Greetings, Paul:
Glad to hear the leg exercises are being done and walking too. Are you experiencing much pain where the fluid buildup is from the body lift? I hope not. While I love cats, I hope yours aren't too affectionate in jumping on any of your sore spots. We have now become parents of a white dove, formerly owned by an older churchmember who recently died. Can't imagine what it would be like if we still had our two cats...We found another home for them about 6 years back when we learned our daughter was allergic to them....Anyway, have a great day. Talk to you again sometime.
BillH

Your wonderfully "newsy" updates and encouragement are such a breath of fresh air in my life! My hip has been quite painful of late (possibly due to weather/barometric changes, sleeping, sitting too much, walking too much...God only knows!)
And to hear you are virtually painfree is exciting to me, both for you and yes, for my own personal hopes as well! Last night I attended the monthly support group meeting of the bariatric center my surgeon runs. The nutritionist spoke. I was delighted Laura came too. I am now on a 5+1 plan, with 5 protein meals/snacks and one "lean and green" meal. No more bread, pasta, fruit, sweets of any kind for awhile. Although I think the protein shakes, bars, etc. are "sweet" enough for me.
Yesterday I made spaghetti squash with a sauce that had peppers and ground turkey. My wife seemed impressed and she was obviously famished as she ate well. Paul, I was wondering...Did Bernardo also have GB surgery? None of my business really, just being nosey. Anyway, good luck with the crutches, getting out of cars, et cetera. And may all go well with the consular stuff too!
"Ciao!" from "Guillarmo" (I am such a lousy American, only 25% Italian with roots up in Northern Italy near Switzerland....I doubt I've even spelled my name correctly!) But bless you and yours, Paul. Keep up the wonderful progress at a good steady rate!

Bill, that is great that you have a trainer to assist you, I think you can accomplish getting close the desired weight you want before operation time. You are a motivated man and I can sense the inner strengths you carry. Set your mind to going for what you want and keep focused and keep your thoughts. I used to love hockey when I was younger and living in Northern MN during part of my youth. Have a great day and keep up the positive good work, and I wish for you all positive outcomes with your physical.
Talk soon Bill.
Paul

Hi Bill, I came home from the Pisa hospital yesterday afternoon. Feeling pretty tired from the step climbs, walking and car ride home from the hospital. But we arrived to find Bernardo's parents here to greet us, Simon and Yucky§(our cats) both acted like they knew I had returned too. We went out to dinner around 8pm last evening at La Cava(the restaurant Bernardo has a small partner status in), saw some customers from the days I worked there that were in awe of my new look and enjoyed a few bites of pasta and bean soup, tried a couple of bites of Bernardo's Linguine with Radicio, Speck and Gorgonzola Cheese and we shared a Pepper Verde Filet. Needless to say that was a bit much for the first day out of the hospital. Today I will be resting and doing my exercises at home and using the computer a little. It is raining here and cool for early March, even brought in the spring flowers from the cold air last night. I am doing as good as can be expected at this point 9 days after a new hip I am walking with crutches and bearing weight as I take steps. Today Bernardo will try to get more information about the rehabilitation center and when I can start. They usually take several days to get things started, so we may look into a couple private PT sessions to get the ball rolling, as the PT personal in the hospital only show the very basics and not the movement, I can say that getting in and out of a car is not the easiest thing to do at this time, but with patience and time it will all get better soon. Trying to find out if I qualify for one of the special rebates the Bush has offered, I dont seem to find a form, but it also says I must have had an income or collected SSI which I have done neither during 2007. Looking forward to the weeks ahead to get underway with rehab and walking, the pain is gone and so are the pain meds I took for over 4 years, the day before surgery was my last painpill cocktail and it was happiness that I took it knowing it would be the last, now hopefully my stomache will return to its normal ways and I wont get nausiated so frequently. Yesterday we also received our official letter from the Italian Preferatura who authorizes the VISA and sends on to the Embassy for delivery that on March 19 Bernardo will only need to take some document info and copy of my passport and they will give him the paperwork that we will walk to the SF Italian Embassy when coming to the USA, wish there was something in Portland that would save us the trip to SF, if anyone knows please let us know. Thanks. So many days coming up in the US, St. Patricks, Easter and Spring Breaks. We hope to get away for a weekend in April with some people from the Italiano Gastric Bypass forum that Bernardo involved us in last year, they do little functions at times around Italy and in April they want to get together at an Agrotourismo, which is like a farm, bed and breakfast and also serves all meals, in the Chianti Region of Tuscany, Mid April should be much warmer and it would be nice to have a little weekend trip to meet all these supportive people, who have been kept posted of all that has happened to me over the past 10 months. They two have accomplished amazing personal achievements and would be good for me to hear about them too.
Ok all my loved and people who are cared for, I do hope that you are all feeling well and having a good day.
Will keep you informed of the progress, I love the info about the replica of the Leaning Tower.
I send hugs to you.
Paul

