He's home! He's home! He's home!
I picked up Big Daddy and hauled him from the hospital yesterday afternoon, took him home so he could scrub the hospital funk off, and then we went over to pick up Sweet Boy. I can't adequately describe the scene, but I bet you can imagine the reunion of father and child: We walked onto the playground, where Sweet Boy was swinging Superman-style. I let Chris walk in first, and when Boy saw Daddy, he ran harder than I've ever seen, arms outstreatched and joy all over his face, yelling "Daddeee!!!" across the playground. A big family hug, smiles and giggles and kisses, and teachers dabbing tears from their eyes. Fabulously good homecoming.
We had a happy experience at Target, where Big Daddy picked up his new meds and learned that they're available in cheap generic form -- $4/bottle. Thank you, God! So, instead of spending $40/month on pills as we've been doing, we'll be spending $48/month on pills...not the $100 or more that I'd anticipated. Whew! (Oh, while in Target, I bent down to pick up a bag of ice melt and nearly brained myself on a display hook -- no blood, but it knocked me to my knees, and I had to sit for a minute to avoid barfing. Wouldn't that have been awesome? To end up at the ER with a head wound? I have a nice little goose-egg bump on my hairline, but I'll survive.)
Big Daddy looks pretty good, though he doesn't really seem to have an appetite yet. Which is interesting and challenging because he has to eat every 4 hours to keep his blood sugar in check. I'm keeping track of everything in a notebook -- glucose levels, times of meals and snacks, calories, fat, carbs. He scared me in the middle of the night when he rolled over to tell me he was going downstairs to sleep in his recliner; apparently he's not used to the flatness of our bed, after 9 days in one of those groovy adjustable hospital bed. I wasn't alarmed that he wanted to sleep downstairs, but being awakened in the middle of the night by a husband who's been so ill makes one's heart race for a while.
Our major project right now is weight loss -- he's got to lose A LOT of weight and fast. The hospital doc even suggested he consider gastric bypass, but BD wants to try it on his own first before going drastic. We're both going to follow Weight Watchers, since counting "points" is much more manageable than counting calories, fat, carbs, fiber, etc. He's already lost some weight -- 9 days without food will do that to a person who's used to consuming thousands of calories each day -- and it's very visible in his face. I've never known my husband without an extra 30 or more pounds on his bod, so this will be interesting. Even in college, when we first started dating and he dropped 20 pounds, he was still a big guy (and frankly, that's one of the qualities that attracted me to him -- his cuddly grizzly bear quality). I'm hoping to convince him that a photo diary of his weightloss progress will be worthwhile, but he likes his photo taken about as much as I like a gyno exam, so I'm not sure it'll happen.
I'm ok with ideas for low-fat, low-carb breakfast and dinner, but lunch and snacks have me a little bit stressed. I need to come up with some ideas for things he can pack for his workday that don't require a lot of reheating or prep time (his access to a microwave is limited during the week...hence all the crappy take-out food that landed him in the hospital!) If you have any ideas for quick-prep lunches -- or anything I could cook in large quantities on a Sunday afternoon to have on-hand for the week -- please send them along. It's snowing here today, so after I clean our disgustingly dirty and cluttered home, Chris and I are going to pore through the piles of Weight Watchers, Cooking Light, and Rachel Ray cookbooks I have on the shelf, armed with sticky notes to mark the ones that look easy and tasty.
So here we go: Healthy Living, chapter 1...
I picked up Big Daddy and hauled him from the hospital yesterday afternoon, took him home so he could scrub the hospital funk off, and then we went over to pick up Sweet Boy. I can't adequately describe the scene, but I bet you can imagine the reunion of father and child: We walked onto the playground, where Sweet Boy was swinging Superman-style. I let Chris walk in first, and when Boy saw Daddy, he ran harder than I've ever seen, arms outstreatched and joy all over his face, yelling "Daddeee!!!" across the playground. A big family hug, smiles and giggles and kisses, and teachers dabbing tears from their eyes. Fabulously good homecoming.
We had a happy experience at Target, where Big Daddy picked up his new meds and learned that they're available in cheap generic form -- $4/bottle. Thank you, God! So, instead of spending $40/month on pills as we've been doing, we'll be spending $48/month on pills...not the $100 or more that I'd anticipated. Whew! (Oh, while in Target, I bent down to pick up a bag of ice melt and nearly brained myself on a display hook -- no blood, but it knocked me to my knees, and I had to sit for a minute to avoid barfing. Wouldn't that have been awesome? To end up at the ER with a head wound? I have a nice little goose-egg bump on my hairline, but I'll survive.)
Big Daddy looks pretty good, though he doesn't really seem to have an appetite yet. Which is interesting and challenging because he has to eat every 4 hours to keep his blood sugar in check. I'm keeping track of everything in a notebook -- glucose levels, times of meals and snacks, calories, fat, carbs. He scared me in the middle of the night when he rolled over to tell me he was going downstairs to sleep in his recliner; apparently he's not used to the flatness of our bed, after 9 days in one of those groovy adjustable hospital bed. I wasn't alarmed that he wanted to sleep downstairs, but being awakened in the middle of the night by a husband who's been so ill makes one's heart race for a while.
Our major project right now is weight loss -- he's got to lose A LOT of weight and fast. The hospital doc even suggested he consider gastric bypass, but BD wants to try it on his own first before going drastic. We're both going to follow Weight Watchers, since counting "points" is much more manageable than counting calories, fat, carbs, fiber, etc. He's already lost some weight -- 9 days without food will do that to a person who's used to consuming thousands of calories each day -- and it's very visible in his face. I've never known my husband without an extra 30 or more pounds on his bod, so this will be interesting. Even in college, when we first started dating and he dropped 20 pounds, he was still a big guy (and frankly, that's one of the qualities that attracted me to him -- his cuddly grizzly bear quality). I'm hoping to convince him that a photo diary of his weightloss progress will be worthwhile, but he likes his photo taken about as much as I like a gyno exam, so I'm not sure it'll happen.
I'm ok with ideas for low-fat, low-carb breakfast and dinner, but lunch and snacks have me a little bit stressed. I need to come up with some ideas for things he can pack for his workday that don't require a lot of reheating or prep time (his access to a microwave is limited during the week...hence all the crappy take-out food that landed him in the hospital!) If you have any ideas for quick-prep lunches -- or anything I could cook in large quantities on a Sunday afternoon to have on-hand for the week -- please send them along. It's snowing here today, so after I clean our disgustingly dirty and cluttered home, Chris and I are going to pore through the piles of Weight Watchers, Cooking Light, and Rachel Ray cookbooks I have on the shelf, armed with sticky notes to mark the ones that look easy and tasty.
So here we go: Healthy Living, chapter 1...
Yay! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you're not surprised to hear, I have lots of suggestions for lunches:
1. Buy a couple of those roasted chickens at the supermarket (or roast your own on Sunday - it's easy to do). Make chicken salad using low-fat mayo mixed w/yogurt, lemon juice, salt, pepper. Great on a bed of greens or wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla. The lemon juice will help it keep throughout the week.
2. Make big pots of soup or stew. Buy a thermos. Heat super hot in the morning at home and no need to reheat.
3. Hummus. I make my own, but you can buy it everywhere. Goes great with: crackers, bread, tortillas/wraps, any vegetable you choose and olives.
4. Peanut butter and jelly! Surprisingly healthy and nutritious. A cinch to make. Get lots of different flavored jams (the kind made with fruit juice and not sugar of course) for variety. I love a lunch of PB & J, those Flat Earth veggie chips, carrot sticks, yogurt, and a piece of fruit.
I hope you have a great weekend!