Friday, June 23, 2017

Thorny News

The X-ray of my hand yesterday revealed nothing in the lump on my finger. The tech told me that the doctors would see the image on a clearer monitor and, if a tiny rose thorn was still in there, it would show up. She also told me it might be a ganglia, which can also be easily removed.

At 1.5 MPH, I did not win any races on the treadmill in the rehab class yesterday but it was the first time working out on it since I fractured my knee. It was a bit scary but I had no pain after five minutes. Next week, I will add time and speed.

It was still so hot, people were flocking to the beach so we unable to drive home over the pass and had to take the long way home from the north. The fog finally came in last night and the entire Bay Area will be cooler today but it will still be so nice. Mom and I will be in Palo Alto for the monthly shot in her eye.

I gained two pounds with Christien's visit so my focus is to get rid of those pounds in the next couple days. She made it to Florida and her mom's visitation with the family will be this Sunday.

When I was waiting for the elevator after the surgery clinic appointment on Wednesday, a young woman was waiting with me. I made a comment, she replied that she had been on the campus since 7:30AM and was taking the first steps for gastric bypass surgery. She told me that she was very worried about it but wanted to take care of herself because she had a 6-year old daughter. What worried her was the actual permanence of the surgery and how it was, after all, surgery. Anything could happen.

The elevator arrived. I wished her luck, she thanked me but it was clear she didn't want to talk about it in front of all the other elevator people. We all got off on the first floor, I slowed down and allowed her to catch up with me when I quietly said, "I'll tell you a secret. I've lost 110 pounds."

She stopped and replied, "You? Really?" I was able to tell her about the non-invasive liquid diet based program at our university hospital through the Weight Management Clinic, which included a doctor overseeing the weight loss with the help of a nutritionist. It was all covered by insurance. I said that if she really was nervous about the actual surgery, call for an appointment to investigate this option. She asked how much I had lost and in what time period. I reminded her that 6-months in a lifetime was not very long but it had not been easy. I was totally focused on it and did not cheat once as it was my only chance to lose the weight.

I saw relief on her face. She had another option to consider. I so hope I helped.

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