Oh, I missed your post, Kazz. That’s interesting. I have acne rosacea so I might try the Sudocreme. I don’t suppose you can remember what antibiotics you were given. I was given some stuff years ago but it didn’t really do much. Still, I’ll definitely give the Sudocreme a try.
Marie

Hi Mel, Ali, Roo,
I’m keen to start Monday too. Just ordered the books and then found this forum. It’ll be easier to do together. I’m 49, live in Belgium, and over the last few years have slowly put on kilos. Food and wine can be so relaxing after a day of work and I make less and less time for sport. So it’s time for a longer period of low calories, no wine and back to running, hoping for a visible result.
veerle

Take care Nonna Mary
Marie X

See I told you I’d keep popping back on!

Good morning my friends.

Well, off line for two days and what a lot to catch up on!

Mary, my psoriasis also flares this time of year. I really do empathise with you. A couple of years ago I had a particularly distressing flare up of inverse psoriasis and it was so painful I couldn’t sit comfortably or sleep. In desperation I cut out all wheat, dairy, alcohol and after 3 days it began to calm down. By 2 weeks it was 80% cleared. Trouble was I didn’t know what the actual trigger was. I didn’t care really, was just glad of the relief! My mum handed me an article about a new drug, not containing corticosteroids, that has just become available. Called Soratinex by Franklpharma.co.uk. Not yet available on the NHS unfortunately. Costs £121.05 for a large pack. Have a google and see what you think. I have no doubt the stress caused by your grandie’s chicken pox has not helped one bit. So sorry to read about that. I’m very relieved to see she is responding well to the antibiotics. When my face was really bad with acne rosacea, I was given antibiotics which did clear it mostly. Now, I can keep it at bay by using Sudocreme on my face every night. Would it be worth trying some on your face? It may help a little with it being an antiseptic cream. I’m sending you virtual hugs, my friend.

Allie and Heather…… I’ll be back to respond to you both in a bit….

Kazzeee xxx

I agree, Verano.

I was diagnosed with Type II in August. Of course, I’d prefer not to have diabetes, but from the beginning I’ve considered myself lucky to have been diagnosed at this point when there is this big shift in thinking and people like Roy Taylor, Jason Fung and Michael Mosley and others are providing accessible, evidence-based strategies for its reversal, or at the very least great control.

And, you do right to be proud of yourself. It’s richly deserved.

Marie x

As I said above, maintenance not easy. A pound down this morning again😢 So now only managed to hold onto 0.75 lbs of my much needed gain😢 Hey Ho – back to the drawing board!

Thank you Luvtcook. I appreciate the shoulder. I am ok now. It just gets to me sometimes. The worse bit was reading that Psoriasis comes and goes…mine just gets worse.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE! Let’s make it a good one!

Later peeps.

Back to normal Nonna.
xxxx

Hello Alibalibee and welcome – great news about the blood test results. Good idea about the photo – hope your first week goes brilliantly and look forward to reading how you’re doing.

Mokovex – Great to see you back in the game! It is an interesting discussion on Kefir. I think I need to concentrate on expanding on my low carb meals right now – I’m tending to eat the same thing over and over – but am storing this info away for the future.

So, I’ve lost another 1lb this morning so am now 10 stone 8lb. A plateau will be following shortly but it’d be great if I got to 10 stone 7lb beforehand. Roll on tomorrow!

I’m away now until late next week so will miss Tuesday’s weigh-in. Have a good weekend everyone.
Marie x

Well done, AnneF! And great to hear that everyone feels it easy to get back onto the BSD after “slipping”.

My computer has obviously been on strike! When I posted yesterday, the last post I saw was mine on 9th November. Hence my comments about it being quiet. Far from it! Today I can see all the posts up to today. Weird! Anyway, have enjoyed catching up with everyone.

Still 8st 13 lbs this morning. I do wonder if it’s because we are not eating as much fish this week, although we are staying within the 800 calories. But perhaps we haven’t been as active this week, as the weather in Kent has been pretty grotty or, as many of you agree, the weight loss is certainly random! Gym today though, so fingers crossed. Only a week and a bit to go…

Is it best to maintain on the Mediterranean or 5:2 diet? I know the 5:2 has worked in the past, but would like to try the Med diet. Which is easiest to stay on? I feel I don’t have to worry for 5 days out of 7 on the 5:2 and know that I can happily do 800calories on a Monday and a Thursday, for example. Any advice of great Med diet books would also be gratefully received. Thanks, guys.

