drofmusic
HISTORY OF THE PRE-OP STAGE:
First, I am a single father of two. My son, Nathan is 19 and my beautiful daughter, Celeste, is 10 at the time of this posting which is April of 2005. They are the joy of my life. My life has had its trials, but I have survived and plan on being here a lot longer for my kids and for others. I love to encourage people. I love to see others succeed.
Being a college Music professor, I love music and love to teach music to others. I seem to be most happy when I teach college age young people. It is a thrill for me to see them progress and take off where I left off. I have two Bachelor Degrees, a BA in Theology and a BS in Music. I also have a Master's in Humanities with an emphasis in Music, of course.
My desire for life is to be happy and to live my life in such a manner that others will know that I love and appreciate them and want the best for them. The following is my ongoing journal of my WLS surgery and the aftermath:
For about three years, I studied the process of weight loss surgery. I considered the risks and the benefits of such a major for of surgery for my weight problem. It seemed that I would hear all the horror stories. Several of my friends and my employers would tell me that I should take a natural way to achieve my weight-loss goals.
Natural means were tried. I tried Weight-Watchers several times and lost much weight only to regain it back plus more. I tried Optifast. Optifast is a program that is hospital run. It utilizes special nutrient drinks for a period of 12 weeks. I lost over 80 lbs. on Optifast. Again, after six months, I gained all the pounds back and more.
I tried Redux, Meridia, Phen-Phen and others. All seemed to work a bit but Phen-Phen worked the best. I lost around 80 lbs. only to find myself in such a state that I almost ended up in the hospital for dehydration.
After all of these, I continued to study the RNY Gastric Bypass surgery. I read just about everything available on the subject. I watched movies of actual surgeries. I think I watched them enough that I could probably do the surgery myself. (Just Kidding).
I then went to my family doctor, Dr. Regis Britto, and asked him if he though I should have the surgery. He said yes, but I needed to have some tests first. He had me go to a Cardiologist to have a stress test. After meeting with the Cardiologist and having the stress test, he told me that I probably have a blockage. Therefore, he scheduled an Angiogram at the local hospital. I underwent the Angiogram and came out great. They found no blockages at all. Dr. Britto was happy with the results and told me to go ahead with the surgery.
I knew several friends that had the surgery and they were very successful. None of my friends had complications and all were looking great! Therefore, after much study and consideration, I went to an orientation meeting that Dr. Mark Nichols was having in
It seemed that the Doctor and his nurse tried to convince me that I should not have the surgery. Actually, they were not but they were just trying to let me know of the urgency of the surgery and its risks. I am glad they were completely honest about the procedure.
After all of this, I decided to go ahead with the surgery. I applied and filled out all the application information. The Doctor's office wrote a letter to Blue Cross of
Three days before my surgery, my nurse put me on a cleansing diet. The first day was nothing but Jell-O and broth. The second day was nothing but water and juice with a dose of bowel cleanser in the evening of the second day. The next day, I stayed close to the bathroom.
On Monday, November 29, 2004, at 11:45am, I had my RNY surgery.
AT THE HOSPITAL:
I had my surgery on November 29th, 2004. I weighed in at 385lbs. I had the surgery at 11:45 am, on a Monday. It took 2 hours. The doctor said that it was a difficult surgery for him. He had only done 2 men before me and over 200 women. He said that men have longer abdomens and that it is more difficult to get around in a longer body. I had no complications and the surgery went well.
After I awoke from surgery, I had a slight bit of depression. I wondered if I did the right thing. I thought, "I cannot undo what I did and my life will never be the same again." I was a bit frightened. However, the depression only lasted a few hours and by Tuesday I felt just fine.
On Tuesday, the nurses handed me a bottle of water, 8 oz. and said that I had to get 4 of them into my body in 24 hours. I thought, "oh, my, I will never be able to do that." Nonetheless, I did. It was a bit scary the first sip or so, but I made it. Then, at lunchtime, they brought me some beef broth and some diet Jell-O. I could not eat much, about 1/3 of it. The catheter came out that evening and I had to do my job manually.
