Dieter's Log: Day 38 - And Not So Good News

Our new weigh in numbers:
Tab - Lost this week: 2.2lbs - Total loss to date: 17.8lbs
Derek - Lost this week: 3.0lbs - Total loss to date: 23.4lbs
Yeah for us!! We even cheated a little bit over the last week. On Saturday we went to see Semi-Pro, which was pretty good. Not as funny as I thought it would be, but still likable. But we had POPCORN!!!! No butter, no salt...at least no extra. We just shared a small popcorn and had a small diet coke. This was the first pop we've had since starting this diet. We can have it, but I just don't know if I can do diet pop?! Sunday was my sister Wendy's birthday and we went to The Ranch. Derek and I shared a 12oz sirloin steak and each had a side salad instead of ordering potatoes and veggies. But I had a bite of Wendy's chicken fettuccine alfredo and two bites of her apple turnover dessert. Plus I'm PMS-ing this week...and I still lost 2.2lbs! Very Nice!

And the Not So Good News:
Derek's Aunt Joni who found out that she had cancer in her jaw in December, died today. :-(
She had gone thru all the surgery to have it removed, all the chemo treatments, and all the radiation treatments and was finished last week. She was sent home from the hospital in Rochester on Friday afternoon. She was staying at her daughter's house and she was having trouble breathing so they were getting her ready to go to the ER when she collapsed and they had to call an ambulance. She was in the Fargo hospital since then and things looked a bit better on Monday, but then took a turn downhill. Turns out her white blood count was extremely low. Normal is 4.0-12.0 and for radiation patients they expect it to go down to 1.0. When Joni got to the hospital her level was 0.1, so they gave her some blood and by Tuesday she was at 0.3. But she was having such trouble breathing that they hooked her up to a ventilator to help her. But she was still having problems breathing with the ventilator so they sedated her so the machine could do the work. Then Tuesday her kidneys shut down. So most of Derek's family went to Fargo and we watched over Ali. They hooked Joni up to dialysis and it was set up for 24 hour running because it would be less stressful on her body than the normal 3 times a week runs. Everything was stable but then they took her off of the sedation meds and she didn't wake up. She was completely unresponsive. They did a brain wave scan and some other tests this morning and all came back with no activity...she had some sort of brain damage, they weren't able to determine what the cause was. It could have been anything from the cancer to the stress of the machines to a heart attack or stroke. So they kept her going until her other sister could get there from Williston tonight. They finally took her off everything at 6:35pm and by 6:37pm she was gone.....So that's that. I figured it'd be easier to explain it on here than to lots of different people at different times. The funeral is on Saturday around 3pm in Thief River Falls. Tomorrow I have to drive to Fargo to pick up Laurie, Dale, and Ashley. It's a good thing I was scheduled to have Wed and Thurs off this week. I was suppose to work the weekend, but now I'll need to see about getting out of that.
So this is for all my friends and family who I do or don't talk to enough: I think about you all everyday and hope everything is going well. I want you to know that I love you and if I don't say it enough I'm sorry. We all need to live each day like it's our last, because you never know what might happen. One day you can be just fine and....well, you know. I love each and every one of you, from the bottom of my heart!
P.S.-Happy early Birthday to my hubby, since I won't be on here tomorrow! Love you the Mostest!!!