A tale of two lunches

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?""   ~Winnie the Pooh  

This past week I had the opportunity to go out for lunch on two separate occasions. Now normally these are just co-workers getting together for a bite to eat and not anything I would be worried about. However, this is the first time I have gone out to lunch, at work, since I returned from having my stomach removed. In my mind I was running thru how my co-workers react if I got something stuck while eating? More importantly, i was wondering how would I react when something got stuck?

The first opportunity was this past Tuesday and lunch was with a co-worker who is retiring at the end of the month. I ordered what I thought would be a "safe" lunch, but on my second bite I swallowed too quickly and I had a problem. Something got stuck. Then I had to tell my co-worker about it and excused myself. Not the best way to kick off a lunch hour. It took a couple of trips to the bathroom before my body was able to force the item back up, but I was able to get rid of it and then lunch continued.

The other lunch outing was on Wednesday to celebrate a couple of birthday's in the office. Nine of us headed out that day and I have to say that I was more nervous for this outing than I was for lunch on the day before. Yet, everyone was great. They asked me questions about what I could eat and what I couldn't. A few made suggestions and lunch went smoothly. Nothing got stuck. We laughed, joked and in the end had a great time.

What was different?  I don't know.

I guess that this is just how it is going to be from now on. You do not know what is going to get stuck and whats not. You may eat the same food one day and it is fine, but the next day gets stuck. What was different? Were you laughing or talking too much? There is no way to tell. I could hide from from putting myself in these situations by not going to lunch. Yet, life is too short to skip these moments. I enjoy spending this time with my co-workers, and I like food, so shying away from these events because something "might" get stuck doesn't work for me.

I am told it gets better as you go along. I hope so.

My weight has been remaining constant. I have only lost two pounds since I returned to work on September 30th. I will call that a win since I lost the two pounds on my first day back. I might gain or loose a pound here or there, however I have leveled out and seem to be holding at this weight.

Now if I could just get this eating thing down....

Worlds are turning and we're just hanging on
Facing our fear and standing out there alone
A yearning, and it's real to me
There must be someone who's feeling for me
(Higher Love  Steve Winwood)