Week 225 Update

It was 06:45 this morning when I stepped on Mr. Scale, and he said, "186.5 pounds!" It was an eventful week, and so I am pretty happy to have not only held steady from last week, but to also have a week of weigh-ins that were all inside my target range.

Here is what happened this week:

Saturday - Tom was in town and staying at the Heathman Lodge and after I put up my numbers for my weekly update, I hopped in the car and headed over to the lodge to pick Tom up. We drove out to the trailhead at Eagle Creek so we could hike up to Punchbowl Falls. Dotti's brother Rip called me on my cell phone on route to let us know that he was going to be joining us for the hike. It was great morning for hiking, and the three of us enjoyed the cool morning air, the scenery, and the enjoyable company, as we walked the 4.2-mile out-and-back route to the falls.

Rip had some things to take care of and said goodbye after the hike, and Tom and I headed back to Vancouver to pick up Dotti and LeRoy, who had dropped down on Friday to visit with Tom, for breakfast. It actually was a bit late for breakfast and so we actually had lunch at our regular Mexican food restaurant. It was high in points for me (33.0) but it was very good. J

Dotti and I checked into the Heathman for the night, so we could just relax and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about driving home later. Plus the hot tub in the room was a nice treat. In the afternoon we just relaxed and the we planned to go out to eat at Newport Bay with Tom. As we were getting ready Dotti opened up one of our bags to lay some things out, and her hand found an uncovered triple razor, which promptly took off a sizable patch of skin from the pad of her right ring finger.

The wound was a bleeder. I got some tissue on it, and had Dotti hold pressure, while I found a Band-Aid to wrap around it to hold it in place. I then ran down to the car and zipped over to a drug store to get some bandage materials. I came back with a bagful of items, including disinfectant. Soon I had the wound bandaged up and covered in waterproof tape. All seemed well, and we off to dinner with Tom.

I ended up eating 21.0 points for dinner, and finished off my eating day with 67.5 points.

We got to bed at a reasonable hour, but about 1 AM Dotti woke me because her finger was really beginning to hurt her. We checked the bandage but that wasn't the problem. The net effect of the razor cut was that fairly large patch of skin had all its nerve ending exposed to air, and they didn't like it a bit. Also, there was one deep part of the cut that was still as eager to bleed as when it first happened. Finally we did what we should have done in the first place and took her to the emergency room.

They gave her a tetanus shot, which is still aching a just a bit today. They dropped a pile of white oily looking powder right onto the wound. (I was reminded of what canned snow looks like when you spray it on your windows at Christmas time, especially if you spray a large amount onto one spot.) There was no anesthetic, but after they finished using a tubular device to place about 10 layers of gauze over the finger, the pain suddenly stopped, as the nerve endings were sealed up again, just as they wished. When we got back to the room, Dotti fell right to sleep, as did I. It was about 3:30 AM.

Sunday - We fortunately had arranged to meet with Tom for a later than normal breakfast (9 AM), because I nearly overslept anyway. I normally am up around 5:30 AM, but I was really tired after the Saturday night run to the hospital. Dotti was tired too, but we both made it up and, after calling Tom up to let him know we were running a bit late, we soon were ready to face the day. Dotti's finger was filling much better and all was well.

When I stepped on the scale it said 186.5 still, so I was okay for another fun day. J

We ate at Sharis, and I had 28.5 points worth of breakfast goodies. The only thing that kept my points "down to a dull roar" for the day was the fact that I only had two meals, since we got up so late.

After our late breakfast, it was about time for Dotti and I to check out of the Lodge, and so we loaded up our van, and Tom joined us as we took our stuff home, and then set off for the "End of the Oregon Trail" exhibit. We spent a few enjoyable hours listening to lectures and viewing exhibits, and videos on the pioneers who followed the Oregon Trail to the Oregon City, just south of where Portland is today.

We then went up to the Pittock Mansion and went through a quick tour of the site. It was a fairly clear day and Mount Hood was just visible beyond the city of Portland.

When we returned to Vancouver, we had dinner at another Mexican food restaurant (I think my Southern Californian roots are showing here J) called Azteca, which Jim and Tammy introduced us to when we were in Spokane. Another 31.5 points later, I was feeling very full indeed.

After going back to the Lodge and sharing a final enjoyable visit with Tom, we headed back home. Tom was leaving very early in the morning, so we said our goodbyes that night.

I was very tired and went to bed quite soon after we got home. I had eaten 67.0 points for the day.

Monday - I weighed 187.0 pounds when I woke up. It looked like it was time to pull in the horses and eat a little lower for a while.

I had been having trouble over the weekend with a tooth that was irritating my gums. I had used Ambisol to get through the weekend but I decided to get the thing taken care of on Monday morning. I went down to my dentist's office and it was locked up tight, with the lights off. I waited for a few minutes, and finally called his emergency number. When he answered the phone, he said that he was in Canada, the day after running a race. (He was a serious decathlon athlete a few years ago when he attended BYU, and he has recently gotten himself back into great shape.)

This left me with a problem. I had already taken some time off from work, and I still had a dental issue. So, he directed me to another dentist not far away, and I got in to see him. The problem was on a tooth that had already had a root cannel, so the dentist had no problems drilling away the decayed area, and filling it; completely pain free, even without Novocain. (Since I hate Novocain's after effects, that was a win-win situation for me.)

