Terry H.

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Wow - what a year it has been.

First, my wife, Hannah, is coming up on 2 years post VSG.  Nothing short of a miracle. 

Second, I've taken up swing dancing and notched up my horseback riding.  I also had a slight revision to my plastic surgery so that is all behind me now.

What has changed since I started this journey?

• Everything is more focused.
• I want to be moving all the time.
• I'm happy with myself now and that's leading to tons of confidence.
• What would be an all day event is just an event (I can do lots of things every day instead of just barely getting through one).
• Loose skin is gone in my midsection and I have a surgically constructed posterior.  So I'm more or less normal looking in my clothes and unrestricted in performing physical activities. YAY.

What hasn't changed?

• I still crave carbs and don't always stay on plan.
• I'm still obsessive but the obsessions are directed in other places.  Some are good, some not as good.
• I'm still me with all the insecurities I ever had - but I can cope with them better now.
• Never satisfied with my look 100%.

What I'm most thankful for:

• Hannah's decision to follow my path.
• My great friends from WLS support group.
• The friends I have made with my other hobbies.
• The freedom I feel in being "normal".

What I'm working on this year:

• Keep at it!
• In surgical recovery I gained a few pounds that I want to shed (I have to make an appt with my nutritionist)
• Making the most out of each and every day.

Thanks to everyone here your your support, encouragement, and friendship.  I couldn't be here successfully without you.

 

Terry

 

p.s. See you all at the conference!

Wow - what a year it has been.

First, my wife, Hannah, is coming up on 2 years post VSG.  Nothing short of a miracle. 

Second, I've taken up swing dancing and notched up my horseback riding.  I also had a slight revision to my plastic surgery so that is all behind me now.

What has changed since I started this journey?

• Everything is more focused.
• I want to be moving all the time.
• I'm happy with myself now and that's leading to tons of confidence.
• What would be an all day event is just an event (I can do lots of things every day instead of just barely getting through one).
• Loose skin is gone in my midsection and I have a surgically constructed posterior.  So I'm more or less normal looking in my clothes and unrestricted in performing physical activities. YAY.

What hasn't changed?

• I still crave carbs and don't always stay on plan.
• I'm still obsessive but the obsessions are directed in other places.  Some are good, some not as good.
• I'm still me with all the insecurities I ever had - but I can cope with them better now.
• Never satisfied with my look 100%.

What I'm most thankful for:

• Hannah's decision to follow my path.
• My great friends from WLS support group.
• The friends I have made with my other hobbies.
• The freedom I feel in being "normal".

What I'm working on this year:

• Keep at it!
• In surgical recovery I gained a few pounds that I want to shed (I have to make an appt with my nutritionist)
• Making the most out of each and every day.

Thanks to everyone here your your support, encouragement, and friendship.  I couldn't be here successfully without you.

 

Terry

October 10 2014 marks the 3 year anniversary of my VSG surgery.  I’ve been at goal for quite a while now (since April of 2013) and I’m doing a pretty good job of maintaining my weight loss.  It’s hard to nail exactly how close due to fluctuations of swelling due to my lower body lift (more on that below).  That said, my weight has fluctuated within about a six to seven pound range with 180 (my goal weight) at the bottom of the range.  The tool still works well as long as I work with it.  It is both easy to stay and to   stray from the food plan though, so diligence is necessary to maintain and that will be a lifelong issue for me. 

What a rewarding journey this has been.  I’ve made so many friends that have had a tremendous influence on my life since I began the journey to lose weight in June of 2011.  This is a real key to my ongoing plan as they are real friends that will hold me accountable for my actions.  My wife has also been sleeved (Dec 2013) and is doing great as well.  We look like a whole different couple.

I’ve written about my hobbies before, but the priority that activities take on now cannot be overemphasized.  I live for my wife and my life and don’t waste time complaining about what I can’t do. 

My advice to anyone thinking about this or any other surgical option (or non-surgical for that matter): Get on with it.  Your life will get so much better that all the fears you have will seem silly from the other side.  Find someone that was successful and do what they did.  Find someone that is behind you in their journey and give back to the community.

I had plastic surgery at the end of April.  What a difference it makes not to have the excess skin of 240 lost pounds of belly fat swinging around my body.  I won’t kid you, it was hard for me.  Probably the worst I’ve felt in my life for a couple of weeks.  Now I am very happy that I had it done.  I will also be having a revision in December to improve the results further.  I had about 15 lbs of skin removed but the scale didn’t show it.  The mirror does though and my new waist and butt looks pretty darn good.  I continue to have swelling (hence the weight fluctuations) but that is starting to get better and my waist is probably as low as it can go.  I’m wearing 32 pants now (down from very tight 62s) and I even bought a pair of size 30s in anticipation of the minor change I expect when my revision surgery matures.  The plastics are not for everyone but they were a good choice for me.

