Day 362 - Hospital Fashion, Wings & Control

Thanks everyone for the posts, emails, etc of well wishes for yesterdays surgey. Very much appreciated!

Isn't hospital footwear the coolest stuff on earth? Yeah, that's a bit of an over-statement. Ok its an outright mis-statement. Even the hospital folks know just how lame they are as they allow you take them home when you leave. They don't let you take home the gown, or the robe, or the stylish mesh cap. Oh no, those they want back. The footwear, they go out of their way to make sure you understand you can keep them.

Everything went well yesterday. We arrived just before 9 a.m. and the parade of forms that needed my signature was soon underway. I must have signed my name 10 times between the time I arrived and actually going into the O.R. about 4 hours later.

I mentioned the gown and robe, it would be wrong of me not to model this cutting edge fashion (pun intended)...

Here I am dressed and ready to get going on the days festivities. No where is my bed on wheels!?

And I mentioned the mesh cap, I think it accents my blue eyes...

At this point I was on the basement where nuclear medicine is located. They had just finished injecting my foreheard with a foursome of needles filled with radioactive something-or-other. I hung out here about an hour and a half while they took a mess pictures tracking just were that stuff traveled to.

And here is where it traveled to...

Now that these doctors and radiologists (I think that is what they are called) did their job the surgeon will know where to target. She would make an incision in the center of that line of X's and then use a small a gieger counter of sorts to find the specific nodes which the stuff traveled to.

Now unfortunately I do not have any pictures of her doing her work, or of the plastic surgeon doing his work on my forehead. Would of loved to have pics or video of that. But since they insisted on knocking me out I was unable to take any.

About two hours after surgery I had awakened enough to leave the hospital and head home. My mother in law saw to it that we didn't have to worry about hunger and had Franks wings waiting for dinner!

Here is what I look like this morning...

She ended up taking out three lymph nodes. Those and the forehead tissue he removed are now enjoying the wonders that take place in pathology. Possibly by end of day tomorrow, but more likely Monday, is when we'll receive those results and know what, if anything, is next.

Until then I feel good, sure in pain but I have meds for that. I'll work from home today & tomorrow and take it easy as prescribed. I'll take some walks to keep the blood moving and head clear.

Ironically I just saw a t.v. commercial for a cancer treatment facility which relates treating cancer to a journey. Sure, call it a journey, call it a battle, call it anything you want.

Should you have to ever have the mis-fortune to have to take this journey take the lead role in your treatment. Question everything even if you appear to be a pest, learn more than you ever cared to know about it; only then can you feel confident and in control. You must be the one in control, not the cancer!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 279 - Give Me Teased & Taunted Over Self-Pity & Guilty

Is anyone else here an admitted yo-yo dieter? I am raising my hand here, which is hard leaving me to type with one hand.

Even after 278 days into this latest mission, the longest I have ever been on to seriously drop allot of weight; even now I still feel I am still struggling to stay focused on doing what I ought to do day in and day out. Even when I try hard and use my happy-focused face (see picture), it isn't always easy.

It is the mind-game of it all that really is the struggle though. By now I would hope this would be so 2nd-nature and that my mind would have stopped entertaining desires for vats of ice cream wrapped in bacon smothered in cheese sauce with a side of buffalo wings. But my mind still does taunt me so. Perhaps it always will.

I suppose there is an alternative; I could just give in. Oh how easy that would be. My mind would be at ease. Or would it? Wouldn't it just begin to taunt me in reverse, heaping scoops and ladles full of guilt upon me for diving into that which will keep me obese until my unfortunate death at a young age? Oh I know my mind would do just a thing.

So, I guess it is a choice of which mind-game I want to play. The game of being teased & taunted to eat what I know I shouldn't. Or the game of being self-pity & guilty for eating what I know I shouldn't.

I am choosing to accept the fact that I will be teased & taunted, perhaps forever, while hoping with all my super-hero powers that they will abate over time. And if not, I know I am strong enough to survive their assault upon my mind. I have to be - it is that simple; I have to be stronger than my temptations.

Which choice have, or will, you make?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 274 - I am Irresistibly Sweet

Saturday is here, sweet!

No real big plans this weekend. My wife has been fighting a naggy cold all week so depending on how she feels when she wakes up that will go a ways to determining whether it is a quiet weekend at home or if we venture out a ways.

Exercise is in my plans for this weekend. I did not get in as much during the week as I wanted. Now I know I cannot make up for lost exercise and I don't plan to try. But I want this weekend to include a couple of excellent work outs because I need them and I get a great rush at the end of a work out which was challenging, executed well and leaves me sweating.

Yesterday I received a very sweet surprise in the form of  The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award which Stephanie of She's In There Somewhere honored me with. I must say that is one delicious award.

With this award I need to list five guilty pleasures and then pass this on to three fabulous (& sweet) bloggers that I know and love; so here we go...

Let me do this backwards and hit up the trio of sweet bloggers to honor:
Karen @ Sunshine's Heart
MandaPanda @ Candyland To Bandland
Patsy @ Musings on a 100+ Weight Loss Journey

So, five guilty pleasures, hhmmm...


source

Bacon!
Bacon is romantic
Bacon is sexy
Bacon is intoxicating
Bacon is the secret to world peace
Bacon is the perfect vegetable
I LOVE Bacon

source

Buffalo Wings
We served wings at our wedding.
Wings are part of just about every party we host.
Even on my weight losing ways I enjoy wings once a week.








source

Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby
OMG, the best ice cream this side of Neptune.
Pretzels in Ice Cream - BRILLIANT!












source

White Almond Bark.
My Grandma would make this for me every year at the holidays.
That was the only time of year I got this treat.
These days my wife & daughter make it for me at the holidays.
They come real close to Grandma's work, close.








source


Labatt Blue, my favorite beer on the planet.
Yep, I am as patriotic an American as there is, but Americans just can't brew great beer.
Oh we brew some good ones, but great ones, not.












Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 137 - A Happy 101

Eating was excellent on Tuesday and exercise was minimal. Soccer practice in the early morning and a soccer game in the evening stunted my available time, well, I let it stunt it. After work when we got the game the previous game was 25 minutes behind schedule so I went next door and got some cardio in on Stanton Hill. Not my usual event where I do as many laps up & down in 30 minutes, didn't have time for that. But I did have time for about 1/2 of it before our game started. Planning more cardio this evening and more excellent eating today as well. Are you?

Karla was so kind as to honor me with a thank you by giving me a Happy 101 award. Thank you Karla! Nice looking award, look at them cup cakes. I like cup cakes, and they have sprinkles too! Zero calories if you just look, or if you try & lick them off of the monitor screen. Not that I tried, serious, I didn't.

OK, awards are fun, and awards have rules. Rules by definition are not always fun, but remember, these rules came with a picture of cup cakes, so I dig in to them with pleasure; the rules that is..

First, I need to state 10 things I like...

1. Greek Yogurt (recently discovered awesomness)
2. Alternative History author Harry Turtledove 
3. Hunting (just deer hunting now, next year going to turkeys too)
4. NASCAR & Roush Fenway Racing (greatest sport on the planet)
5. Real BBQ'ing (especially ribs & shoulder, if I didn't need money I'd do it at a competitive level)
6. Hockey & the Chicago Blackhawks (2nd greatest sport on the planet)
7. Exercise (Yep, never thought I'd say that, but I have come to like it)
8. Darts (my father played for money, I play with the kids to be a more connected father)
9. Collecting Hot Sauce (collection is almost at 300 bottles now, I'll get some pics of it soon)
10. Franks for the Memories (Best wings on the planet)

Second, I need to pass this award on to 10 other bloggers I wish to share some cup cake happiness with...

1. Dee
2. Amelia
3. Aliana
4. Misunderstood and Admired
5. MandaPanda
6. Deb
7. Jo
8. Tish
9. Clyde
10. Alan (Pounds Off Playoff)

 Thanks again Karla!

Everyone, whatever it is you choose to do today; enjoy!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 41 - What a Week

Been an odd week in that stuff that is not usually part of our routines have had to be handled.

Monday was actually a normal day in most respects. Although coming home late to nearly nobody home was odd. That was the day I did a short 30-minute burn on the elliptical vs. wasting my time watching television. Never did that before.
Exercise, check; got in 4 trips up the stairs at work too.
Healthy Eating, check; actually since I got home late my dinner was very light so maybe I under ate.

Tuesday my wife was out with friends taking in a Cubs game (they won), so I got the kids all to myself to feed dinner. That really wasn't abnormal. What was however was that my son Ryan was eating his final meal before having his wisdom teeth extracted the next day. So I gave him the choice of what to have for dinner. He chose the Bento Cafe for some sushi (pictured to left).
Exercise, check; got in a great session with the dumbbells, and three trips up the stairs at work too.
Healthy Eating, check; the sushi rolls you see in that picture I did not eat. Those sauces are usually high in fat & sugar. Instead I had some tuna sashimi and a bento-box with salmon(3, maybe 4 oz. tops), a green salad and rice. Oh that sounds so good, when we going for sushi again?

Wednesday morning was spent at the oral surgeon with Ryan. He's a bleeder so it took a while before they would clear him to go. Here you see him after we got back home. Knocked out from the earlier anesthesia and later on some vicodin before sitting on the couch. With gauze still in mouth we had to wake him up after we saw he had nodded off; didn't want him swallowing and choking on it. But not before we took this picture to share with friends & family :-)
Exercise, un-check; took the day off.
Healthy Eating, check; I ate excellent all day before my son Andrew & I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Look there, below, that's my basket of wings. What is that you say, how can I say that was healthy? Well let me tell you. Before disturbing that beautiful basket of heaven I put the six smallest wing pieces over by that celery and the six largest pieces into a take home box for my other boy Cameron (he ate them for breakfast Thursday - like me he is a wing addict). The sauce on these is Spicy Garlic which is their lowest carb sauce so not much unwanted sugar.

Thursday morning Ryan was up at 4:15 a.m. and needed a little help with his medicines but overall he is working hard at being a man and dealing with the pain and nuisance of having four less teeth in his head. In the afternoon I went with my wife to her doctor's appointment. Thankfully we received good news on her and the fear of possible surgery for her this summer has been erased.
Exercise, check; got in a 60-minute session on the elliptical in the morning. I worked from home both Wednesday & Thursday this week so no trips up any stairs to speak of. After dinner my wife & I went out for a 30-minute walk to end the day positive.
Healthy Eating, check; excellent meals and snacks capped off by firing up the grill for some sliders. Lean ground beef seasoned by a pro (me) and grilled to a perfect medium-rare (some to medium for my wife). A simple fruit salad to go with those delicious mini-burgers. I had my sliders (appx. 3 oz. each) without the buns and half the cheese the old me would have draped over them. Topped off with a couple pickles and a bit of my home-made salsa (oh it is good!)... why am I describing them so, here they are; see for yourself...

Why am I writing this food crazy post, it has me starving now :-o

Friday, well lets see what it brings. Back in the office for the days work. This being the Friday before a holiday weekend I'll likely cut out of here early assuming nothing needs attention. If I do, I am getting in some more cardio; perhaps a walk around a forest preserve.

So, How has your week been?
 
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!