- Name: Nick P.
- Username: blodnick
- Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA
- Member Since: 5/30/2007
- BMI: 24.2
- Consult w/Surgeon Scheduled
- Surgery Type: RNY (07/30/07)
- Surgeon: M. Whitney Parnell
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Goals
39 People in progress, 13 People achieved this |
22 People in progress, 6 People achieved this |
1 Person in progress, 0 People achieved this |
215 People in progress, 117 People achieved this |
53 People in progress, 17 People achieved this |
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Surgeon TestimonialM. Whitney ParnellSo far so good. She was not the surgeon recommended to me, but so far I am alright. Time will tell :) |
Journey update on May 5, 2008 6:15 pm
Hi Rob!
For me, the decision was a long time coming. I had two cousins who went thru the surgery, and I saw their lives completely change for the better within a year. Then a family friend died at the age of 40 when I was on the fence about doing the surgery. He was a big man, and it scared me straight.
I had one minor complication. About 5 days after surgery I had a sharp pain in my rib cage. It would go away and then I would come back to it. Eventually it got too painful so I went to the ER. Luckily the nurse that saw me had RNY just a few years before and knew that my drain had somehow wandered into a place it shouldn't have been. She just took it out a day early and the pain was all gone.
All in all my surgery went great. The nursing staff was great, and they made me walk walk walk just as often as I could. I had my mom fly out to hang out with me for the first week, and it was much needed. It wasn't that I was incapable, just uncomfortable.
I had never had surgery before, so I was pretty nervous...especially about anesthesia. When I got there the morning of my surgery I was just trying to stay composed. they put some tubes in my arm, then the drug guy showed up and wheeled me to the operating room. I hopped up on the table and he said he was putting some oxygen on my face.........3 hours later I woke up in another room. It was that simple. you will be nervous beforehand, but believe me you will have nooooo idea what happened.
As for what I could pass along. First thing I would suggest you have already started to do. Research research research. Read this board, read everything you can. You must be prepared after surgery for what you are getting yourself into. Throw out all of your food right before you go in and only restock with foods you know you can have post surgery. I was not hungry in the least for 3 months, but I did have CRAVINGS! Also, find a support group in your area. Your friends and family will be supportive, but only people who have had it done will understand...and you will NEED that because your life is about to change soooo dramatically I can't even begin to tell you.
Positives:
energy out the wazoo
those airline seats are roomy!
being noticed by the ladies
my shirt stays tucked in now....sun up to sun down
I love being in photos!
I have girls who like to lunch with me just because we can pick on one plate
I bought a bike! An honest to god bike and use it all the time!
No more sleep apnea. I sleep like a baby now, every night.
General health - everything about me feels better and looks better
For the first time in my life, I am looking forward to summer. Biking/Fishing/Camping. I want to do it all.
My confidence level has soared. It is amazing.
Jealous coworkers. Nothing pisses off a coworker like being the fat guy who passes them.
Cons:
Skinny butt syndrome. That thing gets sore quick!
Give up on trying to drink a glass of wine and not getting drunk. It hits me like a freight train every time.
Set aside some cash for some clothes. It takes a little while, then its like a rushing river of trying to keep up. Believe me, its a good problem to have, but one you should be aware of.
I am so excited for you to begin this amazing journey. I am only 9 months out, and I know there is a long road ahead of me, but for the first time in my life I feel like it is a road where I can take the wheel. Good luck!!!!!
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One Week To Go! on July 22, 2007 10:29 am
Well, just one week before I get my guts chopped up! I am trying to prep as much as I can now. Get everything cleaned, and get rid of the food I shall not eat again...well for quite awhile anyway.
This weekend I had my Goodbye Party for my belly. I ate a beautiful big ribeye and then I went to my favorite restaurant in the world to enjoy an amazing dinner. Then I drank as many mojitos as I could stomach. It was fabulous, and now I am ready.
Can't wait!
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One Week To Go ! on July 22, 2007 10:26 am
Well, just one week before I get my guts chopped up! I am trying to prep as much as I can now. Get everything cleaned, and get rid of the food I shall not eat again...well for quite awhile anyway.
