Gavin H.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Ok, I will be 30 weeks out 7/11 and have lost over 120 pounds!!!! My BMI went from 42 to 24!!!!! Holy shit Batman!!!! :) 
I love my RNY and love to share my story with anyone, as well as my two cents! :)  This is one amazing tool if you use it right!!!

Thanks to all my friends! I couldn't have done it without you! ::) 


Hugs
Gavin

Ok, it has been a while since I have posted, in fact it has been about two months and a lot has happened in those two months! All great stuff…

Before I had the WLS I set a couple of goals, one of getting back to a 36” pant and the other of getting somewhere in the range of 185-195 pounds. Well this morning I was at 195! So that was one down… Yesterday one of my friends at work brought me in a nice ne pair of 501’s in size 34”x32” and I didn’t think they would fit, well guess what, they did fit, PERFECT! So I have met one goal of the weight, and now passed the other goal for the inches! I have a feeling that I might make it down to a 32” waist before all is said and done!

I am working out 4-5 times a week for 2 hours at a time and loving it. I do about an hour of cardio and an hour of weight training each time. One day I work my upper body then the next is my lower body. I am starting to see some major changes and I feel fantastic!!

Now that I have met my goals it is time to set some new ones. I have a goal of running in a 5K, a 10K and a full marathon buy this time next year! I’ll let you know how that goes!

WLS is amazing, it has truly changed my life and is allowing me to do things I have never thought possible. I love to help others with their journey as well and enjoy being there to support anyone though this.

My best to you all and keep up the great work!

Well as you have noticed, I haven’t been on all week and that is because I was in the hospital since Saturday night!!! Looks like the problem I had with the pasta last week, that I thought passed, didn’t pass after all! It seems that the combination of that and all the puking I did I broke a stitch and my intestines looped and closed off all the way! Saturday I got up, took the car in to be checked out, went to the gym for the first time to get my workout setup, came home and played basketball for an hour or so with my oldest daughter then had lunch. The pain didn’t start with lunch, but I did throw up a little as I had been all week. After an hour I decided it was time to start taking water again and as soon as I drank the pain started. 

Of course my wife had been bugging me all week to call the doctor since the pasta problem, but being the man that I am I didn’t think I needed to call. And I kept telling my self that Saturday afternoon until the pain got so bad I was about ready to cut my own stomach open and remove what ever was causing the pain. I broke down and called the doctor to ask them what I could do, short of removing my own stomach. They called back after consulting with the surgeon and I was instructed to get to the hospital ASAP where they were waiting for me with my room ready.

We are only about 8 miles from the hospital, but in a city, with traffic lights, that can be a long ride, and when you are in so much pain you want to die it was a VERY long ride and as soon as we got to the front doors I was opening the car door and getting out before my wife even fully stopped!! I limped into the hospital and the quickly got me in a wheel chair and started checking me in. My wife had to take the girls back home and figure out a baby sitter in order to come back later. What seemed like hours, though I know it had to be less than 15 minutes, they finally got me checked in and on my way up!

Was like home coming in the hospital as most the staff that was on were the same group of people who took care of me, 10 weeks to the day, before when I had my RNY. They hurried to get an IV in so they could start pain meds and get me at least comfortable. Once they got the IV in they started the drugs and took blood for blood work. After about an hour the pain started to subside, UNTIL they brought in two 8 oz glasses of this wonderful liquid they wanted me to drink so we could do a CAT scan. Well I laughed at them, telling them there was no way I was going to be able to drink that much in this pain and they said I had to try and I had to get at least one of the glasses down! As soon as I took the first swallow the pain came back… It hurt like hell, did I mention that? It took me about another hour to get that glass down and I thought I was going to die every moment of it. Then I had to wait another hour after drinking it before we could do the scan. 

