My Journey Back to health April 2010

Wednesday, April 7th

I've had a great first week of April. My friend Teresa and  I drove to Charleston to take a look at the beach where she is going to be married on May 15th. Since I'm performing the ceremony, I wanted to see how far I have to walk to get to the beach. It's not too bad and they have a nice ramp from the parking lot to the beach boardwalk. From there I have to walk down about 10 steps to the sand.

Since I've lost over 45 lbs so far, it should be a lot easier for me to manage the walk. I certainly don't want to take my scooter down onto the sand.

We finished her invitations and I have her approval for the vows. Tonight I finished the jewelry she is wearing. I can't tell you much more 'cause it's a secret!

Brian, Danni and the kids made it here from their Georgia vacation at about 3:00 pm.
We're planning to hit GattiTown and maybe the zoo while they are here.  I'll be driving back to Ohio with them.  I have a Communion and a swearing in ceremony to attend.

My weight loss continues, but I am constantly on my guard. I still have a great deal of trouble judging healthy portion control. It's also inportant for me to actually eat 3-4 meals a day and I absolutely have to eat breakfast.  Wayne's been a great help in keeping a ton of veggies in the house.  I tried egg beaters for the first time...and they are pretty good. I still miss pancakes, but I gotta do what I gotta do to keep this weight off and keep losing.

Friday, April 16th

So, where am I now? It's like looking for Waldo isn't it? 

We left SC on Friday, April 9th. Brian drove my car and Danielle drove the van. We spent the night in Charleston WV in a Ramada with a great indoor pool. The kids were in their glory.

I'm doing OK watching what I eat and the amount...so far so good. I just must  stay away from Dairy Queen...my favorite place to take the grandchildren. They have all grown a foot and Mason is almost as tall as me.

All 5 grandchildren are in different sports for the spring/summer. Mason, Alexa and Chase are playing baseball. Morgan and Madison are playing soccor with David coaching Morgan's team.

Before I left SC I received my new oxygen system. The concentrator, which I use during the night is much smaller than the old one. It weights only 30 lbs and is really quiet when running. The unit also has a humidifier attached and does not put off the amount of heat the old one did. In addition I received a POC (portable oxygen concentrator). It's a small machine on a cart that produces oxygen and eliminates the use of oxygen tanks for daily activities. It's a little more cumberson to carry but a lot easier to pull behind me on its wheeled cart. The main reason that I switched to this unit is it's approved for air travel.

It's not that I need oxygen while on the plane, but I do need it getting to and from the plane. Between Medicare and my supplimental insurance, I didn't have to pay anything.

I'm off to my friend Linda's house for the weekend. We are designing T shirts for the upcomming celebration in Akron of A.A's 75th anniversary. I designed a couple of shirts last year, so we are looking for new things this year.

Wayne is doing great and enjoys eating all the things he doesn't eat when I'm home. The house should have the aroma of onions, sardines, garlic and the like.

That's about all that's new in my journey. I am a lot more active when here with the kids, so I hope the weight will continue to drop off.   Life is good!

Monday, April 19th

How cool is this.... I'm in Ohio where 2 of my sons live. My 3rd son lives in California and is comming to Ohio and will be at the AF base in Youngstown (about 40 miles fron where I'm staying in Aurora) SO...what's so great about that you ask????


Well... ALL three sons will be in Ohio ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Holy cow, I can't remember the last time all the boys helped me celebrate my BD. Now THAT'S COOL!!!!