>
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As I type this, I'm actually on an airplane headed down to MD Anderson for a follow-up appointment tomorrow. I have a feeling Dr. Mansfield won't be happy with my continued weight loss, we'll see.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-24745560391434577682017-12-02T17:36:00.003-06:002017-12-03T08:38:29.504-06:00ThanksgivingBeing the first major traditional stuffing yourself holiday since my total gastrectomy, I was a little anxious about how Thanksgiving would go. I was pretty pleased.<br />
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I slept in, had breakfast about 9:30 and then got making apple pie. I had made pumpkin and sour cream raisin (my first attempt...my husband's favorite, so I thought I would give it a try) the night before. During the pie making, there was one issue after another, but survived not finding the mixer bowl I was looking for, the meringue not stiffening, the pie crust falling apart trying to put it in the pie plate, a collapsed crust, and whatever else went wrong.<br />
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We left the house a little after noon to head to the home of my step-sister-in-law's mother (did you follow that one) where we would share Thanksgiving Dinner with about 30 "family". Having been about 2 1/2 hours since I had ate breakfast and knowing it would be at least an hour and potentially a couple of hours, before we had dinner, I took along a protein bar to eat as a snack on the way. I laughed about eating a snack on the way to Thanksgiving dinner, but knew that if it got much over 3 hours between me eating, I could potentially have issues and wanted to avoid that.<br />
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We ate around 1:30. I put small portions of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn and a roll on my plate. I've got pretty good about judging how much I can eat, but I thought there was a good chance I had put too much on my plate this time, but I hadn't. I ate every bit of it. I sat at the table and visited for a little bit and then eventually decided I was able to have some pie. I cut a little bit off of a piece of apple and a piece of pumpkin and had probably about 3 bites of each. It was delicious (if I don't say so myself) and satisfying. I never felt bloated or sick or anything. I had succeeded in limiting myself to just the right amount.<br />
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I continued to feel great the rest of the day. I would say that's a successful Thanksgiving!Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-48311976991381105822017-11-19T17:24:00.000-06:002018-01-12T09:17:35.896-06:00Random RamblingsI'm way behind. It has been 3 months since I've posted. I've intended on posting several times over the last 3 months. I've thought about what I would say several times. I've just never actually sit down and typed anything. So, I am doing that, today, now!<br />
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By August, I had lost enough weight (about 55 pounds) that some of my clothes didn't work anymore, or at least looked baggy. I was thinking about going shopping for some new clothes, but then discovered I had some in the upstairs closet that I had "outgrown" prior to surgery, but hadn't gotten rid of. I was enjoying my newfound wardrobe.<br />
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The first of September, we went to Mackinaw City, Michigan (my husband's hometown) for vacation. My daughter and son-in-law went with us. It was my son-in-law's first trip to the area and my biggest trip post-TG. About 2 days before we left, I decided that I really should buy new jeans before we went. The newfound wardrobe had included dress pants, but not jeans. At home, I was still wearing a lot of shorts, but in northern Michigan, it would be cooler and I would want jeans. While I was still able to cinch my jeans tight enough with a belt to wear around home and to work where I'm sitting at a desk most of the day, they wouldn't be as comfortable when we were walking around most of the day. It took 3 stores, but I finally found some jeans that fit. I had went from a size 18W down to a 14, the same size I had worn for much of my early adult life, but not anytime recently. Having jeans that fit felt wonderful. At that point, I didn't want to go back to wearing ones that were loose.<br />
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If you've ever been to Mackinaw City or Mackinac Island, you know the area is known for fudge. There are fudge shops every other store. The same company will even have two shops within a block of each other. I learned while we were there that I can still eat fudge, caramels and other candy that is just too hard to resist. I just have to pace myself. I ate a lot of sweets on the trip, but I would have one piece and then an hour or two later have another piece, etc. I never got sick by eating too much.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGVssIZJFI8YN39fetL9L8XdIWMLI59pgJnunuGb4xZE7l-2oKLIfEbKXLbs1ux8PaEHnxKUPVFXw4UqNwDF2IKN_tqZ6nd9NBepZo_fYIedMCUCOoHQnjMc1Uw5IjipI_mDao0uIWN1W/s1600/22829473_1543125055801711_4145781868283989104_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1071" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAGVssIZJFI8YN39fetL9L8XdIWMLI59pgJnunuGb4xZE7l-2oKLIfEbKXLbs1ux8PaEHnxKUPVFXw4UqNwDF2IKN_tqZ6nd9NBepZo_fYIedMCUCOoHQnjMc1Uw5IjipI_mDao0uIWN1W/s320/22829473_1543125055801711_4145781868283989104_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Mackinac Bridge Walk from our hotel room</td></tr>
