Before & After RNY with Chip, losing 80 pounds!
July 24, 2018Why I Decided to Have WLS
I have always struggled with my weight. As almost anyone that has struggled with their weight will tell you, there are many different reasons/circumstances/excuses that overweight people use.
The first is hereditary, then environment, then age, etc. and etc. My struggles started in the Navy because we just never really did anything. I was on a Submarine and, as you can guess, there wasn't a lot of room to run and exercise. Plus, while we were on shore, we mostly drank a lot which is definitely not good for your weight.
When I got out of the Navy, I started working in the restaurant industry. I lived on my own for much of that time and did not cook while I was home. I ate at whichever restaurant I was working at and those meals were my main source of food. Most restaurants have a few healthy choices but many are not healthy. So, the unhealthy choices were my norm.
The worse period was when I was working in a fast food restaurant. The food there was so unhealthy and loaded with bad carbs. It is also sad that, although these options were super unhealthy, they were also the most affordable. One doesn’t realize the long-term effects that this type of eating will have in the long run.
In my 20s and early 30s, reaching 50 seemed like an eternity away and so it wasn't something that crossed my mind. After many years of this type of eating, and very little to no exercise, the weight just continued to pile on.
Even when I decided to join a gym, I never had the discipline to stay the course. It got to the point where I would miss one day, then it grew to miss a week. After that, I was literally paying for a gym that I never even went to. However, in my mind, I was a member so that made it seem like I was doing something correctly.
It wasn’t until I started having severe knee problems that weight really became an issue for me. I simply had always been big and in complete denial. I could always run some, jump, play with the kids and do everything I wanted. I just couldn’t do those things for long periods of time.
When my knee started hurting, that’s when my wife made me go see a regular doctor for the first time. I had always just used a walk-in clinic for colds, fever or any sort of other illness I had. When I first saw my doctor, she talked to me about my weight. In the back of my head, I always knew it was an issue but somehow it didn’t seem like a problem. Now, all of a sudden, I couldn’t do some of the things like I wanted to do.
My doctor suggested Gastric Bypass. Even though my wife had it done, she was a lot more overweight than I was. I didn’t see myself in her category. Once again, it was just being in denial. When I decided to go through with it, there were many hoops you have to jump through.
They wanted me to try and lose some of my weight to prove that I could actually do it. My first real hurdle was giving up chewing tobacco. I had always "dipped" since I was 14 years old. It was a way to suppress my appetite so quitting for that reason alone always scared me. Next, I gave up Diet Coke which is another myth believed by overweight people. It was the best decision I ever made because after some research, it is very unhealthy.
Before & After RNY with Chip
Total Weight Loss: 80 pounds
Surgery Type: RNY
Surgery Date: April 17, 2015
Surgeon: Dr. Robert Wegner
Having Surgery and Life as a Post-Op
When I finally completed all the steps, I remember the day of my surgery thinking about a lot is about to change in my life. I truly didn’t know how much. The Gastric Bypass surgery itself went off without a hitch. It was on April 17th, 2015 in Memphis at the St. Francis Surgical Weight Loss Center with Dr. Wegner. I will always remember that date because I am an accountant. April 15th was Tax Day, the next day was the day from hell or as I remember it, "Jell-O day" then the next day I had the surgery.
I spent two days in the hospital and they were uneventful. My wife previously had the surgery so I knew what was going to happen. I knew I had to get up and walk, and I was determined. After going home, though, that next day I experienced a lot of pain in my stomach. Of course, I was very nervous and called the nurse to tell her what was going on. She told me to try a few things and call her back if it got worse.
I was scheduled to see Dr. Wegner the next day to have my drain tube removed. It didn’t get worse but it wasn’t feeling any better either. The next day we went to Memphis and I explained to him the pain I was having. He first removed my drain tube and that lessened the pain. After many tests that day, he determined that the drain tube had caused an inflammation in my stomach lining. I went home and just two days later, no pain. That was literally the only pain or only issue I ever had with the surgery.
I went back to work after a week and just took it very slow for about two months. I walked some but I was very hesitant to really do anything. After about two months, in my head, everything inside me was back to normal and I knew it was time to get to work. I decided I was going to run down my street and back. It was about a ¼ mile for the whole way. I ran and stopped after about 200 feet. That’s all I could go. I was winded and hurting. However, I did not give up.
The next day I knew maybe starting out running was not the way to go. So, I started walking around my block. I started off slow but then began to walk at a much brisker pace. Once I could do that fairly easily, I decided to try jogging. Every day I could go further and further. I remember reaching that mile milestone. Then came 2 and then 3.
When I reached 3, my competitive juices started kicking in. I knew that I could run a 5k. I will never forget that day and that race. It was such a huge accomplishment. However, I wasn’t happy or satisfied. I did not get a medal. So, I made it a mission of mine to keep running and lower my time.
My next race I did medal. I was so happy. But I knew I wasn’t stopping there. I kept running and running. Then I tried a 10k. Once I completed that, it was time to try a ½ marathon. I completed St. Jude. My time wasn’t very good, but I finished it. At this time, I had lost almost 70 pounds. I joined the Jackson Road Runners.
Special Milestones and Non-Scale Victories
I began to learn more about running and using new and better techniques. Losing weight opened so many more doors for me and now I was enjoying life again.
It was then I decided to conquer one of my last running goals, and that was to complete a marathon. I started training and had lost almost 80 pounds, and I was under 200 pounds for the first time in my life. I was running 25-30 miles a week and feeling great.
However, life doesn’t always go the way you want it. As great as I felt and as well as I was running, I overtrained. I developed a severe shin splint and had to stop running. I gained some weight back and that was incredibly scary. I had such a great routine and it was working.
However, the one thing I learned on this journey was not everyone’s path is the same and even your own is filled with trials and tribulations. So, I started doing other types of exercising from cycling to swimming. As of this bio, I’m still about 1 month away from running. However, my new goal is set. I will run again and complete the St. Jude Marathon.
My wife and I have lost a combined approximate amount of 250 pounds. We have so much more energy and can do so many more activities that we couldn’t before. It has improved every part of our lives .
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