Richard S.
March 28, 2005 Max Weight 383 lbs, BMI is 50.1 -- super obese
I have struggled against my weight problem since puberty. It has separated me from my classmates, made me feel awkward and ugly around girls, kept me slow at sports activities and embarrassed me with the clothes selections I had to make.
I have participated in Weight Watchers countless times, Weight Control Workshop, Nutra-System, a hospital sponsored liquid diet program, Overeaters Anonymous, Jenny Craig, hypnosis, prescription diet drugs and psychological counseling.
At different times in my life I have played football, swam, done aerobics regularly, jogged till I could run 10 kilometer races, bicycled 1200 miles a year and also across three states and I currently ski vigorously during the winter.
With all this effort and struggle I find it disheartening and misrepresenting to have my diabetes and weight problem called a “lifestyle choice.”
My grandmother, mother, two uncles and a younger brother developed the disease before me. I don’t see this situation as a matter of choice, just a matter of time.
22 March 2005 Asked my PCP for a referal for GBS. Got the approval for first visit from BCBS of IL HMO on 1 April.
18 April 2005 Met with Dr Batty to discuss the open GBS. I found him to be very aproachable and open about his experiance and the risks and lifestyle changes involved in the surgury. I felt very comfortable with him. He said to think about the whole process and when I was ready he could set it up. I told him that I had been studying for some time all ready and that I was ready to go ahead now. He is starting the ball rolling with my PCP.
11 May 2005 Got a call from the surgeon's office that the approval has been received. I still have to go thru the pre-op testing but we set a date of June 3. My biggest fear is that I will fail. That I will still over eat and that I will not take off the extra weight. One day at a time.
3 June is the big day.
4 June 05. My God, what have I done? The surgury was painfull. The morphine PCA helps but I feel so trapped with all the tubes attached.
They make you breath and walk which are good things. I keep having this recurring dream that all I have to do now is set my goal and select my prefered styles. How I get there will be determined by my internal software -- like a route planning program.
20 June 05. It's amazing how much better I feel after a couple of weeks. My staples are out and I have lost 36 pounds. I will try to go to work Wednsday.
27 June 05. Work was tougher that I expected, even for a desk job. I worked a half day wed and thur and took friday off. I would get dizzy and unable to concentrate and my diaphram would get sore. along with this I am still dealing with some seepage through the incision.
7 July 05. 40 pounds down today. I am off all my glucose control meds, off cholesteral meds, still taking BP meds but my pressure and pulse readings are much better. I am feeling much stronger and can walk 2 miles comfortably. I wear a pedometer to work and even though I have a desk job I get in about two miles just walking about the plant. I still try to do that much for cardio when I get home. Big WOW! I can see my feet when I walk down stairs!
12 July 05. My weight loss seems to have stalled for a while. I am still at 40 pounds off but I have gone down another notch on my belt, my resting pulse rate has dropped from 76 to 60, my BP this morning was 130/72 without meds for the last 4 days. Good things are happening but sometimes it gets hard to be patient about the weight numbers.
16 Aug 05. Down 52 pounds now, which is a steady 2 lb/week reduction. I can be happy with this. I find that I can eat just about anything but popcorn and deep fried foods with lots of breading. The hardest thing seems to be getting enough liquids in. I have found that the 64 oz target is low for my size and I should be getting in 120 oz. To do this I need to be constantly sipping. I need to get more exercise in but the fatigue before and the muscle aches and pains after just don't make it much fun. Maybe this is dehydration and part of my liquids problem.
29 Aug 05. Down 55 pounds now. Went to see Dr Batty for my 3 month checkup and boy, do I look healthy! In addition to the statistics above my total cholesterol is down to 178. My hdl is low at less than 30 and my triglycerides a little high at 176 but we will recheck in 6 months. My HbA1c is at 5.1 without meds, blood pressure and pulse are nominal. I do feel a little depression creeping in but more exercise and less procrastination on other commitments should help this. I had a long list of questions written down and he spent about a half hour with me.