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Part of the point of going to Mackinac over Labor Day weekend is for the Mackinac Bridge Walk. It's the one day you can walk across the 5 mile long suspension bridge. Keith and I did it in 2011, the first time he had done it since he was a kid. Mary and Nicholas wanted to do the walk, so the 3 of them did. I decided that I wasn't up for that long of a walk and especially not for leaving the hotel at 6am, so I stayed behind and took pictures. Mary ended up live streaming the walk on Keith's facebook page. If you're interested, you can watch it at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/210773555600457/videos/1752567588087705/?fref=mentions">https://www.facebook.com/210773555600457/videos/1752567588087705/?fref=mentions</a> and/or view Keith's pictures from the walk at <a href="http://www.mightymac.org/2017mackinacbridgewalk/index.htm">http://www.mightymac.org/2017mackinacbridgewalk/index.htm</a><br />
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Mary and I went horseback riding on Mackinac Island. The first horseback riding I've done in years. I was definitely sore after the hour long ride, but glad I did it.<br />
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About the end of September or early October, I suddenly realized I was working full days regularly. Because I have great flexibility in my job in regards to what time I get in and what time I leave, it had sneaked up on me and I had been doing it for a week or two before I really realized it. I was also going for a walk or doing other activities in the evening, after putting in a full day, without being totally exhausted. So, it took 7 months, but I was pretty close to "fully recovered"...whatever that means. That doesn't mean there aren't still moments when I don't feel good, but in general, things are really good.<br />
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Before my surgery, Keith and I played tennis for exercise. We hadn't played since my surgery, but finally played 3 or 4 times in October. Then life got busy and crazy (normal) and the weather got cooler and we hadn't been playing or walking or doing any exercise. I made a conscience decision to try to do better and this weekend has been nicer and we went for a walk on Friday and then played tennis today.<br />
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As I'm now down about 70 pounds. I am finding more and more of my old clothes that don't work anymore. I'm enjoying buying new, although I still haven't done a ton yet because even though my weight loss has slowed down, it hasn't stopped and I don't want to spend a lot of money of clothes that I may not be able to wear in another 6 months or a year.<br />
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I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving this week. This will be another test for me as I try to not put too much on my plate and not over eat. We'll see how it goes.......<br />
<br />
<br />Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-75383047681722372322017-08-20T22:45:00.001-05:002017-08-20T22:45:41.149-05:00Being Sick<div class="MsoNormal">
I experienced a first since my total gastrectomy
in February this week…..being sick. This sickness
had nothing to do with my stomach, or lack there of, nothing to do with
something I ate, it was just old fashioned being sick. Last Saturday, we celebrated my birthday a
couple of days early. Late in the
evening, I started not feeling great with a little of a sore throat. Sunday morning I still didn’t feel well. Throat was still sore, felt weak and my body
was aching all over. I wouldn’t have
went to church, but had a meeting afterward, so went. During worship, I found it necessary to sit
down during a couple of hymns which of course made people around me
notice. And of course, if I’m not feeling
well, it’s because of my surgery, there’s no other options, or at least so
people think. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t go to work on Monday, my birthday. I slept all day, not getting out of bed for
any length of time until 4:30. Because I
slept all day Monday, I didn’t get the doctor called until Tuesday and they
couldn’t see me until Wednesday. They suggested I could go to Urgent Care on
Tuesday, but first of all, I didn’t feel like sitting and waiting for what
sometimes can be a long time at Urgent Care and secondly, I didn’t want to have
to explain the whole “no-stomach” thing to a doctor who didn’t know me. I actually hadn’t seen my regular physician
since my surgery, so I sort of wanted to see her anyway. When I went to the doctor on Wednesday, she
determined it was strep throat and put me on antibiotics. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I managed to go into the office for about an hour or hour
and a half tops on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but that’s all I had energy
for. Friday, I made it up to about 3 ½
hours. In case you’re every wondering,
it’s hard to get a week’s worth of work done at an hour a day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My throat was so sore all week that it hurt to swallow. Since it hurt to swallow, I couldn’t make
myself eat much. I survived the week on yogurt
and Smoothies was pretty much it. I ate
a little other food, but not much. I
lost about 8 pounds. Originally, after surgery, I was losing 1-2 pounds a
week. That was starting to slow down and
my weight was beginning to stabilize.
I’m wondering now if I will gain back the 8 pounds I lost this week
being sick or if it’s a new threshold.
