Jaime Breckenridge

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They have been running test after test for the last 16-18 months and finally ended up at Rush Medical University in Chicago where they gave me a positive diagnosis of CMT (Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease).

I have so many issues now and all I can think is how lucky I am to weigh 165 instead of 570.

So I had nsr surgery last Thursday, Feb. 25Th, 2010 and I have been fairly miserable since.  I must say that my open DS and the panniculectomy/hernia repair bothered me less.  The other two surgeries were far more painful but the pain was a managed pain.  My nasal cavities feel like they have permanent brain freeze.  Sort of like you are outside in very cold weather working and breathing through your nose a lot and it is all chaffed inside and the cold air makes it feel almost like it is burning.  Well that is what I have felt like pretty much the entire time since Thursday.  Tylenol #3 and NORCO do not seem to help with the pain.  In fact, I have pain medication in me right now and it is that cold burning sensation with every single breath.

Oh and breathing... blah!  I have to breath through my mouth because I have nasal stints (or whatever they are called) and hopefully at my Dr. visit with the ENT tomorrow he removes them.  I am not sure how much longer I can take having them in there.  I just want to breath out of my nose again.  I am not a mouth breather and it has been extremely difficult for me.

They say this surgery changes peoples lives, let's hope so.  If it turns out half as well as my DS and panniculectomy did then I will be happy with the results.

-Jaime

So December started out so-so 'stress-wise' but it went downhill and hasn't really started climbing back up.
I think I have the reason pretty well pinpointed but that doesn't mean I can easily alleviate the stress but I am working on getting it under control.

I really missed reading all of my friend's updates on the two networking sites I utilize, Oh and Facebook.  I feel like I haven't been making much progression lately.  Not with necessarily in terms of weight management but with life in general.  I can feel myself slipping downward and it is starting to concern me.  I just feel like I have no drive or ambition to do anything.  How do we force ourselves to get 'driven' again?  Again, I am not simply talking about weight management but life in general.

Hopefully I use this post and the few minutes I am about to spend on the forums and checking on my OH friends to rejuvenate and keep the momentum going strong.  If I can do that I will post more later.  Until then, I bid you ado.

-Jaime

This is a super long post describing what happened to me (got a ticket or two) the first week of November and I went to court for supervision today.  i would say don't read it it is too long and I just wanted to put it down on 'paper', so to speak.  (That sounds odd when talking about putting your thoughts on the computer.  You know, 'put it on paper'... more like 'put it on computer' or 'put it on data'  heh)  I would skip reading this post unless you want to read all about my big adventure of getting two tickets (one of them while driving 98 mph) and going to court and hearing the judge say nice things about me and hearing the judge basically put the assistant states attorney in his place.  If you want to spend 10-15 minutes reading random babble about such an adventure then be my guest and read on.  Like I said I just wanted it for my journal, I copy and save all my blogs on my hard disc and print them out and put them in my binder by date so I can read them one day.

Now for "Jaime's Big Adventure"

I had to go to court this morning.  Well, I guess I did not have to go but I wanted to get court supervision for a speeding ticket.  In late October I went to visit my sister and her family in Traverse City, Michigan.  On the way home, November 4th, I got pulled over 15 minutes from home.  I drove 6.5 hours and got pulled over the last 15 minutes...  I was driving very, very fast though.  The last couple times I went up to visit I drove my 1988 Pontiac Firebird Formula.  Let's face it, Firebird's are not designed for a comfortable, relaxing cruise across a few states.  A Firebird, especially the older models, feel every bump and pebble in the road.  They sit very low and have terrible traction in winter weather, heck in plain old wet weather they don't have much traction.

We decided I should take the wife's 2004 Bonneville for several reasons.  One the Firebird had been 'acting up' and I hadn't figured out what was wrong but what things and parts I did replace hadn't helped it idle and run well.   The other reason was that Traverse City, Michigan is as far north as you can get on the east side of the state and a large amount of lake effect snow is not unheard of in early November.  My wife and I figured it was better to have a front wheel drive, traction control vehicle rather than a Firebird with rear wheel drive, tires designed for speed and agility not wet or snowy weather, plus it has a ton of power all going to the rear wheels so it easily skids out of control if you aren't careful.  I have driven it in the snow and I don't even have to put my foot on the gas, if I give it the slightest bit of gas to accelerate it fish-tails.

