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Surgeon Testimonial Timothy Monson, M.D. Th first time I met Dr. Monson was at the informational meeting I attended at Merit Care - he seemed very knowledgeable and experienced and I liked the fact that he was biased toward RNY Gastric Bypass as the best chance for success. He a bit of a quiet attitude and confidence that assured me. When my wife and I visited with him for my initial surgeon visit it was rather routine and thorough. He gave all the information I needed, answered all the questions - wasn't at all flashy or evasive on anything and when we left we were not like in awe or anything, we both just felt very good about who was going to do this surgery. Have a visit with him tomorrow - we'll see how I feel about him after that! 12/31/09 Member Interests
Latest Surgery Support Comments
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 to go to my Goal since Surgery on Jan 18, 2010   since I started pre-op diet on Nov 30, 2009
My Story Hi there - it is Wednesday November 18th and I will be meeting with my Surgeon Dr. Monson in Fargo in less than 24 hours from right now. I am 36 years old and live in Vergas Minnesota, a tiny little town about an hour or so from Fargo North Dakota but in the heart of the lake country of MN. I have a beautiful wife Shari who has put up with me for over 11 years and we have 4 wonderful boys; Isaac (8), Jackson (5), Peter (3), and Samuel (1 1/2). I weigh today about 350lbs give or take a couple and depending on the scale I am on. I have been overweight since I can remember. I remember being in T-ball and having a different shirt than the other kids cause I was too big for the same shirts they were wearing. I remember being teased all the time as a kid, my neighbors nicknamed me "bubba" which I never liked but put up with. I was always shy and never had too many friends. . I remember in 5th grade walking home from school one day, which normally wouldn't be a big deal but we lived 3 miles from school and I was supposed to ride the bus. I walked home crying one day because I hated myself because of my wieght and thought that by walking home I could lose weight. The sad part of it was that I got in trouble, and my cry for help was ignored because I scared my parents. My family moved to Minnesota from Michigan after that 5th grade year and we lived in town. I loved it - I had a paper route, played baseball, walked to school, and really enjoyed life. But I still was fat. I remember 6th grade social studies one day when I went to class and sat down, the chair busted underneath me. How embarrasing. I had my first crush, Christine Carlson - but she would never ever think of me, even though we sat next to each other in band every day and we talked all the time. I was not attractive, I was fat. Before I could finish 6th grade my family moved to northern MN and bought a resort way back in the sticks. I had to make new friends with only 3 weeks of school left. It was hard, made more difficult when no one really wants to get to know you. I struggled to make friends. Through Junior high and most of high school I was still overweight, I remember having a hard time finding Marching Band uniforms that would fit. I remember when I went out for football, they didn't have a jersey for me so I wore this old Florida Gators Jersey I got when my family went to Florida for a vacation. It seemed I never fit in anything for a long time. It was my Junoir Year of HS that I met my best friend. Matt didn't care what I looked like or anything - we just hung out and played music and sort of avoided other people together. I decided that I was going to ask someone to the prom - Kim - and was going to work really hard on getting in better shape. AFter Christmas that year I weighed 255 lbs and by prom I weighed 220 or so. I worked really hard - but prom sucked. Then Matt graduated and I felt so alone. After that I simply worked on school and exercise. I lifted weights every day, ran, and by the beginning of Football camp the summer of my Senior Year I weighed in at 190lbs. 10 pounds more than I weighed when I was in 5th grade. I felt great, I could do so many things - then something happened. People started talking to me. After football season some guys aksed me to be Basketball manager (which I did), and 2 days later the wrestling coach asked me to be in wrestling (which I did not!) and I was invited to my first party ever, and it just seemed like a whole new life opened up for me. I was the same person - I just looked different. And I then blosomed! I found my voice - I was no longer the shy guy, I sang in the choir, I announced the opening line up at Basketball games. I went to prom and had a blast with a very pretty girl - but we were friends which made it so easy and fun. Then I graduated. I went off to college a new person. But what I did not know was that because I was working so much, and going to class, and eating that good dining service food (really, the food at Concordia Moorhead was excellent!) I was slowly gaining what I worked so hard to lose back, and quickly. MY sophomore year I was back to 220. By the time I graduated I was 250lbs again. My first job after graduation saw me weigh in at 265 lbs and I was able to maintain that through some rough changes. I work in the church and it is not always the most benifical place to work and stay healthy. I sit a lot and of course churhes always have food of some sort around - my weight jumped to 275 in 2 years. When Shari and I got married I lost 5 lbs and was 270 at our wedding. I did not feel great but I did not feel horrible. I was so happy Shari loved me for me but I really wanted to lose wight and try and get back to my late HS weight, when I felt the best ever. We moved back closer to home in 2000 and then had our first child Isaac in 2001. I was active as could be and kept close to 270 but it seemed like it was a constant battle. By the time our 3rd child was born I had crept up to 300 and then things began to get so stressful at church. It didn;t take long to be 320 and then in a short while I was 346lbs. Almost 2 years ago I got into a weight loss study - done by Pfizer drug company - where I took medication and had to meet with a dietician and also a mental health person and they kept track of my progress. Through work with them I managed to drop to 300 . I then had a series of back problems and then ballooned back up to 340 even to 360 at one point. It has been a year since the study now and I pretty much have been between 340-and 350lbs. At the end of my study the doctor asked if I had thought about Weight loss surgery and I was pretty quick to say I was not too interested, although I had thought of it in the past. I felt that by going the surgery route it was an admission of defeat or perhaps taking the easy way out - or maybe even worse it would be giving up forever the things I loved so much - food. Well this past summer was very frustrating for me as another diet attempt, actually never really got going, failed. I decided in September I would investigate - just get info on the Gastric Bypass surgery. So I went to a meeting, told my wife I was going to a weight loss class. I sat and listed to the info and left with the real knowledge that this was the route my life needed to head in order to be a healthy whole person I want to be. I left with a strong desire to do this for ME. Yes my kids will benefit, yes I will enjoy things in life more, yes people will view me differently - but I want to be healthy, I want to run and not be winded, I want to look at a challenge and not decide on whether or not to do it because I am to big, I want to have clothes that fit, I want to have a closer relationship with my wife on all levels!! ! I want to do this for me!!!! Everything else is just gravy! So what is the next chapter - well tomorrow is going to be an awesome day!!! We'll see what happens! Blessings, Chris |
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