Proceed at your own pace

I'm six weeks post -RnY.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Technically, I could now be eating solid foods, resuming a "normal" diet of foods, and incorporating the new normal into my life's routine.  However, I am pretty far behind the suggested reintroduction of foods to see if I can tolerate them.  It's ok tho, the scheduled stages are meant to be guidelines of the earliest you could possibly move from clear liquids, thru full liquids, into pureed, onto soft foods, and then as of yesterday, some forty days post bariatric surgery, solids.  It's quite alright to take longer, which is a good thing, because it gives me permission to take my time, moving slower thru the textures, and allowing myself to fully heal as I experience every moment of this adventure.

Last week, I started to resume drinking the high density protein shakes that I'd last had several days before surgery, in mid-October.  Most folks begin to drink either the ready-made shakes or customized smoothies using protein powder toward the end of the first week.  It's not that I had problems with the surgery, I didn't.  Rather, I did have problems with dairy and by-products for several weeks after surgery.  Most of the protein powders I have are whey based, tho I do have one that is pea protein, a vegan/plant based option.  However, by the time I took a break from the failed attempts of consuming the protein shakes, I was so grossed out by the taste of them in general, I was loathe to give the pea protein a try.

That meant for the first month, I was failing to hit my protein targets and that was a huge concern with more time passing.  But it's all under control, for now.  Getting my goals every day is more likely to happen than not, I am happy to say!

Yesterday, I was feeling down, not really sick, but just off a bit.  I gave some thought to what was going on for me and I realized that I needed to back off, remind myself of a few things, and give it another go, from where I am, rather than where the average bariatric patient is at the six week mark.  The truth of the matter is, I am not yet ready to breeze into solids, or even most softs, tho purees are more my speed, and the protein smoothies are considered full liquids, while I'm still relying on clear liquids at times.

I also realized today that as far as purees go, half and ounce to an ounce is about all I can handle at the moment.  That's when I begin to feel that pressure and much past that, I will end up paying the consequences of too much, too fast, or too advanced.  I've learned that regurgitation is not a one shot thing; it lasts for quite some time, up to three or four hours in my case.  That means that my stomach pouch has been agitated, stressed, and perhaps even strained for a good portion of my afternoon or evening.

Finally, I asked myself why I was doing that.  Stop pushing, just relax.  Let things progress in a way that feels better and more well suited for ME and my stomach pouch.   Taking that pressure off that I didn't even know I'd been putting on myself feels really good, I must say.

This year, we had decided to not travel, not host, not commit to another's gathering.  It's a bit different, to not see my husband preparing his traditional turkey, slow roaster in the counter top electric NESCO.  I would not have been able to eat it anyway, certainly not the dressing or the gravy that was entirely new to me when I met him, eleven years ago.  I've had gravy with giblets in them, just not with hardboiled eggs and an assortment of stuffs that yields an entire stew pot worth of rich liquid that his kids have eaten as a soup of sorts.

Jerry and I chose to stay home, catching a few things on the TV, like football games of course, and maybe a TiVo'd episode or two of some of the shows we are woefully behind on.  Tomorrow evening, at the Eggbowl, the annual Thanksgiving gridiron face off between Ole Miss and State, is also seniors' night for our players here at MSU.

I'm sure that I will wander off, opting to listen to an audio book {It Occurs to Me that I am America} while crafting a project or two.  Or maybe writing some cards that I remembered this afternoon to address, either mailing them next week or dropping them by when I'm in town, to various folks.  Or doing some other activity like reading a book my husband recommended to me, as it is due on Monday at the public library downtown.

Early in the afternoon, a friend just down the road will be putting dinner on the table for her family and a few friends.  She's invited us both, but Jerry's likely to enjoy the quiet here at home and I will pop in for a bit.  I've never seen a fried turkey up close and personal, again won't be able to try it, but I still cannot quite believe that you can fry a turkey in about an hour.

Today, my husband made me some hummus that is less spicy than the store bought types.  It has a touch of garlic and lemon, but skips over the oils and the heavier ingredients of a typical recipe.  I was needing a bit more fiber than I've been getting, but need it to be still fairly gentle on my stomach, so hummus suits me fine.

He also blended some limas {my favorite veg as a child, it still ranks high on my list, probably right after broccoli} with some ground turkey he had frozen the last time he roasted a turkey.  Again, he watched the spices since that's just not something I can handle right now.  I'm all set for a bit!

Happy festivals with friends and family!  Travel safely.  Remember to take some time to cool down if you are finding things are getting too tense and you are rather frazzled.  And enjoy the time you do have.