It’s been a few days since Jenny posted – which is a good thing. She needed a break and so did I. It’s been a wild, wild ride that none of us could have expected and I think we’re still trying to fully wrap our heads around it all.

It’s been so great to be home and to feel like a human again, even if I don’t quite recognize myself in the mirror. Home has a healing power all it’s own and I’m so grateful to begin a new leg of the journey surrounded by the people and place I love.

After being told I may have be on a liquid diet of protein shakes for a while, it’s been nice that food has actually been going pretty well so far (fingers crossed it stays that way). I’m craving all the food in a big way and I certainly need it to gain back some of the energy (and muscle mass) I’ve lost. I think my small intestines have finally woken up and forgiven me for all the work that was done to them.

Here’s the exciting list of foods I’ve had so far:

• Rice Chex cereal with blueberries
• Mashed potatoes
• Boxed Rice-a-Roni noodles with peas
• Matzo ball soup from our neighbors (thanks Margie and Gerry)
• Two small turkey sliders on Hawaiian rolls
• A few cookies
• A Chipotle kids meal and some tortilla chips (this was a big test, and thank you Janet)
• An oat milk latte I made this morning that tasted like everything I hoped it would

I was able to bundle up today and take a 1-mile walk around the neighborhood with my face covered up (picture Randy from a Christmas Story). Even though it was bone-chilling, it felt so good to not be pacing around an 800-ft loop on the 6th floor of St. Lukes hospital. Movement makes everything feel better but man do I get worn out quickly.

I’m still only taking extra-strength Tylenol for pain, and I’m thankful that I’m not having to manage anything more heavy-duty.

The tricky/not-so-fun part right now is some sharp pain under my right ribs when breathing deep, burping, sneezing, or laughing (save the funny memes for later please). Dr. Liu’s nurse explained it this way: “your liver is mad at you right now”. It’s a natural part of the healing process, but man does it stop me in my tracks. It’s what I would imagine broken ribs feel like. Sometimes it spasms if I change positions and I just try to talk to my liver and let it know everything will be OK. The 26 staples along the crooked “J” shaped incision scar make me feel a bit like Frankenstein, but all seems to be healing nicely. I’ll get those popped out next Thursday.

I’ve had a few visitors and we’re going to decorate the Star Wars tree this evening, trying to introduce normalcy little-by-little, step-by-step.

I haven’t had a chance to read everyone’s comments (I can’t even bring myself to read some of the posts) but I do know this – we are beyond blessed to have all of you in our lives. Thank you for all the kindness, love, warm thoughts, and support you’ve provided. It means more to us than you’ll ever know.