Well done Theo! Just about to have my first tea of the day but will have a ‘pint’ before brunch at around 12ish. No I won’t start another thread at the moment as I’m going away on Wednesday so one thread will be more than enough to keep up with.

Quite excited to have a ‘plan’ involving water. Hoping it will help me to curb my wine habit too!

Check out the thread ‘101 Ways with cauliflower’ there are some great ideas. I’ve just checked my recipe on there and I don’t use garlic or thyme but I do use celery, just a slight variation.

Sounds like a plan V.

Just had my first pint of the day, will have a cup of tea in half an hour, coffee an hour after that, then no more liquids until after my breakfast at 11am.

Will leave the decision of the new thread to you.

Theo x

Hi I make a cauliflower and red pepper soup and it really is delicious. I use the same recipe as yours but I don’t broil/grill the cauliflower first and it still works a treat but with less work! Oh and I use vegetable stock!

I am a fan of Cornmeal and the research I have read rates it very highly in regulating blood sugar. Polenta (aka cornmeal) comes in 4 grades stone-ground, coarse, medium or fine which are made from dried and ground maize – the choice is personal but basically they are all the same thing. In the USA they also use the terms grits or masa harina. These are not to be confused with farina or semolina as they are made from wheat. To alter the texture of your polenta, mix different grinds to find a combination that you like. My favourite mixture for for polenta is 1 litre of boiling stock or water with 100g coarse, 100g medium and 50g fine, I don’t add cheese normally, but here is the basic recipe that I began with before tweeking it to my taste.
Polenta
Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 cups stock or water
1½ cups yellow cornmeal
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 375°F, spray baking dish with vegetable oil. Bring broth to boil in heavy based saucepan over medium heat then gradually whisk in cornmeal (I use an electric one) continue to whisk until mixture is very thick, about 3 minutes then mix in cheese. Pour into the prepared dish, smooth the surface and bake until top begins to brown, about 30 minutes. Serve hot, feeds 4 but any leftovers are great with scrambled eggs, or cut into “chips” or “patties” and fried.
Nutrition Information
Calories:300,
Fat:5.3g
Saturated fat:2.7g
Carbohydrates:51g
Sodium:1281mg
Fibre:2.5g
Protein:10g

Thank you Allie and Luvtcook, and your grandmother was right! I have a ‘big’ birthday coming up one month today and my goal was to reach that and be drug free. Apart from a calcium supplement, because of my impaired mobility, I don’t take any other medication. So, yes, I’m feeling pretty proud of myself despite still needing to lose weight. But hey nobody is perfect. I’m just delighted to have reversed my diabetes.

I have just been reading this article and I think it’s time for anyone with type 2 to rejoice at the fact that the condition really can be reversed with a little perseverance and some hard work http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/09/type2diabetesisreversible/. Just waiting for the full results of the current research to be published.

Well that more or less proves it…fasting bloods are, like Verano and 2BD said, COMPLETELY random (more or less!)

I am currently in deepest Cornwall (for work), so lots of yesterday was getting here – only just over 5000 steps registered on my (replacement)Fitbit . I was in a hotel the night before too, so breakfast was porridge ( but probably instant), I did manage to have just a salad for lunch, but already I am more bad carbs in than I wanted to be.
My sister lives down here so I offered to take her out for dinner. She booked a table at a pop up Japanese – wonderful, but no menu choice – they cook – you get food! So we ate Edem beans, huge bowls of rich pork and noodle soup and gorgeous basil ice cream. I even drank some Sarki . Mmmmmmm I was thinking – those rice noodles (bad white rice!)and the instant porridge and the alcohol and not much exercise at all…might as well right off my fasting blood level in the morning…

What does it measur today? 5.0 – a pretty much perfect score!! Stopped being frustrated tho given the comments – more faintly amused! Can’t wait to get my Hb1Ac next week.

