John W.

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Wow...what a great two years it has been. I really get it now. I wondered why everyone stays so faithful to Obestiy Help for a few months or even a year or two. Then they seen to fall off the radar. Well, I think I have it all figured out. People head off to start living life. I've gained a few pounds and I'm in the process of getting those off. My lowest was 191 with a realistic goal of 195. I'm hanging in at about 206 most mornings and I plan to be below 200 again in several weeks. I'm focusing in once again on protein and veggies. I was being strangled by the carb monster and I took my sword and I'm pushing him back....back....back I say.

It is so hard to believe that just two years ago I was so scared to death of having this surgery. That was really scary, but it was a time in my life that I cherish and look back on with many fond memories. The friends I made here were so valuable to me...too bad so many have gravitated so far away.

As an update on Christine, my dear wife who had the surgery just a year after mine, she has managed to drop over 90 pounds and I call her my new girlfriend. She is such a hotty now. I need to get some cute pics of her up on my profile to prove what I'm saying. She got a new job and there are a half dozen people where she works who are getting the surgery. They seem totally supportive at her work for those who want to better their life. What a blessing a good employer is.

Anyway, that is the latest update.

Thanks for checking in...

John

Starting Weight: 347 lbs.
Total Pounds Lost: 151

January 2007     12.5 lbs.      Wt.: 334.5
February 2007     5.5 lbs.      Wt: 329
March 2007          10 lbs.      Wt: 319
April 2007              4 lbs.      Wt: 315
May 2007              15 lbs. (Surgery date May 31st - Wt 300)
June 2007             23 lbs.       Wt: 277
July 2007              13 lbs.       Wt: 264
August 2007          17 lbs.       Wt: 247  (100 lbs. off in < 8 months)
September 2007   10 lbs.     Wt. 237
October 2007       12 lbs.     Current Weight: 224 (227 = no more obese)
November 2007     4 lbs.      Wt. 220
December 2007     5 lbs.      Wt. 215
January 2008        9 lbs        Wt. 206
February 2008       1 lb         Wt. 205 
March 2008           7 lbs        Wt. 198
April 2008             0 lbs        Wt. 198
May 2008              1 lb         Wt. 197
June 2008             2 lbs        Wt. 195
July 2008              0 lbs        Wt. 195
August 2008         0 lbs        Wt. 195
Sept. 2008           3 lbs         Wt. 192
Oct 2008              1 lb          Wt. 191
Nov 2008            +4 lb         Wt. 195 (Time to get back to basics)
Dec 2008            +1 lb         Wt. 196

View the slide program...takes just 2 minutes

http:/tinyurls.com/Jonoba07



It has been a couple of months and I thought I would check in with some of you who have been following our progress. I say our progress because my wife, Christine, had a RNY on June 19th of this year. She has done just so well with her surgery and has dropped just shy of 60 pounds from the time she started the liquid diet just 10 days before and now here in the middle of September. As a husband of a newer RNY patient, it is just amazing to watch the transformation. Being on this side of the fence is remarkable too. It seems like every week she seems to just melt away more and more. She is just 10 pounds away from her all time (married state) weight when she got down pretty low using the Weight Watchers program back in 1999.

There was a time that I thought that the RNY was a mistake for her. Everything had gone so smoothly for me that I just thought that it would be the same for her. She had "food issues" right from the start. She didn't really follow the guidelines like I did during those first few weeks. I was not perfect by any means, but she was really paving a new path. One night we were both frustrated with her progress so we just sat and talked and talked. What it came down to was that she needed to get more focused on using the slider foods that would not make her sick. Once she started using more applesauce and pudding type foods with her more solid foods, things really started picking up. She also did not like ANY protein drinks for the first month or so, which really made it even harder.

She still struggles to get more solid foods in and would prefer to just drink her shakes as her meals. I think that we are making progress as she tries more things like chili and has better luck with them.

I know that we need to get some photos of her up on my site. Several of you have expressed an interest in seeing her progress in real-life. I'll try to get a few shots of her and get them posted.

