Thanks, everyone!

You guys rock! Thank you all so much for the lovely flowers, and meals, and all the support you have given us. It means so much, and is so appreciated. Mom and Kevin came down to visit yesterday - it was good to see you guys! Thanks for coming to see me. Thanks, mama for the flower plate, and the lovely letter that went with it.  I never knew a lot of my history, so it was neat to read about it.  Did Kevin get the fish plate?  Or was it Nate?

I'm feeling better today. Less pain than in a long time (though I can't tell yet if it's better than before). Let's see...I got a call from the nurse at Metlife that she saw my surgical reports and was recommending that my case be approved and submitted for Disability payment. She said that they would call on Wed, which of course they did not, but I think it will finally being approved. I have been home for 6 weeks now.  Without pay. 6 weeks of being bedridden and in the hospital before they say I'm sick.  I swear, they just drag everything out and deny everything hoping you'll just get too tired to keep fighting. Seriously, I can barely write my own name anymore, much less work! Now, if I were a mechanical engineer, it would all be different... ;-)

In other good news, I'm starting to lose some weight! (Not too many people with CP actually want to LOSE weight, lol!) Oddly enough, before my ERCP, I kept gaining weight even though I was only on a liquid diet. I think it was my body just trying to hold on to anything it could get. Then from Thurs-Sun in the hospital, I gained 10 lbs in just those 4 days. Probably water weight. Now from Mon-Wed I've lost about 15 lbs. A side benefit, lol! I'm still having some trouble eating - mostly because of the nausea. It's pretty bad - probably worse than before my ERCP. Yesterday, I was pretty hungry - I ate a yogurt, an Ensure and some oatmeal. I got brave today and ate a half bowl of chicken soup. It made me really nauseous but so far it's stayed down. It has also made my pain worse - thank goodness for pharmaceutical advances.  I was really feeling pretty good until I ate that soup today, darn it.  I really want to get back to work.  Keeping the pain controlled and wean off the narcotics is a big step, but if I can't eat, that won't last too long.  Ugh.  I guess I should've posted this in the morning before I ate.  I'll have to remember that for the future!