AnneF I have reported on another thread but I’m really, really happy to keep saying my BG has fallen again from 33 to 29 after 3 months of being metformin free! My cholesterol has risen from 4.5 to 5.2 but overall my good cholesterol had gone up and my bad has fallen. Weight has risen very slightly but no surprise there and negligible really.

I have just been reading this article http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/09/type2diabetesisreversible/ and it is very interesting. Have a read.

Yowzer it’s a great challenge and I have discovered how much easier it is to stay below 20g than I’d thought. Unfortunately I’ve not tried hard enough to stay below 20g because I’ve been having some snacks and wine. BUT, I know it can be done and I will try my best to join you at 20g soon. Social life just getting in the way at the moment but not ruining my overall plan. Weight stable, blood glucose fallen again, cholesterol good and still drug free! BUT I do need to get back to losing again.

NO, NO, NO don’t let things go off the boil at the weekend. We keep saying to ourselves this is a life plan and not just a diet. So, until you reach you goals, whatever they happen to be, you have to stay as close to 20 as you can. No room for ‘extras’. I must write that in large letters and stick it on my wall to keep reminding myself!!!! Promise I will join you as soon as, even if it’s not every day I will do my best to make it on most days.

Just keep on keeping on ….. you are doing well.

Ok so let Day 1 of the water challenge begin!

If anyone else wants to try then just follow the rule ….. 1 pint of water before meals if losing weight and no liquids for one hour before meals if trying to stabilize or gain weight.

Theodora how about ‘one day at a time’ ? I will be happy to get through today and worry about tomorrow when it comes. I think we need to give this 21 days as they say it takes that long to make/break a relatively easy habit. Day 21 will be December 7th. Does this call for a new thread??

Morning,

today +0.6lb ????

Think my previous low was due to dehydration.

Anyway, enjoying the discussion on Kefir. I love the coincidences of life. Yesterday, I spent a little time looking at various Kefir products, wondering if I could get going with making some and then I hopped back on here! Motivated now. Will ping you a message SunnyB. 😀

Welcome alibalibee 🐝 and well done for accepting where you are and doing something to tackle it. As you say, the forum is a great place to share stories, ups and downs. I have made the decision to post my loss/gains and write something on here first thing every weekday morning. When I have hit a couple of blips and wanted to withdraw, this routine, and therefore the support, have kept me powering through.

VERANO and ALLIE,Thanks so much for the useful info on turmeric
VERANO, What do you think of the challenge? Ive just finished day 4 and feel its going ok – so far anyway! It IS a challenge and it makes my previous 50g seem positively luxurious!
On 3 out of 4 days ive only had 19g so i guess in theory i cd have 3 extra carbs at the weekend! Or wd that be the thin end of the wedge,..and lead to me losing the plot!
Hmmmm 🤔
XX

Thanks for the advice everyone – duly noted that I should not too worried over details

Do let us know your results Verona

Chelle1981 – I have made the Pea Soup (Verano’s recipe) a number of times. It’s delicious using both the original recipe and with the added spinach which is the way I have it most. If you type Pea Soup in the search box at the top of the page the top post has the recipe. It serves 6, approx. has 94cals and 7.7g carbs per serving (this includes 100g spinach).

The other recipe I’ve used from here is the Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar soup which was posted by Maefly. (Again just type into the search box and the recipe will come up). This is also delicious but careful with the mustard.

Luvtcook – I make soup a lot in the winter months so I’m definitely going to try the two you’ve suggested above. Thanks

Marie123

Luvtcook – forgot to ask would the two soups be OK to freeze?

Nonna, this won’t help much….but my heart aches for you. I would have hoped this diet would have been of some help as MM keeps touting how it cleans house and gets your immune responses back on track. Or in your case restarts them so they are not in over drive. Have nothing to offer other than a shoulder to cry on. You got the short straw on this one. Hoping for you that it is at least cyclical and shortly receeds back from whense it came. LvTC

Pompoms for you Verano. My grandmother used to tell me when I was young and had no appreciation for it at the time….was that your most precious gift is good health health. Its hard to enjoy anything else if you don’t have that. You have given yourself a most precious gift. Well done you,

Here are two that are on my “to do list”….both sound so good and so easy. Both based on cauliflower, so filling but low carb.