So, to get back on topic, the cluster stopped working on the Bonneville and I had no idea how fast I was going.  the only thing that did work was the odometer.  I was sitting at a stop sign in Traverse City and it read 140 MPH and no rpms, but the car was running.  When I first started the car it said the RPM's were maxed out, red lined, the speedometer said like 30-40mph, the battery read no charge at all, the oil gauge was maxed out and the temperature gauge was maxed out.  The weather was 40 degrees and I had just started the car, no way the temperature was maxed.  So I check fuses and all the fluid levels and everything was good.  But I had to head home so I left and figured I would hang with the flow of traffic.

Well, the speed limit in Michigan is 75, Illinois is 65.  I stopped for Gas in Michigan and since it is only 530-550 miles from my sisters house to my house in Macomb, IL I didn't need gas again because a full tank will get 425-450 miles on the Bonneville.  I set the cruise and adjusted as I drove, but I never did crank it down any.  I flew across Illinois on I-80 in very good time but was using the cell phone (I wear a headset and I look like a telephone operator but it is safe and it doesn't echo like bluetooth)  so that helped pass some time.  I also take my iPod and put tunes on, got a good after-market MP3 player with an amp and subwoofer in the trunk. (I hate all the mids and highs and no lows, I do not normally crank the sub, it is just to help balance things out.)

So I got to the west side of Illinois and was making record time, I figured I was doing 85 or so.  The trip usually takes 8 hours of driving and I was on track for 6.5 hours.  That is actual driving time but I only stop one time, I eat very little but do drink a lot.  I use the bathroom once when I get gas and that is it.  I always skip breakfast and eat a late lunch, lets face it I got the DS and I never know when something isn't going to sit right.  Hard to find a restroom on the interstate sometimes, specially when you have to go badly, Murphy's Law!

anyway, 15 minutes form home I get the red/blue lights.  I pull over asap, way off the road (I don't want the officer getting hit)  I turn on the interior lights, put window down, shut off car, turn on hazard lights and place both hands on the top of the wheel.  I thought since it was dark and I brought back 600+ lbs of apples I picked so the back seat was stacked WAY up making it nearly impossible for him to see me easily I would make it easier on him to know I wasn't going to do anything to him.  Safety first right?

So he said, "You know why I pulled you over but can you tell me why you are in such a hurry and where you are headed?"  I said sure I left Traverse City, Mi 7 hours ago, I was visiting my sister and her family and I am 15 minutes or so from home.  I stopped once in Michigan for gas and I haven't stopped since.  My entire cluster stopped working this morning when I got into the car but I couldn't stay up there for a week or so while they repaired it so I set the cruise once I was on the interstate and tried to adjust accordingly with the flow of traffic.

He said I was doing 98mph in a 65.  I was in disbelief but I didn't argue with him, I am sure he was correct.  He took my license and insurance card, which was only good until November 3rd and this was the 4th.  Came back 5-10 minutes later and said "start your car please."  So I did, and he said "rev it up for me", when I did the mph pegged at 140, the rpms dropped to zero and everything was nutty.  He then said, "Well, you told me the truth, 4 out of 5 people use that as an excuse.  When I have them do what I just had you do 1 out of 100 actually has an issue."  He told me he would write it for 94 in a 65 instead of 98 so I didn't have to go to court unless I wanted to get supervision or something.  Well, it was also the difference between a $95 fine and hundreds of dollars for reckless driving, driving too fast for conditions (night time), speeding 30+ and something else.  (I asked a friend of mine that works in a neighboring county as an assistant states attorney.  She said that fast is possible county jail time, not over a year so no prison but still, jail time.)  So the cop was really cool doing that for me.

