Christopher Spalding

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It's been just a few days over four months since my surgery, and everything is going great. My shirt size is down from an XXXXL to an XL and my pants have gone from a size 48 to a size 34. I feel great. I presently weigh about 235, with just under 100 lost since surgery and 145 lost from my highest of 380 earlier this year.

I don't weight myself very often, about once a month, so I don't notice any plateaus or anything. But the weight loss has felt consistent. Every week, people tell me that I just keep getting smaller and smaller. Gotta love it. I haven't even been recognized several times.

I had some new pictures taken just outside my house earlier today. Check them out. Sometimes I still can't believe that's me.

Best of luck to everyone.

I have lost 80 pounds since surgery, 130 including the 50 I lost the three months before surgery. I, myself, notice everything I've lost. I no longer see the person I was in the mirror. I've never had a problem seeing the new me.

I had some great second hand confirmation of my weight loss recently. My mother works with someone who had gastric bypass a couple of years ago. She gave me a lot of good information about what to expect. I hadn't seen her since February or so, but my mother said that she really wanted to see me again (she works in a vision store on the nearby Redstone Arsenal.) On this particular day, I saw her working in the store and tried to get her attention. She didn't notice me, so I thought that she just couldn't see me. So I walked into the store. I stood there fore a second smiling at her. She said, "May I help you, sir?" I just kept smiling at her. She had a bewildered look on her face, like, "Who is this weirdo?" Then she asked if she could help me again. Then, her eyes opened wide and she gasped. "Oh, my God!" she said. She didn't even know who I was. We hugged and she congratulated me.

This wasn't the first time that I wasn't recognized by someone who I hadn't seen in a while, but it was the most dramatic. It's kind of fun, like an exciting adventure. Who knows what the future holds?

It's been a pretty eventful month or so. I found out that I have developed gallstones and that they are responsible for a lot of the pain I've been dealing with that I've been attributing to the surgery. I'm going in for surgery to remove it on 8 June. I'm not really worried, Dr. Facundus, who so flawlessly did my bypass, will be doing this one, too.

Everything else is going well. I'm down over 60 pounds since surgery and over 110 pounds total for a present weight of just under 270 pounds. I no longer qualify for the surgery (Yay!). I've been traveling a lot, hitting the amusement parks and riding roller coasters again. I'm looking forward to hitting some pride gatherings, but that all depends on my recovery from surgery.

I'm at five weeks out and I feel great. Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, I took a long walk through downtown. It's kind of yucky today, so I'll have to use our indoor equipment.

The numbers?  Everybody wants numbers.  I'm down to about 290 from 380 last summer at my highest, when I started my six month program.  Since I had the surgery, I am down about forty pounds.  Once I got under that 290 mark, I really intensified my workouts. I workout everyday, sometimes twice a day, taking full advantage of my recumbant bike.  My partner and I have also purchased new mountain bikes, and I can't wait until my lifting restriction is lifted so I can ride it (right now, I can't lift it up my porch or onto my car's bike rack.)  I take full advantage of the many outdoor opportunities our city has.  I've hiked at Monte Sano State Park, walked the greenways and parks downtown and on the Tennessee River, and have enjoyed the lakes and fountains of the research park.  Huntsville is a gem when it comes to outdoor activities.  Nightlife has improved greatly, now that I can dance for hours non-stop without tiring.

I'm fitting in clothes I never thought I'd fit in again.  I don't weigh myself everyday or even every week.  I'm just not one whose definition of success rests on that number alone. Too many changes are taking place.  And, more than once, watching that number slow has been the downfall of my previous diets

More importantly, I am currently wearing size 40 pants, down from 48 last summer, and am comfortable in XXL shirts from XXXXL last summer.  My feet are even getting smaller; I have gone down half a size.  I have already gone through all of my old clothes in storage and have started raiding my partner's side of the closet of clothes he has outgrown.

I think that it's amazing how, as big as we get, society ignores us. I love how people notice me more, whether it be an acknowledgement as we pass in the park or an actual "may I help you?" in a store. I love how when people have to get past me in a narrow hall, they barely have to move over. I don't dread seeing my reflection in a mirror at the mall or in the windows downtown.

People all around me have noticed the changes, and all have been very supportive.  It seems like everyone knows someone who's had this surgery.  And, anybody who had any reservations about the procedure now seems to think it's a good thing based on my results.

