donnyj53

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I had my  revision surgery yesterday May 4th, 2011. Everything went great. I had no nausea or pain after the surgery. My only complication was that I couldn't pee. The nurse had to put a caphiter in to drain my bladder and then everything was fine afterward. I upper GI was very distastful...literaly. Because of the liquid diet I have already lost 8 lbs.

On May 4th, 2011 I will be undergoing a new surgery. I believe this is called a StomaphyX and it is done through Endoscopic Surgery.  This means that there will be no incisions on the outside. This one is designed for patients that have stomach pouches that have enlargened since surgery. I originally had my surgery on August of 2007 and I've gained about 40 lbs. This surgery will help me to feel full longer therefore eating less. Past patients have lost 35 lbs in two monthes. I'm hoping this will work for me.

My best advise is to not overeat and to watch portions. Stay away from hot pockets. They can pack on the weight fast. 

Well, it's been a year since my surgery. I have lost 136 lbs since the surgery. I'm a 34-36 inch waist and between a medium to large shirt. I feel great. The only set back was my hernia repair will needto be redone. I have this scheduled for Oct. 22nd. I think that having my hernia repaired at 324 lbs was a bad idea. The excess weight was too much for it.  

Well, it's the 20th of April ond I've reached my waist goal of 36 inches. I've also am down to large size shirts. I hope this stops soon. I'm also down to 207 lbs with only 7 lbs to go to reach me target weight of 200 lbs. I'm guessing that after I have the plastic surgury I will be down to about 180 lbs. 

I am now down to 212 lbs and I am a 38 waist and wear XL shirts (17-17.5). My goal is still 200 lbs. That is a total of 112 lb weight loss since my August 2007 surgery.

   For a long time now I have been needing to get my teeth done. Well, the day after Christmas I finally did it. I had my upper teeth pulled (nine in all) and one lower pulled. I have an upper denture and when financing allows I will be getting a partial for the lower. I will have pictures later as there is much bruising but I noticed this morning thatit is finally starting to fade. 
   My weight is down to 244 lbs today. I wear a size 40 pant and XL shirts. That's an 80 lb WL since my Aug. 22, 2007 surgery. I will admit that the dentures did contribute to a little of this. I have to learn how to eat and talk again.

I am now working 10 hour shifts during the week and 7 hours on Saturday for a total of 57 hours weekly. My feet are doing great. At the end of the day they hurt very little or not at all. At the time I am down to 275 lbs and have dropped to a size 42 waist. I also dropped from 3X shirts to 2X. Ain't life great.

On October 8th, 2007 I went back to my old job after being laid-off because I was too big to do my work. The first week was a little rough as my feet weren't used to stand on an eight hour shift. I also wear a pair of steel toe shoes that were a little too narrow. I replaced the shoes and by the third week I could stand the eight hour shift OK. Tomorrow, Oct. 31, I will be starting a ten hour shift. That's would be from 5am to 3:30pm. I'm drinking about a half gallon of water while working so I think I won't have any problem with hydration.

   This is a report about what it's been like for me after surgery.

   The first seven days were at the Pittsburgh VAMC hospital. Most of that time after surgery and after I was discharged from ICU I for the most part had the run of the hospital meaning I could walk the halls and go where I needed. I did quiet a bit of walking around these seven days to help regain my stanima and strengthen my legs.
    After I arrived home on the seventh day (a two and a half hour drive from Pittsburgh to Erie, PA) I started walking. I went almost a quarter mile before an area around my navel started giving me a little pain from the hernia part of my operation. At this point I called it quites for the day.
    On the eighth day after surgery I repeated what I had done on day seven with the same result.
    On the nineth day I repeated what I had done earlier but I went i full quarter mile before any Pain started.
    On the tenth day the I went the quarter mile with no decernable pain and since we had an exceptionally beautiful day I decided a little while later in the day to try another half mile. Guess what, no pain and I was only mildly winded.
    On the eleventh day I walked the equivalant of one mile and I feal only slightly tired. I tell ya, I FEAL GREAT.

 

   On the evening of day four I was discharged from ICU. This would mean I would me going to Hoptel. Hoptel is like a hotel inside the hospital that doesn't have a nursing staff. You are only released to Hoptel if you are able to take care of yourself or live over an hours drive away. Vets also stay here the night before thier surgery. This way they can get any testing done before surgery.
   Hoptel rooms each have a color TV, a bath, a phone, a  place to lock your clothes (if semi-private), and hospital type bed. Entering a room id done using a special key card. Meals are delivered to the dining room. There is a lounge area with a large screen TV and there is a laundry room.
   Some of the things that were required of me to do was the change my JP drain dressing daily, drain and measure the amount of fluid in the JP drain buld 3x per day, and give myself a Heprin shot in my stomach every 12 hours. This Heprin shot is not painful at all. It seems there are hardly any nerve ending in the abdomal.
   On the 8th day (Tuesday) I had an appointment with the Bariatric Coordinator to get weighted, take another metabolic rate test, sign pappers, take a small survey and to remove the JP drain. This is a strange feeling to be sure but not nearly as strange as when then removed the caphiter from my penis.This last item was put in during the surgery and removed before discharge from ICU. I also needed to talk to the nutritionist to talk over my future diet.
   After I had completed all of this I was ready to go home to start my new life in Erie, PA.