February 5th is going to be a day I remember for the rest of my life…I woke up, for the second time that day, around 8pm. My world was irreversibly different from the last time I was awake, there was zero ability or opportunity to go back to my old life. I would learn to live without things, learn to handle things in new ways, learn to appreciate new things. I no longer had a large intestine, mine was removed, gone forever. This day would permanently be tattooed in my mind as a day for major life changes…a second New Year’s in a way.

As the anniversary approaches, I begin to realize that while is quite possible the genetic disorder FAP (Familial Adenomatous Polyposis) has more ‘surprises’ down the road for me, my life has actually reached a certain level of balance. The new normal has arrived. They told me it would happen, and for the past year I have wondered what it would look like. It has sneakily crept up in so slow a fashion that I barely noticed. “How often are things changing right now?,” I asked myself. The answer? Not very. I have good days, bad days, weird days, and surprising days. For the most part, however, my weeks look about the same. New foods still wreck havoc on me, not taking care of myself does too, but all in all each week looks pretty similar to the last week…my new normal.