Blog Before & After RNY with Steve

Before & After RNY with Steve, down 195 pounds!

January 5, 2021

Before & After RNY with Steve - Why I decided to have WLS

Before & After RNY with Steve: A lot of things come with obesity; depression, isolation, even suicidal thoughts to name a few. When I was growing up, I can remember school being a particularly difficult time for me, being picked last for the numerous group activities, even teachers had to make room for me in the classrooms and no one is a stranger to bullies.

It wasn’t all bad, I definitely could tell who my real friends were and the bond I gained with them in the rough times became lifelong ones, quality over quantity as they say.

It starts off as people saying they are our friends but sadly some hold that metaphorical dagger behind your back for a quick laugh.

One of my biggest fears going through and even after graduating school, was being forever alone, dying alone. Yes, I have friends and family who truly love and appreciate me, but we all want that love that we read about or watch in the movies. I was no different and I, unlike so many, was so very fortunate to find mine early in my life, and I truly believe that once I did, my life started changing for the better, so thank you to my dearest wife, Heather.

Now different people can tell us or even remind us how to lose our own weight but at the end of the day most of us have a good understanding of what to do, but in my own opinion, our mental health state prevents us from doing what we ourselves know.

Over these past few years, I have gained a better mental health state which allows me to believe I deserved to be healthier and not for anyone else, and not because I wanted the judgment eyes to go away.

What I’m talking about is that my wife helped me look inside and gave me the happiness to look at my own future and know I wanted to take it on. To start to get healthy and to be here for the long haul. We never ate “bad” but we needed a change so together we started fixing what we could.

I was told for insurance purposes I needed to go on a 6-month diet. Of course, I looked at them like I haven’t tried this before, but this time was different for I knew I wasn’t going to let this surgery get away from me. My starting weight was 417.6lbs I had a lot of work ahead of me.

So, we stopped eating all bread or breaded products, we stopped drinking soda or anything carbonated. No more fried foods and the quick and easy made dinners from our favorite retail stores' frozen sections.

We made our own spaghetti noodles out of vegetables and no more mashed potatoes but instead had mashed acorn squash or even butternut squash. Our sides became more colorful in the sense of vegetables and fruits having just as much room on the plate as the meat did.

We went from large plate meals to smaller ones, big glasses down to 12oz or even 8oz ones. After 6 months of hard work, I had lost 84 lbs. this brought me down to 333lbs. I was ready to meet Dr. Archer one last time before he would be performing my gastric bypass surgery.

Before & After RNY with Steve

Before & After RNY with Steve

Name: Steve
Surgeon: Dr. Stephen Archer
Total Weight loss: 195 pounds
Surgery Type: RNY
Surgery Date: 11/28/19

Before & After RNY with Steve: Surgery and Post-Op Life

The surgery experience for me was, no lie, a very painful experience that was contained to the first 24 hours mostly. You're filled with air so they have better access while performing the surgery. I made sure to walk my sore self around that hospital as much as they would let me to so I could relieve any of that pain.

In the coming days, it was nothing but a lazy vacation at home, not lifting in fear of causing a trip to the hospital. Also, habits, we build so many habits over our lives bad and good. So, this was a time for me to gain the new good habits that, at the time seemed almost silly but after the surgery, I was so grateful.

Chewing my food really well or if I’m not hungry there is no reason not to keep the food on my plate for another meal. Keeping a good balance of what food, I put inside my now small pouch of a stomach. 

Breakfast was the hardest thing to change, I used to only eat 1 or 2 meals and now I eat close to 5 a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and possibly 2 snacks.

Just a little over a year on my journey, I can stand or sit without being in an unbearable amount of pain due to the varicose vein.

Now, the surgery is not a cure-all and is not for everyone. I truly believe I needed to be ready for the tool I was given because at the end of the day that’s what the surgery is, a tool.

I can still make bad decisions but it reminds me every day why I did it, for me. My portions are what they should be now, I get to try all these new surprisingly tasty and some not so tasty foods but I’m more willing or confident in trying something new or even again after years of knowing what I wanted and how I wanted it.

Before & After RNY with Steve: Special Milestone / Non-Scale Victory

I no longer need a CPAP machine, and with that, my migraines slowly faded into the past. The shackles have slowly been falling all around me, and funny thing is, I had the key all these years.

I can receive a hug from my sister, a real hug, her fingers touching around my back; heck, I can sit down legs folded crisscross apple sauce and not feel like I’m going to pop.

I can play with my dogs for an extended amount of time without being winded.

I can get out of bed without sounding like every bone is just getting lubed for the day, popping and cracking at every slow aching movement.

I don’t worry about how close I am to something while getting out of my vehicle or needing to choose one of my oversized Hawaiian shirts for the day.

A huge non-scale goal for myself would be my confidence. I feel more like myself than I ever was. I am now at a weight of 223 lbs. a little over a year since my surgery.

With a career path in mind, I am in college to become a massage therapist!

I am so happy about all the accomplishments of my health. I am happy to finally be able to head towards my career as a massage therapist. I'm in school now for it!

Thank you for reading about my journey and I hope this will inspire others in any way at all. I would like to say it again but I love you, Heather, thank you for being my everything even when I didn’t know at times, I needed it. I love you mom I hope I can be an inspiration for you. To my sister for being her brother’s biggest cheerleader.

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