Trying new things on menus

Well this is kind of thinking for the future. I am a month out today and have had some issues with ulcers and narrowing. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks and have now been home for a week. I am still on full liquids and when I see my surgeon at the end of January he will let me know if I can move on to pureed stage. It has been really hard for me considering if things had gone as planed I would be on the soft food stage almost to regular food in about a week. When I think about that its hard for me. I have been on liquids for a month and its getting rough. I just want to feel normal again. I am still having a hard time getting in all my protien and liquids but everyday it gets a little better. I started school monday and its been a little rough because Im so tired and have no energy and am going full time. Anyways back to the title of this post. Thinking about being "normal" again at some point has been giving me comfort. I just turned 25 and for me normal is going out with friends. My fiance and I and all my friends go out to eat alot thats kind of our thing. I know I will have to make different choices and the amounts will be smaller but I will always love going out to eat if not for the food but the socialization. I was just thinking about how so many times when I would look at the menu there would be things I would want to get but wouldnt because it didnt seem like enough food. I always wanted to get the most food for my money! I never wanted to get the 2 for 20 deals at restraunts because I knew the portions would be small for instance when they would have steak it would be the 60z and I wanted the 12 or 14oz. So it will be neat to get things that I have always wanted to try but did because I was worried it wouldnt be enough. Now know matter what I get it will be more than enough and I think thats neat

Hi Amber,

I hope you feel better soon. Sounds to me like you are a very strong and determined woman. Saying a prayer for you that things improve daily for you.

Oh yeah, I know just what you're saying - the 6 oz filet mignon is my favorite now!  It's all about quality, not quantity anymore.

Eating out is such a different ballgame for me now.  I am five months out and have had it relatively easier compared to you.  I have had a couple of puking incidents that were caused either by eating too fast or something just no agreeing with me.  Not fun, but it happens and reminds us how different eating is for us now.

I lived off of alot of refried beans, sugar free jello with lite cook whip, and oatmeal the first few weeks.  It takes awhile for your body to adjust and I am still adjusting as we speak.  I have been able to eat more things this past month, such as potroast, turkey, and eggs don't hate me like they used to.  The other day I tried to have regular Chinese food, other than won ton soup and it did not work out.  It smelled so good and I began to eat it savoring each bite with the wonderful flavors. However, it didn't take long for my pouch to tell me that it wasn't working.  I was so disappointed and wasted $14.  I should have just had the soup!  But sometimes we just want to feel some sense of normalcy, however, we are not normal anymore.

My change in wardrobe and reactions from people alone still make me glad I made this change in my life.  It has been so long since I felt this good and can do things now that I couldn't do 80lbs ago.  I still have about another 50lbs to go to get myself into the acceptable range, but I now know I'll get there without a doubt.

The beginning of this journey doesn't prepare us for the continuing awesome NSVs that will be an everyday experience for months to come.  Another one I had this morning, a tshirt one of my student groups gave me at work that I would have deemed impossible to fit in, now fits me.  And it's not tight or ill fitting, it actually looks good.  I couldn't wear tshirts very well before surgery as my rolls of upper stomach made it not appealing for me to wear them.  Now my rolls are gone!  I still have some work on the lower parts, but am happy to see the progress now.

Hang in there...keep focused and before you know it, it'll be like Christmas every morning!  It is worth it, but we have to sacrifice to get there!

Hi there. I was wondering how you've been.
I don't go out to eat often but when I do it's great to get a small plate and have plenty. I even get a little dismayed when I see non ops eat because it seems like a huge amount. Presurgery I ate like a linebacker.

I hear you. Last night we took the family out to celebrate one of our daughters getting her Drivers License on Tuesday. We went to Outback Steakhouse. I ordered the Filet, normally I would have had the Ribeye but the past few places I have had the Ribeye I have not been too thrilled with it. So I asked for my soup to go (so I could take it to work today for lunch) I gave my daughter half of my baked sweet potato and brought all but 2 bites of my filet home for dinner today. The filet was undercooked so they cooked it a bit longer for me and I asked them when I sent it back to please just put it in a togo box for me. I was suprised when I opened it up they put a new baked sweet potato in the container as well. But I've definitely changed how I order out in restaurants as well.