Blog

Hello again.

It’s been a while since I posted anything of consequence. If you’re subscribed to my RSS feed, you may have noticed a few new short posts were added. In my absence here, I published a few entries on a wordpress.com site. From now on, I plan to keep everything in one central location.

So where have I been? Tomorrow marks exactly one month since I had gastric bypass surgery. I’m happy I went through with it, but I’ve got a very long road ahead of me.

I started my journey at my highest weight ever: 532 lbs. Over the course of six months I attended support group meetings, met with a nutritionist, and met with my primary care physician as I participated in a medically supervised diet. After six months, I lost around 20 pounds. Truth be told, I probably lost the same 20 pounds several times.

On March 11th, I weighed in at 519 lbs. My BMI was at exactly 60% putting me into high risk territory for blood clots in my legs. My surgeon advised me to try to lose more, and I did.

By 3/11 I was down to 511 lbs. Since then I’ve lost 42 pounds. Overall I’ve lost 57 pounds, but this is just the beginning. With gastric bypass, patients can expect to lose 60-80% of their excess weight. For me, this could potentially put me around 250-300lbs after the first year.

Getting smaller, getting healthier means the world to me. I’ve struggled with every diet I’ve ever been on. This is the first time I can honestly say I don’t feel hungry. I don’t feel like a slave to food anymore. I want to be around for my wife and for my son. I want to be around for Emily, the daughter Kim and I are expecting in the next couple of weeks. I want to be around for my friends and family. Some may view the decision to have this type of surgery as taking the easy way out. That couldn’t further from the truth.

I can only eat a fraction of what I used to. I have to thoroughly chew my food to a mush-like consistency so my body can absorb it better. If I eat too much or too fast, I can make myself sick. If I eat or drink something with too much sugar in it, I can trigger something called “dumping”. I have to take quite a few vitamins daily to make up for my malabsorption. I must have at least 60g of protein daily.

It’s not easy. Slacking on any of these things could get me incredibly sick. Sticking with the plan is worth it. I’m worth it.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/21027992 w=430&h=323]

I recorded this video on March 9th, but neglected to post it here until now. I kind of wish I had taken the time to document more of what I was going through at the time, but hopefully the video’s enough for now.

Well, a tentative surgery date, anyhow.

I met with Lisa, my patient advocate, on Tuesday and assuming I can complete my doctor supervised diet on March 1st – and there are no hangups with insurance – I’ll have WLS on March 23. I’m excited and nervous. Now I just need to make up my mind whether I’ll have gastric bypass or a duodenal switch.

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/15802526]

A few thoughts while I was on my way to meet with a dietician for the first time. Pardon my rambling.