Thursday, August 27, 2009: Three More Pounds!

The weight loss continues, slow but steady. Erica had a wardrobe malfunction last Friday, when her jeans succumbed to the laws of gravity. We're going back into the clothes storage hamper to get some smaller ones.

Her stomach issues still continue, although on a less frequent scale, even though she's eating more slowly and following the "scope doctor's" advice. She has an appointment with the doc who did the surgery next week to see what's going on.

She's also busy getting ready for her Asia trip, which is two weeks from this coming Saturday. She is so excited to be going to visit the Asia offices again, and they are so excited that she's coming back!

I will post pictures next week - I promise!

Saturday, August 15th, 2009: Scope Results: No Ulcers!

Erica's been having problems again with keeping food down and we thought it was because her ulcers had returned. We went to see Dr. Patel again this morning for a second scope procedure.

After the procedure, Dr. Patel came in with pictures of what he'd found: nothing. Apparently all is well physically, but he believes that Erica's problem is caused by eating too fast. He cautioned her to eat more slowly and take her time and see if that helps. He also said that if she keeps eating too fast the opening to her new stomach will enlarge and she will begin gaining weight. Oops. That's not what we wanted to hear.

We got home and had some homemade tamales, which she ate slowly and really enjoyed, and kept down with no problem. She had another tamale around 7 or so and ate it slowly and enjoyed it as well. We finished off with some incredible homemade flan.

This procedure was rougher on her for some reason; she went to bed early and is sleeping soundly.

Thursday, July 30th, 2009: One More Pound!

The weight loss is continuing, slowly but surely; another pound down. And in spite of a week's vacation in Honolulu!

However, Erica is having issues with keeping food down again. She spoke with her doctor, who recommended that she call the doctor who did the scope procedure a few weeks ago. Apparently this stuff happens more than once, which, while comforting, doesn't do much for one's well-being. She's calling the "scope doctor" today for an appointment; I'll keep you posted.

No pix today, with only the pound lost, there's no dramatic difference.

Thursday, July 9th, 2009: 130 Pounds Lost!

It's been a while and I apologize. We went to New York a couple of weeks ago for Erica's niece Kim's wedding in Long Island, and Erica fit some Milbank business in as well. Aside from her hip really bothering her, she was much more comfortable on the flights over and back, and it won't be long until she'll get rid of the seat belt extension for good. We are also getting ready for the imminent arrival (tomorrow) of Kim's twin, Bonnie, who will be living with us and attending Pasadena City College. So you can understand why I haven't written. I hope.

Aside from the normal front-and-side pictures today, I wanted to show you the difference between now and November 6th, when Erica had her surgery. The pictures are phenomenal; they speak for themselves. Just amazing.

Thursday, June 18th, 2009: One More Pound

I'm pleased to tell you that Erica's lost one more pound! I haven't attached any pictures because the weight loss has slowed down and you really can't tell that much of a difference. I will, however, post pictures when the cumulative loss is down about 10 or so pounds. So far, we have three or four pounds lost, so we have six more to go. That'll hopefully happen within the next few weeks.

We are also getting ready to go to New York next week, for Erica's niece's wedding. She leaves on Sunday and I will follow her a few days later. The reason for her earlier departure is meetings at her law firm's headquarters in New York. It'll be nice to get back to NY and look around - haven't been there for a while.

Saturday, June 13th, 2009: No More Ulcers!

Today was Erica's second endoscopy appointment. If you remember, she'd been having some really bad episodes of not being able to keep food down, and one endoscopy was performed about six weeks ago. The doctor said then that it would be a "series" of endoscopies, to keep the opening to her stomach open, and to cure the ulcers that had developed.

I'm happy to tell you that today was the last endoscopy! The doctor said (and had pictures to prove it) that her ulcers are cured and she's doing just fine. That's really good news, so to celebrate we are going out to dinner at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant, Sahara.

Yay!

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009: Doc is Pleased!!

So yesterday was Erica's follow-up appointment with Dr. Powell, who performed her gastric bypass surgery last November. He was very pleased with her progress, even when she complained to him that she's not losing as much weight as fast as before. He told her that the slower weight loss is better for her system and she'll reach her goal weight, it just won't be as fast as she thought. But with 124 pounds down, hey - it can only get better!

She is also scheduled to undergo another "scope" procedure this Saturday, June 13th, at 7 or so in the morning (see the April 25th, 2009 posting for how the procedure is done). She's not worried; in fact, we have a dinner date at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant, Sahara, that night!