ObesityHelp

Today has been One year and a day, since I have had my surgery!  I have lost 116 pounds since the surgery.  I feel MUCH BETTER, and am no longer a diabetic.  My last long term diabetes test was 5.  Anything over 7 is considered a diabetic.  The test checks for the blood sugar levels over a 3 month period.  My physicians are astounded, and have changed their mind about Weight Loss Surgery.  They were all against my having this procedure done BEFORE I had it, and NOW some are suggesting it for their OTHER obese patients!  Every time I walk into my doctor's office, I am peppered with questions by both the doctors, and their assistants about the procedure.  Of course, I have nothing but good things to say about the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy.  The last few months of weight loss have been slow, of course, but that has been because of the lowered thyroid hormone levels.  My doctor lowered my dose of thyroid medication because it was too high, and the more weight that I lost, the higher it got.  He could not keep up with the weight loss, and dropped the medication too much to try to get ahead of the weight loss.  Unfortunately, he dropped the medication too far, and caused a stall that lasted for about 6 months as he gradually increased the dosage.  I got tired of the rate of increase, and increased it, myself until I began to lose weight again. 

I found this article on line today.  It is concerning the efficacy of bariatric surgery on the average patient's health.  It is a fairly interesting read, although it is targeted at the average reader's level of comprehension, and does not get technical. 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/publicsite/news/view.aspx?id=618684&xid=nl_EverydayHealthHealthyAging_20081217

Today I woke up and I hit the scale and I hit the 100 pound mark!  I was SOAKING WET and right out of the SHOWER!  I am SO EXCITED!  I am now down to 249.  It has only been 5 months and 15 days since my surgery!  Thank GOD and my lovely WIFE that I have HAD this surgery.  I am just GRATEFUL that I went THROUGH with it and did not back out at the last minute like so many people I have heard of.  While I was somewhat trepidacious, I also knew that obesity WAS going to kill me EVENTUALLY.  It was BETTER to DIE TRYING to regain my health than to SUCCUMB to the eventual CERTAINTY that was the MISERY that I was facing with OBESITY.  I now have a CHANCE at a near normal life.  I did not HAVE that before!   All of this in only 5 and a HALF months!  It is AMAZING! 

I saw an interesting article in yesterday's paper that I thought I would share with everyone about a new procedure that is being cooked up for weight loss.  It seems to be basically a pacemaker type device that tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full.  I figured that I would share this with folks.  The link to the article is here:  http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/23610179.html?location_refer=Health%20+%20Wellness:highlightModules:3  .

It has been some time since I have posted to my blog and I just wanted to assure people that I AM alive.  I have been QUITE busy of late.  As of TODAY, July 15, 2008, I have lost 89 pounds since my surgery on March 1, 2008.  have been MUCH more active lately being able to actually move about without the debilitating pain I had been suffering from while carrying the extra weight.  I have even fixed up my bicycle and have been riding with the kids some.  It is funny how the tires will go FLAT while you DON'T use it but seem to stay aired UP while you DO.  There is some kind of sermon about SOMETHING concerning neglect there. 

I have been promising some folks a study about some information that I have been looking at regarding Aspartame.  I suffer from MIGRAINES.  It appears that I am unusually SENSITIVE.  This is NOT unusual for ME, since I seem to be unusual in MOST things!  I am fond of saying, "The only thing NORMAL on me is my HAT size."  It is almost a guarantee that if I go to see the doctor about something, he is going to tell me that SOME portion of my anatomy is abnormal in SOME way.  The pulse in my foot is found in a different place than where it normally should be.  The vein in my arm runs in a different direction than most people's and it is difficult for phlebotomists to draw blood unless they KNOW this.  My stomach was twice as large as normal (empty) when it was removed which means that it could hold THREE TIMES the volume of food that a NORMAL stomach would.  The list can go on.  I can't.  Unfortunately, this month has found me hit with the double whammy of being hit with computer troubles ( I have THREE computers down at home--YES, THREE--We DON'T share well) and pretty much CONSTANT severe migraines, PROBABLY brought on in PART by the computer problems (staring at the SCREEN all day trying to fix the damned things may be triggering them) and a possible SINUS infection.  The SHORT of this story is that I AM working on the Aspartame research. 

