newbie has arrived

Hello to those near Aloha, Oregon. I am 12 days post op and doing really well. I want to connect to as many people as I can as I plan to make sure I do not fall back into the social isolation thingy that kills me. I have made a commitment to be social active as well as physical, etc. I am so excited about this new way of living. The protein drink thing was hard, but they are letting me ease into some easier foods. Cream soups etc. Any suggestions on foods that work well. I really want to stay clear of sugar as it is addictive for me. I am working on having regularly scheduled times and amounts of eating, but as I said, I am new. I have not found a chewable (yuck) vitamin yet. They either are too strong (orange taste) or have sugar (viatin sp?) as the first ingredient. I am a recovering alcoholic with 22 years sobriety, and I have now been willing to go after the mother lode of addiction for me, my food. I am really excited as this appears to be changing all areas of my life and I feel so blessed. I am 56 years old, single, 2 daughters 18 & 20 who still live at home and I am a Corrections Counselor. I attend AA/Al-Anon and I am attending the support group every 2nd Tues. through Kaiser. Lots of help and advice is wanted. Carolyn Wave:

Welcome, Carolyn! I will be a resident of Tualatin Oregon in about 2 1/2 weeks. Maybe our paths will cross once we get up there. Good for you, taking such good care of yourself! I hope you find many new friends here. Joy

Welcome Carolyn! I have only been on these boards for the past week and they are full of information and help! I will be moving to Portland late August and would love to meet some other people there for support. I have not had a surgery yet, I am just in the information stage but know I want it done. I would love to hear how your recovery is going! Email me any time if you need support, I know the no sugar part is hard! Amy Cooper, [email protected]

Carolyn - Congratulations on your recently surgery! On vitamins, I would highly recommend the liquid vitamins in the dark brown bottle at Costco. They are excellent for absorption and they are SO much easier to get down than the chewables. As for the recovering alcoholic - WOW - 22 years of sobriety! I am impressed and congratulate you on that as well. It is interesting that you say sugar is addictive to you because I have a theory that is based on what I've seen as a line between those who have diabetes and those who are alcoholics. They tend to run in the same families and those who have sugar cravings and perhaps diabetes seem to have alcoholism closely related in their families, and vice versa. At least it seems that way to me. Make sure you find an outlet for your food habit. If you used it to cope, you will need to find a way to cope later or you could self-sabatoge. I have seen a lot of different things come up ranging from infidelity to corrections officers who started taking drugs and got fired/arrested because they didn't find ways to cope with the big issues. Not saying that it happens with everyone, but sometimes some people are more prone for such things. Good luck to you! I hope you find this an exciting and wonderful journey! I don't regret it for a nanosecond! Dina

Hey Carolyn welcome, I live in Aloha as well I am Pre-op and waiting for my very special date with the Surgeon;) The best of health & happiness to you! ~Melody~