GOING HOME
On Wednesday, the nurse took out my drain tube. It tickled. hehehe. She said it may hurt, but it did not. I was dismissed from the hospital at 12 noon. My son and his counselor drove me home. I had this weird sensation of being sooooo fat in the car. I felt like a thousand pounds. I guess is was because of the weight against my muscles that were weak because of surgery. It was so great to get home to my easy chair. I did not have to take any pain meds.
FIRST WEEK POST-OP
After the first week, I lost 23 lbs. Wow! That is not bad for a week, eh? Of course, all that I consumed was broth and diet Jell-O. Boy, I got tired of those two items quickly. Oh well, it worked.
The first real food I had was at Taco
AT FOUR WEEKS
I was introduced to real food. I drank Adkins shakes twice a day and one protein item, like eggs, cottage cheese, soft cheese.
SIX WEEKS POST-OP
I was on one Adkins shake and two protein meals. I continued to lose quickly.
EIGHT WEEKS POST-OP
I was on proteins only. Weight loss continued to happen.
6 MONTHS OUT WITH A WEIGHT LOSS OF 115 LBS
I feel good. My biggest problem was getting exercise. My son and I finally joined the YMCA and starting exercising yesterday. Today, my muscles are quite sore. I guess I had a good workout. I know that to continue losing, I must exercise. I hate to exercise. It is for the hard bodies. I am not a hard body. I am a soft body. However, maybe, if I do this right, I might be a hard body at some future date. Who knows?
The date is May 10, 2005. 105 lbs. lost. I am being faithful to my protein intake and liquid intake. I take Optisource Bariatric supplements. I feel good, but not as strong as I would like. I probably need to exercise more and drink more.
I have no hunger yet. The desire for food is just not there. I eat to live now, not live to eat! Boy, that is new.
Hmmm... Today is May 11th, 2005 and my muscles are still very sore. I guess I need to get to exercising in a few minutes. I heard that the best way to eliminate the soreness is to continue exercising. Okay, I will do it in a few minutes. I just wanted to let you know that exercise is a very important aspect of weight loss. For the first 5 months I did not exercise at all. Shame on me. I heard it though. At my support group meetings, by the way the meetings are just for me, I seemed to get harassed by my fellow weight loss patients, to get to starting up the exercise. Boy, my son even gets on my case. So, that is why I decided to get at it. Their encouragement is what made me finally start to get to work and exercise. I hope that my weight loss speed will pick up now. Got to go to the "Y".
Today is May 20th, 2005. I am still at 277 lbs and seem to have stopped losing weight. I am keeping my calories to 1200 or less each day with around 70 grams of protein and am taking my supplements. My... I do not know what else to do. If I have less intake, I will feel weak. However, I will continue and be faithful to the exercise and intake as the doctor and nurse suggested.
Wow, when a plateau comes off, it comes off, at least with me. It is May 26 and I am down another 5 lbs. bringing the total to around 110 or so. Just goes to show you that you MUST keep on the rules of the pouch.
MAY 28th, 2005
Yes, the plateau is gone for a while. I have lost another 5 lbs bring the total to 115 lbs. That is nothing to be upset about. I have increased my water intake and am concentrating on eating more protein foods. I have not introduced ANY carbohydrates at all to my diet. I continue to take Optisource Bariatric supplements, four a day. Sometimes I have an extra one just to add to the nutrient values of my body's needs. I seem to be a lot more stable in my moods. I did not mention that I was somewhat unstable in my moods. What was happening was that I would get a bit irritable at times with my kids, God bless them. Anyway, I do not seem to be as irritable and can be around more confusion and not be affected. I am enjoying my journey and hope to achieve my goal of 200 lbs. by December of 2005. I will, I WILL make it, just you wait and see.
So to all my pretty ladies and handsome dudes that read my silly profile, I will be praying for you too. Everyone has been such an encouragement to me at Obesity Help dot com. I hope to be an encouragement to you, too. God bless you all. I love everyone of you.
JUNE FOURTH, 2005
Well, I got up this morning, weighed myself, and it seems I am in another plateau. I have not lost for about a week now. I guess I shouldn't get discouraged, though. I have been through this before and have survived. I will loose again, so Chris, do not be discouraged, I tell myself. The journey is, indeed, a tough one. Do not let anyone say it is a breeze to loose weight even with RNY WLS. You still have the normal problems that any weight watcher has. Just hang in there, Chris.