It seems that Aspartame is a Migraine trigger for me.  While I do not have the time to go into all of the details NOW, I do promise that as soon as I get things sorted out with all three of my main computers (I actually have more than a dozen--most I do NOT use but I keep trying to SELL them or give them to folks who could use them--Seems that NO-ONE wants an 8088 anymore--Go figure)  ;-) I will get the research and MY conclusions on what I found and what it means for the weight loss community as a WHOLE posted.  In the meantime, for those who come looking for the information that I had promised:  I ask that you be patient.  I am sorry but it was only due to my OWN quick thinking that I was even ABLE to save the information on DISK before I had to wipe my hard drive.  I now have to RESTORE my hard drive to FIND that information before I can even RESUME the research.  That is to be done AFTER I repair my computer.  I had a big fat drop of WATER from a leak in the roof land RIGHT SMACK DAB in the CENTER of my KEYBOARD on my little laptop!  I now have to replace the motherboard. 

I curse the former owner of this house on a regular basis.  He fancied himself a handyman.  I will admit, and READILY, that he was GREAT with woodwork.  There are some wonderful cabinets in the house made out of common plywood.  He was TERRIBLE with engineering, design, basic carpentry, plumbing and electrical!  He added an extra room onto the back of the house; what is called a "Texas Room" in these parts and is essentially an enclosed back porch.  He then added a NEW back porch.  To COVER all of this, he stretched the back roof by tying into the back of the roof on the house.  Instead of going to the PEAK of the house, at the main part of the house, he went to the peak of the attached garage and "Mother in Law's room" which then tied the back roof to the MIDDLE of the slope on the back of the house.  This leaves the back roof with a split pitch with PART of the roof at a 45 degree angle (which is something like a 9/12 pitch) and part of the roof  has a 3/12 pitch.  What the 9/12 and 3 /12 pitch MEANS for those that don't know, is that for every LINEAR LEVEL foot of roof traveled, the roof DROPS so many INCHES.  It is easily MEASURED by taking a LEVEL and a RULER or tape measure to your roof and measuring a foot out on the level while it is at level with one end resting on the roof and at the one foot mark, using the ruler or tape measure to find out how many inches the roof drops from level.  To be truly accurate, you would need to use a plumb bob, but these are just ROUGH estimates and good enough for my purposes at the moment.  Putting a roof on the house isn't exactly ROCKET science, for crying out loud.  A 3/12 pitch is TOO SHALLOW for a shingle roof.  It is too shallow for most METAL roofs.  It is ALMOST a FLAT roof.  A roof like that requires a SPECIAL type of METAL roof or a MEMBRANE roof.  The IDIOT who built the addition, put on SHINGLES!  When we BOUGHT the house, the roof was leaking like a sieve!  One of the conditions of our MORTGAGE was that we had to RE-ROOF the house!  I knew THEN that I need to do something OTHER than shingles, but I didn't have the MONEY to do the job RIGHT, so I did the BEST  damned shingling job I could.  It has lasted 8 years.  That was longer than  I expected.  NOW, I need to go BACK UP on the roof and do it RIGHT.  I would LOVE to do it in METAL!  I may be forced to do it in MEMBRANE.  It is HARD to find the right kind of metal roof where I live for the shallow pitch of this roof.  I don't think my wife will let me take the roof OFF of the house and REDO the WHOLE THING!  We could even add some attic ROOMS in the house by adding some room to the PEAK!  I don't think I can sell THAT job, though.  Alas, my cup is half empty.  ;-)  Oh, yeah, As I sit here banging away at my little damaged laptop using a USB Keyboard so that I can type this, I sit UNDER an umbrella that rests on some EAVES in my Great Texas Room where my laptop Lies at State.  I have purchased a motherboard from eBay to replace the damaged one and await it's arrival with baited breath.  In the MEANTIME, I am taking NO CHANCES!  I am PROTECTED from stray drops of falling water!

 

Intil I I can come back again, Have fun, Be patient, and EAT HEALTHY!

 

Hugh