Fun Day

We spent the day in Vegas. Mike needed some rank awards for our Lord's Army youth group. We took our pastor's son with us. We went to the surplus store. Then we ate lunch and went and visted one of our church brothers who is sick and in the hospital in Vegas. After, we stopped off at Bass Pro Shop and the kids played.

We had quite a windy day in Vegas. There were gusts of winds up to 65 MPH. We saw this on the way home. If you can't tell what it is from my blurry cell phone picture,  it's an over turned semi.

A Sound Heart

A sound heart is the life of the flesh... Proverbs 14:30

Mike is doing very well with his new "bionic ticker". He still has some limitations in lifting as the leads continue to heal. The first picture is a duplicate of the pace maker. His pace maker is a dual lead. Which means the leads are attached to the upper and lower chambers of the heart. I am amazed at how small (as you can see, next to my car key remote) it is. No doubt, this PM is already out dated and the next one will be smaller.  Mike's PM is an assisted type. It picks up the beats where his heart natural heart beat leaves off. It does not do all the work for him and he does not have the type that would shock his heart back in to beat. He did not need that.

Now, look at this device below. This is his monitor. It arrived in the mail two weeks ago. In Feb, we will hook this up to the phone line, place the paddle over the area where the PM is and send all of his date to the Dr. . The Dr. will look the data over to make sure everything is ticking along like it should. Kinda creepy, huh?

This transmission of information allows Dr free visits- so long as everything appears normal. Eventually, he will need an upgraded PM. There is no such thing as needing new batteries in a PM. The life of the unit is what wears out. That is just an out patient surgery. They open up  the area where the unit is, unhook the old PM from the leads and plug in the new PM, sew him up and you're done. Well, it sounds simple when put that way, of course. It's not something that either of us look forward to, nor is anything like that without risks. At least it is simple compared to major heart surgeries.  I find it all very interesting.

Finally!!

After starting and stopping WW over many years. After, losing a little and putting it back on. After giving up, and wanting to give up, countless times, thinking it was hopeless and that I would never lose -82 lbs. I DID IT!! I made my weight loss goal (in November)  and maintained it long enough to reach lifetime status (January, 2012) at WW!!!. What that means is, that for the rest of my life so long as I stay within 2 lbs of my set goal weight I am free!! If I go over 2 lbs of my goal weight then I pay the meeting fees untill I get back to goal.

The Key To Sucess

I have received many stars, ribbons, awards, etc along the way. They seem silly to some, but they are reminders of how hard you have to work to reach your goals. They were well worth it to me. I still keep my ribbons on my fridge and my before picture in my wallet. They motivate me. I would like to be a WW leader some day. I 'get it' now. My goal now is to keep it off and keep this mind set for the rest of my life. God willing of course.

So It Is True What They Say About Arizona?

Thank You All for your Prayers!

We are home now and Mike is recovering from his surgery. He is learning to cope with an imobilized shoulder. It makes it very difficult to do some basic things, like dressing. He is only allowed to use his arm from the elbow down.  For those of you who knew what was going on, thank you for your prayers. For those that didn't know what was going on, let me fill you in.

Back in May, Mike applied for life insurance. It was declined as the home EKG,done by the visiting nurse, discovered "something". After a trip to his primary Dr and another EKG, he was diagnosed with First Degree AV block and Bradycardia. After several heart tests and trip to the Prescott VA hospital, he was diagonosed with Second Degree AV block-Type B (Moblitz II) with Bradycardia. He was told he would need a pace maker. After a trip to the Phoenix VA for MORE tests, surgery was scheduled for Monday, Nov 28th. Basically what all this means is this--His natural pace maker was not sending the right signals to his heart (Second Degree AV block). He also had an extremly low pulse (Bradycardia). A normal pulse is over 60 (however in athletes it can be lower). His tests regularly recorded his pulse around 30-35 with some dipping down into the 20's. The cardio Dr was amazed that Mike could have a pulse down around 20 without being in serious medical trouble. If this was all left untreated, eventually, it would have progressed (Third Degree AV block) and he would have been at risk for cardiac arrest. He could have passed out driving or working and injuring himself or someone else. Mike really never had any symptoms that we could directly relate to his condition but hind sight is always 20-20.

So my hubby now has a bionic ticker. He is doing very well and recovering. He is unable to move his shoulder for 2 weeks and his left arm is a sling. He will not be able to raise his arm up for at least 4 weeks while the leads heal. No driving till our follow up appt in 2 weeks and they clear him. No lifing anything over 10 lbs for 4 weeks. This all will be hard for a man who is used to working. He will most likely be off work till January.

Again, I thank you all for your prayers and ask that you keep praying. Pray that he does not go stir crazy sitting at home :).

Good Job, Brandon!!

Brandon just "ranked up" in Lord's Army. He completed many tasks and learned many verses. He is now a PFC. Colonel McKinley (Daddy) presented him with his rank tonight.

Goal!!

 Tonight I reached my goal with Weight Watchers. I've lost a total of 80 1/2 lbs. I joined on November 30, 2010, the same night they launched thier new Points Plus Plan. I can't tell you how much I truly love this plan. I have joined WW before but never reached goal. This time I was determined. I've gone from a size 2X or 3X shirt, to a 8-10. Skirts 20-22, to a size 6. I can't tell you how much better I feel physically and mentally! I am now within 6 weeks of becoming a lifetime member. I've have been asked many times.. What is the hardest part of losing weight? For me, it was not the physical aspect of losing , it was the mental challenge. I have had to say "no" to myself and my hubby and others regarding food. .My hubby has been INCREDIBLY supportive. Thank you so much honey!! I've struggled and spent time in tears watching others eat. I've fought my food and had days where I struggled and days where I was successful.. I came to the conclusion that this is the way it has to be in order to reach my goal. I will struggle with food for the rest of my life. Once I reached that understanding and decided that it was "ok" and that this is real life, I was able to keep going. It was not always pretty and it was not always fun.. I have heard mostly positive things and I've had some unexpected negative or backwards compliments, too. That is ok.. This is something I did for me and it's ok to be a little selfish in this case. Now, I pray, I can keep it up..

Before. I am standing with my beautiful daughter, Julia



At goal.

Yes, I keep my ribbons on my fridge to keep me motivated.