TOM A.
I am looking forword to this operation as I can see the benefits that will be in the future I will enjoy being around another 30 - 40 years. I am more then ready!! The above comments where the first things I had wrote now I am going to start adding the dates. 11-13-04 Well I have made it to one of the required SGM last month and I have all my PRE - OP exams done except for my sleep study that Dr. Stewart has requested as I may have sleep apea. I know I do so I will be using a PAP. Maybe I can get a good nights rest then? So on December 2nd I go do the sleep study, then a week later on the 9th I meet with Dr. Todd for a office visit. Then its up to Medicaid to approve me. It seems like a long wait, but I look at this way, if I can be patient and then it won't be so long of a wait. As I am keeping myself busy swimming 3 times a week and I go to a depression support group meeting at least once a month and now Dr. Todd's office is having support group meeting out here in the valley, so I will be able to get to them also. 3-14-05 Monday, Well its been awhile since I have updated my profile. But I have good news to report. I got a call from Anita, Dr. Todd's insurance handler. She said that Medicaid has approved my surgery and will be talking to the Doc to setup a surgery date for me. I guess I will hear back in a few days or so. It is very strange as I just talked to Anita last Friday and she said that the insurance company was asking for more info and to be looking for a letter in the mail. Well I check the mail yesterday and there was nothing. But I got the news this morning. I am so excited !!! I just have to get to one more support group meeting, and I plan on going to the Brown bag luncheon on this Friday. Well that is it for now I will be updating when I get my surgery date. 4-06-05 Hello it Wednesday, Hump Day as I call it. It's all down hill from here to the weekend. Its been a nice warm out the sun is shining bright and actually is kinda warm out. All the snow is about gone except what was plowed up into berms. Well I got a call from Anita the insurance person for Dr. Todds office and she gave me my Surgery date: its April 19th and next Wednesday the 13th I go in for my pre-op physical exam and get the rest of my Rx's and instructions for the big day.... 4-13-05 Hello it Wednesday evening - Well I am set for the "Big Day" I had my final pre- op appointment today with Dr. Todd and Kim and Dena. Thank you all for your time.. Then the Doc took me up to the PCU to meet the Nurses and crew up there that will be taking care of me while I am in the Hospital recovering and then we went down to the OR and checked it out to see if there was going to be any problems, then I went to the preaddmissions dept. to regrister with the teaching nurse and all that good stuff. I willbe going in on Sunday the 17th at 11AM and do the bowl clean out there in the hospital and be stablized for surgery that will be on Monday morning at 7:30AM. Well that is it for now. Oh I am at 536 lbs. today. Looking forward to the loosing side!!! Take care all!!! TLA 4-23-05 Well I am home from the hospital and FEELIN Great!! I had my surgery on Monday the 18th and it took about 5 hours. but it was done all LAP. Thank God!! as I talked to a old bar buddie BUC and he had Dr. Synder do his and he is still kinda bed riddin. and in pain I have no pain maybe a tummie acky here and there. but not nothing major. In fact the PT nurse came into the ICU on Thursday and had me walking and then had me go up a flight of stairs and they moved me to the PCU and I got out on Friday the 22nd. And if some one ask if I would do it again I would say yes in a heart beat! Well thats that until I go for my post-op doctor visit on Thursday and then I will say how much I have lost....God Bless 5-13-05 WOW its been awhile since I have posted a update!! How time flys when you are on the losin side!! Well I have had trouble with one of the port holes not healing right, so I have been going back and forth to the doctors office for the past 2 weeks getting it taken care of. I went in yesterday for a check up and seen Dr. Bogo and Dr. Searles ( they both worked on me!) They are the Best!! Yes, other then that I am feelin great. I am down 41 Lbs from 536 to 497 Lbs in 26 days. Well its kinda a cool day, I think its time for a walk to the mailbox. 