JUNE 7TH, 2005 TOPIC WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY:
Someone asked, the other day, if it was right that we take our bodies and reconfigure them inside. The thought seemed to be that if our bodies are created by God, who are we to mess around with His creation?
Here is my perspective on this issue:
Being a licensed minster, I believe that God has built us, in our original state before the fall in garden of Eden, perfectly. After the fall, not only did our spiritual lives deteriorate, but our physical bodies as well. We, now, are no longer in the state that God created us. We are prone to disease, prone to old age and prone to physical death.
God also gave us minds in which we are to learn, grow and create new and wonderful things. Medicine is one of those wonderful things that God has allowed us to delve into and WLS is one of those things that humans have developed with the mind God gave us.
We, usually, have no problems with surgery for deformities. We have no problems with fixing a diseased heart by surgery, which sometimes makes the heart in a different form.
We have no problem with reconstructive surgery which fixes many problems developed in some people's lives, but when it comes to WLS, some try to say that it is not right because God built us in a perfect manner and we should not be fooling around with what God created. I disagree. God did not build us as we are now. We were created, as the human race, perfectly, but we are no longer in that perfect image.
God, being a merciful God, allows us to find new avenues of helping our bodies. He allows us to use our creative minds to help humankind. Therefore, I do not believe it is wrong for us to reconstruct our intestinal systems to achieve what God wants; that is, to be the
So, if you are having difficulties deciding if you should do the WLS thing, I believe it is okay and right in God's eyes and in the eyes of yourself and others.
Chris
JUNE 12TH, 2005
I continue my weight loss journal by saying I went to my PCP this week and did all my blood tests as required by my surgeon and my PCP. They took out eight tubes of blood this time. I thought I was giving a blood donation to the blood bank. Anyway, my blood tests are great. My b-12 is fine and all the nutrients are where they belong. My blood pressure was 122/62. Pretty good for an old man. My cholesterol was normal. My blood sugar was 85. I guess I am going to live through all of this. Oh, yes, my official weight is 262. That is 123 lbs off so far.
JULY 3RD, 2005
I hit another small plateau a couple of weeks ago, so this past week I really exercised hard, everyday and ate only 600 calories a day. I am down, in one week, 8 lbs. I feel just fine and will continue to do the same. With around 600 calories being burned everyday with exercising and eating only around 600 calories, I have set myself into a mode that can only make me loose weight. Hope I do not get sick doing this.. But, I want to get down to goal by December of this year.
JULY 6th, 2005
Today I broke into the 250 with a weigh in of 258. Looks like I am back on a loosing streak. I am averaging around 600 calories a day with no carbs.. I have cut out the Starbucks for a while since milk is high in carbs. My exercising is using around 600+ calories a day, so I am in a balance between calories burned from exercise and what I intake. Seems to be a win win situation for me.
I have a date with a wonderful woman I met on Eharmony.com. She lives right here in
JULY 11th, 2005
I had the date it just was not the right one for me. God will send just the right person in His due time. Oh well, can't win them all. BTW, weight is down to 250 lbs. That is good.
Chris
AUGUST 1st, 2005
It has been a while since I updated my profile, so here I go. I am now down to 245 lbs. The BMI is now around 33. 9 more points until my goal of 24 bmi.
I am feeling absolutely great and am very energetic. My exercise has been somewhat less, but I am still doing it. Hunger is still not present, so that helps matters.
Well, God bless you all and I hope to be more active on the board.
Chris
Well, it is now July 10th, 2007. Needless to say, I have not been around for quite some time. Many things have happened to me since I was last here. I remarried only to have the marriage end in divorce. I will not say anymore about that except it must of have God's plan.
I am now living in Everett, Washington with my sister and brother in law and looking for work. I have gone through major depression because of the marriage split up and lost my job in Redding, California because I just could not function. Since being here with my family, I am begining to feel better.
I decided to return to OH.com to get encouragement and meet new friends. I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with some old friends, too.
Well, I will say goodbye for now and hope to get to know everyone.
Chris
