Real food? Really?!

Today was the first day in about 67 days that I've been able to have real food. It was a huge challenge and took a good while to get one sandwich down but I'm thankful. 

We found this cute little Panini press at Hobby Lobby on sale for $7.99. So I bought it thinking I would give it to one of the grandkids for Christmas but when the gastroenterologist told me I could try to eat some real food today, I pulled it out and made grilled cheese sandwiches for my husband and I. 

It's been so hard living on protein shakes for the past couple of months. After the hiatal hernia repair and the stay in the emergency section of the hospital, my appetite was completely gone. 

Yesterday I had my esophagus stretched for the fourth time in 2 years. I don't know what keeps causing it to close up but whatever it is causes a lot of problems. 

You don't realize how much you miss the taste of food and being able to chew until you're not able to do so. Though it took me half an hour to get that sandwich down, I was glad I was able to do it. It took a lot of teeny tiny bites and a lot of chewing but that grilled cheese never tasted so good! 

The doctor said it will take months for me to completely recover from the hiatal hernia repair and I won't be able to eat normally for a good while. He suggested I have several very small meals throughout the day, so I guess that's what I'll do. 

They did find a good many polyps when they were in there to do the esophageal stretch and that was concerning. My gastro took biopsies and sent them off but I won't know the results for about 10 days. 

10 seems like the number for me this year. 10 is the number of completion in the Bible, if you study Gematria. On July 9th, I will celebrate my 10th cancerversary, that's one reason I'm so concerned about the biopsies from these polyps. I would love to know before July 9th that I am still cancer-free. In the back of my mind I always have a gnawing feeling that cancer may come back again. It's especially concerning to me since my brother had esophageal cancer and we have a history of that in our family. Please keep me in your prayers in the days ahead. I will be most grateful.