This weekend I had my Goodbye Party for my belly. I ate a beautiful big ribeye and then I went to my favorite restaurant in the world to enjoy an amazing dinner. Then I drank as many mojitos as I could stomach. It was fabulous, and now I am ready.
Can't wait!
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Approved! on June 27, 2007 5:51 pm
Approved!!!! It has been a long road to get here, but today I found out that I am approved and set my surgery date and everything! I had to prove that I was overweight for most of my life at the last minute. I ended up making an excel spreadsheet and a graph to go with it just to see if the overboard route would work. 2 hours after they got it I was approved!
Now a class and some more labs and another meeting with my surgeon and I am all set to go. In the end it will cost me about $1500 more than I had anticipated, but I reckon that dollar for dollar there is no better investment I can make!
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One Week To Go ! on December 31, 1969 4:00 pm
Well, just one week before I get my guts chopped up! I am trying to prep as much as I can now. Get everything cleaned, and get rid of the food I shall not eat again...well for quite awhile anyway.
This weekend I had my Goodbye Party for my belly. I ate a beautiful big ribeye and then I went to my favorite restaurant in the world to enjoy an amazing dinner. Then I drank as many mojitos as I could stomach. It was fabulous, and now I am ready.
Can't wait!
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My Story
Hi!
You may know me as Nick, or you may not know me at all. I want to give you some background.
I was born in 1981. I was a fairly normal active kid until about 2nd grade. It was about that time that my eating started to outpace my playing. At the time my parents were struggling thru a rotten relationship, and I was starting to learn I was miserable at athletics, but very good at academics.
I tried athletics my entire childhood. Everything I tried outside of Tennis was an embarrassing failure. The only time I ever got on base when I played baseball was when I got hit by the ball. I found myself dreading the game, but I would go anyway, cuz win or lose we got candy at the end. Like most kids I did soccer as well. My claim to fame was being the guy in the back who would jump over the ball to get away from it rather than kick it. Again, it was the oranges at halftime that kept me coming back.
In gradeschool I was not only the fat kid, but the smelly one as well. My parents decided to go to college, and we were very poor. To no fault of my mother, I was lazy and not at all hygenic. I went through some pretty serious times being made fun of at school, but made up for it with being smart and witty, which has kept me going even now. Since we were poor we ate "poor food". Tons of pasta and ramen noodles with the occasional 99cent Totino's party pizza.
6th grade was about where I lost it. I could not wear jeans and my family could not afford to keep buying larger jeans for me. I wore sweatpants...everyday. I was THAT kid. There came a time where the sweatpants elastic band dug so deep into my skin that I would breakout in sores...at age 11.
When I went to junior high I was very large for a kid. I dove into more social outlets that did not involve athletics. I got into drama and choir, which found me friends and helped grow my personality. I also continued to gain weight, in large amounts. By 8th grade I weighed 220 pounds.
Highschool I found my niche as the funny fat guy. It is so stereotypical it isn't even funny anymore. I was quite popular and very involved in school. My academics and social life were at an all time high. I had a steady girlfriend that was gained on personality alone. I continued to gain weight, and was 260 by the time I went to college. I wore size 46 pants when I graduated that dug into my gut.
College is when I really lost control. Long nights of studying, and the discovery of alcohol propelled my weight to the point of no return. I, much like I do now, wore a vest to try and disguise all of my weight. My jeans had this problem of wearing out the crotch to holes in no time. I had the embarrassing task of asking my mother to sew them up to last me a bit longer. I wore clothes that barely fit me, and I found I could not find a hat that would go on my skull. When I left college I weighed 330 pounds.
Since college I have yo-yoed with different diets and various stopgap measures. I now weigh my lifetime high of 352 pounds and decided that enough was enough. I am currently preparing for Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. I spent a lot of time researching to come to this decision. I did not find many sites discussing what people went thru with this struggle, so I wanted to talk about what has happened to me, and what will continue to happen in the process.
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