As far as me, I'm still hanging in there. I manage to keep my weight the same, but I can't seem to get any additional weight off. There are just too many temptations that I'm glad I still have the restriction until the urge to eat has passed. I sure don't eat what I used to, but I still work at it. We go out to eat and it is amazing that we never seem to go over $10-15 for our meals and that includes a pretty generous tip.

School is started for me again and I have a very nice group of students. They are a lot quieter than any class I've ever had in my 8 years of teaching. They don't know quite what to think of my humor and seem a bit on guard. I rather like it that way since they are not coming out of their shell as fast as other classes have. Each class seems to have their own personality.

Thanks for checking in on our progress.

John

Where does the time go. This postop life seems to be moving on a conveyor belt that keeps speeding up. I'm involved in more things and enjoying life like never before. The most exciting thing happened this weekend; Christine was approved for her RNY weight loss surgery. She has a date of June 19th and that is when her new life will begin. She will be in Onderland within the first month or two, so this should really be great for her. She is nervous like all of us were when facing the surgery. Things were at such a standstill for such a long time and when her paperwork finally got submitted it was less than 5 days later that she was approved. We are so blessed to have Blue Cross Anthem (formerly Blue Cross of California until last year). Now we can begin planning for our summer and making our plans. Christine was on the edge of whether or not she could have the surgery. She was right at the 40 BMI or just slightly below. 

I am also taking my shot at coaching intramural basketball. I have my son's team and some other decent players. We had six games scheduled for the league and we will play the last game this evening. I met my objective to win at least half of the games. This really is more of a mind and strategy game than I thought. We have lost one game and won the other four. The game tonight will be a toss-up. We have a good chance of winning if we play like we have the last two games. I'm pushing my son to pass it off to the other players since they have put their focus on covering him. In the 8th grade he is 6 feet 1 inch tall. I think I could get into this coaching thing. It was most amazing to me to see how difficult it was to coach for the first three games. Once we had that loss (3rd game) the boys started listening a bit more and staying more focused.

School has gone very well this year. I've had a good bunch of students and now that I have them where I am successful with then, I have to hand them off. It takes weeks to get a new group into shape. We will start it all over again in September.

I'm walking again and enjoying those 5 am two mile walks. I really don't like the winters here since I can't walk. Now that I am exercising again, I feel like things are heading in the right direction. When I had my March appointment with Dr. Steward and he said that I was a success with the surgery. I just couldn't seem to get things moving on the scale again after that. The situation with Christine trying to get approved was more stressful than I thought it would be. Now that she has been approved, I feel that a major burden has been lifted. She was stressed, so she ate, and when she ate, I ate. It was a bad cycle that I'm getting a handle on. I can't believe that I didn't gain more than I did with all of the food I was eating. I HATE carbs. They just have too much control over me once I let them into my life. If I just stay away from them, I enjoy my life so much more. I'm starting to understand why people who had lost their weight said that it was far harder to keep the weight off than to lose it. I have to agree. The early weight losses seemed so easy. It is so easy to trick your mind into thinking that those early weight losses and your motivation would always be like that.

I will try to do a better job of updating. I know that several of you have been wondering what has been going on, so I decided to give a short update. I know how frustrating it was for me being a new WLS patient and then seeing people's profiles just suddenly stop. The reality was that they were just moving on with their life and just had not really needed Obesity Help as much anymore. I had made a commitment to try to do a better job than that. We must keep our profiles current to help those that come after us. I'll try to be better...but I have a REAL life now...so it really is harder.

Thanks for checking in.

John 

Starting Weight: 347 lbs.
Total Pounds Lost: 144

January 2007     12.5 lbs.      Wt.: 334.5
February 2007     5.5 lbs.      Wt: 329
March 2007          10 lbs.      Wt: 319
April 2007              4 lbs.      Wt: 315
May 2007              15 lbs. (Surgery date May 31st - Wt 300)
June 2007             23 lbs.       Wt: 277
July 2007              13 lbs.       Wt: 264
August 2007          17 lbs.       Wt: 247  (100 lbs. off in < 8 months)
September 2007   10 lbs.     Wt. 237
October 2007       12 lbs.     Current Weight: 224 (227 = no more obese)
November 2007     4 lbs.      Wt. 220
December 2007     5 lbs.      Wt. 215
January 2008        9 lbs        Wt. 206
February 2008       1 lb         Wt. 205 
March 2008           7 lbs        Wt. 198 (Total lost = 149 pounds)
April 2008             0 lbs        Wt. 198
May 2008              1 lb         Wt. 197

