Steve Gut Checks, Life without a Stomach, Reflections

I Still Have a Torso

One of our amazing middle school students this past Wednesday gave me a hug, but thought removing my stomach would leave me without a torso. This is hilarious, but I definitely see the confusion. We often refer to and think of our torso's as our stomachs rather than the organ itself. The two most common comments as I've … Continue reading I Still Have a Torso

Steve Gut Checks, Life without a Stomach, Reflections

Stats can be Brutal, Orange Sauce Heals

It's week 5 of my recovery and this week we found out that my little brother Austin also came up positive for the CDH1 gene mutation. In a couple weeks we start the process of meeting with doctors and surgeons at Stanford. I think going through this process first helps, but it is strange on … Continue reading Stats can be Brutal, Orange Sauce Heals

Steve Gut Checks, Marriage, My Friends, Reflections

Week 4: New Pants and Re-Learning the Basics

Today marks the 4th week since I went into surgery and this week seems like I've turned a little bit of a corner in my recovery. I've also discovered that I need some new pants! I feel like one of those people in the weight loss commercials who put on their old pair of pants … Continue reading Week 4: New Pants and Re-Learning the Basics

Steve Gut Checks

Beef Aggressive

On Friday I had my two week follow-up appointment with my surgeon who said that I'm recovering really well and I even made the guy laugh! He's a little concerned about my weight loss, but more on that in a little bit. Dr. Norton did tell us that out of all the patients who had … Continue reading Beef Aggressive

Steve Gut Checks, Reflections

Changing the Story

A couple days ago Kate and I were going for a walk which has become a beautiful regimen in the Dang household. I have to walk at least three times a day to keep my bowels moving. When we walk, we walk incredibly slowly taking in and talking about life. The other day we were … Continue reading Changing the Story

Steve Gut Checks, Reflections

5 Reflections from the Hospital

I wrote most of this post while I was still laying in a hospital bed taking a bunch of naps in between so please excuse spelling errors and ranting. Hopefully I won't have to go through this again, but here are a few things I learned about my experience if there is ever a "next … Continue reading 5 Reflections from the Hospital

Steve Farewell Stomach Tour, Gut Checks

Union Jack for Endoscopies and the Farewell Stomach Tour

I've been getting endoscopies every single year since I was about 12 years old, and without a stomach, this might very well have been the last endoscopy I'll ever need. As I am now apart of the research studying this cancer gene and prophylactic (preventative) gastrectomies (surgically removing the stomach), I'm now going through the … Continue reading Union Jack for Endoscopies and the Farewell Stomach Tour

Steve Gut Checks

Gut checks, the Good News about My Health and FAQ’s

Let me start this blog post with a couple reassurances to put your hearts at ease: 1. I'm not dying. 2. I'm not leaving my position. I do, however, have some things that have been going on in my life that I wanted to catch people up on. While it seems a little impersonal, I … Continue reading Gut checks, the Good News about My Health and FAQ’s