I found a 6 week conditioning plan for snow skiing and I am ready to start on that. I still have some time before my big trips this winter but I am so looking forward to fitting into ski clothes I haven't worn in 8 years and keeping up with the "big dogs," skiing the slopes all day every day.
27 Sept 05 down 65 pounds so far. I have just started back at the gym with a personal trainer. He has had me doing a lot of pilates type exercises and I think I hate him (LOL) I feel like a limp noodle when I am done and am sore the next day but no pain, no gain as they always say. Hurt now or hurt later. After a couple of sessions it gets a little easier but he promises to up the intensity.
24 Oct 05: down 73 pounds -- 8 pounds since last report or 2 pounds per week. I have been working out twice a week with a trainer and at least once more on my own. I can feel muscles in my abdomin and I can do more exercises easier with less pain and I am not as exhausted after.
31 Oct 05: This last weekend I went thru the closet and had to pull out oversized clothes -- 4 pair of George Forman slacks, 3 pair of blue jeans, 2 pair of sweatpants, all of my XXXL t-shirts and polos and a really nice pair of cargo pants convertable into shorts. All my XXL t-shirts and polos are baggy but I'm not quite ready for the XL's. Today I am in morning for my lost wardrobe.
7 Nov 05: Last weekend I bought a new home digital scale and this morning I crossed the 300 pound barrier in my birthday suit - 299.6! The scale at work still shows 305 with clothes or down 76 pounds from original post.
6 Dec 05: Been at a plateau most of this month with only a 4 pound loss. Down a total of 82 pounds. Hunger is back as well as some of the old cravings. The best cure for these has been to do something from my to-do list. Last weekend I spent both days as far from the kitchen as I could and kept my hands busy and too dirty for food. The weight has started back off and I have found a new energy. Went to the surgeon for my six month checkup. He says I am doing very well. I have a bulge in my abdomen when I do a sit-up of leg-lift but he says it is not technically a hernia. I forget the name but apparently with my weight my ab muscles had spread apart and stretched some kind of lining. Not harmful but if it bothers me too much it cam be repaired laproscopicly.
9 Jan 2006: Happy New Year! Down a total of 93.5 pounds now. Went skiing in central Wisconsin last weekend and I had so many WOW! moments I had to make a list.
• Ski clothes fit. I went from 1 pair of (too tight) ski pants to 4 pair loose and comfortable. All my insulated underwear is no longer in danger of splitting out. I really should get a new coat as the one I have now is way big.
• Boots fit looser and are easier to buckle.
• More room on the chairlift.
• I can hike uphill with gear without getting winded.
• I can pick up dropped stuff from the snow without stepping out of the skis. I can also put my skis in the ski bag with it flat on the ground.
• I can ski longer with less fatigue
• Much less soreness on day two.
• I don’t sweat as much. In fact I need more skin protection, heavier clothes and gloves because I get colder now.
• My body weight has shifted and I needed to relearn my center of balance
• Without all the fat on my inner thighs my feet are closer together. I have to watch I don't over balance sideways.
• Falling down still sucks but getting up is easier.
• A Camelback is great for keeping hydrated but you have to watch how it sits against the back of the chairlift.
• Taking extra protein bars along is important for keeping energy up.
• Big farts filtered thru ski pants and released into crisp mountain air still stink.
• Just one Jagermeister shot with a small Wheat beer chaser apre ski, please. Oh, by the way, here are my car keys.
19 Jan 06: Down 97.6 pounds -- an outstanding weight loss period for me! The slowdown with what I think was Seasonal Affective Disorder over Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years seems to be broken. My workouts have literally picked up speed as I am now adding a little jogging to my treadmill workouts. My personal trainer program is about to end and I have not renewed for now. On his recommendation I have gotten a Polar F11 heart rate monitor and exercise program tracker. It seems silly but getting that trophy symbol on the monitor for making the weekly program feels fantastic. A nice WOW! this morning. I walked into my favorite coffee shop for a cup to go and one of the other regulars who I recognise but have never spoken to was in line. He says to me "You know, you have really lost a lot of weight." What could I say but "Thank You."