(Note: weekly weight detail in my story at the very bottom of this page)
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I recently saw a post about someone who was trying to anticipate what after WLS would be like, so this post is really more for the newbies. When getting ready for WLS, I encourage you to avoid thinking and acting on the last supper syndrome type of eating. You will eventually get those foods back that you REALLY want. Maybe some will disagree, but many of the foods I loved pre-op are no longer interesting to me. I also find that the more I stay away from carbs, the better I feel in general.

Now when I go out to dinner for an evening out, I enjoy visiting with my wife way more than I did before. It used to be the food and then her company, and now it is about the relationship with the food coming secondary. I still enjoy the first bite and I still enjoy that feeling of being full when I am finished. I just don't need to eat that other 80% to get to that point of being full...and I REALLY don't miss that extra volume like I thought I would. Since I still DO enjoy the food, when I go out to dinner, I may even sip a bit more water so that I can enjoy a bit more of that food. If it is food that I REALLY enjoy, I know how to work past the tool "just for the evening". I'm not so crazy as to work past my tool each day; that would defeat why I went through this in the first place. I get back on track the day after and I find that success again.

So, for those of you who might be feeling that you must give everything up, I say that it is temporary as you can have your foods back....just not in your current portions.

Now I look back to the days of Mid-May of 2007 when I had planned my final meal before I went on the 10 day liquid diet. I had gone out to dinner with Christine the night before the night of our actual planned "last supper" meal. I had planned to take my her out again the next night for the real last supper....if that makes sense. Well, we were on our way home and I just became overwhelmed with emotions and tears began to roll down my cheeks. For weeks I had planned this meal out with Christine for this final meal to our favorite restaurant. Then, it occurred to me that if this was really going to be the "last supper" meal, I wanted it to be with both my wife and kids. All of a sudden I was feeling so selfish for not including them in this meal. That was the only time I really got emotional over this surgery as I was completely calm on the actual day of surgery.

Well, we ended up having steak and shrimp and all kinds of good stuff...all of the stuff that we rarely can afford to feed five kids. It was one of the most memorable meals of my life. This surgery process plays tricks on your mind. If you are just starting the process, I say just enjoy the moment. It is such a magical time and you will likely look back on it with fond memories. The reason is that you will begin to see that it was at that period in time that you begin to get your life back.

Thanks for stopping by and checking in.

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not have the study that it came out of but it was on MSN, so I believe that it was reliable. The point that I pulled out wasn't actually the key point that the article's author was trying to make, but buried in the text. It was a key piece of information that I wish that I had found prior to surgery.

In a nutshell, the study actually said that the mortality rate for morbidly obese people is the same for people who have the surgery as those who don't. The statistical line crosses at almost exactly the one year mark. For those who have surgery, the mortality rate is higher for that first month or so and then gradually goes down at a very steady decline. For those who elect not to have the surgery, the mortality rate stays relatively constant and is the same at about the one year mark. Those who are morbidly obese STILL have about a 1 in 200 chance of dying at that point. The difference is that after the first year, the post-op WLS patient continues to see a major decline in the mortality rate, while the non-surgery person stays at that statistical rate. I'm guessing that as age goes up, the mortality rate gradually and obviously goes up too.

As a somewhat funny sideline to this the study, they also found that a side effect of post-op life is that they are more likely to suffer a sudden death than those who do not have the surgery. Well, let's think about that. Doesn't it make sense that now that we are actually living life and going places all of the time instead of being stuck in the house all the time that the likelihood of a car accident or something might increase? Of course it does. Does it mean that the risk is anymore than for a person who lives a normal life? Absolutely not. Statistics are a funny thing...sometimes we need to stop and think in a logical manner why something might be occurring.

Here is a real-life story to support this. When I was in the main chat room during my pre-op days I was talking about how I had been approved for surgery and had elected to wait until school was out (late May) instead of March 2nd for my original approval date. One of the men in the chat room virtually began to chastise me for waiting the extra 3 months. I began to quiz him about why he was taking on such a strong opinion regarding this. It turned out that years before his mom was scheduled for surgery and when she was AT THE HOSPITAL about to get the surgery, she backed out. Just nine months later she died from obesity related causes. 