When they started to hook me up for the scan they needed to add something to my IV so it would show up on the scan. As they started putting it in, my arm started getting bigger and bigger! Now if it would have been my upper arm, I would have been fine with that, but since it was at my elbow it just didn’t look as good. It seems in the rush to get my line in they didn’t use a big enough one and they didn’t do a very good job putting it in, so it burst and was leaking out into my arm tissue. Fun! Off comes one IV and in, a much larger one goes into the other arm! Did I mention that my stomach hurt like hell??? Well for some reason I didn’t felt at as bad at this moment because my arm was hurting from all the hair that was just removed buy taking out the old IV and my other arm hurt from having the hunk of pipe jammed into it for the new IV!! Oh did I mention that I don’t like needles! No IV drug abuse for me in my future!

Ok, CAT Scan done, will have to wait for morning to learn my fait. They told me Saturday night that it would most likely be a blockage and they would go down with a scope to check it out. Imagine my surprise when Sunday morning came and in comes a nurse to shave my belly! Why do you need to shave my belly if they are going down my throat with a camera? She laughed and said, “Oh no, you are being prepped for surgery!”   Great, news to me!!! They said it would start as soon as they could assemble their team!! Hope it’s the A team, but since it was Sunday I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be.

Ok, so they knew my history, did a dumb thing with food a week ago, hadn’t been able to get much in my stomach in a week, been tossing my cookies a lot, hurt like hell to even just drink.. So knowing all this, even me who doesn’t have an M.D. after his name, would know that there must be a lot of fluid and “stuff” in my gut. Hell I just drank a ton of nasty liquid for them less than 12 hours before… Hell yes there is stuff in there! Well they didn’t think about that, so as soon as they put me under I was told I looked like a gusher and must have puked a gallon of “liquid” and “stuff” and yes some when in my lungs so they had to “flush” my lungs to make sure they were clear! How do they flush you ask? J Nothing like our friend “Salt Water” to do the trick. 

They found that I had an internal hernia and my small intestines were completely closed off! They were able to repair it, without removing any more intestines, lucky me! Came out of surgery with a lot less pain that the first time. I guess there was less gas and one less hole involved but it didn’t hurt at all, my stomach that is.. My lungs were on fire! Nothing like getting a light case of Phenomena! 

I spent the next four days trying to get my lungs working again, breathing treatments, walking, motivating others that had surgery within a few days of then, meeting new ones and trying to breath. I went through an amazing amount of pain meds! I was discharged Thursday morning and came home with the plan of returning to work on Friday. Nice thought, but far from reality! I felt like shit all day Thursday, low grade fever, 100.4, very dizzy and just didn’t feel good. Tried to sleep with my CPAP and it felt like it was going to blow my lungs right out of my chest! In the 5 days at the hospital I lost 6 more pounds! I am now down 79 pounds for a weight of 222! Here come the two hundred teens!

Friday I just hung out at home, got the tax refund so paid a ton of bills, including the last of my RNY stuff and tried to heal! I am feeling better, should be able to get back to work on Monday and I have my follow up on Tuesday! 

So let’s see what I learned from all of this!

1. Don’t eat raw pasta, even whole wheat pasta!
2. Don’t eat too much cooked pasta, same as above.
3. If you can’t eat for two days and do nothing but puke, call the doctor!!!
4. If something doesn’t feel right, call the doctor!
5. Catheters hurt coming out, no matter what anyone says!
6. Night nurses are not as nice and helpful as day nurses.
7. “B” surgical team only needed 4 holes not the 5 holes the “A” team needed.
8. Spending $40 on scar cream over the last two months was a total waste of money on 4 out of the 5 holes I have in my stomach!
9. If you’re a man, and have a woman in your life who tells you that you should call the doctor, CALL THE DOCTOR!
10. If you don’t keep a positive about all this, you are going to hurt a lot more than you need to!
11. Yes, it was still all worth it! I am down to 222 pounds!!!
12. Oh ya, and the last, and most important, when in doubt CALL THE DOCTOR!!!!

