Week 229 Update

It was 05:15, and 52° when I stepped on Mr. Scale and he said, "187.0 pounds!" Up a pound, but still in my target range.

Other than having the pager this weekend, L things are much better than last week! Dotti is feeling much better than she did, although she is not anywhere near back to normal yet. Every time she rolls over in her sleep she calls out from pain she has in her shoulder. However, once she stops moving, the pain returns to a tolerable dull ache fairly quickly. She hasn't started driving yet, but she probably could in a pinch. (The biggest problem right now is lifting her arm, especially directly to the side – the same motion she would use if her arm were a wing and she were raising it to flap. That motion hurts a lot!) But her spirits are really good right now, and she is recovering well! Not only that, but she weighed in today 12.5 pounds down from her highest point, just a couple of weeks ago. Even from day to day she is showing a loss more often than she is maintaining, and the only time she showed a gain was from the surgery. That gain has all gone, and she is losing once more. She is on fire with her journey! (She created a separate page on DWLZ for documenting her journey just today. J)

My journey bumped along this week. I didn't get any exercise, and I went up a pound, even though I ate less than 40 points-per-day on average. I am sure the gain was connected to my busier week at work and the changes in our routine as Dotti is going through her rehabilitation. But when the scale starts moving up, I just pull back on the points and bring it back down. I didn't feel deprived at all eating fewer points, and I am still in my target range. One more week in the DONE column. J

Here's my week in review:

Saturday - I weighed-in at 186.0 last week. Dotti was still feeling pretty badly, and spent a lot of time sleeping. (The pain medications were really knocking her out.) The "pain pump" that had been installed into her shoulder had looked like it had run dry after about 24 hours, but we left it in until Saturday morning just in case it might still be doing something. Saturday morning we decided to take it out.

The white covering bandage looked almost like half of a football shoulder pad. It was made of white rubberized tape, and when I removed it, there was a great deal of unsightly soaked gauze buried underneath it. Fortunately, other than the yellow-orange antiseptic that was painted all over the entire area, the shoulder looked much better than the bandage would have led me to believe it would look. There were three entry wounds in her shoulder. Two of them were created to give entry to the scope and surgical tools, and each of them was closed with several stitches.

The third wound was a puncture, that resembled a well where a drill was run down the middle of it. In this case the "drill" was actually a plastic tube about 0.5mm in diameter. The tubing was coiled up at the surface and taped down, giving a "stress relief" to absorb a small amount of tugging on the medicine ball end of the device, which was hanging free on the outside. I removed the tape, and very slowly started pulling out the tubing. Dotti was not sure what to expect, and she was feeling quite light-headed from worry and the pain medications.

I pulled out a couple of inches of tubing and I saw a black mark on the part that had just exited the wound. In the brochure that they had given us, it said that the very end of the tube had a black mark on it, and it was critical that it came out. It said that if any part of the tube broke off inside, the doctor was to be called right away. (I tested some of the tubing that was already out, to see what it would take to break it, and it was very stout stuff. I would have had to pull so hard that it would have been very painful for Dotti, in order to break it. There is no way I was going to do that! That made me feel better about the process.)

The black mark came out, and there was more tubing beyond it. Alas, the tubing had black marks every so far along it. I kept pulling. Another black mark came and went. I had about 6 inches out by then. Dotti was looking very pale, almost gray in color, and I wanted to hurry to get it over with. But I couldn't take a chance with the tube so we proceeded slowly. Fortunately, it was not painful for Dotti. The tube was coming out slowly but it was not hanging up along the way.

At last the end of the tubing came free, including the black mark! (I later measured it, and the part that was embedded into her shoulder measured 9.25 inches in length!) I thought it was never going to end.

After clean up, Dotti had some new bandages that took up a lot less room than the original ones did. (A couple of days later we found that a few Band-Aids would do the trick. The scope and tool incisions were really quite small, and the "catheter" puncture was very small indeed.)