I don't include this to scare anyone, but this is a very sad real-life story. In my mind, I could visualize this man with tears running down his face having to tell me why he felt so strongly about that. It hit me pretty hard at the time. Even though I had good reasons for waiting until May, it did make me rethink my position on waiting.

I was off the computer for most of December as we spent the school Christmas break in Florida. It was so nice this year as we had many days in the middle 80's this time. I did not go hog wild, but I did enjoy what I wanted in moderation. It did catch up with me since instead of losing I gained a pound. I'm back on track again over the past few days.

I did celebrate my wedding anniversary by going out to a fancy seafood spread. I was amazed at what I could eat. I ate slowly and tried a bit of this and a bit of that. It was one night and when it was over I was not feeling guilty at all for eating. I really enjoyed the crab legs and had plenty of time to get the meat out of there. Pre-op I was too impatient to spend the time cracking all of those legs and would move on to other things so I could get in the volume. I really enjoyed the quality.

It is so good to be back on track. I want to get to goal so now it is time to really work the tool. It gets easy to eat more than I should since I've been feeling so great and most people think that I'm at goal anyway. I still want to drop 35 more pounds and most just gasp when I say that, so I guess the best thing to do is to keep working at it quietly. While I want to lose 35 pounds, I want to gain 5-10 of it back and use that as my cushion. When the dust settles at the end of the year, I'd be happy to be 185 or 190 pounds.

I'm back exercising this morning. I even dusted off the treadmill. I'm already anxious for the weather to get warmer in March so I can do my early-morning walks.

Thanks for checking in with me.

John

I think it is time to admit it. I'm enjoying life just a bit too much and I've gotten comfortable where I'm at. I've lost like 4 pounds over the past month. The hunger is officially back (honeymoon is over folks) and I've been too friendly with Mr. Carbo. He is really no friend at all. I know what the pitfalls are and yet I now realize I need to keep on charting the course or the course will chart me. I still eat so far less that it still amazes me how much I used to consume. With Thanksgiving on Thursday, today I've had the best day I've had in a long time. I will be in the neighborhood of 1000 calories and over 100 grams of protein. I started with a chicken fritata this morning with some fat-free cheese. I seem to do best when I start the day with less than 200 calories and really boost up the protein. Then I have a target of no more than 500 calories (so far for the day) after lunch is over. Then I try to stay at 900 calories after dinner and finally 1000-1100 total for the day. When I do that, things go very well.

I also know that the water level has dropped off. I'm working to get that restored to previous levels. I'm also making my cabbage soup. I still want to puree it so I can have it with most meals. It serves as a food softener and helps everything go smoothly with no uncomfortable pouch food sticking issues. I know what I need to do to make the final goal a reality.

I guess Another issue that is affecting me is that Christine is not into her weight loss like she was this summer. She was motivated to lose about 20 pounds this summer and that makes a total of 50 pounds lost for her over the past 2 years. She has done great, but I'm afraid that my losses seem like they are just so stinking easy to her. So maybe I'm somehow tricking myself into waiting for her...or showing her that I have to struggle too...who knows??? She says that she will get started after the first of the year. She has been very supportive, but yesterday she said, "How can you eat that much and still lose weight?" That was a wake-up call for me and really kind of struck me. She probably thought I didn't hear it because I did not really respond to it (since I was walking out of the room at the time). So this morning I started to get back to basics. The thing that I really like about this is that you can turn the success on and off at will. Now I just have to keep telling my mind that I want to have the full success and not just a part of it.

Another thing is that I've had physical therapy for the past month or so. I've had some bad back pains that seem tied to an injury this spring when I passed out, fell against a wall, and ended up looking at the ceiling all while laying on my stomach. A head is not supposed to twist around like that...so I've heard. So it healed, but not correctly. The physical therapy has not been showing the great improvements that I had hoped for. So, the therapist has asked me to wear a neck collar and I have to wear it everywhere for 6 weeks. It drives me nuts, but I'm starting to get used to it. I only have 4 1/2 weeks to go. If it works, it will be worth it since I have very bad pains in my shoulders and back.