Greetings and Welcome Home, Paul!
I hope you're not too weary as you read this note, if indeed you've made your way home by now...which I'm suspecting and hoping you have! Anyway, I soon must leave for my work at the church, but I was home and opted to contact you. I "Googled" my hometown, Niles,IL adn was sent to a site called www.RoadAmerica.com where it showed the Leaning Tower YMCA. This replica tower was built in honor of Galileo in 1934, about 600 years after the original. It's a mere 94 feet instead of 177ft. and the "tilt" is only 7.4degrees off center, while the original is about 15 degrees....I know you've got a lot more on your mind than this trivia, so I will leave you be now. But you are in my thoughts and prayers!
Blessings from BillH!

Hi Paul:
I was glad to hear how it's going for you...Sounds pretty good, but also sounds like the best medicine now may be when you open the door back home! I hope you continue to move around without over-doing it. Today was an eventful day for me. I had an incredible upper body workout--lifting lots of weights in order to get my heart rate up. My trainer would likely fit in well in Pisa--Joey's of Italian descent and came to the States from Canada. I enjoy talking ice hockey with him,as Chicago's team is young and improving and new ownership (the sons of a deceased gentleman who was not one to put much money into the team) is making a renaissance of professional hockey in this town. Anyway--my day was eventful. I wanted to have a good weigh-in before the workout, since I would be meeting Joey's other colleagues, my future surgeon, and the nutritionist. Well, I ate next to nothing, got a bit busy, and passed out for a few seconds. Didn't fall or anything too foolish, but I had to convince them NOT to do anything drastic. After a glass of water and a bit of a rest, I was fine....When I met the doctor, I checked out well and he'll have the staff send my data to the insurance company tomorrow. I am now on protein meals only for five small ones per day and one meal of "lean and green" meat and veggies, no carbs, pasta, potatoes, or even fruit....The doctor is hoping to shrink what is apparently a fatty liver of mine...and I'd really like to get under 300lbs before surgery. So I will be on this regime for three weeks and hopefully learn from the insurance people that I've been cleared for surgery! Frankly, it was an eventful day with details I wanted to share with my wife, but she had such a nasty session with a woman of the church, when I called her to tell her about it all, she mainly needed to vent. So I listened. I did not go into the church offices today. They get plenty of my time, but I always feel a bit guilty even though I will do a lot of emailing before I go to bed tonight...Anyway, enough of my prattling on....I hope every day finds you progressing. I am a bit concerned that the physicial therapy component of your post-surgical hospital stay seems rather limited when there's 40 folks to tend to and only two physical therapists.... Anyway, keep keeping on, friend.
Ciao!
Bill
PS: I will see if I cannot find you a website of the replica of Pisa's tower from Niles, Illinois...I recall we were once "sister cities" with Pisa, but who knows if that's still in vogue...It's been over 35 years since I lived there!

Hope you are feeling better, Paul. Thanks for the update on your health situation. I cannot chat for too long as I am online at home and my wife needs to do some computer work soon. I forgot to tell you that I grew up in Niles, IL, where the local YMCA has a replica of Pisa's Leaning Tower. Well, good luck and God bless you and your partner. May better days soon be in store fore you.
Ciao,
Bill