Only time will tell. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I did start to feel like eating more at the end of the
week, at first I found it difficult to consume very large quantities. It was sort of like the expanding that I had
done over the last few months of being able to eat more, took two steps
back. But after a day or so, I seemed to
be close to where I had left off a week ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m curious to see where I am a week from now.<o:p></o:p></div>
Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-87853791858453715682017-08-05T11:17:00.001-05:002017-08-05T11:17:31.479-05:00Sleeping inI slept till 10:30 this morning. It felt good. I actually didn't get myself out of bed until 10:45. It was a rainy morning, so a great day for sleeping in.<br />
<br />
I really hope this will help me not be as tired as I've been. I've felt more of a normal, I need more sleep tired recently instead of the I don't have any energy tired that I was feeling a few weeks/months ago. I didn't mention yesterday the late nights that I've had (besides the one associated with work) which I'm sure is part of the issue. Last weekend, I ended up being up till midnight or later for one reason or another Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Then Thursday night this week, we went to the Royals game and that was another late night. I think my body was rebelling and reminding me it's not fully recovered, even though I'm doing so much better.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-81919181929031241292017-08-04T22:33:00.003-05:002017-08-04T22:33:36.523-05:00Gaining Strength and EnergyFor a week, I've been going to post about gaining more strength and energy, but I keep being too tired to post when I think about it. What does that mean? I think it probably says more about my motivation and the other things that I have going on, but it just seem funny.<br />
<br />
The week before this was a crazy week at work. It's another one of those weeks that reminds me that I'm doing a lot better, just because I survived it. We had a major storm Saturday night, July 22. Sunday morning while I was still in bed, about 7:30, my husband brings me my phone because I had just received two texts. They were from our youth director who was at the church early to head with the young adults to Colorado. She was letting us know that the power was out at church.<br />
<br />
Even though I really didn't want to, because I'm still not doing mornings well, I got up and started making arrangements for our worship to go on without power. We have an early worship service at 8am at a local park so our pastors would already or soon be there. Worship in the sanctuary is at 9am (contemporary) and 10:30am (traditional). I started emailing the pastors, musicians and media techs. At the 9am service, we only have words to the songs on the screen, so my daughter who creates the media emailed me the lyrics so I could print on our home computer a few copies to be shared. I got to the church a little after 8:30, handed off the lyrics and then started my self-appointed task of getting light into the bathrooms as they have no windows. There was enough light in the sanctuary and all classrooms that I wasn't concerned about them. After I distributed the LED lanterns, flashlights and battery pillar candles to the bathrooms, I remembered that we had a box of old funeral fans that we had used for a Camp Meeting reenactment we did a few years ago. By this time, the 9am service had started, but when I delivered them to the ushers, they said they would distribute them and they were very welcomed.<br />
<br />
Before I went in Monday morning, I had already heard from our pastor that we were still without power. I still went in for a couple of hours. Since we actually had "half power" and some things were trying to be on, I spent most of the time going around and unplugging electronics and turning off power strips. The office was by far the hottest place in the building, so I tried to avoid it. I had a few things I wanted to do in the History Room in the basement, so this seemed like a good time to do them. I took a few things home and spent a couple of hours working from home in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
A little after 8pm, I heard that the power was back on so I headed back to the church to try to get the computers and everything up and running so that things would be functioning when other staff members got there Tuesday morning which would likely be before me....remember I still don't do mornings well. I couldn't get the server up and in texting my volunteer IT person, he offered to come help, so I said "please." I was willing to stay as long as he was because if it didn't get fixed Monday night, I would likely be on my own on Tuesday. Well, we got the computers going before we left, leaving the church just before 11:30pm. I put in a normal 7 1/4 hours on Monday, just at odd times.<br />
<br />
Being so late Monday night, I obviously do not get up early Tuesday morning. It was about 11:30 before I got in. However, I had a meeting Tuesday night and worked straight through, so it was still an 8 hour day. Tuesday was spent calling technicians for all the things that didn't restart on their own after the power outage such as copiers, elevator, A/C, alarm that had a ground fault, etc. Wednesday was another 7 1/4 hour day dealing with all the technicians that had been called Tuesday.<br />
<br />
Thursday started with a phone call from our pastor waking me up at 8am. It had poured Wednesday night and she had been up since 3:30am helping her husband bail water out of their basement and wasn't going to be in. Our office volunteer that gets in a 9am doesn't have a key, so I told the pastor I would get myself together and be there to let the volunteer in. Shortly after I got to the church, I was informed that the Rescue Assistance system in the Education Building was making a very loud, annoying, static noise, so I called the Alarm company again. I then discovered that if you hold down the intercom button, it stopped making noise, so we duct taped the button down. A few minutes later, we discovered the basement had got water in so I helped move the wooden furniture and sent emails asking for people to come help with the water.<br />
<br />
