RE: Update...

[Guest guest]

Jeff,

While reading your letter it brought tears to my eyes!! TEARS OF HAPPINESS

FOR YOU AND JESSICA!!!

I know how much means to you, just from your writing, and knowing

how supportive she's been, just makes these milestones that much greater! I

can " hear " the happiness in your " voice " ...it's the things that some may

call the " little things in life " , that are a HUGE accomplishment for people

that are overweight! I say climb those hills, cuz you're on your way to

being " over it " !

Congrats on everything JEFFERY!!!

Dawn

Update...

Hi everyone!

OK...it's been brought to my attention by a couple of people that it's been

awhile since I've updated on my status, and what I've been up to...so here

goes!

Things are going extremely well. Physically, I feel very good...I'm down 75

pounds as of last Friday, and that excites the shit out of me! (well...not

literelly, but....). I thank God that at times I can be such a pack-rat,

and that I've saved clothes over the recent years that didn't fit

me...always in the hopes that, " Ahhhh...I'll lose some weight and fit into

that again! " . I'm not overly concerned with my shirts...I just tuck them

in, and if they look too big, so be it. It's pants, especially my work

pants, that are the problem! They just plain old don't fit...period. It's

not even that they're just a little big. Luckily, I had a small stockpile

of pants and jeans that have been hidden in the back of the closet that

didn't fit...and now they do! We usually wear navy blue " Dickies " at work

on the ambulance...but now I'm pretty much wearing blue jeans. Luckily,

we're kinda laid back, and it pretty much goes un-noticed. I just can't see

spending the money on buying a bunch of new stuff right now. I figure that

once my weightloss slows down, then I'll start buying a little bit at a

time.

My incision, before my staples were removed, had opened in a couple places.

Right now, I have about a 1/2 inch piece that is still not quite scabbed

over, so I have to keep it covered with a piece of gauze...so that I don't

stain my shirts. It's a little bit of a pain in the ass, but not too bad.

Moving on...I don't take my Glucophage for my blood sugar anymore...and my

blood sugar has been great. My blood pressure medication had been cut in

half a few weeks back, and I think by my next checkup, I'll be off it

completely. My sleep apnea is history...I don't even snore anymore! I have

to make an appointment with my Ears Nose & Throat Dr. to discuss this, and

I'd imagine he'll want to do another sleep study just to be sure...but

does a sleep study every night on me...who would know better than

she! hahaha.

Now comes work. I've been back to work full time, full duty for a couple of

weeks now. We've been so incredibly busy on the ambulance that I can't even

begin to tell you. I notice, as far as energy goes, that I think I'm pretty

much around the same point I was before surgery. That has drastically

improved, as in the beginning, it didn't take much to tire me out. I'm sure

it will continue to improve, and I look forward to that. Everyone keeps

saying to me, " Geez...you must feel so much lighter on your feet...you must

notice such a difference while at work... " . Well...until today...I can

honestly say I have not really noticed the difference. Today, however, I

noticed. I'll keep this story short...since I see I've been babbling on for

quite some time now already!

We had a woman that went over the handlebars on her bicycle, fell on her

side, and possibly broke a rib or 2. She was on a bike trail in

Provincetown, one of our frequent places for scraping people off the tar.

She crashed just before a tunnel where the bike trail goes under the road.

So, my partner and I did our thing, and strapped her to a backboard, etc.,

etc. Then it was time to carry her to the truck. This involved climbing

the hill from the bike trail to the road, and then walking about 200 feet to

our ambulance, while carrying our approximately 200 pound patient. I was

extremely nervous about this maneuver, and wondered if I'd be sucking on

oxygen by the time we got to the truck! :-)

Well, there were 6 of us, each carrying a part of the backboard, with myself

and my partner in the lead at the head. Up the hill we went, then the 200

feet to the ambulance...and that's the exact point that I physically noticed

a difference in me. I was winded...don't get me wrong...but I know for a

fact that before my surgery, I probably would have had to stop for a short

rest on the way, or I would have been severely out of breath by the time we

made it to the truck. To me, this was the best accomplishment I've noticed

since surgery, and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am!

OK...this is far too long, and anyone that actually made it through this

whole email, deserves a gold star! :-)

Thanks for listening. Hopefully after Labor Day when things start to slow

down again, I'll be more active on the list. I do read every message,

however, and change Don's List regularly with all the updates. I also can't

wait for it to slow down again so I can make it back to the NWH for a few

meetings. :-)

Stay safe everyone.

Jeff

~Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% of how you respond to it. " ~