Saturday, March 3, 2012

Time for an Update

We're back! For those who've been asking (and for those who haven't), Suzy is doing very well on her program. It;s been a month and a half since her surgery, and she is very happy. By our bathroom scale, she has lost 47 pounds since a couple of weeks before the surgery. Suzy is finding clothes tucked away that she hasn't been able to wear for quite a while, so it's almost like a new wardrobe all of a sudden.

One of Suzy's goals with this surgery, and there are many of them, was to cut back on the pills she's been taking. It's working, but it's happening with some little bumps along the way. Her primary doctor cut one of her blood pressure medications (Lisinopril) in half, and asked her take her BP daily. It was running pretty low, and Wednesday she began feeling dizzy and lightheaded. A quick call to the doctor's office got instructions to take it easy, feet elevated, drink lots of fluids, cut out the Lisinopril entirely, and call back in the afternoon. That call, with her still lightheaded, sent her to our local hospital's ER to get checked out.

The ER at Benson Hospital is often a quiet place, but Wednesday was an exception. We arrived at 6:00pm, got admitted at 9:15, and the one ER doctor finally came by shortly after 1:00am! Suzy had been on vital signs monitoring all that time, so at least he had a record to look at. When he reviewed her medication list, he advised her to cut in half a different BP med (Diltiazem), and to return to the lowered dose of Linisopril. We were home just before 2:00am.

In the morning we called Suzy's primary physician again to review what the ER doc has said. That doctor agreed to the lower dose of Diltiazem but insisted on cutting out the Lisinopril.

So, we are achieving that goal of reducing the meds, but we can see it's going to involve a lot of close monitoring and regular tweaking. Suzy says it's worth it!

What is she eating these days? Two of her protein shakes daily, plus two ounces or a quarter cup of a wide variety of foods once a day. One day she had some delicious chicken thigh meat, another day cottage cheese, yesterday a quarter cup of refried beans. This regimen will last for another three weeks, and she is having a ball getting into "new" tastes and textures. And she feels completely satisfied with the amount of food.

What else is going on in our lives? I'm in full swing as Secretary of the Board of Directors, and I am totally grateful we have a Recording Secretary as well. Andre doesn't get a vote, but he is a key part of what's going on, taking minutes of the meetings, preparing other routine documents, and so forth. These first few weeks as Secretary have been quite hectic, but I expect it to settle into a more workable pace before long. Yeah, that's what the last Board Secretary said too. It is totally true that the Secretary position is the hardest job on the Board, as I even have to keep the President stirred up. While the President runs the meetings and is the spokesperson, I'm the one who prepares agendas, assembles and distributes all necessary materials to the other Directors, writes the letters, does the filing, does the research. I love it!

And that's the way it is at this stage of ... Our Life on Wheels.,

18 comments:

  1. Glad to hear they got her regulated. It would be nice if she could get entirely off BP meds. Good luck to both of you.

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  2. Suzy...outstanding! You two need to take a new profile picture. We won't recognize you!
    So sorry to hear about the ordeal in the hospital. That is rather ridiculous that you had to wait that long. How can anyone's blood pressure be right after that wait?
    Jerry...good luck with your new responsibility. Sounds like a BIG job, but I am sure you are up to the challenge.
    Enjoy your Sunday. ~wheresweaver

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  3. Hope the medicines get straightened out without causing any other problems. Sounds like the job is keeping you busy, but someone has to keep things together at an organization and it's good if you enjoy doing it. My plans were changed and I'm not going to be in Arizona until the fall. I accepted a temporary job at a National Park in Colorado and it starts April 11th.

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  4. It sounds like Board Secretary is a good job for you, Jerry. You'll keep everyone on their toes, especially yourself! Suzy, I'm glad to hear of your good progress with the weight loss and with being able to explore a variety of foods at this point, even though the quantities are tiny. It's good news that you are not hungry--that would not be fun. Hope the meds settle down after a while.

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  5. I've been through the screwed up meds because of reduced body mass some time ago and it's no fun. Just keep a careful eye -- as you lose weight this will continue happening until you get to a new baseline. You probably didn't go ONTO all your meds at one time and it's most likely you'll come off them in just about the same kind of way.

    But great news on the weight loss thus far. Kudos to you.

    Peter,
    http://peterpazucha.com/awaywego/

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  6. That's great progress, Suzy. Take it slow and easy and you'll reach your goals for sure.

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  7. Being a moderately overweight person myself I can imagine the great feelings you are having right now as each day progress is made & eating habits adjusted to. And getting off all the meds has be an extra bonus as well. Having lost some excess weight in the past I know the great mental & physical feeling as the pounds begin to come off. Good for you Suzy, & it's only going to get better, betterer, & very much most bettest:))

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  8. Congratulations to Suzy! And to you Jerry as this is a joint effort. We've been thinking of you two lately as we're getting ready to help with parking and registration at the Gypsy Journal Rally, and we used to see you here in years past. Keep on keepin' on! Hugs and Love go out to you both!

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  9. Suzy is a real trooper...and taking baby steps is the only way to go with those meds..about 8 years ago, Den weighed in at 200 lbs and his BP was 200/90...Before his Doc put him on meds, he told him to lose about 20% of his body weight..Den started walking with me, and we both changed our diets..He is now a svelt 168 lbs and NO BP meds!! Keep up the great work, Suzy...and make sure to post a new photo at a new weight for all of us in "the peanut gallery"!

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  10. That's wonderful news all the way around. Congratulations to you both. :)

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  11. So glad to hear that Suzy is doing so well after her surgery. Keep up the good work.

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  12. Congrats on the weight loss, that must feel pretty good. It's always a bit disturbing when one doctor says take this pill and another doctor says no, don't. I hope it all gets sorted out soon.

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  13. Yeah Suzy!!!! Keep it up girl. I am so happy for you. I can't wait to see the new pictures you post. Several of my frends have done this..most are all off their meds..plus they walk alot!

    Enjoy this Spring.

    Cindy and Walker

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  14. Sounds like things are going great! Glad suzy is doing so well! Jerry, it sounds like you love your position:)

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  15. Happy to hear about Suzy's weight loss. She should be quite proud of herself. On the other hand her meds may take a bit of tweaking for awhile.
    Keep up the great work you two.
    cheers :)

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  16. Fantastic news!!!!!!! Soooo proud of both of you!! Wonderful to see you posting again.

    Donna
    Nana.donnad@yahoo.com

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  17. We've been checking your Blog daily! Thanks for the update! We are so happy for Suzy. Just keep monitoring those meds. Before long she'll be pretty much "med free". Hugs to both of you and we'll be monitoring for updates...........Pat

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