Hope one of them works for you.

CAULIFLOWER & ROASTED RED PEPPER SOUP

An out-of-this-world delicious cauliflower roasted red pepper soup recipe! This will be your new favorite soup – it’s ours!

The longest part of making this soup is allowing the red peppers and cauliflower to char a bit under your broiler.

Serves: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

4 medium-sized red bell peppers
1 head of cauliflower, diced into florets
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium-sized onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut the red bell peppers in half, scoop out the seeds and lay face-down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Broil in the oven on high until the skin has become black. Remove from the oven and place into a sealed container and allow the peppers to cool down and steam. This step makes it easier to remove the skin from the pepper.
Broil the cauliflower florets in the oven on high until they are tender and crisp, making sure to turn them over halfway. Takes about 20-25 minutes.
While the cauliflower is roasting, place the oil in a large pot, add in the diced onion and garlic cloves. Saute over medium-to-low-heat until the onions are tender and caramelized.
Add the chicken stock, thyme, and smoked paprika into the pot and mix everything together. Allow the mixture to simmer on medium-heat.
Remove the skins from the peppers, dice the peppers and add them into the pot; mix together. Do the same with the cauliflower. Allow the soup to simmer on medium-heat for 20 minutes.
Add the soup into a blender 2 cups at a time and blend until the mixture is creamy and pureed. Do the same with the rest of the soup. Add the pureed soup into the same pot, add salt and pepper to taste; allow it to simmer on low-heat until ready to serve;

CREAMY CAULIFLOWER & HAM SOUP
Serves: 10 servings

INGREDIENTS
• 6 cups cauliflower florets (frozen is fine – abut 24 oz)
• 6 cups ham stock or chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 3 cups chopped ham
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp butter (or ghee, bacon fat, or coconut oil)
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
1 Combine the cauliflower, stock, water, garlic powder, and onion powder in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender. Blend in the pot with an immersion blender (or remove to a large blender and blend in batches then return to the pan) until smooth. Stir in the ham, and thyme leaves and simmer another 10 minutes. Add the butter and apple cider vinegar. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2 Serve hot.

NOTES
Approx nutrition info per 1.5 cups: 125 calories, 7g fat, 5g net carbs, 13g

Hey all-

Thought i would pop in for motivation- it’s getting colder and all I want is carbs 🙁

Please can I have some low carb soup recipes for lunches and inspiration for evening meals- lost my mojo and need a boost for Xmas xx

Okay V. How long do we give the experiment before comparing notes?

I’ll still try to drink the same amount but NO LIQUIDS OF ANY KIND for one whole hour before meals.

You, on the other hand MUST drink a pint of water before consuming food? Is that fair?

Let’s see if I can gain a pound or two and you can lose a pound or two.

What we need are some cheerleaders 😉 Any volunteers? 😄😃😀

OOOOOKAYYYY…

Let’s do it. As from tomorrow you mustn’t have water, or any other liquid, before meals, any meals , and I MUST (but only water!)… let’s get to it ‘!!!

😀😁😃😄😆

You’re on, Verano😘

Hi Allie. The little one is 16 months old. I have indeed exhaled as has Jovis and her parents. She is such a bright, bubbly, sunny child that it was a little distressing to see her subdued and ill.

I am afraid my Black Dog is visiting me. First time for a few months. I was looking in the mirror (something I avoid) when I could see that my psoriasis is now covering a huge part of my face and expanding. Behind my ears are sore and cracked and the rest of my body is scaly and uncomfortable. I admit I have shed a tear tonight. The fact that I haven’t lost the water weight from the weekend hasn’t helped. I have fasted every day and today floated my internal organs by drinking so much water!

I know I am blessed with my life, but I feel a bit run down after this week. My psoriasis is getting worse and I don’t know why. I decided to read about any new treatments there are and it said “Psoriasis comes and goes.” Mine EFFING WELL DOESN’T….in 2000 I only had it in my hair line and my nails. By 2002 it was over my arms and in 2010 it moved onto my face and the rest of my body. I have had UV treatment and it returns immediately after. I also had steroids for a while and again it returned immediately after I stopped taking them.

