November..

I am going to take a break from the latest misadventures of Roger to get back to the topic that this blog has been about. My life without a stomach.


You see November is stomach cancer awareness month. It gives me time to reflect and remember why I had my stomach removed. A time to remember why all the trials and complications were worth it.


Don't get me wrong there are days when not having a stomach really sucks and the upcoming holidays will magnify the suckness of the missing item. The office will be lined with treats and there will be the traditional holiday potluck. All of which I will need to steer clear of.
And before anyone says anything I know that suckness is not a word, but it fit.


Other than that eating is going well. I can eat one to two cups of food at a sitting. I have eaten more and in most cases it doesn't end well. I have found that eating five to six times a day is not realistic for me either so I have become a grazer. I am always eating something.
I make sure that foods I eat are high in protein and until my recent accident my weight had stabilized to a level that everyone seemed happy with. Now however I am working on trying to gain the lost weight back.
I used to get harassed by our family doctor that I needed to lose weight. "Just lose 10 pounds."  So I would lose 10 pounds and she would say good start now lets lose 10 more. Now when I go in it is "let's gain 10 pounds." There is just no pleasing her.

I can enjoy a cocktail or two. However I have found that alcohol effects me differently now that I do not have a stomach. Alcohol enters my blood stream much faster so I have to try to slow down as I drink. Mixed drinks and or wine work best which would be just fine if I didn't like craft beer as much as I do.
Supplements are normal part of my life now. I take calcium pills everyday, and since today is the third of the month, I started my day off with my monthly vitamin B12 shot.


I have had to tell the story of why I had my stomach removed to a lot of folks recently. A surprising number of them have been doctors and/or nurses. When that happens I wonder why they don't know about this CDH1 genetic mutation and it's link to stomach cancer. They should know right?
Then I remember how rare this is. In 2010 there were an estimate 110 families with the genetic link to cancer in the world. Recently I read somewhere that this number may have climbed to between four to five hundred families in the world. that is a huge increase, but in terms of the number of families this represents, it's the equivalent of a rounding error.
However we are making progress.
On November 11th, there will be a symposium going on in California surround stomach cancer and a stomachless friend of mine will be one of three people speaking there. There will be folks from all over there, so we are making headway in or quest to educate those who need it. To offer support those who need support, and raise money to one day break the link between this mutation and cancer.
Everyday brings us one step closer.


Happy Stomach Cancer Awareness month!

Like the fool I am and I'll always be,
I got a dream, I got a dream.
They can change their minds but the can't change me,
I got a dream, I got a dream

Oh, I know I could share it if you'd want me to,
If you're goin' my way, I'll go with you.

(I got a Name  Jim Croce)