6-25-05 I am doin the Happy Dance, its been a little over 2 monthes since I had surgery and I am down 77 lbs. and at 459 lbs. and feelin better every day. Except for the little episode of Gout that attacked my left big toe last week. Dam that painful. Well I found out not to eat mixed seafoods as I did 2 weeks ago, I made myself a seafood salad and ate it for dinner two days in a row and it came back and attacked me a week later. I had to go to my primary doctor and she gave me a shot in the rear, of Torald, something like that. and some pills and that seems to work great. But I still can't wait for my 3 month check-up, I will surprise the doc. I hope I will be down to the century mark by then.. Well I am going to be moving to Anchorage in August. I got to talk with the landlord of the place me and my girlfriend are going to be living in. Actually its a transistional housing for Michelle and I can rent out a part of the apartment with her since I am her "signifacant other" So I will be able to go to the fitness club and workout and swim. I can not wait to get moved in..Well thats it for now I will hopefully have a new picture to add after my 3 month checkup with Dr. Todd. 7-29-05 - Its been a month since I have updated and I just had my 3 month post-op checkup with Dr, Todd yesterday. Guess what ? I am down exactly 100 lbs., to tell ya the trueth I have can't tell by looking in the mirror, but I can feel it I am getting the "bat wings on my upper arms and my butt is getting softer and looser. I have to start a excerising program here pretty quick so I can firm up a bit. I know I will have to eventuly have to get PS done. But that ios a ways out from now. I can now bend over and touch my toes. I also notice that my balance is off now I chatch myself wibbleing wobble sometimes. I am still having trouble eating solid foods so, I am pureed my foods still and drink my protein drinks alot. I figure its the way to go for now I want to lose another 200 lbs. and then I will look at eating more solid foods like meats. Don't get me wrong I do eat my share of salads and soups. Its the eggs and mayo and oily things that make me gag. Oh yes I forgot about BEEF ! it doesn't stay down either, so I stay away from it,except the dried meats I can handle jerkies. I have no problem with milk or yogurt, but cottage cheese does not agree with my new pouch at all, but all other cheeses do. I eat to much cheese and I get "plugged up" so I take a dose of MOM to clear it out. Dr. Todd has given me samples of Limbrel for my arthritis. I went and had my sleep study revalution done on the 21st of this month a week ago, Dr. Stewart my internest has me on Requip as I still have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), but I am getting some RIM or REM I am not shure which is right! But I have my Bi-PAP machine adjusted down to 7 now it was all the way to 25 so that good thing. Thats about all for now I will be getting new pictures on the 19th of September when I go in for my 6 month check up so I will post them when I get them. Also Dr. Todd's Gala is comming up on the 24th of September and I will be getting some pictures then too. Ok, I have to update that I had some down times lately, last two weeks ago my hair started to fall out....OH no ... I know I was warned that it would come out sometime, but not by the hand fulls. So I up my protein to about 80 grams per day and then I got on the scale and it has not moved much, I have been weighing myself every other day, and the scale was not moving very fast so the other day I was reading one of the msg boards I frequent and someone mention the benefits of green tea. So I got out my stash of green tea and made a pot the other day and drank it and I got up this morning and I droped 5 lbs so I am down to 426lbs, thats minus 110 lbs in just over 4 monthes.... Then I got out and check the mail this evening and it felt so good to be able to walk out to the mailbox and not be so beat. Gosh I remember before WLS that I would have to walk to the end of the parking lot and take a break on someones car/truck bumper and chatch my breathe and then continue on to the mailbox. This evening I was back in the house in 6 minutes.....Yahhh I am was doin the Happy Dance. Another milestone is that I can now in enjoy taking a bath in the tub.... OMG, I can't remember when the last time I sat down in the tub..... So now I take a bath everyother day. I also don't throw-up as much now either. But I have to watch how much grease fatty foods I eat as it is triggers the, "Run to the John " episodes .... I do have to say even my gf's kid Trevor and Kayla, last week even notice that I was losing weight, that made me feel so good... So that s it for now I will be updating after my 6 month visit on September 19th with The TODD Squad, and then on the 24th is the " Gala" I can't wait to get out there and dance the night away. Take care and i will be back. TLA 10-04-05 - Ok I have been slipping at updating. I have to say I am doing alot better now I am down - 138 lbs. today. I am in the 300 hundreds now ! Yah I am doing the Happy Dance!! I am at 398 lbs now from my start at 536 a week before surgery. I submitted a new picture to the OH staff so my Aviator can be up to date. The changes everyone and even myself can see is defently in my face and upper body. I am wear size 4 xl clothes and they are getting baggy already. I can walk a mile with no problem. I still have a lttle pain in the knees and hips, but not as much as before. I feel 10 years younger. I don't run out of breathe anymore. The only problem is that I still throwing up when I eat some solid foods. Like red meat, chicken and turkey. I can eat lean pork and tuna fish. I can tolerate eggs the egg Beater type, I haven't tried the real egg again yet. I am getting alot of loose hanging skin I can realy tell by my "Bat Wings" on my upper arms