mena72

Hi,
Welcome Mena and Lallie, you sound like you are doing really well.
Dreamingbig I do hope that you are feeling better every day. I am so sorry about your grandfather, what an awful shock for you when you had just had your surgery. It sounds like you you will miss him so much. I am thinking of you. Just take every day at a time because you have had all your pre op concerns, your grief for your grandfather and getting over a major op to cope with over the last week, as well as your eating and drinking to get your head around.
Kim, I am not sure what calorie levels i should be aiming for. Since I started more solid food my calories have gone up a bit, and my Protein down a bit. I am still managing 40g protein without the Protein Shakes that I was having but as I can't really have too much meat yet, and I really couldn't cope with the pureed forms again, I think this is a temporary thing. My calories are under 1,000, but I was having 500, again with more proper food but less protein However, this is probably only short term too. I am not sure whether this is right or wrong though, and all our regimes are different.
Erin, I think you did really well over the weekend. I don't think that safe always means healthy, and not having a problem while you were there was much more important than whether you were having chips or not. I think that you are absolutely right about rejoining life and the positive impact on how you feel , as well as not letting your bypass rule your life. I am 100% with you there. I think that the advice is not clear, and can be conflicting. I really want to know what might cause dumping, what is bad for my pouch and what are healthy eating principles separately. Then I can make decisions. If alcohol is something that is fine in moderation, as long as you don't dump and are careful to sip it, then why not. I really am coming to the conclusion that if all our regimes are so different that this is not an exact science. On top of this we all respond differently on an individual basis so surely we just need to carry on listening to our bodies and push the limits gradually. I think the weekend was everything you needed and you have realised that you can do these things without anything untoward happening and that is so positive and empowering.
I am also pushing the boundaries in little ways and had tiny bits of meals out over the weekend which was a real relief. Not sure why I have diarrhoea after meals but it is better than Constipation. Just a little difficult to cope with when out and about. I hope that is temporary! We are booking holidays like mad so I am hoping that I can continue as I am going and can eat and drink something wherever we go. Life is too short and I was so worried that I would be unable to do these things so I feel so much better knowing that I am rejoining the normal world.
Take care all of you.
Claire

Congratulations to us all on the losers bench and to those who will be joining us shortly. After one week out I'm on full liquid. If I never see another can of broth it will be too soon!!! Lol