About 12:30, we were finally ready to heat up the leftovers we had brought for lunch when the power went out. It wasn't storming at this point. Don't know what happened. We waited a few minutes to verify it wasn't a quick flash and was going to come back on, then decided to go out to lunch. Fortunately, when we got back from lunch, we had power, but didn't have internet. I was going to be out of the office on Friday, so had several things I still needed to get done before I left on Thursday, including Payroll. I was making plans for doing what I needed to do at church, but then having to finish things at home with internet when my second call to the phone company actually accomplished getting the internet back, so I was able to finish everything at the church. However, it was 7pm before I got done what I needed to get done, so it was a 9 hour day.<br />
<br />
Friday was an all-day meeting in Topeka. I drove myself so I could go see my dad afterward. It was a full week! As I said before, I know I'm better because as tired as I was, I was not drop dead tired and survived. I even managed to walk some of the evenings.<br />
<br />
This week has been a little more normal, even though not quite everything is back together, but we're getting close. I'm still having trouble getting up in the morning, so I'm not getting in until close to 10 and therefore, only managing 6 1/2 - 7 hours. I have walked almost every night this week and 3 of the last 4 times I've walked, I've walked 4 laps around the pond at the local park. Each lap is 545 meters, so I've been walking 1 1/3 miles.<br />
<br />
When I get caught up in life and don't realize how tired I am until afterwards, I know I'm getting closer to "normal."Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-8484433704857879392017-07-21T22:56:00.001-05:002017-08-04T21:15:53.015-05:005 Month Post-OpMy total gastrectomy was 5 months ago today. It doesn't really seem like that long ago. The other day, I caught myself telling someone it was almost 4 months and then realized it was almost 5 months. Life has pretty much returned to "normal"...or at least a new normal. I'm still hoping that my energy level continues to increase, and I think it will, but I could live with where I am now if I had to.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzePVCl0Z_lIcoujpw687A4A0LcyuOWZeXBTG3cFL1loEe5__UF3Jrd7dPqX6_p5kSlNQc077kJlXAmhxn5tAErLDpntTcgtHgoN3Nnlao87eQMVKtnbhbI6MgI3Ax2_WhyUp-If92aDQJ/s1600/20228920_10213785184766842_5591675397010033656_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzePVCl0Z_lIcoujpw687A4A0LcyuOWZeXBTG3cFL1loEe5__UF3Jrd7dPqX6_p5kSlNQc077kJlXAmhxn5tAErLDpntTcgtHgoN3Nnlao87eQMVKtnbhbI6MgI3Ax2_WhyUp-If92aDQJ/s200/20228920_10213785184766842_5591675397010033656_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>I wrote about our long weekend travels the first of July. Last weekend, we had another travel weekend. One of Keith's best friends got married in Sioux City, Iowa. Since we would be so close to South Dakota and Keith has never been, he wanted to go up there and take some pictures. When I looked at a map, I realized part of South Dakota we would be close to was Vermillion, where my best friend from college lives. So, we left KC a little after 4:00 on Thursday, drove to Vermillion, stopping for supper along the way. We got there between 9:30 and 10:00. Friday morning, we picked up my friend around 9:30 and went to Devil's Gulch, Palisades State Park and the falls at Sioux Falls. We were then to Sioux City for a pre-wedding dinner Friday night. After dinner, we played games and lost track of time, so didn't get back to the motel until midnight. Saturday morning, I slept in until about 9:30. We then headed back to Vermillion and then to Yankton to see the bridge and eat lunch. We didn't have a lot of time since we got a late start and wanted to be back to Sioux City around 2:30 to get ready for the 4:30 wedding. It was a small wedding, just close family and friends. After the wedding, we had dinner at a restaurant and then back to the house for more games (requested by the bride's teen daughter). We had another late night, slept in Sunday morning and hit the road for home. At St. Joseph, Missouri, we jogged over to Kansas, hitting a couple of things in Atchison and Leavenworth for kansastravel.org.<br />
<br />
It was a full weekend. I was tired, but did OK for the most part. I did have a minor episode at Palisades State Park. We had walked down a short trail to see one of the rock formations. I got hot and tired and not feeling well, so decided to head back to the car. Before I could get very far, things quickly got worse. Back in high school and college, I had some problems with black out spells. Doctors were never able to determine what caused them. They've continued occasionally in adult life, but not very often (like every few years). Well, as I was trying to head to the car, I felt like I was going to black out, I needed a bathroom and I thought I was going to throw up. I had to sit down on a rock, bench, whatever, 2 or 3 times on the way to the parking lot. I tried to throw up, but nothing would come up. When I wasn't going to black out so I could walk, I walked quickly so I could get to the primitive toilets which were fortunately in the parking lot. I got through it and made it to the toilets just in time, but there was a moment I was starting to panic and wondering how I was going to get off the trail and back to the car. I was cautious the rest of the day and didn't do much walking.<br />
<br />
After two short weeks at work, I had a full week this week. Monday and Tuesday I had evening meetings at 6:00 and 6:15, so worked straight through. I was at the church for 10 hours Monday and 9 1/2 hours Tuesday. I was obviously tired at the end of the day both days, but I wasn't drop-dead tired. That actually told me that I'm doing a lot better. Just a few weeks ago, I would not have been functioning at the end of a 10 hour day. I ended up putting in basically 39 hours this week, the most, by far, I have done since surgery.Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-77006272523985064042017-07-09T17:21:00.001-05:002017-07-10T09:06:48.081-05:00Long 4th of July weekend<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My husband, Keith, has a website,
kansastravel.org, where he goes around the state of Kansas and takes
pictures and posts about everything from museums to waterfalls to
zoos to locally owned restaurants and all sorts of stuff. Basically,
his belief is every community, regardless how small, has something.