That was Thursday or Friday at like 7:30pm, completely dark out by then.  Sunday I was in the van and looked down and realized I was doing 74 or so, about that time here comes a state cop... POOP!  Another ticket.  At least the second one is only $75.  Now all that and I have to take 20 shots at $35 a shot.  We do not have the money for it so we couldn't pay the electric bill, the cell phone bill and the cable TV/cable Internet bill.  So we are already $600-$800 behind and no way to catch up until I get back to school in January and take out a little extra on my student loan.  Now we have a $75 and $95 ticket.

I called my insurance guy (also a very close friend) and asked him if getting a ticket would mess with my insurance.  he assured me it would not unless we got canceled or changed companies/underwriters.  So I paid the $75 ticket last week and went to court for supervision for the $95 ticket, I figured keep the 94mph off the license.

the judge called my name and I am still bent over some and today I am really bloated so I look terrible cause I hurt.  I drove myself so no pain pill(s).  I told the judge I plead guilty and I would like supervision if possible.  The assistant states attorney said "No, we want a conviction your honor."  The judge repeated what the attorney just said "...conviction..."  My reply was, "Judge this is the first time I have gotten pulled over in a long time, let alone a ticket."  The judge asked me how long and I told him 8 or 9 years.  He asked the assistant states attorney if he showed any convictions or anything in the last 8-9 years.  the attorney said "No your honor, nothing but we..." and the judge interrupted the attorney and said Supervision if fine with me then, he hasn't been pulled over in that long then he can have 6 months supervision."  the attorney looked really angry but all he could say is "Yes judge."  The judge told me it would be $200 for the fine, court costs and to stay out of trouble for the next 6 months, until June 15th, 2010.  I said, "Yes judge I will do my best and thank you for your mercy Judge."

The judge laid his papers down, took off his glasses and looked right at me and said, "Well you have been the single only person so far today that didn't have an excuse for why you were speeding, not wearing a seat belt, no insurance, leaving the scene of an accident or not having a child in a safety seat."  The judge continued, 'When I asked you how you wanted to plead you said, 'guilty'.  I said why were you operating a vehicle so fast?" 

The judge then said, "Your reply was, 'Yes judge I was speeding and I have no excuse just a reason."  The judge went on to say, " You told me the reason is the cluster in the car broke the morning you left Michigan and you headed for home anyway.  You also stated that You could have made sure you weren't speeding by setting your cruise a bit slower than traffic rather than keeping it set at a Michigan speed where you set it t the fast lane speeds."

I told the judge just like I told the officer that wrote the ticket, 'I know I deserve the ticket, I broke the law.' I told the judge that I was just asking for supervision, not arguing the cost or the fact that the cluster was broken so I shouldn't have to pay anything.

The judge commented that it was refreshing to not hear an excuse as to why someone didn't deserve a ticket or fines or jail.  And part of the reason he granted my supervision was due to my honesty, the other part was due to the fact that I hadn't been pulled over in 8-9 years, let alone gotten a ticket of any kind.

So I have until Feb. 22nd to come up with $200.  I have no idea if I can borrow enough from a student loan but I sure hope so because I need to borrow $800, plus whatever late fees and stuff will be tacked onto the past due bills.  I am also having to go through a whole thing with Financial Aid because I took this semester off so I could have my panniculectomy.  I knew I couldn't have the panniculectomy in late November and still get to class the last 3 weeks, which are when all the big projects are due and finals.  So I hope I can get the Federal and State grants and not have to max out a student loan(s) to pay for school.

Okay, so I just wanted to post this so that when I go back and read my journal some day I will have this to remember... Not that I want to remember two tickets and all these money issues but hey, it happened and I want it in my journal.

WHEW!!! I think I got some sort of calorie burning done utilizing me fingers today, lol.

-Jaime

I think I broke the digital scale my wife got me for Valentine's Day earlier this year.

