Finally

Finally - Stefani's back! I feel more like myself today than I have since Friday's surgery. I'm so relieved - I was starting to worry about me. I was worried I'd never have the same stamina and spirit I used to. Whew!

Steve's mom and sister brought food from PF Chang's over last night. His sister flew back to Colorado today and I'd only seen her once this visit. I found low-fat food on their online menu and it was delicious plus I think their visit cheered me up. I sort of was not looking forward to their visit that much, preferring to be a miserable curmudgeon all by myself - turned out it was a nice thing! Plus I have about 2 gallons of won-ton soup to last a few meals. (They brought these flowers over Saturday night, on their way to the family Christmas Eve festivities that Steve and I sat out.)

They commented that I seemed so much better than the last time they saw me - and that clucked me on the head - I realized I AM doing better! I'd been feeling kind of down the last couple of days, not sure if I should be pushing myself harder or if this is just how long it takes to heal 7 holes in your stomach, not to mention the internal healing of the gall-bladder-free spot. One thing I noticed today is that my back muscles tire easily. I guess that's because my stomach muscles are not doing their usual thing for now. I should put "stomach muscles" in quotes because I'm not sure I've had any actual stomach muscles since the late 70s. :-)


Mom stopped over today and brought me these flowers. She called first and asked if I needed any groceries so I had her pick up a couple of things that I was just about to ask Simon to go get for me.

Gretchen called while she was here so they talked, we talked, it was all nice. Dad called shortly thereafter and they could all tell I felt so much better.

These flowers were delivered after dinner - from my work.

And the number 1 sign I'm feeling like myself again? Food pictures! I baked these low-fat Oatmeal Applesauce cookies today. I wanted so badly to stir in some chocolate chips but I was a good girl and used dried cranberries instead. They were moist, sweet and tasty. Not chocolate, but good enough for these days. (I've lost 14 lbs since this gall bladder episode began so there's that.)

I've been having some "staple issues" tonight and feeling kind of tired after today's activities but I'm so proud I've made progress. (I also did laundry and worked on two framed quilted pictures for Mom and Gretchen I didn't get finished before Christmas.)