Later in the day, Dotti suggested that we try going out for a few minutes. We had to swing by the pharmacy and pick up a prescription anyway, and she thought that maybe she would be up to going to a restaurant for lunch. As it turned out, once we got in the car and started off, she felt very badly. By the time we had gone through the drive-thru at the pharmacy, she was ready to go back home. So, we didn't try the restaurant just yet.

Dotti looked cute with her sling on, and it helped keep the shoulder from doing anything that would be painful. Once we learned to wrapped her bare arm with an Ace bandage, where the sling's Velcro had cut into it on the day of the surgery, the sling worked very well indeed.

Dotti spent the day relaxing and recuperating, and I pampered whenever I could. J From journaling in the hospital, to remaining well within her point range every single day, Dotti has been doing absolutely wonderful on her rejuvenated journey. Since she quit smoking, she couldn't hold her focus, and anything that came along pushed her off the path. She never gave up, but she couldn't hold the course day after day. But a change has come. There have been a few times in the past when she looked like she was catching fire, but the fire always went out. And she never had the fire in her soul like she did in 1997 and 1998 when she lost 100 pounds. But that fire is back, and it is a joy to behold!

We ate all our meals at home, and I ended up eating 41.5 points for the day.

Sunday - I weighed 185.5. Dotti slept in, and it did some good, because by late afternoon she was ready to try going out once more. We went to Sweet Tomatoes, and it was great! I carried her tray for her, but other than that, she was doing very well. She enjoyed her meal, and after we finished, she was up to going to a department store to walk around and "window shop" for a bit. We hadn't been there very long before she ran out of gas and we headed back home. It had been a nice time out, and I was happy to see Dotti coming back a bit from her surgery.

There is still a long ways to go, but progress is very clearly being made. Before Sunday, I was concerned about leaving Dotti alone when I went to work on Monday. She had trouble doing a few things, and the pain was keeping her down. But she perked up on Sunday enough to where I felt she was ready to handle some time on her own by Monday morning.

By day's end, I had eaten 40.0 points.

Monday - I weighed 188.5 pounds. I had eaten a high fiber lunch on Sunday before our visit to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. It must have still be with me.

I started a very busy week at work. A co-worker was out on vacation, and I was covering his site for him. There was something going on pretty much all of the time, every day this week. I not only didn't have much time to log on during work to post on Dotti's message board, but I didn't have enough energy in the evenings to do much either. The upside to this was that the week just flew by.

When I got home, Dotti had made dinner for me! She was up and around with her sling on, one-handedly shuffling the pots and pans around. I know that wasn't easy. The meal was delicious, and it tasted even better because Dotti had made it with love. J I sure have a jewel of a wife!

We spent the evening discussing a serious problem she had sadly been having with an extended family member, who has traditionally, and consistently become scarce whenever Dotti finds herself in need of help and support. As long as Dotti is in the giving and helping mode, all is well, but as soon as she needs anything at all, she is left on her own.

Dotti is never truly "on her own," because she has, besides myself, many dear friends and family members who are always there for her. Tammy and my Mom have been very supportive through this ordeal, as have been a number of wonderful people Dotti and I have met through the web page. With her friend Joan passing away so recently, and then having two surgeries herself, Dotti has been faced with a lot of emotional, and physical challenges of late.

Not only has she held up under those challenges, she has managed to thrive, holding onto her goal of remaining on program right to goal and then into maintenance. However, all of the kind thoughts and deeds, and all of the people who have reached out to her, have been very helpful and so much appreciated! When you look for the good in this world, you can find it, just like a search for bad will be just as successful. (The day is half sunlit and half darkness, and we choose which way we will view it.) You reap what you sew, and Dotti has reaped a great deal of love this past week, which she so much needed.

Working through emotional upheavals is not easy, but it is very helpful, and the time we spent on Monday night created a much more relaxed rest of the week. Dotti is a wonderful girl, and she is nothing if she is not resilient in the face of adversity. Her childhood was not easy, and it made her a very strong person. She has amazed me repeatedly with how her strength comes through when the going gets tough. She doesn’t buckle under stress very easily at all. I am not only very proud of her, but I admire her greatly!

