Four Years And Counting

Four years.
Four years ago today I had my stomach removed. That equates to 1,460 days that I have lived without a stomach.

That is four years that I can look back on and be proud that I made it through it. Surprised I made it though but proud non the less.

Four years that family and friends have been here to help pick me up, dust me off, and remind me that "you got this".

Four years of eating at your favorite restaurant and asking for a take home container as soon as your meal arrives so you can portion out what you are going to take home.

Four years of not eating this or not eating that. Four years of getting food stuck. Four years of not feeling hungry or not feeling full.
Four Years...

You know I still miss it. My stomach that is. There are days when you are watching someone eat or drink something that you know you can't. Well "can't" is kind of the wrong word here. You can eat or drink it. Nothing stopping you. You just know from experience that you shouldn't have it or your stomach-less body will remind you that it wasn't your best decision of the day. I have done that a couple of times I think.

When I first started on this journey there I posted my blog on social media. It was the only way I had to communicate how I was doing. Through this though I was able to connect to a small group of people who are having to walk down their own stomach-less journey. We refer to this group as seahorses, due to the fact that seahorses do not have stomachs.
We (Seahorses) are a small community, but it seems to be growing larger everyday. There will be a post online that someone, somewhere has been diagnosed with this mutation. The community then rallies behind them and lets them know that they are not alone. We use the phrase "You Got This!" a lot.

I kind of wandered all over the place with this blog, but I wanted to stop for a second and recognize the day. It has been four years now. Four years of excitement, adventures, fun and surprises. Maybe not what you thought I would write, but the last four years were just that.

May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or a vagabond
(Forever Young   Rod Stewart)