All in all, I am very happy.  My wife and I spend way too much on clothes and activities but what a happier way to spend it compared to just food to pass the days away.  To all of my friends and support group, I thank you for a very rewarding three years.

I've scheduled my lower body lift for April 25, 2014.  Just a month prior to my 3 year anniversary of starting the journey to lose weight and get my health and my life back.  I'll be working with Dr. Zinnsser at St. Mary's in Richmond VA.  Initial estimate is that I'll have about 25 lbs removed.  If so, then my end BMI will be very close to perfect.  Its getting very close to being real to me.  About 2 weeks to the pre-surgical check in and nerves are talking to me.  So stick with me and look for more blog posts about my experience.

Two years and counting (well in two days anyhow).

It’s been two years since my gastric sleeve surgery.  I honestly can’t believe it’s been that long.  I’m going to ramble here a bit, but hope you will indulge me on my second birthday J

Weight:

I’m hovering right at 180 right now.  Down to 177 some days and up to 182 some days.  That’s a reasonable range for me and represents about a 240 lb loss.  I met with a plastic surgeon who think I’ll lose about 25 lbs of skin during my lower body lift.  That would put me in the 155 – 160 range which is solidly in the normal BMI range for my height.  In fact, the surgeon said I shouldn’t lose further so that there would be enough subcutaneous fat to make the contours of my body right once I’ve had plastics.  So this is where I want to sit for now.  I’ve maintained at this weight level since April 20^th this year. 

Health:

So far so good.  I am due to have my vitals checked out but I feel quite well.  I seem to be doing well with blood pressure and blood sugars and that’s great.  I thought my gout was completely resolved but I have had one flare up.  So I’ll have to watch that one.  However, I don’t see feel that there is anything that I would hesitate to take on limited by my health for my age.  A few weeks ago I had some landscaping rock that needed to be moved quickly.  I moved over three yards of rock in a four hour period.  I expected to pay for that the next day… however I didn’t.  WOW that’s a big change for someone that had a hard time climbing a flight of stairs two years ago.  When we say this is life changing….. it is LIFE CHANGING!!!

Lifestyle:

Oh boy… this is the second biggest reason I did this after my health and it has filled the bill in full.  Amongst the things I have done since surgery: SCUBA advanced certification and several dives; amusement parks and water parks (with my nephews and my close friend Jennifer from the boards and her lovely daughter Alexis); Intercontinental travel to the Canary Islands, Europe and India; horseback riding; sailing; walking hours and hours whenever I want; feeling closer to my wife and feeling equal to my friends; less job anxiety and fear of changing jobs if I want… That was a lot of activity and a lot of satisfaction.  Additionally, I have developed a bit of a cross addiction to clothes.  I expected that to be honest and I’m pretty happy with it.  I’m wearing mediums and smalls (mostly smalls) and 32-34 inch waist in my pants.  Way down from 5x shirts and 62 (labeled… really much larger pants).  I lost a shoe size as well.  I love walking into any store (Ralph Lauren this weekend) and just buying stuff and having it work.  I’m holding off on the big ticket items (suits specifically) until I have my lower body lift (hopefully in February or March).  I can’t wait.  So far I have been thrilled with the low cost of clothes and I’m now moving from quantity to quality.  In total, I’ve donated more than 15 big bags of clothes over the course of my journey.  I’m acting as mentor to some others having surgery and I’m appreciative of my mentors and friends too.  I remain in contact and am continuing to work the support system here and at my hospital.  I’m so so happy with this aspect of my weight loss.  My relationship with my wife is good and she is now planning to have the surgery as well.  I won’t say that there haven’t been some tense times.  These kinds of lifestyle changes don’t come without complications but I am so looking forward to her joining me after the surgery.  She has mentioned, gulp, skydiving… we’ll see.

Relationship with Food:

Overall – pretty happy here.  I do miss quantity eating sometimes. - especially when I have something really good sitting right in front of me.  So the only quantity item that I eat is lite popcorn.  Otherwise, small portions of really good food.  Carbs are still not the center of my world as they were before surgery.  I focus on protein rich foods with other items sprinkled in to add variety.  I’ve probably had 10 desserts (just two or three bites) in the past couple of years.  That’s no longer compelling to me.  That blows my mind as I was a dessert junky before.  I probably rely on protein bars more than I should, but I’ll take that over my old eating habits.  I don’t track as much as I used to but I have a set of habits that keep me on track.  I have standby meals that I know by heart (I’m looking at you Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Omelets with egg beaters) and I repeat these meals to keep my intake in check.  The sleeve is great for preventing over eating as long as I treat it right and put food into it in the right order.  Many thanks to Frisco, Elina, Kairk, and many many others for helping me keep the focus on intake and helping my sleeve work for me.