31 Jan 2006: 283 pounds in clothes -- down 100 pounds! Yeahh!
Actually jogged about 75% of a 2 3/4 mile treadmill workout. My speed was pitifully slow but that will improve with less weight and more training. Found a couple of 5K fun races in the area for April this year and I think I will aim to do them. That gives me another ten weeks to improve. Goal there is to finish without walking. If I can beat that the next goal is to do them at a 10 minute mile pace.
14 Feb 2006: 279 down 104.
3 Days Skiing at Durango Mt (formerly Purgatory)
Had a great time. They need more snow but what they had was fine packed powder. We did have to watch for grass, rocks and tree tips in some places but overall great cruising. I love all the dips and rolls as well as the tree runs. Facilities on the slopes were good with two lodges on the mountain. We couldn’t get over how friendly everyone was.
We stayed in Durango downtown. There were lots of restaurants, shops and live entertainment. We had our choice of blues, jazz, and country with improvisations.
**Food tip for leftovers – take some Ziploc sandwich bags. Slice your meat into bite size chunks and store in doubled up bags. If your hotel room does not have a refrigerator put the bagged food in the ice bucket and fill with ice. I took my leftovers on the hill in my fanny pack next day for a great lunch.
Big WOW for the trip. On day two, three of us found ourselves in a mogul field with no way out. I gave the other two pointers on how to get thru bumps and we did so in good shape. On day three these guys asked me to give them a bump lesson so we spent all morning in the moguls. Me, who last year couldn’t spend more than three hours a day on easy groomed runs, was leading two good intermediate skiers thru three hours of bumps without falling once. Then after lunch was able to ski another two hours on groomed cruisers when my knees finally started to complain. I don’t mean to brag but I am just amazed how much better I can ski and how much more strength and endurance I have.
6 March 06: 267.8 pounds naked, 272 dressed-- down 111.8 pounds total.
Just skied Steamboat for a week. Five days in a row, out at 8:30 a.m, in about 2 p.m. because snow conditions would get bad. I didn't ski with the "big dogs" but I was the leader of my "pack." We hit all the intermediate slopes, just about all the groomed expert runs and a couple of the easier bump runs. Skied one day in 7 inch deep powder.
We cooked up a big pot of beef stew early in the week and ate in most of the week. Not much of a bar hound so we left that to the young guys who could stay out past midnight and ski the next day on less than six hours sleep.
I realized that I have serious eating control problems when I am angry or frustrated. It was so strange that I could mentally sit off to the side and see myself literally attacking my food. I could see it happen but I felt unable to do anything about it. I think I will need to deal directly with the issues that make me feel this way and if I cannot control the situation I need to control my eating by avoiding food altogether. Eat when I can calm down.
5 April 05: 262.4 pounds naked, 267 in street clothes. down 117 pounds now. A slow month for the pounds off but I have received soooo many comments on how much thinner I look. I've been trying to take up jogging outside again but the old knees do protest and I may go back to the bicycle instead. Jogging on the road is harder than on the treadmill and maybe I am trying to do too much too fast. We are in the midst of getting the house ready to sell and that is a HUGH job and a big stressor. Exercise seems secondary but I need to keep it up as it is necessary for stress reduction.
27 April 05: 259.8 pounds naked, 263 in street clothes. Since open RNY on June 3 2005, I have taken off 120 pounds and come down 14 inches on my waist. I am off all my glucose control, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride and asthma meds and my CPAP machine. I can jog two miles without stopping (3 on a treadmill) and downhill ski at Steamboat Co. 6 hours a day, five days in a row. I won’t even mention what a sex machine at age 54 I have become!
The changes have been more than just physical. In December ’05, I told my boss and his boss that I wasn’t satisfied with my job assignment. I wanted an assignment in keeping with my position and abilities. I wasn’t willing to sit back and just let things happen. I was rebelling against the feeling that fat men (specifically me) are ignored, shunned and get no respect. When nothing happened, I bid on another job within the company that looked good but may have required relocation.