In the 9 years we have been together, we have traveled Kansas
together. Often times he has taken me to things I've never seen or
heard of as a lifelong Kansan. Sometimes I can fill him in on
details he doesn't know because I grew up here.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
With the focus on my surgery, we
obviously haven't done much exploring Kansas this year. Living on
the east side of the state, it is particularly hard to get to the
western edge very often. You pretty much need a 3 day weekend or
more. Since the 4<sup>th</sup> was on a Tuesday, he suggested we
take Monday off and make it a 4 day weekend and head west. I was
reluctant at first because I still wasn't sure about my energy level,
but ended up deciding to go ahead as long as he was willing to accept
my criteria: don't push me too hard and don't force me to get up too
early in the morning. Keith usually does all the driving so I
figured I should be able to easily relax in the car. Then of course
I knew meals would be a little bit of challenge because the
restaurants would be chosen based on what he wanted to try for his
website, not what I thought would have the best options for me, but
I'm getting pretty good about finding something that works wherever
we are.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When Keith figured out where he wanted
to have supper Friday night and how far west we wanted to get based
on July 4 weekend events, it was decided we should leave work early
to hit the road around 4pm on Friday. It was closer to 4:30 before
we got gone. I had packed snacks (string cheese, pretzels, nuts and
protein bars). I hadn't had my afternoon snack yet, so ate string
cheese and pretzels as we left Kansas City. We also stopped to pick
up a $1 iced tea at McDonalds. Keith likes me to read to him in the
car while we're traveling, but I don't like to read novels, so after
finishing my snack, I read to him from “100 Things Kansas Fans
Should Know & Do Before They Die” by Ken Davis.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVu8dVC-D5xDqb2dHau_XeVwM3pFlAjXcQ96Sj8wZ8aJN96KrNPwn2YCBwIOelpG96e_ySfTYEPzHbpZuOsVCh1UFRe4E3-59Zj6g407uP2wTSroGKIKL6IFoP9dUHBlaQ841zqFHhI-I/s1600/20170630_190516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1169" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVu8dVC-D5xDqb2dHau_XeVwM3pFlAjXcQ96Sj8wZ8aJN96KrNPwn2YCBwIOelpG96e_ySfTYEPzHbpZuOsVCh1UFRe4E3-59Zj6g407uP2wTSroGKIKL6IFoP9dUHBlaQ841zqFHhI-I/s200/20170630_190516.jpg" width="200" /></a>We reached our dinner destination,
Three One One in Abilene, just before 6:30pm. Since surgery, I have
established a general rule for myself that I try to keep my
restaurant meals under $10 unless it is something that I plan on
taking home and getting several other meals out of. I knew that for
this trip, I would be forced to make exceptions to that rule. One of
the things this restaurant is known for is grilled Mahi-Mahi, so I
ordered the Mahi-Mahi sandwich. It came with two large filets on a
bun and a side of house-made chips. I ate most of one filet, leaving
behind the bun. I was also tempted by the slice of very ripe, very
good tomato. I've only had a little raw tomato, but the skin peeled
off easily and I ate most of it. It was very delicious. I only had a
few of the chips. My husband had a hamburger and ate my second
Mahi-Mahi filet. Since we're experiencing this for the website, and
the restaurant is known for their key lime pie, we had to try a
piece. I only ate one or two bites, but it was pretty good.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After dinner, we drove on to WaKeeney
where we spent the night. There was a cattle drive as part of July 4
festivities near Goodland at 10am Mountain Time Saturday morning.
Keith really wanted to do it, thus the reason for pushing so far
Friday night. Before leaving home, I had agreed to being on the road
by 9am Central Time Saturday morning. That had me getting up a
little earlier than I would prefer, but I was willing to do it for
one day of our weekend. The motel had a very basic breakfast, but
nothing really appealed to me and the only thing with protein was
hard boiled eggs which I don't like. I had brought with me Special K
Protein cereal for just an occasion and had my cereal with their milk
for breakfast.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
On the way to Goodland, I read the
first chapter of my mother's 1936 Kansas History textbook, Four
Centuries in Kansas. We reached Goodland for the cattle drive in
plenty of time. We sat in a field in lawn chairs while a woman in
period dress explained about life in the 1800s and what we were
getting ready to see. Some of the information she shared seemed to
be taken from the book I had been reading such as stories about the
millions of buffalo that once roamed the land. About 6 cowboys
brought the cattle in to the water hole near where we were sitting.