Okay, so this has helped to get this off my chest and evaluate what I've been doing. I'm ready for the Christmas Season (sorry...no Happy Holidays stuff for me...an old fashioned Merry Christmas around here). I'm going to keep plugging away and keep those basics on the front burner. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how things are progressing in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by and checking in on me.

John

I had a great wow moment yesterday. We were at a church function and I was waiting in line (for food of all things) and ahead of me there was a dad of one of the boys I taught last year. He turned around in my direction and then turned back around without saying a thing. Thinking that I may have done something to offend him I said, "Hi XXXXX". He turned back around and extended his hand (head tilted slightly) and said, "I'm sorry, who are you?". I replied, "Mr. Wurm". To which he said in a long drawn out word.....NOOOOOOOOOO. We had a good laugh.

When I'm at those functions, I feel like I'm walking around in some kind of costume at times. I just still don't get it that there are actually people who do not know me anymore. It really is a bit too freaky at times. They are having a costume party here in our town. Hmmmm..maybe I should dress up and go as a thin person this year. Since some don't recognize me, I think I could pull it off. 

What really gets me is the astonished look on the faces of people who I tell that I still have 30 pounds to drop. They were so used to seeing me fat that they think I'm thin now. In reality, I've just recently stepped out of the category of being obese. Therefore, as I learned in logic class in college, I'm still not thin, but I'll get there as long as I stay focused.

Thanks for stopping in and checking my progress.

John

That's it; please take me off the list of those who are obese in the world. I successfully reached my next mini goal of becoming just plain old "overweight". Who would have thought that a person could get so excited to be called overweight?

I had another shocker when I stepped on the scale to drop 5 pounds this week. I only lost a pound last week so I was expecting a 2-3 pound loss, but 5 to put me down off the obese list is a happy day.

Is this real? I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up and find out that this was all just the cruel trick of a dream. So far, I pinch myself and it still inflicts pain...and believe me I have plenty of new places to pinch in order to try it out.

As an added bonus, I also get to go to a doubleheader this evening. My two sons are the starting quarterbacks of our Junior High and Junior Varsity teams. The way that it is scheduled is that one game is at 5 pm and the other is at 7 pm and they are both being played at the same location. Like I said when I worked my summers in a cherry factory, "that's just peachy in a cherry factory".

This is another one of those memorable days along that wonderful journey. I have only 37 more pounds to hit my personal goal of 190.

Thanks for stopping by.

John

Yep...that's right...I've decided to let someone else have the title of "obese". Of course, I would like it better if no one in the world was obese, but I'm determined that it won't be able to be me anymore. I have just 6 more pounds to go before I hit my next mini goal of 227. At that point I turn from being obese to being overweight and I sure can't wait to be overweight. 

School has started out quite well for me. I have seven more students than last year, so I'm really feeling the pinch when it comes to the paper grading. It always seems like I am behind in that department. I always think that this year will be better. Yet, year after year, the paper grading brings me to my knees. Since I faithfully keep it caught up on the weekends, I just know that it is just part of the job.

I've been focused on making sure that I stay on track to lose at least 10 pounds per month. So far since we got back from summer vacation, I've hit the mark. Here it is the first part of October and I've already got all of my October weight off and even one pound of the November 10 pounds. Since I started doing that, I've acutally been doing even better. I know that I have built in some cushion and I know that I can stay ahead of the game. That way, when I want a little something extra, (by something extra I'm talking about going up to 1200 or 1300 calories a day instead of personal goal of 800-900) I know that I can have a bit of indulgence.

My favorite foods lately have been chicken salad (with fat free mayo), lettuce salad (enhanced with protein like bacon bits, cottage cheese, feta cheese, fat free Mozarella cheese or grilled chicken breast), jalapeno poppers (thin sliced deli roast beef rolled up with fat free cream cheese and a slice of pickle and jalapeno. I'm eating about 3 meals a day with only one evening snack. That is by choice as I don't even have time to try to work snacks in. So far this is working quite well for me.

Thanks for stopping in and checking my progress.

John