When I found out that I was one of the few finalists for the position and that I would get an interview, I told my boss and then it seemed that managers started competing over me. End result I will remain in my current department but will relocate to another plant that needs my talent and experience. I will become a team leader for a specialized power train design group and act as mentor for the new inexperienced engineers just out of school.
Getting ready to move in 3 month after living 13 years in one place is traumatic. We have put 400 cubic feet of stuff into storage, donated about that much to charity and dumped half that amount in the garbage. There are realtors, inspectors, movers, painters, carpet workers, repairmen, buyers and sellers to deal with and to add to the stress a windstorm tore the siding off one end of the house and has to be repaired immediately. This is a blessing in disguise as insurance will pay for whole house siding replacement and add to the resale value of the house.
Thru all this my wife has said repeatedly that she is amazed at the amount of energy I have to deal with it all. She feels mentally and physically exhausted while she thinks I seem to gain energy. I don’t see it myself. To me it feels like I am running a marathon. Though I am tired and sore I have to keep going. To stop and rest just makes it harder to pick up the pace later.
So life has definitely changed for me. Sometimes I don’t see it because I keep pushing to the edge of my capabilities and I just feel the struggle. Others seem to see the increased capabilities.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
5 June 06: 260.5 pounds naked, 265 in street clothes. No change in the last 6 weeks. I am not suprised because of the stress of our move and lack of exercise. Things should be back on an even keel in a couple of weeks as we have sold the old house, bought the new house and are moving this week. I am looking forward to the new job and town, hoping that we can be a strong positive influence in mid-state Illinois. God has blessed us and I pray we can be a blessing to those around us.
28 July 06: I have taken off a total of 135 pounds -- 35 more to my personal goal. Haven't posted in a while with my house move and job change. Things seem to be settling down now.
New problem at 14 months post op. I came down with a flu bug with chest congestion. That means a lot of coughing. Now I am concerned that I have weakened my incision. I have tenderness and bulging at the incision. I feel a need to hold the area firmly when I cough. I can hear and feel a lot of gurgling in my abdomin when I rub the incision. Now I need to find a new doctor familiar with open RNY and see if I can get this taken care of.
I have struggled against my weight problem since puberty. It has separated me from my classmates, made me feel awkward and ugly around girls, kept me slow at sports activities and embarrassed me with the clothes selections I had to make.
I have participated in Weight Watchers countless times, Weight Control Workshop, Nutra-System, a hospital sponsored liquid diet program, Overeaters Anonymous, Jenny Craig, hypnosis, prescription diet drugs and psychological counseling.
At different times in my life I have played football, swam, done aerobics regularly, jogged till I could run 10 kilometer races, bicycled 1200 miles a year and also across three states and I currently ski vigorously during the winter.
With all this effort and struggle I find it disheartening and misrepresenting to have my diabetes and weight problem called a “lifestyle choice.”
My grandmother, mother, two uncles and a younger brother developed the disease before me. I don’t see this situation as a matter of choice, just a matter of time.
22 March 2005 Asked my PCP for a referal for GBS. Got the approval for first visit from BCBS of IL HMO on 1 April.
18 April 2005 Met with Dr Batty to discuss the open GBS. I found him to be very aproachable and open about his experiance and the risks and lifestyle changes involved in the surgury. I felt very comfortable with him. He said to think about the whole process and when I was ready he could set it up. I told him that I had been studying for some time all ready and that I was ready to go ahead now. He is starting the ball rolling with my PCP.
11 May 2005 Got a call from the surgeon's office that the approval has been received. I still have to go thru the pre-op testing but we set a date of June 3. My biggest fear is that I will fail. That I will still over eat and that I will not take off the extra weight. One day at a time.
3 June is the big day.
4 June 05. My God, what have I done? The surgury was painfull. The morphine PCA helps but I feel so trapped with all the tubes attached.
They make you breath and walk which are good things. I keep having this recurring dream that all I have to do now is set my goal and select my prefered styles. How I get there will be determined by my internal software -- like a route planning program.
20 June 05. It's amazing how much better I feel after a couple of weeks. My staples are out and I have lost 36 pounds. I will try to go to work Wednsday.