The lead cowboy was in character as he talked about bringing the
cattle through on their way to Wyoming and the hardships along the
way. After the reenactment, we watched a real cattle drive down the
street as they moved the cattle from this field to another one. There
was a herd of buffalo in the field next to where they were moving the
cattle which we also got to photograph. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After the cattle drive, we went on into
Goodland for lunch at the Butterfly Cafe at the local Goodland
airport. I got a grilled chicken sandwich with a salad and mashed
potatoes. This was my first try at a salad, but I have had a little
bit of tomato and lettuce on a sandwich, so decided I was good to
give it a try. I only had a few bites, but did OK. Again, I just
ate the grilled chicken, not the bread. I can eat bread OK, but just
don't want to fill up on it. This was another place known for their
pie, so we got a slice of apple pie to share. I had 2 or 3 bites.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After lunch, we went to a local bar to
find the owner to talk to him about a <a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/whiteeaglegas.htm">gas station he had restored</a> that we had stumbled across on a previous trip. When we asked about
him at the bar we were told he was grilling in the kitchen, but
“stick your head in” and see if he can talk to you. So Keith
stood in the kitchen doorway interviewing Rod as he kept cooking. I
waited at the bar and ended up having a very nice chat with a family
sitting nearby. One of the women at the table was best friends with
Rod's wife and she ended up texting her to come down so we could see
the inside of a house Rod had restored. Less than 5 minutes later,
the wife was at the bar, relieving her husband in the kitchen, so he
could go show us the house. It was an amazing house that had
originally been a doctor's home and office. He had done lots of work
inside and outside, as well as to the horse barn behind the house.
In the process, he had discovered all sorts of the doctor's equipment
and other medical supplies, which he has nicely on display within the
house. Fully furnished, if he didn't find it in the house, he filled
in with other antiques he already owned. It was nicer than many
museums, but was a passion of love and is not open to the public
except by invitation.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
From here we drove to <a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/scottstatepark.htm">Lake Scott StatePark</a>, photographing anything of interest along the way, including
small towns, murals, abandoned buildings, landscapes, animals,
whatever. We drove around the lake taking more photographs and then
on down to Scott City. We had a few minutes before our dinner
reservation so were driving around when we noticed an old car at the
gas pumps of another restored gas station we had photographed on a
previous trip. There were two men talking and we thought there was a
good chance one was the owner. Sure enough, after one left, the
other man went inside, so we stopped and Keith was able to get more
information about the station.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdeY9O1HkikO5M-FRSceifkKh04-sRzwXEhqcDew9PU9W8A8xDbqK-QgFwjQOE4HHDQS3JFZ-vv2LEQ84eoSCH4o3JWtTEkDiItA6BecLJ-tmoYcibpd1F_bXKI62_OjzGXuK7YJpsm6N/s1600/IMG_1590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1038" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdeY9O1HkikO5M-FRSceifkKh04-sRzwXEhqcDew9PU9W8A8xDbqK-QgFwjQOE4HHDQS3JFZ-vv2LEQ84eoSCH4o3JWtTEkDiItA6BecLJ-tmoYcibpd1F_bXKI62_OjzGXuK7YJpsm6N/s320/IMG_1590.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Majestic Theater Restaurant, Scott City, Kansas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IDQUGmyQ9mHEpLoNwxhbiOCPSHYKDjlG6EHioAfjA3K9ywuslNbtXMecSe94FvALpANi0eQPJpM7JommG0t-ZU8HClIGb3r_3RMXnp-82m7EH8ftM5N007cuB7Enib318X9GgsfwXmQP/s1600/IMG_1610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>We had supper at the Majestic Theater
Restaurant, a very elegant restaurant in an old theater. The menu
was somewhat limited, but I ordered grilled shrimp (was way over my
$10 limit with this meal). It came with a salad and bread. I was
enjoying my salad with delicious blue cheese dressing, along with the
bread, but decided I needed to stop or I wouldn't be able to have any
of the main meal. I don't know if I ate too much or if there was too
long of a break before the entree came or what, but by the time my
meal came, I wasn't feeling great. I took one bite of the grilled
shrimp and was chewing and chewing, but couldn't make myself swallow.
I was finally able to swallow that one bite, but knew that was a
sign I shouldn't eat anymore. I felt bad not eating any of this nice
meal at a nice restaurant. At the end of the meal, I just politely
explained to the server that the food was great, but I wasn't feeling
well, and asked for a box. I didn't go into any detail about why I
couldn't eat more.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After supper, we drove on down to
Garden City where we spent the night. Keith let me sleep in Sunday
morning. I got up just in time to do the breakfast buffet which was
included in the room, but was a full buffet instead of the
continental breakfast at many motels. I had a few breakfast
potatoes, scrambled eggs, 1 slice of bacon and a few chunks of
watermelon. Before we left town, we took various photos in Garden
City, including at the cemetery and of the Courthouse. Then it was
on to Ingalls Cafe in Ingalls, Kansas (a town of 300) for lunch. I
ordered the fried catfish dinner. It again came with salad. I only
had a couple of bites this time, but made Keith eat most of it.
