The Reconstruction Era – Part 2

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

“It appears that the next event is breast reconstruction!”

That’s how I opened this new series a few weeks ago.

It appears that the next even is NOT breast reconstruction – it’s getting healthy enough to HAVE the breast reconstruction surgery!

So – changes in diet are in order.

NOT just for my wife, but for me as well.

In the past two years, I’ve pretty much let myself go as far as eating and exercising are concerned. Not that I was model-buff…actually EVER…but I am currently heavier than I have EVER been in my life (OK – I may have been heavier before, but that was only when I giving piggy-back rides to 100 pound Bible Camp kids…)

At 262, I am a jiggling mass of quivering flab. I’m out of breath walking up and down four flights of stairs. My legs are weak after biking 3 miles around the lake. I take comfort in graham crackers and butter…I am a wreck considering that in 1984, I returned from a mission trip to the West African countries of Nigeria, Cameroun, and Liberia weighing a wispy 150 pounds.

More recently, I had dropped to 225 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2009 (I think). For ME PERSONALLY AND I DO NOT ENDORSE ATKINS FOR ANYONE ELSE ON THE PLANET BUT ENDORSE IT FOR ME, MYSELF, AND I AND DO NOT SAY IT WORKS WONDERS FOR ALL PEOPLE BUT WHEN CONSIDERING MYSELF AND ONLY MYSELF AND NOT ANYONE BUT ME, this is the only time a change in diet took off weight.

So, I will be returning to the Atkins Diet. I just finished re-reading the introduction and will now commence the INduction.

What does that mean for my wife?

She’ll be joining me because as we prepare for breast reconstruction, the doctor has set up some goals and conditions. The reconstruction (as I noted in the first post of this series, my wife will be undergoing “Implant-based reconstruction”) has two phases, the first being the placement of expanders and the shelf-like scaffold. In order to have the surgery, which will lay her up for a week followed by another three weeks of not reaching over her head, she has to be in good condition and her numbers (in this case, diabetes numbers of triglycerides, A1c counts and others) have to be optimal.

After a visit to the doctor earlier this week, we found out that the numbers were not where they needed to be. So we will embark on an adventure to change our lifestyle a bit. Nothing drastic, actually, as we aren’t junk-food-aholics and we don’t often use “pre-prepared” foods (like microwaveable pancakes or pre-cooked bacon). We DO have to lower our carb intake, increase the number of times we walk the dog and exit the sugar from our lives.

Those of you familiar with Atkins, know the induction phase can be brutal. It is CERTAINLY not for a person with Type-2 diabetes. BUT, my wife will be modifying it while I follow it rigidly.

School ends in a few weeks, we head off for a camping trip to our far northland with some old and dear friends and then I start work at summer school – and my wife goes for surgery.

We will keep you apprised of our progress, but solicit your positive thoughts and prayers!

Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqbm01ekF5ql7RBSN3uD8y8mRzEnLO20-z3gviFcXvOYC8VRAu68SLKuLNV7i3Xn1LpjKYVja9K5HUT9qImMLRskXQiBA-NgApqbe-mhg1wofrYLLROmXztpgibNK9yS3SmjOOnTnpLN6/s1600/No-matter-how-slow-you-go.jpg