27 June 05. Work was tougher that I expected, even for a desk job. I worked a half day wed and thur and took friday off. I would get dizzy and unable to concentrate and my diaphram would get sore. along with this I am still dealing with some seepage through the incision.
7 July 05. 40 pounds down today. I am off all my glucose control meds, off cholesteral meds, still taking BP meds but my pressure and pulse readings are much better. I am feeling much stronger and can walk 2 miles comfortably. I wear a pedometer to work and even though I have a desk job I get in about two miles just walking about the plant. I still try to do that much for cardio when I get home. Big WOW! I can see my feet when I walk down stairs!
12 July 05. My weight loss seems to have stalled for a while. I am still at 40 pounds off but I have gone down another notch on my belt, my resting pulse rate has dropped from 76 to 60, my BP this morning was 130/72 without meds for the last 4 days. Good things are happening but sometimes it gets hard to be patient about the weight numbers.
16 Aug 05. Down 52 pounds now, which is a steady 2 lb/week reduction. I can be happy with this. I find that I can eat just about anything but popcorn and deep fried foods with lots of breading. The hardest thing seems to be getting enough liquids in. I have found that the 64 oz target is low for my size and I should be getting in 120 oz. To do this I need to be constantly sipping. I need to get more exercise in but the fatigue before and the muscle aches and pains after just don't make it much fun. Maybe this is dehydration and part of my liquids problem.
29 Aug 05. Down 55 pounds now. Went to see Dr Batty for my 3 month checkup and boy, do I look healthy! In addition to the statistics above my total cholesterol is down to 178. My hdl is low at less than 30 and my triglycerides a little high at 176 but we will recheck in 6 months. My HbA1c is at 5.1 without meds, blood pressure and pulse are nominal. I do feel a little depression creeping in but more exercise and less procrastination on other commitments should help this. I had a long list of questions written down and he spent about a half hour with me.
I found a 6 week conditioning plan for snow skiing and I am ready to start on that. I still have some time before my big trips this winter but I am so looking forward to fitting into ski clothes I haven't worn in 8 years and keeping up with the "big dogs," skiing the slopes all day every day.
27 Sept 05 down 65 pounds so far. I have just started back at the gym with a personal trainer. He has had me doing a lot of pilates type exercises and I think I hate him (LOL) I feel like a limp noodle when I am done and am sore the next day but no pain, no gain as they always say. Hurt now or hurt later. After a couple of sessions it gets a little easier but he promises to up the intensity.
24 Oct 05: down 73 pounds -- 8 pounds since last report or 2 pounds per week. I have been working out twice a week with a trainer and at least once more on my own. I can feel muscles in my abdomin and I can do more exercises easier with less pain and I am not as exhausted after.
31 Oct 05: This last weekend I went thru the closet and had to pull out oversized clothes -- 4 pair of George Forman slacks, 3 pair of blue jeans, 2 pair of sweatpants, all of my XXXL t-shirts and polos and a really nice pair of cargo pants convertable into shorts. All my XXL t-shirts and polos are baggy but I'm not quite ready for the XL's. Today I am in morning for my lost wardrobe.
7 Nov 05: Last weekend I bought a new home digital scale and this morning I crossed the 300 pound barrier in my birthday suit - 299.6! The scale at work still shows 305 with clothes or down 76 pounds from original post.
6 Dec 05: Been at a plateau most of this month with only a 4 pound loss. Down a total of 82 pounds. Hunger is back as well as some of the old cravings. The best cure for these has been to do something from my to-do list. Last weekend I spent both days as far from the kitchen as I could and kept my hands busy and too dirty for food. The weight has started back off and I have found a new energy. Went to the surgeon for my six month checkup. He says I am doing very well. I have a bulge in my abdomen when I do a sit-up of leg-lift but he says it is not technically a hernia. I forget the name but apparently with my weight my ab muscles had spread apart and stretched some kind of lining. Not harmful but if it bothers me too much it cam be repaired laproscopicly.