Overall, I ended up eating lightly on Monday. I didn't snack much during the evening, and Dotti's dinner was very points-friendly. My total points came to only 30.0.

Tuesday - I weighed 185.5 pounds. The high fiber food had obviously departed. J

The weather was great for walking this week, but I just couldn't get myself out there to do any. My days were filled with activity, and then in the evenings I was focused on Dotti. If I am going to even hit last year's goal of 1200 miles, I am going to have to start getting very serious about walking each of the remaining weeks of the year.

We had a nice quiet evening on Tuesday. I made us some hot cocoa. Even with the marshmallows, Dotti's cup was only 2 points. I put on a few more marshmallows for my cup and it was still only 3 points.

I ate 37.5 points for the day.

Wednesday - I weighed 186.0 pounds. One of the machines I work on blew some major fuses overnight, and recovering from that took up most of my day. I replaced the fuses (700 volts, 60 amps) and then started the machine back up. The cryogenic pumps had warmed up, and that meant hours of purging them with nitrogen, followed by hours more of cooling before they would be back online. The day went by in a real hurry!

Dotti had prepared us a very nice meal when I got home. We then took a late run to Costco. It was our first real attempt at shopping since Dotti's surgery and our goal was to take it easy.

We arrived at 7:30 PM, giving us one hour before the store closed. It was great, because there were no crowds to deal with. We pulled up to a parking place just a stone's throw from the main entrance. We made it up and down the aisles and found all the items that we wanted. (Including Honey Crisp Apples! They are easily our favorite type of apple. Of course at around a dollar an apple they had better be good. J ) The only thing that we missed out on really, that we would normally do, was browsing through the books.

We got through the checkout line in a hurry as well, and still had time to stop and get a Very Berry sundae. And here is another demonstration of where Dotti's head is at in her journey. She only ate half of her sundae and she was satisfied. The rest went into the trash. She has been doing more and more of that, where she has some, and that is enough. Just because it is in a dish in front of her, doesn't mean she has to eat it. I am as amazed today as I was in 1998 when Dotti was on fire to lose.

So far she has dropped 12.5 pounds in just 3 weeks, and that includes the 4-pound gain she had because of her surgery. She already knew what to do, but now she is doing it, effortlessly. Very impressive!

By the time we loaded up the van and headed home, we both were pretty tired. I had had a long day at work, this was Dotti first time out doing some actual shopping since her surgery. We got home, had a few minutes to relax and it was time for bed once more.

I ate 44.5 points on Wednesday.

Thursday - Another busy day at work, and it flew by. I was on the way home before I knew it. I even left for home a bit later than usual, because we were working on a problem. Fortunately, traffic wasn't too bad, and I got home pretty close to my normal time. Dotti fixed us a nice pot roast dinner, with corn on the cob and some nice trimmings. I ate 13.0 points, and I was full.

For the day, I ate 39.5 points.

Friday - I weighed 186.0 pounds on my favorite day of the workweek.

I was scheduled to take the afternoon off, so I could take Dotti to see her surgeon as a follow-up to her shoulder surgery. In the morning, I arrived a half-hour early and started working. I was on the go non-stop right up until 12 noon when I packed up my computer and headed for home. It was a very fast morning!

At that time of day the traffic was not too bad at all, especially on the back roads that I normally drive. I got home and finished my lunch (I had eaten some of it on the way home) and the Dotti and I headed off. First we had a few errands to run, and then on to the doctor's office. We were getting there a little early, and so we stopped at a Target that was around the corner to kill a few minutes. It was raining pretty hard. (The main headline on the front page of the October 1 paper was "Here Comes The Rain Again." On Friday we got 1.48 inches of rain, beating the old record of 0.97 inches for that date that was set in 1951; the year I was born!) It had been 31 days since our last downpour, and so we were surprised to see it raining so ferociously.

