Weeks 8 & 9

Hi folks! Only 2 more weeks 'til I'm FREE! Woot! Thanks to this awesome nurse, Jennifer. She's the youngin' of the nurses and from Albuquerque. She agreed to do one of my tests on a Saturday, which allows me to leave 2 days early. I was pretty stoked that she agreed to do that for me.
Not much to report for the past couple weeks, same ol' urine & stool collections, DXA scans, and that's bout it. Oh ya, they had me take a pregnancy test earlier this week...LMAO! That would just be hilarious if someone got pregnant in here, hahaha. But ya, I guess it's part of the protocol. I've had 2 DXA scans since my last post, and differences are definitely visible. Now I just look like a 'mini' marshmallow monster that ate a skinner person, teeheehee. Ummm, the past couples weeks have flown because Jason's back & I met a couple other people that have helped pass the time as well. We've been playing board games at night, like Uno Spin & DVD-Family Feud. It's been pretty fun, because there's always multiple moments of laughing so hard we all end up with tears rolling down our faces, LOL. I honestly dunno if I'd made it this far without the people I meet.
On another note, I've also been killing time planning my next vacation with the crew! I'm soooo excited! We're going to Bimini. It's the smallest island in the Bahamas. With all the time I've got on my hands in here, I've been able to score us some pretty sweet deals on housing. It's gonna rock! I'm hoping we'll all grow some juevos and do a shark dive with The Shark Lab. It looks pretty cool.
Well...not much else to say. Can't wait to come home and see everyone! Tootles!

Weeks 5, 6, & 7

Hi guys! I know, been a while since I've posted. Mostly because I haven't had much to post about. During the weightloss phase, there's not very many tests; only bi-weekly DXA scans, weekly metabolic chambers, and poo & urine 'donations'. As for the miserable liquid diet...that's all I can think of saying, that it is absolutely MISERABLE! I can't figure out if I'm miserable because of the lack of food variety & the feeling of being locked up in a big, friendly jail cell...or if I'm miserable because I am suffering from green chili withdrawls. Hmmmmm...I'd say the latter is the root of my issues in here ;).
Na, but really...I HATE it in here. I'd say on a weekly basis, I feel the need to break down at least once. It's hard on so many levels... aside from the horrid food cravings & lack of personal human contact; being confined to such a small area for almost 3 months can really hinder your mental state. If you're not familiar with Phoenix during this time of year, it's normal for day time temperatures to reach 114-117 degrees. As an example of how much it sucks to be locked up in here... I look forward to being able to go outside in those insanely hot temperatures!! And even with that, I've only been outside 4 times in almost 7 weeks! For an MRI, to go to the bank, for a 10 min. walk around the hospital, and a few days ago for a 40 min. walk (which I really enjoyed, because it was in the morning). I didn't want to complain, but I finally had to ask to be let out. I was to the point where I almost decided to be discharged because of the misery. But I talked to one of the nurses and she relayed my message. So supposedly we're supposed to be allowed outside on MWF to get some vitamin D & fresh air. I also found out that I may be able to get someone to take me to a movie or something...but for some reason I doubt it'll happen. Partially because I don't want to bug the staff about it.
Anyhow, on the upside...I only have 4.5 wks left. AND, this week Joel & Amy actually drove all the way from Socorro to come see me. That was awesome! They showed up and hung out with me all day on Monday! I think that definitely helped. I've felt better this week since. Also, Jason returned yesterday, so that's awesome. Now I have someone to play Dominos with, Woot! Ernesto will be back on Monday too [I think].
I'm sure ya'll are wondering..."ok, 3 weeks of liquid diet...how effective is it?" Well, though some may disagree...I'm not too thrilled. I can lose at this rate eating regular food. Of course ya, I know...if I actually could do it, why haven't I done it? Answer is, I honestly don't know. But ya, I've lost 11 lbs. in 3.5 weeks; 6.5 of which was in the 1st week. It's not horrible, but it's not great. I guess of course, last week was that time of the month, so I actually gained from water retention. Oh well, anyhow...so there's my story for weeks 5-7. God willing, I last these final 4.5 weeks...