9 Jan 2006: Happy New Year! Down a total of 93.5 pounds now. Went skiing in central Wisconsin last weekend and I had so many WOW! moments I had to make a list.
• Ski clothes fit. I went from 1 pair of (too tight) ski pants to 4 pair loose and comfortable. All my insulated underwear is no longer in danger of splitting out. I really should get a new coat as the one I have now is way big.
• Boots fit looser and are easier to buckle.
• More room on the chairlift.
• I can hike uphill with gear without getting winded.
• I can pick up dropped stuff from the snow without stepping out of the skis. I can also put my skis in the ski bag with it flat on the ground.
• I can ski longer with less fatigue
• Much less soreness on day two.
• I don’t sweat as much. In fact I need more skin protection, heavier clothes and gloves because I get colder now.
• My body weight has shifted and I needed to relearn my center of balance
• Without all the fat on my inner thighs my feet are closer together. I have to watch I don't over balance sideways.
• Falling down still sucks but getting up is easier.
• A Camelback is great for keeping hydrated but you have to watch how it sits against the back of the chairlift.
• Taking extra protein bars along is important for keeping energy up.
• Big farts filtered thru ski pants and released into crisp mountain air still stink.
• Just one Jagermeister shot with a small Wheat beer chaser apre ski, please. Oh, by the way, here are my car keys.
19 Jan 06: Down 97.6 pounds -- an outstanding weight loss period for me! The slowdown with what I think was Seasonal Affective Disorder over Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years seems to be broken. My workouts have literally picked up speed as I am now adding a little jogging to my treadmill workouts. My personal trainer program is about to end and I have not renewed for now. On his recommendation I have gotten a Polar F11 heart rate monitor and exercise program tracker. It seems silly but getting that trophy symbol on the monitor for making the weekly program feels fantastic. A nice WOW! this morning. I walked into my favorite coffee shop for a cup to go and one of the other regulars who I recognise but have never spoken to was in line. He says to me "You know, you have really lost a lot of weight." What could I say but "Thank You."
31 Jan 2006: 283 pounds in clothes -- down 100 pounds! Yeahh!
Actually jogged about 75% of a 2 3/4 mile treadmill workout. My speed was pitifully slow but that will improve with less weight and more training. Found a couple of 5K fun races in the area for April this year and I think I will aim to do them. That gives me another ten weeks to improve. Goal there is to finish without walking. If I can beat that the next goal is to do them at a 10 minute mile pace.
14 Feb 2006: 279 down 104.
3 Days Skiing at Durango Mt (formerly Purgatory)
Had a great time. They need more snow but what they had was fine packed powder. We did have to watch for grass, rocks and tree tips in some places but overall great cruising. I love all the dips and rolls as well as the tree runs. Facilities on the slopes were good with two lodges on the mountain. We couldn’t get over how friendly everyone was.
We stayed in Durango downtown. There were lots of restaurants, shops and live entertainment. We had our choice of blues, jazz, and country with improvisations.
**Food tip for leftovers – take some Ziploc sandwich bags. Slice your meat into bite size chunks and store in doubled up bags. If your hotel room does not have a refrigerator put the bagged food in the ice bucket and fill with ice. I took my leftovers on the hill in my fanny pack next day for a great lunch.
Big WOW for the trip. On day two, three of us found ourselves in a mogul field with no way out. I gave the other two pointers on how to get thru bumps and we did so in good shape. On day three these guys asked me to give them a bump lesson so we spent all morning in the moguls. Me, who last year couldn’t spend more than three hours a day on easy groomed runs, was leading two good intermediate skiers thru three hours of bumps without falling once. Then after lunch was able to ski another two hours on groomed cruisers when my knees finally started to complain. I don’t mean to brag but I am just amazed how much better I can ski and how much more strength and endurance I have.
6 March 06: 267.8 pounds naked, 272 dressed-- down 111.8 pounds total.
Just skied Steamboat for a week. Five days in a row, out at 8:30 a.m, in about 2 p.m. because snow conditions would get bad. I didn't ski with the "big dogs" but I was the leader of my "pack." We hit all the intermediate slopes, just about all the groomed expert runs and a couple of the easier bump runs. Skied one day in 7 inch deep powder.