Cheers to all my friends!
Gavin

Well now that I have your attention I thought it was time for another update on my journey to a better life.  But that is one sexy movie if you ask me! The original not the remake anyway….  Very hot, makes you look at food in a whole new way!!

Speaking of looking at food in a whole new way, I made the mistake and ate too much whole wheat pasta Monday and paid for it for two days!! Yes it seems I plugged up my stomach and was in super pain for two days.  I couldn’t eat or drink, and kept throwing up! Finally at 11PM of the second day I was able to get all the pasta and blockage up and out!  I was running a 100 degree fever and wasn’t able to sleep Monday night and when I was able to finally get it up and out my fever broke almost immediately and I could lie down and sleep.  I think it was a combo of eating too much, but god it tasted so good, and eating a couple of pieces of raw pasta (the hard stuff) that caused the blockage.  I was so close to calling the doc and having him take it out, but I was thrilled I was able to pass it all on my own….  Lesson learned! Bad Gavin!!!

Ok, now the good stuff!  I am down a total of 72 pounds in 9 weeks!!! That blows me away just to say it! 72 pounds!!!  I had to break down and buy some new clothes this weekend and that was a blast!!! I could buy clothes off the normal rack!!! And found stuff that I liked that actually fit!  Great feeling.  I still have a ways to go but I am on my way that’s for sure.  I have lost about 6” from my waist alone!

I joined a gym yesterday and plan on starting a work out routine the first of the week.  My goal is to go 4 days a week for 2 hours a day.  I figure that will help me reach my goal by summer and feel even better!  I haven’t had much of a problem with skin yet, it seems to be shrinking with the fat but I want to get it more muscle to hold on too! 

Thanks for all your support, it means a lot too me and until next time, keep up all the amazing work my friends!!!

Cheers,
Gavin
 

Well it’s been a while since my last update so I guess this is as good a time as any for one!

I passed my half way point this morning. I am down a total of 59 pounds and have 57 more to go to reach my goal! I can’t believe that in 7 weeks I am half way to the goal I set before my surgery! 

The last couple of weeks have been frustrating to say the least. In two weeks I only lost 2 pounds and that was hard! I know I haven’t been getting enough protein in and that has something to do with it. Meat, of almost all kinds, just turns my stomach. The only meat that I can eat right now is deli sliced turkey and some tuna. I get sick of eating the same thing all the time so now I am trying to get most my protein with beans and protein bars.

I “thought” I had my two month follow-up this morning but after sitting at the doctor’s office for about 15 min they called me up and said I was a month early! The appointment is for March 3 not February 3! Kinda felt like an idiot! But I was so happy this morning seeing that I passed the half way mark as well as had to notch another hole in my belt it was ok.


Well that is about it for this one, but I do want to thank you all for your continued support though all this. It has been an amazing ride so far and it’s nice having you all right beside me giving me support!

Cheers,
Gavin

Well it’s that time again, time for a little update… A lot has happened since the last update and the weight loss continues to amazing me. I weighed this morning and I have 1.5 pounds more to lose to have lost my 6 year old daughters total weight! I am down 54 pounds as of this morning and she weighs 55.5 pounds! It still just amazes me that in a little over 5 weeks I have lost more than 50 pounds! 

I had to go shopping this past weekend as well. My jeans finally got so big I just couldn’t stand them any more. I looked like a gang banger with my pants falling down and they were so baggy I just couldn’t bring myself to wearing them. Went to good old Target and found a cheap pair of Wrangler jeans! The exciting part was the size of them! My goal has been to reach a 36” waist again, something I haven’t had since high school; well I was stunned when I fit into a 38” waist already!! I might have to lower my goal a little; perhaps 36” is still bigger than I will be? Who know, I look at people with 34” waist and think to myself, there is no way I would ever fit in those, but I guess I will have to wait and see.  

