Monday Sundries and Updates

Update on Sox: The vitamins and the shot the vet gave Sox really made a big difference! I think the baby food is helping too. Anyway, Sox seems to be feeling better, is out and about much more often, and has been trying to groom himself. We're very much encouraged by this. He doesn't act as if he's sick and if you couldn't feel his bones or scarfing down the baby food, I don't think you'd even guess. So we're hoping Sox has many happy days ahead of him.

Update on Ted: He's been moving toward more solid food. Yesterday he had a small slice of the pork roast I made and it stayed down. He was thrilled because he feels more "normal" when he eats regular food. Also, the shakes can become boring after awhile. Here's a surprise: he's slowed down on the weight loss already and, in fact, if he doesn't exercise, he doesn't lose. It reminds us that weight loss is just a tool, not the answer or the magic solution to obesity.

Update on me: I still struggle with the same stupid 20 pounds. I was wrestling with the idea of needing bariatric surgery to wondering if the gastric band would be enough to looking forward to that first appointment so that I can ask a bunch of questions.

Is surgery necessary for me? At this point, I think so. It seems I can only lose so much and then I gain it all back and more. I recently read this article.

For people with severe obesity, diet and medications may have little effect. In some cases, their best chance for long-term weight reduction and improved health may be surgery to promote weight loss, called bariatric surgery. The long-term results of bariatric surgery are impressive. Even more than a decade after surgery, 90% of those who've undergone gastric bypass, the most common bariatric procedure, manage to keep off an average of 50% of the excess weight. The result is a cure or substantial improvement in diabetes, sleep apnea, degenerative arthritis, and hypertension, and a reduction in risk factors for heart disease, including elevated cholesterol.

I keep telling myself it's just a tool and that I should look at food as "fuel" and "energy" and not something to gorge on.

In other news, I've been really weepy and emotional lately. No surprise, I should think, with everything going on. My prozac was increased a couple of weeks ago and I don't think it's that, unless you can have a delayed reaction to a change in medication.

Tomas is doing great with his speech therapy. He's moving his mouth more and we can understand him a whole lot better. His mother's really been inconsistent about visiting him, which is a real shame. He's such a great kid.

In this picture, I seem to be asking, who's snapping pictures of me while I'm sleeping?



There ae 10 days to Christmas and that might be why I feel weepy sometimes. The kids don't seem to be into it. They sure aren't very helpful unless we set a fire under them and that's just a drag. Heidi's especially difficult now that she's unmedicated. I just want a nice Christmas, that's not too much to ask for.