Tuesday, December 15th, 2009: Cranking up the Old Blog Again

To those of you who faithfully followed this blog for Erica's weight loss, I thank you so much. I apologize for not posting more often, but her weight loss now is very small and hardly noticeable.

What has been noticeable, for those of you who interact with her, is her intense hip pain. It's bad and has been getting steadily worse for the past few months. I am thankful that Erica did lose the weight she did otherwise the pain would have been worse than unbearable. It was clear that Erica needed a hip replacement and those of you who read this blog were aware that it was tentatively scheduled for February of 2010. As time wore on and the pain got worse, it became clear that February was not an option, it had to be sooner.

The good news is I nagged and badgered until Erica went to Dr. Laster to see about scheduling an earlier surgery, which has now been scheduled for Wednesday, December 30th, at 10:30 a.m.

I promise I will keep you all up to date with the latest on her progress. I am just overjoyed that she'll soon be able to walk without pain.

Happy Holidays to all of you!!

Friday, November 6th, 2009: One Year and 151 Pounds Later . . .

Yes, it has been a year - today - that Erica underwent gastric bypass surgery. This morning's scale reading shows that she's lost 151 pounds. It is incredible and we are so thankful that everything has been relatively smooth. Although there are some things that are off-limits to her now, like coffee, broccoli, and carbonated drinks, she is much healthier, and is looking forward to a hip replacement sometime in early 2010. She no longer needs the airplane seat belt extender or her walker, and has more energy.

Here are pix side-by-side of her a year ago today, and today. What a difference!!!

Thursday, October 1st, 2009: Erica's Back!

Well, she actually got back "stateside" on Sunday, but I haven't had a chance to write until now.

She had a wonderful time in Asia, and the good news is that she survived the entire trip without any stomach issues! And she ate just about everything she wanted, except in smaller portions, although she has unfortunately found out that she cannot drink coffee, it's what sets her stomach off.

It looks like she's lost more weight, but hasn't had a chance to weigh herself yet. I promise we'll do it this weekend and I'll post pictures.

We are so happy to have her back! She brought back all kinds of stuff: chopsticks, little Chinese wine jackets, t-shirts (40? 50?) for everybody and their mother, "Cutie Wife Cakes" from China that are the bomb, lots and lots of moon cakes, and other Chinese delicacies that look for all the world like Rice Krispie treats and taste about the same. She said one of her favorite parts of the trip was touring the Chinese Olympic site. She was particularly taken with the Water Cube, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

She's already thinking about her next Asia trip!

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009: Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong Done: On to Beijing!

Erica is having a blast in Asia. She has had no stomach issues and has eaten just about anything she wanted. The only little issue was coffee, and she now knows she can't drink it any more. Other than that, she's had crab, ginormous shrimp, and all kinds of particular Asian delicacies. Anthony Bourdain has nothing on her.

She's also had a chance to reconnect with the Asia office staff and attorneys and has enjoyed it immensely. If you know anything about Erica, it's that she's one of the most friendly people on the face of the earth, and when she couldn't travel it really brought her down.

She will be travelling on to Beijing tonight, which is her last stop before coming home. She is looking forward to, other than seeing everyone in the Beijing office, Peking duck. She's been talking about that for ages.

She will be home this Sunday, the 27th, at 1 or so in the afternoon. Knowing her, she will probably come home, open her suitcases, and crash for a few hours. I'll let you know.

Friday, September 11th, 2009: Six More Pounds and Going to Asia!

Erica's now down 142 pounds, and is doing great! Her stomach issues have been solved by Prevacid (thank you Dr. Powell), and she is really looking forward to going to Asia tomorrow. She's been packing since last week! She'll be gone two weeks,to Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Beijing. Although I confess I'm worried about her stamina for such a trip, she's assured me that she's ordered wheelchairs for the airports and I know the staff at the offices will ensure that she'll be fine.

Another piece of news: she went to Dr. Laster, the orthopod, and has tentatively scheduled her hip replacement surgery for February of next year. Although she probably won't be at goal weight by then, we believe she'll be sufficiently "skinny" to have the operation done.

Things are really moving along!

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.