I can eat food!!!

OMG...solid food after nearly 3 weeks of liquids is just heavenly! Yum! So yesterday I had my follow-up with the surgeon and she released me to try solid foods (starting with soft foods first). So on the way home from the appointment I bought some cottage cheese and made myself a snack. It went down wonderfully...no troubles at all. Apparently some people have issues with transitioning to solid foods, and some surgeons don't let their patients transition until a month or six weeks. But it was fine for me. Whew! So for dinner I made some baked tilapia, and again, it was amazing. I have to chew everything to a thin liquid before swallowing, but I had no problems. However, after 2 ounces of fish I was suddenly VERY full! I'd been warned that would happen...the solid proteins really fill you up and stick with you for a while. Over the next hour I did finish another 1/2-ounce of fish, but I was never able to touch the mashed sweet potato I made. Now that I'm on solids, I can really SEE how this restriction will work.

The rest of my appointment was fine. The surgeon removed the steri-strips so I got a look at my incisions for the first time. This is the largest one with my pinky again:

She said the incisions looked great and I can even start swimming again in another week! Usually you have to wait till you are a month out. Ava will be really happy - her birthday party is at the pool next weekend. Walking is still going great. Now I can hike too, but I have to wait until I'm 6 weeks out to start lifting weight. The surgeon was really happy with my weight loss and how I'm feeling. Basically, everything is great! I go back again at 3 months post op. Until then, I will love feeling this new steadily healthier me.