I was told after my first follow-up doctor's appointment that I could start trotting and return to normal activity at a slow pace. Normal activity in this case would be considered basketball, jogging, and eventually lifting weights. Jogging is different than trotting. It took a day of me jogging to realize that trotting is a much slower pace, maybe to control the up and down, side to side movement a stomach may experience during a jog. Evidently, trotting was recommended for a reason. After my first few jogs, I was sore, but didn't think anything of it, figured it was just 'recovery' soreness. That soreness would take 36-48 hours to subside. Sneezing is the absolute worst, random I know, but I mention that because I sneezed about 90 seconds ago and my stomach still hurts. My doc informed me that I had a tear in my abdomen, and through a CT scan canceling out a hernia, and testing various things, the pain is now in more areas of my stomach, so in my mind, the tear has expanded. But I've learned ways to keep the pain low, the problem sometimes is discipline. Not only working out, but also my eating habits.
Cycling has been fantastic, but not spin class type cycling where you're standing on the bike and going crazy for an hour, but the type of cycling that makes me work hard, real hard, but concentrates on my leg muscles, and at times, my core. I've always read that cycling is a great core workout, but I've noticed that I'm able to stabilize my stomach when I'm on a stationary bike more so than jogging on the treadmill. I'd love to get on the treadmill, and I usually feel good enough once a week to get a few miles in, but for the most part I'm going for a solid 35-45 minute cycling session.
Anyone that knows me understands my love for food. I've said before that I eat food for it's flavor, not necessarily concentrating much on what it can do to me. For people that don't know, my large intestine was removed, and now my small intestine is in a J-shape pouch which has seriously affected how much my 'stomach' can hold. When it's full, it won't empty automatically, it's just a series of stomach growls, and painful shifts in the interior stomach region (take a hint). And while I need to not eat as much, there are also certain types of foods that I have to avoid. While trying to control my weight, it'd be nice to have a salad every once in a while, but I am only able to manage lettuce on a sandwich, but an entire salad is out. Too many leafy greens. Nuts and corn are out, and for some reason peanut oil and all peanut oil products are out, sorry Five Guys. But then again, if you're at this point in my post, you recall I mentioned discipline, and sometimes I just want a burger, or french fries, or a damn milkshake, but I know they aren't the right choice for me. Before surgery, I knew those things were bad, I was spoiled while I had my ostomy bag because those foods wouldn't cause pain or a bad smell, but now it's yet another adjustment back to 'normalcy'. This 'normalcy' is something I haven't experienced since I was a 20 year old sophomore at Radford University.
Next weeks blog: Issues with drinks (Alcoholic & Non-alcoholic)
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