and when I lay down in bed I can feel the extra skin on my back hanging down, at first I thought I was laying on something in the bed! But I felt around and its my dam skin hanging. I have went down to a size 10 shoe it was a 10 1/2 or 11 before WLS. The hair is still falling out! I am getting in at least 80 - 100 grams of protein and its still coming out.... I hope it will come back as its getting pretty bare up there. Well thats about it for now.... I promise I will update before the Holidays get here... TLA This from a copy of my post on April 2005 board - Ok time for a update, I know its been awhile - But have had some things happen that need to be noted. Here goes. 10-18-05 Its been 6 monthes and here is my Update on me. Hello, Well its been 6 monthes today since my Life changing surgery. I have to say that its been one heck of a ride! But I would say that I would do it again in a Heart Beat! Talking about the Heart, I went and seen my intern doctor yesterday for a checkup and his nurse took my blood pressure and it was 94/86 and the doctor said that I needed to start drinking Gatorade to get my electrolites back into sync. Dam that scared the heck out of me. But this morning I called my WLS surgeon office and talked to the nurse and she said not to worry and add some more carbs to my diet, also she pointed out that there could be a differance in the reading in my BP from one arm to the next and that is what I figured was the differance. As I usually get my BP taken on my left arm and yesterday I got it taken on my right arm... So that made me feel better. Other then that little scare I am down to -142 lbs in 6 monthes and feelin good, I know I could be doing more excerise but my knees and hips are so sore after walking a mile per day so I try and do at least a mile every other day. I need to get back into swimming again. But I figured that I am losing at least 20 + pounds a month that is not too bad of a rate. I don't want to lose to fast as it will mess my gallbladder up and I am not ready to have surgery done again yet. Hopefully not for another 6 monthes at least... I hope! I am wearing size 4xl clothes now I was wearing size 6-7 xl before. So I can't wait til X- mas and I will be shopping in the stores for my clothes, I have already checked out the Wal- Mart and they have 4xl so yep I am waiting til another month or two and do some shopping. Take care. Tom 536/394/250 2/18/06 Wow! How times fly's while I am Melting away to nothing. Well I have lost 184 lbs in 10 months. I can not beleive how much I have changed . I am now workiing out at the gym 4 days a week sometimes 5 days. Except for this last week I have been down with the nasty crud that is been going around. But I am looking at going back to the gym Monday morning. I can now go for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill with no problems. Other then a little pain in my right knee other then that I have not problems. Infact, I am doing a 8 min warm up on the treadmill then doing my weight lifting on the Expressway machines. I started out at 25 lbs and now upto 100 lbs. In only 5 monthes time. I have also add some time on the elipical trainer about 8 min on it. I feel like a floppy chicken on it though.. LOL! But other then that I am doing great.. I can now eat just about anything, But still have trouble with alot of red meats unless there really rare. I can eat a full Lean Cuisine 9 oz meal with no problem. But there is somedays that I can not eat anything and I just can get in a protein shake and my water. Oh God I love my coffee, that is my Next drug of choice now, other then working out at the gym.. That is my way of a High now a days... LOL! Did I just say that... I like the GYM ! Yes I do! MY BODY craves it... I have a gym ball at home now, have had for the last month and I use that with my resistance bands and it really helps out when I don't get to the gym I can pop the DVD in and do some training at home. I have shoved the girlfriend issue to the side, other then talk to the gals and guys at the gym. I have come to the conculusion that I need to focus on ME first then, have a relationship with some one that can relate to what I have gone thru.... The gym is where its all happening at too... I have been told by several people at the gym that I am a inspiration to them and that has really made me feel great! Thanks to the Todd Squad at Alaska Bariatric Center for giving Me My LIFE BACK! You all RAWK! God Bless, TLA Hello Folks, I am 11 and half months out and down -206 lbs since I started this Journey.... Back in October 2004. How times fly's when your Melting away... I just went and did my annual bloodworkup test on March 28th, Tuesday of this week. So I have my ANNUAL checkup with Dr. Todd on April 13th. Yahoo!! Well I still have a bit of trouble eating meats other then hiding it in a soup or chili ... I am alright....I am getting the runny nose feelin when I am full... Thats very wierd but I have heard it from others too ... Thats about it for now...Check out my New photo below. Take care all, Tom
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