I dropped Dotti off at the door, so she would remain dry. I then hunted down a parking place and grabbed an umbrella that I hadn't used in a very long time. When I got under cover the umbrella released a lot of water, when I shook it out. Since we had gone so long without rain, we kept expecting the downpour to end, but it didn't. It was still raining when we got home.

Before long it was time to go to the doctor's office. We were ushered into the examining room. After a short wait the doctor came in. He still seemed like he was in a bit of hurry, but he was far more relaxed than when I spoke with him in the hospital after the surgery. He said that after reviewing everything, he felt that the shoulder may not be as bad as he first feared and that physical therapy might take care of things for now. He made no further mention of a shoulder replacement surgery. That was nice! All and all he seemed pleased with how she was recovering. Dotti was smiling when we left the office, and so was I. J

We next stopped at Red Robins, because Dotti was hungry. (We decided against Hooters, which was right across the street, because Dotti thought that their food wouldn't be OP. J) We split a salad, and that worked out well later, because we next went to Costco to do some shopping. As we walked the aisles in Costco, we were not at all hungry and it kept us from buying food we really didn’t need based upon how good it looked to our hungry stomachs.

After Costco we headed home and it was right into the middle of the worst of rush hour. We spent nearly an hour going a quarter of a mile, trying to get onto I-205 North. (If we had thought ahead, we would have gone to the Costco in Vancouver, beating the worst of the traffic, and then shopped at our leisure, returning home with no fuss. As it was, we were both very tired of looking at that same stretch of road for so long. L)

When we got home, I was ready for some peace and quiet. I was cooking up some hot chocolate when the pager went off. If I have a pager call it always means at least a couple of hours of my time, or more. A customer needed a part. Our company computer system was "down for planned maintenance" and so I couldn't find out where the part might be. Did we have one in the office? As it turned out, I had to order the part from the factory, and I didn't complete the transaction until early this morning. I ended up getting to bed an hour later than usual and I was very tired by that time. Then knowing that I had business to attend to, I couldn't sleep in at all. I was up earlier today than I would normally be, even on a workday.

By the end of Friday, I had eaten 38.5 points, which led to my weigh-in of 187.0 pounds this morning.

How do I rate this week? Fair, but partly cloudy. My weigh-in was at the top of my target range, but it was in it, so I am happy.

Eating – My total average for points-per-day over the course of my entire journey is 42.4. It has been bouncing back and forth from 42.3 to 42.5 over the last few months. Perhaps it will turn out that 42.4 points-per-day will be my real maintenance target number. That is a couple of points down from where I had thought it was, but it is not too far off from there.

Up until the start of 2005, my overall average points-per-day had been on a steady rise. However, now the average is adjusting itself up and down as the weeks go by. That means the average is getting close to the real number I need for maintenance. (Of course that number will not remain constant, because my exercise level, and other factors will vary, but it should be close anyway.)

Assuming that 42.4 is the correct number, then I ate nearly 3 points-per-day low this week. I am certainly not over eating, even though my weigh-in weight went up one pound, and my average weight went up nearly a half pound.

Weight – My weight went through a range from 185.5 to 188.5 during this week. The one day where I actually weighed 188.5, was the only one out of my target range, and I consider that a fluke, and nothing to worry about. If that one high day had remained at the same weight as I had on the day before it, or the day after it, my average weight for the week would have been as good, or better, than was the one for the week before. All and all I am happy with how the week went for my weigh-ins.

Water – I drank at least 6 cups every day, meeting my goal. I averaged 56.0 ounces (7.0 cups) per day. I am happy with that.

Exercise – I didn't get in any walking at all. I hope to do much better next week.

I am happy to call this week a success, even though I need to work on the exercise. I was active all week, and I will focus on getting back on track this coming week.

4 years, 143 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/187.0/180±2/BMI:23.37/WK-229

GRAPHS:

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

2004 Walking Data