When I was done, it was going to be about lunchtime before I could make it back to work, and so I called up the office to see if things were busy or quiet. As it turned out, it was quiet, and so I just took the rest of the day off. I needed the rest, and Dotti was getting ready for her surgery on Tuesday, when I would be off as well.

We had a nice quiet day at home, and I only ate 38.5 points for the day.

Tuesday - Tough day, but not on the scale, since it had dropped down to 185.0 pounds in the morning.

We woke up at 5:30 AM, and got ready to go to the hospital. We were supposed to arrive at 6:30AM and we did. The hospital is one that we both remember well, not from the inside but from the outside. When I first met Dotti, in September 1974, she lived in an apartment that was right across the street from this hospital. In fact, when she used to look out of her back window at that time, she was looking directly at the rear of the hospital building. One time her best friend had seriously sprained her ankle there at Dotti's apartment, and since we didn't have a car available at the time, I carried her from the apartment all the way down the length of the building, around to the front, where the entrance was, so she could be treated. It is hard to believe that was 31 years ago.

Dotti was soon settled into her hospital bed, and we began our wait. As is usual, they wanted the patient to arrive at least two hours early, and then you have to find a way to fill the extra time, while trying not to worry too much. The time passed quicker than I expected, and once I again I watched Dotti being wheeled away for surgery. I don't like seeing that at all. It has happened way too many times.

This time, she was back in the room in under an hour, and I felt much better. Before taking her in to surgery, they had removed the large bandage on her ring finger (from our Saturday night emergency room visit), so she could get her ring off for the procedure. When she got back, I saw that they had put a small Band-Aid sized bandage over the wound. However, she now had a large bandage on her thumb where the surgery had removed the cyst from her right thumb.

Before too long, Dotti was ready to walk out of the hospital to our van, which I had hurried out to get once she was ready to leave. The nurse assisted her as she walked, and, though moving slowly, Dotti was doing very well by that time.

When we got her situated in the van, we took a quick ride across the street, and through the parking lot of her old apartment building. I took a few pictures. I especially liked the one of the balcony at her front door where we first kissed. After thirty-one years of happy memories, I feel like we are just getting started. J

We stopped by Sharis on the way home, because Dotti had not been able to eat since the night before. I had 25.0 points, and then we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up Dotti prescription before reaching home, where Dotti could rest.

I played my new piano (Dotti got me an electronic one for my birthday this year) for a while, and then read, while Dotti rested on the couch, sleeping off and on. I made sure that she had everything that she needed, and she did very well for the first day. They had really deadened her thumb, because she lost all feeling in it until the next morning! (It had started to worry us a bit after over 12 hours had passed after the surgery and it still had no feeling in it.)

By the end of the day, I had eaten 60.5 points.

Wednesday - I weighed 186.0 pounds. It was back to work on Wednesday. My normal customer site was having a week long shutdown, and so I went to our office instead. It turned out to be a fairly quiet day. I had to run some parts over to another site, but there wasn't much else going on.

When I got home, Dotti was doing well, and we had a nice quiet evening together. I ended up eating 44.5 points for the day.

Thursday - I weighed 186.0 pounds. Things got a bit busier at work, and I was out at another customer site. I was involved with some meetings and testing, looking for a solution to a chronic problem that they had been having with one of their machines. It made the day go by quickly, and since the problem was not yet resolved, I was scheduled to be back there on Friday.

Dotti and I had a nice evening together, getting ready for Jim and Tammy's arrival later in the evening. (They actually arrived pretty late, after I was already asleep, but they made it in safely!)

Friday - I weighed 187.0 pounds. I got to work early and I decided that I had better get back to walking again, if I was going to have any possibility of reaching my goal of 1,300 miles this year. So, I walked 3 miles in the morning before work. It felt good, however, I had a very busy day at work, and I was physically active all day long. By the end of the day I was exhausted.

When I got home, I finally got to see Jim and Tammy. (When they arrived I had been sleeping, and when I left for work, they had been sleeping.) Also, LeRoy had brought their daughter Jamie to visit. (She was visiting with her grandmother and aunt and uncle in Seattle, and since LeRoy lives close by, he offered to give her a ride down.) So, we had a full house last night, and it was fun visiting. We went to Sweet Tomatoes to eat, and it was a great meal. (20.0 points.) By the end of the day I was up to 44.0 points. And that led to my weigh-in this morning of 186.5 pounds.

How do I rate this week? There were some good and some bad aspects this week. It was busy and eventful.

Eating – I averaged 51.21 points this week, and that is a bit high. I will have to watch myself this week to make sure that the scale doesn't take off on me.

Weight – My weigh-in weight, and my average weight for the week were very close to each other this week. I averaged weighing 186.29 pounds for the week, and my weigh-in was 186.5 pounds. That is a little higher than I like, but all my weigh-ins were inside my target range and that makes it a good week!

Water – I was not on track. I only averaged 40 ounces (5 cups) per day. I definately left plenty of room for improvement there.

Exercise – I got in two exercise events this week. I hope that I will do better this week, and I can get back on track for reaching my walking goal for the year.

No week is perfect, but I feel pretty good about this one.

4 years, 115 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/186.5/180±2/BMI:23.31/WK-225

GRAPHS:

Weight Loss Maintenance Year 1 Maintenance Year 2 Maintenance Year 3 Maintenance Year 4 2005 Walking 2005 Walking Data

2004 Walking Data