Exercise and Eating Plans?

I went to my PCP today and I'm up 6 lbs. from the last time I was there right before my surgery. She said I'm doing well, even if it is going slow, to try not to be discouraged. She said she could see I'm starting to fill out ever so slightly in the face. Said my subcutaneous fat is starting to come back and fill in the gaunt hollows and wrinkles I have. I am still not back to work, or feeling enough energy to have a formal exercise plan. When I do get permission, I will start walking and then doing some weightlifiting to help re-build my muscles. My eating plan is to try to eat more by mouth to 1) gain, and 2) be able to cycle off the feeding tube. As it is, I'm still on it 23 hours a day. I've had trouble eating much by mouth because of this constricting spasm feeling I get when I eat. It goes on over and over for about 1/2 an hour after eating. It feels like there is something stuck and it's trying to move down but won't. Painful. Will be addressing that at my appt. on Thursday with my surgeon. I also will be asking why I'm not gaining more rapidly. I am taking in 1,800 calories a day on the tube alone, and probably about 100-200 calories by mouth. At 5'4" and 96 lbs., that should be enough to get me gaining. Plans for the rest of the week are pretty full. Tomorrow I take my cat back to the kitty shelter I got him at 6 years ago. It will be a sad day. Thursday I have my appt. with my surgeon, Friday my stepson comes over for the weekend. This weekend we may go see the All breed dog show (Rose City Invitational I think it's called). They will be televising it. I've never been to a dog show before, but they look like fun. And it sounds like a fun family activity that won't wear me out too much. We also have a support group meeting breakfast scheduled Sunday I'm looking forward to. Our Oregon group is really great. And we haven't seen each other since before Christmas. I bought a few more work clothes recently at this cool resale store. I got a dress with matching jacket, two suits-one with pants and one with a skirt. I got an Ann Taylor spring flax skirt and beautiful olive blazer to go with it. And a bunch of short sleeve sweaters to wear under. I love it when I can find 100% cashmere sweaters for $6! That's about it until next week when I plan to work on my appeal for the denial I got on my long term disability claim. Ugh! Paperwork!

Kim, I'm glad to hear you are up 6 pounds but sorry to hear that you still have the feeding tube and are hooked up to it 23 hours a day. What a pain! I also hate to hear that eating regular food isn't going well. Sounds like it isn't getting far enough down to be the gall bladder. Keep us updated on what the doctor says about that. Hey, at least you could EAT before (even if none of it was going toward nutrition for your body)! Now, you can't even enjoy eating. Kim, I'm looking forward to the day when you can eat, regain SOME weight, be able to work again and enjoy your new marriage and life! CeCe