Happy new year!

December was really enjoyable, a very relaxing time. It’s been great to be able to enjoy the holidays, post-chemo (and pre-surgery). Currently I’m gearing up for surgery; this has involved a daily prescribed immunonutrition regimen — basically these guidelines, but tweaked slightly to accommodate my dairy allergy. For me, that’s involved mixing Ripple vegan protein shakes, Ensure plant-based shakes, arginine powder, walnuts, bananas and other fruit blended into a smoothie (which I consume in portions, throughout the day) … along with five of these per day.

Tomorrow: no more food, basically the same regimen as colonoscopy prep, along with some extra guidelines. And then on Friday, I check in at 5:30am(!) at UW Montlake for surgery. I’ll likely be pretty out of it this weekend, recovering from surgery in the hospital. I’ve given my sister Katy access to this blog, so she can post updates on my behalf during that time. She’ll be coming up from Eugene tomorrow and helping out during the surgery process (thanks Katy!).