Eric Tapley

I’ve continued to make steady progress in the last week and am beginning to feel really good for the first time in years. I’ve spent a full week at work without trouble, my incision is looking great and I have very little to no pain there most days, and I’m even beginning to look toward the future again and plan things for my personal life and my business. Cool.

So where does this leave the future of this site? It doesn’t make sense to keep an ongoing “health update” section on the front page, so I’m going to redesign and refocus the site over the coming months. This will give me a chance to do the following:

1. Move health information to it’s own section, and expand on this to build a resource for other people with intestinal diseases.

2. Expand upon the photo gallery.

3. Learn some more advanced XHTML, CSS, and DHTML.

4. Refocus the main site on other interests. I’m not sure what I’ll blog about yet, though, maybe business thoughts.

Stay tuned for the changes.

It’s been almost 10 days since my surgery and I’m doing very well. In fact, I returned to a light work schedule this week and tolerated that without a problem, in addition to the light exercise and normal meals I introduced when I returned from the hospital. It will still take months for me to make a full recovery but I’m well on the way and it looks as if my years-long struggle with Colitis and related intestinal problems are finally over. Which begs the question: now what?

Oh, I know that Kate and I are going to be parents after the first of the year (I couldn’t forget that!), we’re still getting settled in our new apartment, and there’s always 3000K to pour energy into. That’s not really what I mean. I’ve defined myself by my illness for so long, and filtered every action and plan through the “what if” machine, that I don’t really know how to be well anymore. What is it like to wake up and not wonder if you’re going into the hospital that day? To be able to just eat, and not worry about the impact that food may have on your intestines? To live without constantly wondering about an upcoming surgery, or doctor’s visit, or medical test?

I’m a fundamentally different person than I was three years ago before I became sick. Physically I’m a different person than I was even two weeks ago, with more options and a brighter future.

Now I have to learn how to be the new me. The first step is going to be figuring out who that is.

Another surgery is behind me, and I’m home recovering (once again). I’ll post more later, but for now just wanted to quickly update everyone on my progress. As always thanks for the overwhelming understanding and support!