We cooked up a big pot of beef stew early in the week and ate in most of the week. Not much of a bar hound so we left that to the young guys who could stay out past midnight and ski the next day on less than six hours sleep.
I realized that I have serious eating control problems when I am angry or frustrated. It was so strange that I could mentally sit off to the side and see myself literally attacking my food. I could see it happen but I felt unable to do anything about it. I think I will need to deal directly with the issues that make me feel this way and if I cannot control the situation I need to control my eating by avoiding food altogether. Eat when I can calm down.
5 April 05: 262.4 pounds naked, 267 in street clothes. down 117 pounds now. A slow month for the pounds off but I have received soooo many comments on how much thinner I look. I've been trying to take up jogging outside again but the old knees do protest and I may go back to the bicycle instead. Jogging on the road is harder than on the treadmill and maybe I am trying to do too much too fast. We are in the midst of getting the house ready to sell and that is a HUGH job and a big stressor. Exercise seems secondary but I need to keep it up as it is necessary for stress reduction.
27 April 05: 259.8 pounds naked, 263 in street clothes. Since open RNY on June 3 2005, I have taken off 120 pounds and come down 14 inches on my waist. I am off all my glucose control, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride and asthma meds and my CPAP machine. I can jog two miles without stopping (3 on a treadmill) and downhill ski at Steamboat Co. 6 hours a day, five days in a row. I won’t even mention what a sex machine at age 54 I have become!
The changes have been more than just physical. In December ’05, I told my boss and his boss that I wasn’t satisfied with my job assignment. I wanted an assignment in keeping with my position and abilities. I wasn’t willing to sit back and just let things happen. I was rebelling against the feeling that fat men (specifically me) are ignored, shunned and get no respect. When nothing happened, I bid on another job within the company that looked good but may have required relocation.
When I found out that I was one of the few finalists for the position and that I would get an interview, I told my boss and then it seemed that managers started competing over me. End result I will remain in my current department but will relocate to another plant that needs my talent and experience. I will become a team leader for a specialized power train design group and act as mentor for the new inexperienced engineers just out of school.
Getting ready to move in 3 month after living 13 years in one place is traumatic. We have put 400 cubic feet of stuff into storage, donated about that much to charity and dumped half that amount in the garbage. There are realtors, inspectors, movers, painters, carpet workers, repairmen, buyers and sellers to deal with and to add to the stress a windstorm tore the siding off one end of the house and has to be repaired immediately. This is a blessing in disguise as insurance will pay for whole house siding replacement and add to the resale value of the house.
Thru all this my wife has said repeatedly that she is amazed at the amount of energy I have to deal with it all. She feels mentally and physically exhausted while she thinks I seem to gain energy. I don’t see it myself. To me it feels like I am running a marathon. Though I am tired and sore I have to keep going. To stop and rest just makes it harder to pick up the pace later.
So life has definitely changed for me. Sometimes I don’t see it because I keep pushing to the edge of my capabilities and I just feel the struggle. Others seem to see the increased capabilities.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
5 June 06: 260.5 pounds naked, 265 in street clothes. No change in the last 6 weeks. I am not suprised because of the stress of our move and lack of exercise. Things should be back on an even keel in a couple of weeks as we have sold the old house, bought the new house and are moving this week. I am looking forward to the new job and town, hoping that we can be a strong positive influence in mid-state Illinois. God has blessed us and I pray we can be a blessing to those around us.
28 July 06: I have taken off a total of 135 pounds -- 35 more to my personal goal. Haven't posted in a while with my house move and job change. Things seem to be settling down now.
New problem at 14 months post op. I came down with a flu bug with chest congestion. That means a lot of coughing. Now I am concerned that I have weakened my incision. I have tenderness and bulging at the incision. I feel a need to hold the area firmly when I cough. I can hear and feel a lot of gurgling in my abdomin when I rub the incision. Now I need to find a new doctor familiar with open RNY and see if I can get this taken care of.
