I have been living life since I recovered from MALS surgery and it feels great. I went on a trip to oversee a wedding for a client and it was incredible. We got away for the weekend and we had so much fun. I drank a little cider beer, I ate food, danced and we laughed and just lived. It was great being a normal person! My client's wedding went off without a hitch and it was a perfect weekend to get them married. The weather was incredible up North and I was so happy to be out of the heat of Phoenix. Without surgery and recovery, I would never have been able to function or travel for this wedding. I will be forever grateful for that amazing weekend with my Husband and New Friends.
Life after surgery was rough for two months. The recovery was brutal. I will not lie but I am so glad I had surgery and moved on with my life and survived recovery. I only wish we had found Dr. Prebil sooner in Arizona because then I would not have suffered as I did. I can not dwell on the past and what I could have done and what should have been done so I am focusing on the future and letting myself heal mentally and physically. I am happy with my progress and I am well aware that I still have a long road ahead with learning how to eat like a normal person but my new life pain-free is amazing. Nausea has gone away for the first time in my life! The pain when I eat or drink is gone and I am no longer living on pancreatic cancer treatments to survive.
So far the downfall of eating has been weight gain. No matter what I eat I gain weight and am holding it. I am working on getting on a healthy long-term food plan that will work for myself and my body. I just have enjoyed eating carbs and sugar for so long that now I am breaking the habit. It is difficult but I am slowly getting the hang of it. I use the vegan protein powder and lots of supplements to get my body back to feeling its best. I am at the gym 3-5 times a week doing yoga and cardio and weights. I do up to six yoga classes a week and am loving being back at yoga. That was my goal to be back at yoga and get my body back in shape through this process. I am strong enough and healthy enough to keep up in class and it has been the best feeling. I feel better and my body is looking better from going regularly.
My weight is a constant battle and has been since I started eating food again. starving and losing over 70 pounds was awful but putting the weight back on feels even worse. I know I was unhealthy and starving but this time I just want it off. I want to be thin again. Mentally I am working on this. I am not a fan of the mirror at the moment but I know this is part of the deal. I ate terribly for years to keep the weight on and binge-ate a lot of food. I am learning how to not binge eat and eat five to seven times a day with small meals and not such large meals. I have a lot of help when it comes to diet and nutrition and I ask a lot of questions and ask for guidance as needed. I have had some people give up on me and not want to help me and have backed away but I learned they were just in it for the money out of me to buy their products. Friends are there for you when they want you to buy stuff but it is the ones who never ask for anything when I have questions that mean the most to me. Thank you to those who have stood by my side through this entire ordeal. Erik Laifer with Life Recovery Wellness is the best. He has never let me down. I have links to his products on my product page! This man has never let me down and always has been there for me. I use his products because they are great and kept me alive without getting me sick, unlike other people's junk.
Life is definitely getting better and I am so thrilled but mentally I am still dealing with the process I went through my whole life to get here. This is probably why binge eating got so bad. I feel it's emotional eating rather than just eating because I am hungry. All the misdiagnoses, the doctors who treated me less than human, and the many days I spent in pain, hungry, nauseous, and in misery were more than a human should go through. I survived and I made it. I have watched others die from this disease and I have seen the dark side of what health problems can do but I came out better and stronger. I did not die and I have a second chance at life. More like a tenth chance but I am here. I am able to write and share my story. I answer emails and messages from other MALS sufferers and help guide them through the process. I am a positive outcome! A great story.
LIfe 2.0 is a good life. A new life!