Challenges and visits from Chuck

Life doesn't stand still.  After my first major weight loss, at age 21, I thought all my problems would be solved if I were thin.  My doctor told me my back pain would go away and my skin would clear up.  I'd had a problem with my hands becoming very cold at times.  My doctor told me that my heavy arms were impeding the circulation to my fingers.  Again, weight loss was the answer.  I was sure I'd find Mr. Right and he'd sweep me off my feet and we'd ride off into the sunset, living happily ever after in domestic bliss.  None of those things happened.  Problems arose at the usual rate and eventually I gained back what I'd lost.  My coping techniques still included comfort foods.  This scenario repeated itself over the next three decades until I finally had weight loss surgery.

Bariatric surgery has been a helpful tool in losing and seems more resistant to relapsing than when left completely to my own devices.  I've read that the possibility of stretching my pouch is not as likely as I had thought.  Indeed I've recently had two visits from "Chuck" which were a reminder to me that I still do not have a normal stomach.  Regaining weight is usually due to poor eating habits and I have been eating more carbs lately than I should.  I have been avoiding the scale lately.  

One day recently I came home from work to find my daughter had made beef stroganoff which was absolutely delicious.  I took what I considered a small portion and ate it a little too quickly.  I felt overstuffed and ultimately I had to throw it up.  I felt bad because I thought that this was insulting to my daughter's cooking. She said that she is actually flattered when this happens.  When I like something she's made so much that I eat it too fast it must be really, really tasty.  

We had an opera production of Boito's Mefistofele during October.  It was wonderful to do this opera again after my first time six years ago.  Ordinarily I have a little post-operatic depression afterwards but I didn't get a chance because of some severe weather events.  Instead we had multiple stressors from Mother Nature.  

Cut off from the world by a tree.  

An electrical nightmare.

Our area was hit by hurricane Sandy the day after the final performance of the opera.  Trees were down and our dead-end road was blocked.  Utility poles were snapped in two and lying in the street. My neighbors took the situation in hand and wielding chainsaws,  they cut enough off the huge fallen spruce tree to open up the road.  

Nobody came to rescue us so my neighbors got to work with their chainsaws.
 There were wires down but they were dead and not an active hazard.  

Our hero.  My niece's husband Bob
 who loaned us his generator.  

Shelf stable milk

While our house survived intact, we were without power for eleven days.  My cell service was out because of a fallen AT&T tower.  We felt isolated and stressed.  Lighting was either candles or flashlights.  Batteries were difficult to find in the stores.  We'd stocked up but ran low.  We felt like refugees in our own home.

We had a generator for nearly half of that time but it presented unfamiliar challenges to post bariatric surgery eating.  We could not even find ice for the first four days of our powerless period.  I found a store that had Parmalat milk which does not need refrigeration.  We ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, and foil-packaged tuna salad. I had cans of kippered herring which I took in my lunch box to work. I bought apples, oranges and bananas for snacking.  I cooked scrambled eggs on the barbecue grill (in a skillet, naturally) and one day I browned some SPAM cubes and mixed it with canned baked beans. Since the storm two days before Halloween it put a damper on the festivities.  We did get a few trick-or-treaters but were left with way too much candy.  Fresh vegetables were impossible to keep on hand so we did without except for some tomatoes we'd had left from the garden.  We had to throw out nearly everything from the fridge and freezer.  

I found that cooking on a gas grill is tricky when it's too dark to see what I'm cooking.  It's also not fun when there's cold drizzle raining into the pan.  I didn't want to make anything that took too long to cook in case we couldn't find refills for the propane tanks.   This type of survival eating gets old pretty quickly.  When we were loaned a generator on the sixth day we had lights, heat, refrigeration and hot water.  We could not power our electric stove or our laundry equipment.  Surprisingly our electric clocks sped up when the generator was running!  It cost us $50. per day for gasoline to keep the power on.   An unfortunate victim was our computer which suffered burnout of critical chips.

No gas here today.  

Filling tanks for the generator

Gasoline for the generator was not only expensive, it was hard to find.  Reminiscent of the 1970's Arab oil embargo, many stations either did not have power or gas.  Those that did have gas had long lines.  There were some arguments and even a few fistfights as people were stressed out trying to get what they needed.  Like in the 70's some areas went to odd/even rationing using the last digit of license plates.  While stations back then displayed either red or green flags to show if they were pumping gas.the stations now either used caution tape around the station or plastic bags over the pump handles if there was no fuel available.  

Snow didn't stop the Wisconsin workers for long.  

Nine days after the hurricane hit we got our first major snow storm of the year.  By this time we'd only had fleeting glimpses of repair trucks from the local electric company.  There were so many affected areas more concentrated in population that our little neighborhood didn't get much attention.  When the "Noreaster" storm hit we were afraid the efforts to return our power would grind to a screeching halt.  When the flakes started falling though trucks from Wisconsin worked till the wind got too strong.  The next day our power was back.  It took three more days to get the phones and the cable working.

Alliant Energy from Wisconsin
gave us back our power.

Smiling Mormon Helping Hands

Three weeks after the storm we're pretty much back to normal.  Further south, there are many still in poor shape. Queens and Staten Island, NY have widespread areas of devastation.  Last weekend I went, with members of my church, as part of Mormon Helping Hands, to help victims of the storm.  Our usual church meetings were cancelled.  We met briefly at the church, boarded school buses and made our way to Far Rockaway, Queens.  Other groups went to Staten Island.  That day alone over 4000 people spent eight hours working  for anyone who needed help.  Large areas were flooded and many are still without power.  Some homes are completely uninhabitable while others were washed away. There were still boats stranded on streets and high water marks were on many homes and fences.  We spent the day cleaning out accumulated sand and silt, demolition of moldy walls and removal of debris.  The people were happy to have help and we headed home at the end of the day tired but smiling.

Demolition team

My son and me ready to head home after a long day.  

Back on the bus, I had an orange left from the lunch I'd brought with me.  I started eating it but it wasn't a very juicy orange and it felt like my pouch was getting jammed up so I didn't finish it.  After riding a little while we stopped and our leader, Bishop Franklin, bought pizza for everyone.  I shouldn't have tried to eat it because I knew my pouch was already too full.  It smelled so good though I started eating a slice and was soon very sorry.  I knew I needed to throw up but there was nowhere to stop on the congested highway.  Thinking I could make it home, I tried to just ignore my stomach.

Riding on the bumpy city roads in a school bus did not help my situation.  Finally I couldn't take it anymore.  I tapped a nearby person on the shoulder for help.  I was quickly handed a paper bag which I promptly used.  He then handed me a plastic trash bag so I could stow my barf bag.  Relieved of my excess stomach contents I rode the rest of the way in relative comfort.

I haven't had two visits from "Chuck" in a long time.  Its a wake up to the fact that I still have control of my own destiny.  My pouch still works.  I just need to be more diligent about what I put into it.

Love to all,

Marlena of Mohegan