Nothing anyone can do…I just need to suck it up and get on with life. But, I must admit I have been getting some funny looks lately…well why not? I have a face like a baboons arse! If I don’t slather it in cream I look like a dried out lizard. Rant over. Hope you are all well.

Grumpy Nonna.
xxx

It used to be 500 for women, 600 for men, but only 12 hours fast. Now it has been amended to 800 calories, but the fast has been extended to 14 hours, either before or after the fast day, and only 2 meals on the fast days. The days can be consecutive or separated. You can still do the old way if it suits you better.

Verano, what thrilling news! You’ve accomplished what others dream
of. So happy for you!!! 🙂 Three backflips coming up. Maybe a few
cartwheels for good measure, too. Congratulations for all your
hard work.

Love,

Allie

Theodora ….. IT’S A DEAL!

Thanks! Yes all feeling good here!

Thanks Sunny I’ll try it outside the fridge as I do at home. Actually our place is quite cool inside especially at this time of the year. I guess I’ll know if it’s gone off!

Good news albalibee just enjoy your journey to improved health anyway.

I’ve been mulling over the labels to use. Enemies/friends reminded me that in Buddhism sometimes the distinction is made between skilful and unskilful action. I realised that thinking about food in terms of skilful and unskilful choices works for me. The food in and of itself isn’t intrinscially bad but my decisions about what to eat are what matters. Using the BSD/non-BSD distinction will work with this.

I have heard others say that once you have trained your body into the low-carb/Primal way of eating, any ‘digressions ‘ have a much bigger impact – I certainly won’t be having bread in a hurry again.
SSB

Mary, I think I missed your post about the little one. I’m so happy
that the antibiotics seem to be working! Chasing little Joe around
is definitely a good sign. Can you exhale now? How worrying for
you! It’s hard to know about the scars this early on. Is she 2 or
3?

Evening all!
Well, this is my first day on the diet so am also joining the November challenge (half way through), as one of you (sorry! can’t remember who) suggested. It’s been OK apart from eating a bite of a very small prawn sandwich at lunchtime. In my defence, I was at a conference and there was nothing else to eat, and it was only a finger sandwich, but then I realised that I didn’t have to eat it so waited and got a beetroot and feta pot from M & S instead – 183 calories, I think about 8g of carbs. Mushrooms and eggs for brekkie, veggie stew with cheese for dinner. Think I still have about 50 calories left if I need them. Had a few hungry moments – not exactly pangs, just a hungry thought.
I got my blood test results as well – I’m not diabetic! I had just assumed I was – I have two siblings and both parents with the condition. So I’m treating this as a kick up the bum. I need to lose weight so I’m going to. I’ve been kidding myself on for too long: thinking that sizes in shops were getting smaller (!) , that my clothes had shrunk, that all those photos where I look fat were just taken at a bad angle. Seriously! So i took photo last night,weighed myself and measured my waist – which was a big shock – and I’m raring to go.
I discovered this forum last week and have really enjoyed reading all of your stories, and have found you all totally inspiring, so thank you all for sharing your stories. I hope I can add mine as well.
See you all soon.

Congratulations, Verano, that’s brilliant news. I’m so pleased for you.
Marie

I think I’m starting on Monday 20th. I’m going to a wedding do on Sunday, but hope to fast from Sunday late afternoon till breakfast Monday and then start properly. I’ve been following a low carb diet since the beginning of September I think – didn’t write it down. Eating is fine, though the suggested veg and fruit are very restricted for me – I think this will be more natural. I wasn’t comfortable with the amount of fat either – again I think this will suit me better. I fasted last night from 4pm till 7.30 this morning and have eaten my two meals, low carb but more Mediterranean than before, and come in without really trying at 783 calories, just under 24 gms carbs, water only for the rest of the day, but that suits me, so I’m not unduly worried about the reduced calories except that I don’t seem to eat much more than that normally, so only the fast will be different. I think my main sticking points will be the compulsion to stick to the pattern – it might be my normal eating pattern but no one has said I have to follow it, so I just might get the urge to break free just because. I only lost 9 1/2 lbs since I started, so I’ll be amazed and delighted if I get a rapid weight loss. I’m really only looking to lose belly fat and get my BMI to mid normal range – less than a stone should do it. I’m female, 77 years old, pretty active for my age, normally walk 2-3 hours a day with my dogs and play trombone in a brass band, which is pretty physical, and UK based. High BP, controlled by medication, but not diabetic or prediabetic. Happy to share progress etc with those of you starting out at the same time

I got vanilla protein powder from Amazon, but I think you can probably find it in health food stores too. Comes in quite large quantities though, but you can add a scoop to yogurt, kefir, smoothies etc to help use it up.

