Hi :)  Today is Saturday, August 2, 2008 about 3:00 pm and this time last year I was about an hour away from waking up at Barix and about to begin my new life.  I'll never forget how nervous I was minutes before I was wheeled into the OR, and how Dr. Pupkova helped calm me down, and then I remember seeing my parents waiting outside of my room at 4:00 pm when I woke up.  So much has happened this past year.  Even though I have had a few really sad, tough times, my life for the most part is so much better.  I no longer have high blood pressure, my cholesterol is wonderfully low, my lab results have all been good, I no longer have sleep apnea, my chances of getting diabetes have been significantly reduced, I've lost 85 pounds and generally, I feel really wonderful.  I am able to follow my post-surgery diet and I'm able to exercise regularly and I've met and become friends with some truly special people through OH.  I feel like the PA board is my family and I love them all and appreciate them all very much.  I hope I can teach others the way they have taught me and I hope I can be an inspiration to others the way they have inspired me.  I also have a wonderful, amazing boyfriend, Adam, who has been very supportive of my surgery and I hope you all get to meet him soon!  Here's to another year of "successing"
Love, Lisa :)

Hi!  Today is Monday, June 9 and on Thursday I was 10 months and one week out.  Had a pretty good week.  I didn't wind up starting my internship last Monday so I actually had a week to relax after getting back to Boston.  I'm starting my internship today and I'll be sure to update on how it went next time.  Sarton & Courtney came over for dinner on Monday night and we went out for dinner together on Wednesday night -- it was great to see them after not seeing them for a while!  And Thursday night, Sarton and I went to a Red Sox game against Tampa Bay!  Red Sox won...go Sox!  We had a lot of fun :)  I had a pretty good weekend too.  Friday night I got to meet Adam's dogs (they are so great!) and then we went for dinner and to see The Sex & The City movie :)  Saturday night, I went out with Allie and a few others and then I actually wound up seeing Adam again later that night.  I'm glad I did because we had a better night than the night before :)  Ok, I'm off to start my internship in a bit...will write again soon!

Hello everyone!  Gosh, I can't believe it has been almost a month since I've written.  Until now, I had been faithfully updating on a weekly basis and this month really just got away from me.  Anyway, I am glad to be back :)  Today is Tuesday, June 3 and yesterday I was 10 months out!!!  I can't believe it.  I finished up all of my exams for the semester (although the professors each have 40 days to submit grades, so I am still waiting for the results) and the next day I went back to New York to be with my family and see some old friends.  As many of you already know, "Pa" passed away while I was home and that is why I was away from the boards for this past month.  It has been really hard, especially since I have always been extremely close with "Ma and Pa".  I spoke at his funeral and lots of people told me what a beautiful job I did.  I'm glad I was able to and I'm thankful that I was in New York when it happened.  This past Saturday would have been "Ma and Pa's" 61st wedding anniversary.  "Ma" is absolutely devastated without him and I hope that as time goes on, the pain will not hurt as much as it does right now.  Despite the circumstances, it was very nice seeing my family and some friends back in NY and I ended my time away from Boston at the Spring PA Pilgrimage in Lancaster (which I learned this weekend from some of the natives, is actually pronounced with the emphasis on the 3rd syllable, not the 1st!).  Laureen was kind enough to pick me up in Philadelphia on Thursday, take me to my 9-month follow-up appointment at Barix, and invite me to stay at her house in Maple Shade Thursday evening.  My follow-up appointment went well and as always, it is so nice to see Dr. Pupkova and all the wonderful people at Barix.  Back at Laureen's house on Thursday, we had fun with Dillinger, Kevin and the Diane's and I made a cute sign for us to hang on the door of our room in the Lancaster hotel.  Friday morning, we drove to Philly to meet up with Arlene and Eileen and then the 4 of us headed off together to Lancaster (the "eens" and Me!)  We had a wonderful time at the PA Pilgrimage on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then it was time to say goodbye to the "eens" when they dropped me off at the airport in Philly for me to head back.  I actually wound up flying into Providence instead of into Boston because there was an enormous price difference (about $450!!!) and Adam was nice enough to pick me up all the way in Providence, which was about an hour and fifteen minutes each way.  Before we headed back to Boston, we stopped to see his friend Carolynn and her husband Justin in Providence, since he doesn't get to see them very often.  They had us over for a BBQ and we had a really nice evening.  We didn't wind up getting back into Boston until close to midnight so I was pretty tired, but it was a tremendous weekend!!!  Again, I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written and it's very nice to be back! :)