Since he was only getting a sandwich, his didn't come with salad. I
got two huge catfish filets, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and a
roll. I don't think I ate any of the corn and only a bite of the
roll. I ate most of one filet, eating out the center and leaving the
more crispy edge behind, as well as a little potatoes.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsh_iVkaNrnBwaUh162liN5zv_SzeFqSR4Dx6Yiik6fXoyCqaXlCwkfNKvoun64LfyticrYWpqcDF_CD0VgQszardIPhYp_jybmj83uIqNOi_COmq8i5YyYOK2B8hycveLlZjKRxSreOH/s1600/17libertygarden1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="900" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsh_iVkaNrnBwaUh162liN5zv_SzeFqSR4Dx6Yiik6fXoyCqaXlCwkfNKvoun64LfyticrYWpqcDF_CD0VgQszardIPhYp_jybmj83uIqNOi_COmq8i5YyYOK2B8hycveLlZjKRxSreOH/s320/17libertygarden1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/libertygarden.htm">Liberty Garden 9-11 Memorial, Dodge City, Kansas</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
From Ingalls we headed on through
Cimarron and ultimately to Dodge City continuing to photograph
whatever struck our fancy along the way, including another
courthouse, churches, an old hotel and more. In Dodge City, we
toured the Mueller-Schmidt House, a stone home built in 1881, and the
<a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/libertygarden.htm">Liberty Garden, a memorial to 9-11</a>, among other sites. We went from
Dodge City up through Ness City and other small towns, eventually
returning to WaKenney Along the way, we photographed more
courthouses, churches, murals and other buildings.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGOtOINXL_MI622Slsw6HNp2N8LAJmZ-piH0FCgLmbyzfJQoEZzX-HZXDHX1Mh6t7BcEQkqbXSFKixnGlR3ERwy8sTRKCCG8mShIjtjG-etHPC3BtWZd4EQ5xNVafDLItE-yqDzQe3WEC/s1600/20170702_193346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1097" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieGOtOINXL_MI622Slsw6HNp2N8LAJmZ-piH0FCgLmbyzfJQoEZzX-HZXDHX1Mh6t7BcEQkqbXSFKixnGlR3ERwy8sTRKCCG8mShIjtjG-etHPC3BtWZd4EQ5xNVafDLItE-yqDzQe3WEC/s200/20170702_193346.jpg" width="200" /></a>Supper was at the Western Kansas Saloon
and Grill, housed in a former hardware store, in WaKenney. I had the
pork loin special with new potatoes and green beans. There were 3
pork loins, I ate most of one. Keith sampled part of one and had the
rest, along with my grilled shrimp from the previous night, for
breakfast the next morning. I only ate a little bit of the new
potatoes and green beans. For one, the potatoes were very large for
new potatoes and not quite as done as I would have preferred.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We stayed at the same motel that we had
stayed at Friday night. The continental breakfast was only open till
9am, but Keith brought a bowl of milk to the room so I could add my
protein cereal and didn't have to get up that early. Monday is the
one day the local historical society museum is not open, but Keith
had arranged for someone to meet us there at 10am. He gave me the
option of sleeping even later, but I did get up to go. I didn't
allow quite enough time to get ready, and we were coming back to the
room to check out after our appointment, so I waited to eat breakfast
after our visit to the museum. When I took the milk out of the
refrigerator, I found the top had frozen over (as had the water
bottles in the refrigerator...I think the temperature was turned down
a little too low). I tried stirring the milk, but couldn't get rid
of the ice crystals, so gave up in frustration. Thought about going
across the street to the convenience store to buy milk, but it was
nearing the 11am checkout and I didn't want to try to eat a bowl of
cereal in the car. I started eating the dry cereal out of the box
and discovered it actually didn't taste that bad, so ate that for
breakfast in the car.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We headed toward Hays for lunch at<a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/Alschickenette.htm"> Al'sChickenette</a>, stopping along the way in Ellis for photos at Memorial
Park, Mount Hope Cemetery, and an old truss bridge. For lunch, Keith
ordered a gizzard appetizer and we shared a 2 piece chicken dinner
that came with two sides, so we got one for me and one for Keith. It
was another place known for pies, so I had a couple of bites of peach
pie.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After lunch, we photographed a church
in Catharine and the remains of a church near Emmeram. We tried to
photograph two multi-arch stone bridges, but couldn't find one, even
though we followed exact directions, and gave up on the other when we
found the road being grated and couldn't figure out how we would get
around the grater.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We made it to Abilene about 5:00 and
checked into our Bed & Breakfast. I found it difficult to answer
the question about allergies or food restrictions. I went ahead and
told my story, received the usual shocked response, and we agreed on
smaller portions, protein and not much sweets and agreement that she
wouldn't be offended if I didn't eat something or very much. I had
prepared myself to be up front about my surgery as breakfast at a B &
B is totally different than at a standard motel. I hadn't thought
about the fact that also meant getting up earlier as we were given
the choice between eating at 8:30 or 9:00. I quickly chose 9 and
silently wished it were 9:30 or 10.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We had been in the room for less than
15 minutes when my cell phone rang. It was my oldest daughter, Jesi,
“I'm about to ruin your vacation.” Turns out she was in
the ER with appendicitis. She had went to her primary care doctor
who had run a test, diagnosed appendicitis and sent her to the
hospital emergency room. Since she hadn't seen the ER doctor and we
were over 2 hours away, we decided to wait till we had more
information before deciding to head home. We went to supper in
Detroit, Kansas. I had a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich with
french fries. I didn't care for the fries, but really enjoyed the
sandwich and ate most of it. After supper, we went on to Chapman to
do some more photography of a cemetery and church memorial. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtVngKqe2B_KexdtTjkDGJJYA2fOziivmqOBQms-JjCGi4JIJFCqwc2p9oKgspY4qEg6OkHSELfUCWhxNM11jsEM5YT5FHLMDj9cLPJANBzpykeoKULa35KbFc6Du4PYVxTUe_BXhMCq2/s1600/17stpatrickschapman1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtVngKqe2B_KexdtTjkDGJJYA2fOziivmqOBQms-JjCGi4JIJFCqwc2p9oKgspY4qEg6OkHSELfUCWhxNM11jsEM5YT5FHLMDj9cLPJANBzpykeoKULa35KbFc6Du4PYVxTUe_BXhMCq2/s320/17stpatrickschapman1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kansastravel.org/stpatricksmission.htm">St. Patrick's Mission Church Memorial, Chapman, Kansas</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
By this time, Jesi still didn't know
whether they were going to do surgery Monday night or Tuesday morning
(on the 4th), but I decided I wanted to go ahead and head home.