We all have to find ways of making the BSD work for us and that includes finding terminology acceptable to our mind set, but you’re right Esnecca, those ‘comfort’ foods are our worst enemies, cunningly disguised as best friends and supporters. For me, transgression works, as in my mind it suggests a one off aberration and not a new pattern of behaviour, so it helps me to knuckle down and get back to the BSD. Of course alternative terminology will work better for other people, so you need to find out what will work for you.

It’s so easy to slip into that ‘a-little-won’t-matter’ mind set – have done it myself on a couple of occasions and suffered awfully, on one occasion being awake all night with bloating and terrible stomach pains. Just wanted to curl up and die! And you’re right about how quickly the hunger pangs return too. Really is worth sticking with the BSD principles and eating mindfully, but we’re all human and there will be blips and slips along the way, even though deep down we know how awful we’ll feel afterwards.

thank you Sunny! This is so helpful. I’m going to get the grains and
give it a try 🙂

Good result Tasberry. As you say, once you cut out the alcohol, you should be pretty much on track for hitting the 800 cals. You should find that once you have removed the high carbs and your body has adjusted, that sticking to the BSD 800 is quite easy. Hope next week goes well.

Most often I make it outside the fridge, even when I’ve made it whilst in Turkey, when I use local homemade yogurt rather than kefir. Actually, my kitchen at home tends to be quite warm too, as we have an Aga. It goes straight in the fridge once it’s finished draining and I can take it out of the cloth. Forgot to say I always add a couple of twists of salt when I make labneh. By the way, the commercial kefir I have tried was nowhere near as nice as the stuff I make at home – much too bland and very watery – not sure you could actually make a cheese from it. My homemade stuff is more like a yogurt consistency.

Quite possibly, V. And of course filling me up was the original intention, but now maybe I should break the habit – and it IS an ingrained habit now. But I like drinking water – always have, so haven’t increased my consumption during BSD, just the timing.

Tell you what, let’s make a deal. ……I’ll stop drinking water before meals if you start? Deal? Then we can compare notes😉

And HUGE congratulations on kicking T2 into remission completely drug free. What an achievement. Now if THAT isn’t worth a jump, wave and shake, I don’t know what is!!!😀😁😁 So very proud of you 😃

Haha, Allie – yes Hotel Theodora was a bit of a marathon 😨 Particularly whilst practising BSD. It’s an annual summer hazard for us, however, living by the water on, IMO, one of the most beautiful estuaries in the world (taking your advice and not saying which one😉). At least this time I was a guest, not a host 😜 And very rarely does a day go by when I don’t appreciate how lucky I am.😀

At 2lbs a month, you’ll be disappearing before our very eyes😱 Maybe, like me, you need to turn to drink😉

Sunny, thank you. I’ll be happy if I can consolidate my small gain, even if I don’t gain any more. I’m quite happy at this weight and feel so well, but REALLY don’t want to drop any lower. I’d like my new “norm” to be around 8st (112lbs ), which is still 7lbs below target.

I’m sure you’ll regain your wriggle room again soon and well done on not exceeding your goal weight. Whoever said maintenance was easy?!!

Heather, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Most of all for the lost opportunities
to reconcile with your mother. I have a close friend from Switzerland
who was estranged for 50 years, and I can imagine the complicated
emotions you are feeling today. The loss of one’s Mother is never
anything we can ever be completely ready for. I’m glad that you have
a sister to be with, as well of course, your wife. Take good care of
yourself now. There will be plenty of time to process all this in
the days to come. We are here for you, and you have plenty of
surrogates here to help.

Much love,

Allie