Gavin H.

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Hi All!

Hope you are all doing well, and woohoo it is Friday and Payday!! Only 6 more days till Christmas... And its cold outside!! What could be better? :)  

As of this morning I have lost 25 pounds!!! It has been a week since I last ate a real meal and I have been living on water, coffee( a little), sugar free Jell-O (yum yum), soup broth (Ya you got it, you warm a can of soup and strain it to get just the broth out), sugar free popsicles and Pepcid AC twice a day!  That is < 200 calories a day!  For the last 7 days!!!!   

I am felling great, a lot better than I thought I would that's for sure and get to start "soft" foods tomorrow! Welcome to being a baby! LOL Stage 1 I think, it is for you parents... lol   

I don't see a change yet but my ring is starting to get lose and slide off my finger so I must be losing something!  I am looking forward to putting on my work slacks on the 29th and seeing how they fit!  This is the first time in my life that I have enjoyed getting on the scale in the morning!! My once mortal enemy is now my best friend!  I am sure it will be a love/hate thing with the scale at some point but for now we are on our honeymoon and I am loving the thing!  

I hope you all have a great weekend and I will update you Monday after I go to my first, of many, post-ops at the surgeons office.  

Best,
Gavin

Hi all...
  Today is day 4 since my surgery.. I am off all pain meds, I have lost 19 pounds and my high blood press is gone and I am off the BP meds. 
My surgical areas are bruising a little, but there has been no discharge and I have been able to shower with no problems.  I am still on only liquids so my diet has been mostly water, about 96 oz a day.  Some Jell-O, soup broth and sugar free popsicles.   Pretty boring but I am never hungry so it is ok.  I got the ok yesterday to have one cup of regular coffee per day!! WOOHOOO The caffeine headaches were just starting yesterday and one cup fixed that within 20 min.
I have been walking a lot and today was able to vacuum the house... So over all I am feeling pretty good.. I get very tired after I do stuff and have to rest a little but they said that should go away in a week or so..  I got the OK to move to "soft" foods starting Saturday!! Woohooo Hard boiled eggs and mashed potatoes here I come!!! Get this! My meal size, for now, will be 4 tsp to 1/4 cup!  Per meal!! And I am not to eat more than 1/4 cup per meal.  I don't see that it will be a problem as I am never hungry.  Last night I had some soup broth and couldn't even finish it all, about a cup. 
I will keep you guys posted.... thanks for all your support and thoughts, it means a lot to me!!   Gavin

Well my surgery came off without a hitch! I was in the OR for about 2 hours, looks like I had a hernia as well that they fixed. I started walking within two hours and was walking most that day and night. 
I got discharged at 10AM the next morning and came home. Was a little tired since I didn’t sleep at the hospital for more than a hour at a time so I crashed as was out all night. Got up at 6:45AM this morning and made my girls their breakfast, then took a shower and went for a walk.  I feel really good right now, on very little pain meds and drinking lots of water and eating jello! I just had Starbucks, I needed a coffee bad, and it tasted so good, even for decaf! 
I have lost 10 pounds since Friday.. I assume most of it is water weight, but was still nice to get on the scale this morning after my shower and see 290… I am on my way!!
  I posed a pic of my belly to show my incisions…
I will post again soon, but wanted to let all my friends know that I am doing good and to thank you all for your support!
Gavin

Today is the last day of my old life. So far it has been pretty normal… Got up, got my girls their breakfast, came to work, had my coffee with my friends and did some work. I have to go pick up my meds after work and pack a few things to take with me… My own pillow, my iPod and my tooth brush and I will be all set for my morning surgery.

I was told I needed to shower in the morning, then wait an hour and put this stuff on my skin that is supposed to help kill germs. Then wait for it to dry and get dressed and go in. Man I gotta get up early for all that, if I sleep at all tonight. Didn’t sleep much last night, and not really sure why, I guess I must be more nervous about this than I thought. I did have a dream that I was in the recovery room and it really felt real, so that helps take some of the stress off.

I am on liquids only today, and since it is just about lunch time as I write this I am getting hungry, but I know that feeling will be gone soon. At least I didn’t have to be on liquids for weeks like some people, I am very thankful for that!! The pre-op was easy yesterday, some blood work, weight, BP, EKG and chest x-ray…  I am all ready to go in, just bring my CPAP and my smile and do it to it….

I took some before pics last night, ICKY!!! I am going to post them, but they are disgusting to me.. The only reason they are up is so I can see the change in the coming months and I know I am not going to look this disgusting for much longer. I just hope I don’t get left with lots-o-skin!

Current Measurements:
Weight: 301
Chest: 54"
Wasit: 55"
Hips: 51.5"
Upper-Arm: 19"
Thigh: 29"
Neck: 22"

See you all on the other side! I will post as soon as I am able!
Gavin

Well my dad went in for his surgery this morning at 8 AM and was done around noon. They said it went well and he should do fine. They are going to test his lymph nodes to make sure they are clear before the decide on chemo or radiation. I will keep you posted but he should be home tomorrow afternoon. 

As for me, I am exactly 10 days out today, was called by the surgeon’s office to remind me no aspirin from here on out, and to only have liquids for 24 hours before…. I can not have anything after midnight on the 13^th and must take my meds the morning of with just a sip of water. 

Taking the family to Disneyland this weekend to relax and have some fun before my surgery. It is my favorite place on the planet and I can’t wait to go there again when I am skinny!!! WOOHOOO!  

Talk to you all later..
Gavin

Well my surgeon called today and asked if they could change the date of my surgery! I guess they have an emergency to deal with on my date and need to clear the whole day so they asked if I could do it two days earlier! So now I get to have my RNY done on Saturday, December 13! Guess that is two less days to stress about and I should be able to see my daughters Christmas program at school that is the night of my original surgery date so it works out great!!

Well my dad had a brain scan and they found nothing in the brain, not even a brain apparently since he has been smoking since he was 13, and they have set a date for his surgery on December 3^rd... Yep, a little over a week before mine… He said they were going to do an entire body scan this week to make sure he is clean everywhere else. Told him that they would take approximately 1/3 of his right lung and he should be in the hospital one night. So it seems his luck continues, 3 heart attacks and 1 lung cancer scare and still kicking. He is trying very hard to quit smoking now and me being an ex-smoker, I know just how hard it is…   I have a little over a month to go until my RNY and I am getting a little nervous. I am reading everything I can get my hands on and planning how my life will be for the next year and forever. I am both excited and scared but I know I am doing the right thing for myself and my family. I am meeting more and more people at work that have had RNY with my surgeon so that is helping as well. I also went to my first support group meeting a week ago and enjoyed meeting those people as well… So “normal” size clothes here I come, ready or not!

Of course good news can’t happen without getting some bad news as well… Shortly after getting my date this morning I found out my dad has lung cancer and they are talking about taking out half of his right lung. They want to do a brain scan to make sure it isn’t in his brain before since it would be a waste of time if it is. So I get my good news about getting a date and I get bad news about my dad… Both my parents are in bad health and I told them both they need to stay alive long enough to see me thin! Gotta love the way life works don’t ya?

The date is set... I go in Monday December 15th at 9AM..... 
Look out new clothes here I come.. and think of all the money I am going to save on Christmas Dinner! :)

Well I heard from the surgeon’s office today, they left a voicemail on my cell phone wanting to schedule my surgery. I guess that means my insurance has approved it in less than a week!!! So tomorrow I will be calling to schedule it and now I am getting nervous.. I will keep you posted.