I had some baby food turkey and it's not so bad. Bananas and pears taste like turpentine smells. And you haven't seen anything until you have seen a pureed scrambled egg. I am limited to a couple of ounces of protein and an ounce or so of fruit or vegetable at each meal. But I eat six times a day. So cream soups have become a great favorite. So have oatmeal, grits, refried beans, mashed potatoes and pudding. I have eaten a lot of pureed chicken breast. Well, not a lot in weight. But I have eaten it many times, at two ounces a whack.
I feel well. Some days are not as good as others but the off days are becoming fewer and fewer and usually they are my fault. I was very nauseous this morning after my first "feeding" but I think I ate too fast. I have been trying to get more fiber into my diet but that does not seem to be helping with irregularity. During one of the "show and tell" presentations during the pre-surgery support groups a guy who was about a year out from surgery said that stool softeners would become our good friends. I now know what he meant.
My weight continues to drop, although not as fast as I thought it would. The folks at Bariatric Solutions say I am right on target
toward losing 30 pounds in the first month after surgery. I think I have lost about 28 pounds since the surgery Oct. 6 and 42 pounds since Sept. 1. My waist size has gone from a 52 to a snug 48. Sylvia hugs me every morning to see how much longer her arms are. I have the doctor's clearance to get back on the motorcycle, just so long as I don't lift it.I have my four week follow-up with Dr. Eric Bour on Thursday, Nov. 6 and on on Tuesday, Nov. 11 I end the pureed odyssey and start on soft solids. I am keeping up with the post-surgery support group. meeting once a week for 45 minutes or so even though it is a 104 mile round-trip. I exercise every day by walking. I hope I get clearance Thursday for some other type of exercise. I would like to get back into the swimming pool.
The Election
Only the rest of Sunday and all day Monday to go before the election. I cannot recall being so tired of a political campaign. Then I realize that this has actually been going on for two years! Sylvia and I pray daily that God's will, not man's, be done.As an old school reporter I am appalled at the press coverage of the campaign. I thought this kind of press partisanship went out with the 1920s. The cable news channels are especially bad. MSNBC and Fox News provide completely different takes on the same event. Even the New York Times has noticed. You don't see many Obama signs on the yards and byways of Polk County. McCain won the hearts and minds of my neighbors when he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is very popular around these parts.