Surely not due to my size, maybe it was because it was a cheap model.  I did like the scale though, the digital readout was nice to have.  But I got that one because I did weigh 570 lbs and had to weigh at the hospital on the special wheelchair scales.  This scale weighed up to 400 lbs, which I hit shortly after Valentine's day this year.

Anyway, it died yesterday.  I tried new batteries and all the display does is blink or flash repeatedly.

Oh well, I am going to hold off a bit and get another scale for Christmas, maybe... if I can hold off that long.

-Jaime

July 4, 2009

Americans keep putting on the pounds — at least according to a report released this week from the Trust for America's Health. The study found that nearly two-thirds of states now have adult obesity rates above 25 percent.

But you may want to take those findings — and your next meal — with a grain of salt, because they're based on a calculation called the body mass index, or BMI.

As the Weekend Edition math guy, I spoke to Scott Simon and told him the body mass index fails on 10 grounds:

1. The person who dreamed up the BMI said explicitly that it could not and should not be used to indicate the level of fatness in an individual.

The BMI was introduced in the early 19th century by a Belgian named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He was a mathematician, not a physician. He produced the formula to give a quick and easy way to measure the degree of obesity of the general population to assist the government in allocating resources. In other words, it is a 200-year-old hack.

2. It is scientifically nonsensical.

There is no physiological reason to square a person's height (Quetelet had to square the height to get a formula that matched the overall data. If you can't fix the data, rig the formula!). Moreover, it ignores waist size, which is a clear indicator of obesity level.

3. It is physiologically wrong.

It makes no allowance for the relative proportions of bone, muscle and fat in the body. But bone is denser than muscle and twice as dense as fat, so a person with strong bones, good muscle tone and low fat will have a high BMI. Thus, athletes and fit, health-conscious movie stars who work out a lot tend to find themselves classified as overweight or even obese.

4. It gets the logic wrong.

The CDC says on its Web site that "the BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for people." This is a fundamental error of logic. For example, if I tell you my birthday present is a bicycle, you can conclude that my present has wheels. That's correct logic. But it does not work the other way round. If I tell you my birthday present has wheels, you cannot conclude I got a bicycle. I could have received a car. Because of how Quetelet came up with it, if a person is fat or obese, he or she will have a high BMI. But as with my birthday present, it doesn't work the other way round. A high BMI does not mean an individual is even overweight, let alone obese. It could mean the person is fit and healthy, with very little fat.

5. It's bad statistics.

Because the majority of people today (and in Quetelet's time) lead fairly sedentary lives and are not particularly active, the formula tacitly assumes low muscle mass and high relative fat content. It applies moderately well when applied to such people because it was formulated by focusing on them. But it gives exactly the wrong answer for a large and significant section of the population, namely the lean, fit and healthy. Quetelet is also the person who came up with the idea of "the average man." That's a useful concept, but if you try to apply it to any one person, you come up with the absurdity of a person with 2.4 children. Averages measure entire populations and often don't apply to individuals.

6. It is lying by scientific authority.

Because the BMI is a single number between 1 and 100 (like a percentage) that comes from a mathematical formula, it carries an air of scientific authority. But it is mathematical snake oil.

7. It suggests there are distinct categories of underweight, ideal, overweight and obese, with sharp boundaries that hinge on a decimal place.

That's total nonsense.

8. It makes the more cynical members of society suspect that the medical insurance industry lobbies for the continued use of the BMI to keep their profits high.

Insurance companies sometimes charge higher premiums for people with a high BMI. Among such people are all those fit individuals with good bone and muscle and little fat, who will live long, healthy lives during which they will have to pay those greater premiums.

9. Continued reliance on the BMI means doctors don't feel the need to use one of the more scientifically sound methods that are available to measure obesity levels.

Those alternatives cost a little bit more, but they give far more reliable results.

10. It embarrasses the U.S.

It is embarrassing for one of the most scientifically, technologically and medicinally advanced nations in the world to base advice on how to prevent one of the leading causes of poor health and premature death (obesity) on a 200-year-old numerical hack developed by a mathematician who was not even an expert in what little was known about the human body back then.