Basically if they did surgery Monday night, we would be there when
she got out of surgery. If they did it Tuesday morning, we would be
there before surgery. If we waited to head home Tuesday morning, we
wouldn't be there either way. So we headed back to the B & B,
picked up our stuff, and headed home. We drove straight to the
hospital, getting there just before 11:00. We visited for awhile and
got home about midnight. The next morning, we headed to the hospital
about 9:00, having been told surgery would be between 10:00 and
10:30, it ended up not being until after 11:30, but all went well.
Not the ending to the trip we were expecting, but that's how life as
a mother goes. Because we started at the far western part of the
state and were working our way back east, the parts that we intended
to do on Tuesday that we didn't get to do, can easily be done in a
normal weekend trip, and we didn't really miss out on that much.</div>
Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519881482390456076.post-78518080275980131252017-06-18T22:20:00.001-05:002017-06-18T22:20:09.776-05:00Follow-up<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I had a follow-up appointment last
Thursday at MD Anderson with Dr. Mansfield and the nutritionist.
This was the second trip to Houston since returning home March 4,
after surgery on February 21. I got another good report. There were
a few minor issues/concerns:</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Even though I would like to
continue the weight loss, Dr. Mansfield is slightly concerned and
would like for it to stabilize or at least slow down. I lost 15
pounds the first 2 weeks, then have lost about 2 pounds a week
since. As I went into this overweight, I am good with that and
honestly, would like to lose another 30 pounds or so. He's OK with
that, but just wants to make sure it doesn't get out of hand.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My protein levels are a little
low; not bad but a little less than what he would prefer. So I need
to figure out how to increase my daily protein intake. I make sure
I have protein with every meal and snack, but I'm not doing as good
a job as I was in the beginning with having protein between food
(such as a protein smoothie) and I often skip an evening snack. I
need to get better about an afternoon and/or evening protein drink,
as well as an evening snack. Sometimes we don't eat supper until
7:00 or so and then I don't want to eat again before going to bed.
I need to get better about eating something.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My hemoglobin count is at the low
end of normal. The recommendation was to make sure that my gummie
multivitamins contain iron. I'm going to have to get back with him
on that one as I have looked at every bottle of gummie multivitamins
in two stores and none of them contain iron. So I'll have to see if
he has any other recommendations.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It is time to start taking Vitamin
B12. It can't be absorbed through the multivitamin or through
normal pills, so I have two choices: a daily tablet dissolved under
my tongue or a monthly injection. I chose to go with the daily
tablet for now. I can always switch to the injections later if I
decide I don't like the tablet.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The surgeon really stressed I
should do more walking so I don't get muscle atrophy and such. I
was doing a good job of walking almost every evening before I went
back to work. Since I've went back to work, I use up all of my
energy during the day, so I don't feel like walking at night. He
encouraged me to push myself a little and that the more I do, the
more I will feel like doing. It will be hard, but I'm going to try
to start walking again, especially evenings we don't have anything
else going on. If we do have evening activities, I will still find
it difficult to push myself that much, at least for now.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The night before my appointment, I
noticed some spots on my tongue, like the top coating was off. I
thought there was a chance it was some sort of nutrient deficiency,
so I asked about it. The doctor immediately identified it as thrush.
He gave me 3 different prescriptions to aggressively treat it, so I
guess I'm glad I noticed before my appointment.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I don't have to go back to Houston for
6 months. He wants to check on me by phone a 4-6 week intervals in
between, but I'm glad we get a break from a return trip. And that
will put it in winter in Kansas, so a trip to Houston then may be
pretty appealing.</div>
Linda Stokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12029700351266725600noreply@blogger.com0