Life is exciting now.  Pride season is fast approaching, and it'll be nice to be at Piedmont Park in Atlanta or Centennial Park in Nashville without carrying around all that baggage in the ninety degree heat.  I can't wait for the fall, when my partner and I are planning trips to Six Flags over Georgia and Dollywood.  I can't wait for Halloween, when I can fit into any costume I want.  I can't wait for the rest of my life!

The sun has decided to start shining outside.  I think I'll hit one of the greenways for a nice walk... 

Sometimes I still can't believe what's been done to me.  When I look at those five little scars on my belly, it's hard to believe what has been done through them.

My recovery has been pretty easy.  I found out the first night home that sleeping flatly in a bed was impossible and since have gotten used to sleeping in the little used but extremely comfortable recliner next to our bed.  I had my daily inconveniences, the gas pains, the nausea and the "looseness" (if you know what I mean) but they've all passed and I can feel everything settling down in there.  I guess I've been pretty lucky.

I've had no problem with liquids.  I get my my 64 ounces a day through water, Crystal Light and popsicles.  I tried Jello one night, but that wasn't working.  I really don't have any hunger cravings.  My partner last night made scrambled eggs and croissants.  They smelled so damn good and I enjoyed the smell.  But I was able to disassociate that with eating and enjoy it without craving them.  If I do crave something, I just picture the mess that my stomach is right now, and the craving runs away.

I've been out and about quite a bit.  I've been living life normally, shopping and visiting, and just enjoying this month long paid vacation I have.  I've been extremely conscious whenever we go out, thinking, "This is the point where we used to go to get something to eat."  And I recognize that.  We weren't getting something to eat because we were hungry.  We were going because it was something to do.  So, we do something else.

I want to thank everyone for their support.  It's getting better.

Well, I'm back home after a successful and uneventful surgery yesterday.

I arrived at Crestwood Hospital with my partner at 6:30 am.  By 7:00 am, they were getting me ready for surgery.  Some very nice nurses helped out, and it only took three tries to get the I.V. in.  I was wheeled into the OR by about 8:30 and the last thing I remember seeing is the very hot anesthesiologist before I went out.

I was awake by about 11:00 am and was put in my room where my partner was waiting.  My mouth was bone dry, but other than that, I wasn't really in any pain.  It was sore, kind of like doing a bunch of crunches for the first time in a while.

My partner and I were sitting around enjoying the tv when the power went out.  They are doing a lot of construction at the hospital, so it was expected.  But the t.v. was out, dammit.  But I was feeling groggy and didn't want my partner to be bored, so I sent him home.

I quit using my pain pump by 2:00 pm.  I didn't need it.  At 3:00, I had to go to the bathroom, so they unhooked me.  I felt good enough, so I took a short walk around the unit.  That, and my preference to sit up in one of the seats, was reason enough for them to say I didn't need those leg massagers anymore.

Dr. Foreman came in and said that my procedure went about as smoothly as they could.  He said my losing sixty pounds just before helped out immensely.

That evening, after a parade of well wishers (I had no idea that I was that loved) the nausea started kicking in.  I dry heaved a couple of times, which helped out, actually, because my salavary glands went crazy in my dry mouth.  The very nice and attentive nurses gave me some good pain meds, and that problem was gone.  Then my stomach started getting sore, as expected.  A little bit of Lortab took care of that.

By 8:30 am this morning, my IV was out and I was preparing to go.  Dr. Foreman came in to release me, and thanked me again for making surgery easier for them and me.  He said he wished that I could talk to more of his patients and explain to them how beneficial it is to lose some weight before hand.

Now, I'm home.  The soreness has intensified, but regular doses of Lortab take care of that.  Knock on wood, but I haven't had to deal with any more nausea.  I've been sipping my water and eating popsicles all day, and everything seems to be going fine.

What a great feeling it is to be here on the other side...

Thanks, everybody.

I've noticed that most blogs here are either pre-surgery heavy with a drop off after the surgery, or pre-surgery scarce with a wealth of information after the procedure.  The pre surgery process for me was  very personal and involved a lot of self communing.  So this blog will be the latter of the two.  I'll let y'all know how I'm doing after, as my partner describes it, I've been ripped open from stem to stern (he's such a Golden Girl.)  Check back with me after the nineteeth.