The Road Ahead:

More of the same please!  Maintenance is my biggest fear and I’m going to work hard to keep on top of it.  I’ll also have to step up my mentor game as my wife has her sleeve surgery.  I’m anxious to have my plastic surgery but honestly a bit worried about whether I’ll ever be completely happy with my body… I went from way to fat – to – way too much extra skin – and now anticipating – now have big scar… So I may have to get help for that.  However there is no doubt and I mean NO DOUBT that this has been the greatest decision I’ve made for my health and wellbeing in my entire adult life.  It’s the gift that gives every  single day.  Good luck to everyone and may your journey be as fruitful as mine has been.

So I made it to the goal posts.  Any more lost will be nice but I've achieved what I set out to do (and maybe more).  Here are the stats:

Weight at start of journey: 420 

Total loss: 240

Total days since I made the decision and started surgery: 689

Weight loss before surgery: 51

Weight loss since surgery on 10/10/11: 189

Average lbs per week: 2.4

%body weight lost: 57%

Pics later everyone.  I'm going to take a horseback riding lesson and celebrate today!!!  I made it!

 

Now the work starts: Next chapter.. Maintenance: The Pizza Strikes Back

 

I'm feeling particularly good about my progress so I thought I'd post an updated progression pic.

 

This is the SV I've been waiting for.  I can't get a grasp on it... over 400 to under 200 in 83 and a half weeks.  I can't deny it... I've Rocked This Sleeve!!

As of yesterday I lost 210 lbs... half my body weight.  People are starting to ask me if I'm at goal.  I'm wearing clothing that can best be described as average sized.  Nothing bigger than a large and mostly medium with size 36 or 38 pants.  I'm now just 9 lbs from my first major goal, 10 pounds from onderland, and 29 lbs from my stretch goal of 180.  I'm really charged up about the prospects for the new year.

Oh what a wonderful feeling to have the seat belt fit on an airplane.  One of the best NSVs yet.

Every day is better and this life change is my best Christmas present, thanksgiving wish, and birthday gift combined.

One year down.  A year in a life amounts to about 1.3% of the average expectancy.  In the last year since surgery 10/10/2011 I’ve lost 80% of my excess weight.  151 pounds gone.  With the 51 I lost before surgery this puts me over the 200 lost line and 48% of my total body weight.  I have to let that sink in sometimes.  Half of me is gone.  The last time I weighed this amount was in 1980 when I was 18.  That’s 64% of my life ago.  I’m well on my way to the weight I last saw when I was in junior high school on my way up.  At this point, I see no reason I shouldn’t make it.

What do all these numbers really mean?  Well, for one, I feel young.  So much more life than I’ve had for so many years.  For another for the first time one of the in a long time I feel like I’m just a regular guy.  Overweight? Sure.  Older? Sure.  But more like a young 51 rather than an ancient 50.  And I’m heading in the right weight direction and in control.  Perhaps like never before in my entire life.  Every aspect of my world is better;  especially my relationship with my wife.  She loves me and supports me and I feel like a better man for her. 

How about health?  Diabetes – Gone.  Blood pressure -  soon to be totally off drugs (already down to ¼ of my old dose.  Gout – seems to be gone (I’ve gone off allopurinol).  Endurance – way up. 

Some more numbers since surgery: 5x shirts to medium/large.  Size 62 pants to size 38 (even fit into a size 36 but too tight to claim it for a while);   9 SCUBA dives in the last six weeks for the first time since 1993. 

Nothing comes free though right?  I mean, I can’t eat unlimited quantities.  I can’t sit comfortably for 16 hours a day.  I have to be diligent about what I eat.  I have a lot of excess skin.  When I start to feel sorry for myself (and I sometimes do for fleeting moments) I just DO something, or review my progress, or plan for my next adventure.  How freaking cool is that. 

I have learned that being with my friends is not just about great food (although I still go out and enjoy great food within my self imposed parameters).  My new normal almost always feels OK.  I also have new friends that I’ve met here and at my support group.  That’s cool.  I’m also planning more activities like learning to sail, riding horses, and mountain hiking.  Lots to do and I can do it now or very soon.  So much more hope and so many more possibilities.

 I can’t wait to see what year 2 brings.  What a great journey this has been.