Hello, all!
During a quick poke around here I was really happy to see a few familiar names ~ hope you guys remember me!
I can't wait to catch up with you guys, and I'm also looking forward to getting to know all the folks that are new to me.
Brief history: I worked my butt off to lose 78 pounds back in 2004 before getting diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (it's a form of lymphoma - cancer.) So that sucked!
I was successfullyl (we thought) treated with 6 months of chemo and steroids, which resulted in a bit of a weight regain. I struggled to get back into the swing of things and regain my mojo, and was about there when I relapsed this past June. That REALLY sucked!
I went right into extremely high dose chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. (After, of course, eating a "last supper" at every freakin' meal and lobbing on even more weight!
) After a few weeks in the hospital that I'd prefer never to repeat, I'm now in the process of recovering from the transplant's many effects on the body, and rebuilding my health and life. It will be a process, and at only a couple of months out I'm at the starting end of that process...but I'm doing well overall, even if I do have my physical challenges. The key is that I'm getting there! (She said brightly.)
Last Tuesday I got back on plan (and so did my partner, to a lesser degree, which will make it so much easier this time around because she was NOT on plan last time and that presented challenges) and so far I'm down just under 5 pounds, which I'm really happy about! I'm in the midst of my SECOND chemo-induced menopause (now doesn't that seem unfair??) so I didn't really know what to expect in terms of my body's cooperation in the weight loss department. So far, so good.
My plan: Low cal, low fat, low sugar, high fiber, fairly high protein, low glycemic, low sodium, lotsa water, frequent small meals, blah blah blah. You guys know the drill!
I'm doing cardio at least 5 days a week, and I'm going to work up to weights a couple of times a week. My energy and stamina are still pretty low, so I'm going to have to be patient with myself. (For an idea of where I am in the process, I've been told to expect to reach the 50% point about 4 months from now.
I've been struggling a bit emotionally with the aftermath of my cancer and transplant, but that comes with the territory so I'll just work through it. I'm choosing to focus on the positive and retain control over those aspects over which I CAN......starting with my weight loss!
Thank you in advance for all that you give and share here, everybody -- if this place were to help me only
half as much this time as it did back in 2004, that would
still be a wonderful gift.
Hey! Look what the cat dragged in!
I'm glad to hear you are doing as well as you are under the circumstances. Congrats on the 5 pound loss and I'm glad your partner is doing it with you (Lorraine? not sure if I'm remembering that correctly).
Glad to see you back and ready to go!