I saw Dr. Rossi today for my second post-operative checkup.  Melinda, the worlds best nurse, removed the remainder of my staples.  She is the greatest, she told me everything looked good.

Dr. Rossi came in and said it all looked good and in another four weeks or thereabouts my hernia and panniculectomy wound would be mostly healed.  I cannot wait to be able to do things without having to stop and wonder if I will hurt myself.  It is in the back of my mind, be careful so you don't damage the hernia or they will have to go back in and fix it again.

I feel sort of strange around the suture line, it is all numb sort of like when the dentist is working on you.  I can feel pressure around the wound but I cannot really 'feel' it.  Dr. Rossi assures me it is because of cutting through all those nerves.  The feeling will slowly come back as the nerves heal.

I think that is about all for now.  I cannot wait to heal enough I can wear jeans/slacks and tuck a shirt in for the first time in 15 years.  And tuck in a shirt with no overhanging gut in 20 years.

So I have done okay at my weight loss since my DS surgery in October 2008.  I lost about 300 lbs in the 12 months following surgery.  On Nov. 19th I had a panniculectomy and hernia repair and weighed about 275.  They removed 19.5 lbs during the surgery and I lost a few lbs those couple of days in the hospital.  I was 250 when I left and now just 10 days later I have lost a lb a day.  I am not worried yet but I haven't been very active and I have been craving sweets so not eating as healthy as I was pre-operative.  I should not be losing weight right now.

I know the government says I should weigh no more than 180 lbs but I have 176 lbs of lean body mass so I have about 70 lbs of fat, that is 26% fat, not terribly high since I started at 92%.  I wanted to be at 25 but changed my goal to 20%, that would put me at 220lbs but if I were to have the rest of my excess fat/skin removed I would lose about 10-12 lbs (thighs, upper arms, and that fat roll around my upper body and back.)


Okay, well enough of my random talk.

Oh and Dr. Rossi took the sutures out of my navel, removed every other staple and removed both drains.  I go back next Tuesday and I would imagine he will remove the other half of the staples.

-Jaime

So I pre-paid for my surgery, the panniculectomy.  I paid for a two day stay in the hospital.  I was in for two days, Thursday was surgery day and I left Saturday morning.  So I had a room from Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning which was less than 48 hours.  I had a quote form the surgeon for $5,500 and that included two days in the hospital, 2.5 hours of OR time, the anesthesiologist, and everything like that.  I even opted for staples not sutures because it takes so much less time in the OR to staple instead of all those sutures.  It cut the time down about 45 minutes to an hour and I do not care about having a scar line.

I had a hernia as well once they got in and they repair it.  It was a large hernia and they used some sort of mesh to repair it.
Because I had a hernia the insurance will cover some things.  From my understanding they run a clock so to speak for each procedure.  So if they spent 45 minutes on the hernia repair and 1:15 minutes on the panniculectomy then the insurance would cover 45 minutes of OR time and 45 minutes of the anesthesiologist and 45 minutes for this that or the other.

I just got off the phone with the gal at the surgeon's office, she said the insurance company pays 10 cents on the dollar and I might not get any of my $5,500 back.  They told me I would if I had a hernia and now they are back tracking.  I am going to hold them to it though.  I will not take this laying down.  I will demand to get some of my money back if the insurance is going to cover some of the things that I pre-paid.  Why should they get paid twice.

-Jaime

So I am 10 days post-op now.  Today, Monday, is day 11 since my panniculectomy and hernia repair.  the pain is pretty much gone but I am going nuts not being able to come and go as I please.  I feel very dependent on people again.  I thought I would never be dependent on anyone again.

I need help doing just about everything, I have someone else put on my socks, shoes, underwear, pants etc...  I have someone else pick things up off the floor because I cannot bend over to get stuff.  There is such a list of things I cannot do right now, that I could do a couple weeks ago but that I couldn't do before my duodenal switch last October.

I know this is temporary but it does play on you a bit.  Oh well, this too will pass.

-Jaime