I am finally figuring out how and what to eat that I can keep down. I am learning that yes, that little bit of food is more than enough. I am learning that yes, I must chew, chew, chew my food and take little bites or I will be “giving it back” in no time at all. I have learned that grease and oil is bad, VERY BAD! I have learned that I used to love meat, in almost any form but now I am almost a total vegetarian as it sits much better for now.  I have also learned that yes, even a guy who has been fat most all of his life will lose weight with this surgery!  

It has been about 20 years since I last set foot in a gym as well, but over the weekend I went to a new 24/7 gym near my house and am going to be joining. With the weight loss comes a lot of extra skin, and since my insurance doesn’t pay for plastics, and I can’t afford it on my own, I need to try and provide some muscle for all this extra skin to hang on too. Plus why lose all this weight and not build a nicer body while I am at it. My goal is to get to the gym between 4:30 and 5AM at least 4 days a week and work out 2 hours before work. That should give me much needed energy for the day as well as start to build some muscle that I need now more than ever.

Well that’s all for this issue but I will be updating soon to let you know how it is all coming, but so far it has been well with the little bit of pain!!!  

Cheers,
Gavin

Ok, I know this is a day early but tomorrow will be my fourth week post-op and I am happy to report I am now down 44 pounds!!!! I have 4 more pounds to go until I am half way to my goal weight.  I am already past half way to my doctor’s goal but his goal isn’t as low as mine.

I am still feeling great, been using the treadmill almost everyday and increasing the speed and angle each time a little.  The more I use it the more I want to use it.  I am looking into a little 24/7 gym near my house to work out at.  It would be nice to go there around 4:30 AM and work out before work.  It is all going to depend on the cost. 

So far this has been an amazing journey and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!  I have also been lucky enough to be able to help a couple of other people make the choice to see my surgeon and a support to a few as well.  That has been a great feeling.

I am now spending a lot of time trying to re-train my eyes to my new stomach size! That is the hard part.  I am so used to eating huge portions it is very hard to adjust to a 1/3 cup meal size.  But it doesn’t take long when I eat one to many bites!  I am learning, just slow!! I guess 40 years of stuffing myself with food is going to take a little while to learn that I can’t eat that much any more!

I still haven’t taken any after pics so I can see the change from before until now, but will be doing that soon.  I am just going by the scale and the belt holes that I keep having to add to my belt!  It is telling me that I am changing and I am really starting to enjoy the change…

Hope you all have a great weekend and I will be updating more soon..

Cheers,
Gavin

Well it has been a while since my last update so I figured here it is, New Years Eve, so it’s time to give my friends a little update.

As of today I am down 36 pounds and am able to wear some clothes I haven’t been in for years! Feels great.   Christmas was good, didn’t even miss the food and I felt great so that was a plus.

I have learned the hard way not to eat ground round, even though hamburger was on my list of okayed foods for week 3… NOT GONNA DO THAT AGAIN FOR A VERY LONG TIME!!!! I have never felt anything so bad in my life!! I know chicken is working for me as I am eating a little bit, so I am going to try some fish tonight and see what happens. Could be a good New Years Eve, or a bad one depending on how this goes.

I have my second post-op Monday and I am hoping they will clear me to start some exercises!! I am sick of just walking, and my skin is starting to get stretch marks and dimples where the fat is being eaten away so I would love to do some sit-ups and get back on my bike! I am keeping my fingers crossed they will let me soon.

I still have no hunger at all, I love that!! That was my biggest problem before, I always was hungry and thinking about food and eating until I was so full I could hardly move. Now I eat because I have to and that is so much nicer. 

I started back to work this Monday… Could have come back last week but the doc wouldn’t ok it so I had to wait. I felt good enough to work just a few days after and in fact I was working from home every day anyway. People at work are shocked to see what I have lost so far. It has been really nice hearing all the comments about how I am starting to look! 

Well I hope you all have a great and safe New Years! See you in 2009!! I think this year I will be able to keep my new years resolution!

Cheers,
Gavin

Hi and Merry Christmas...

Had my first Post-Op yesterday and it is official, I have lost 28 pounds so far!! I figured I would lose maybe 20 before returning to work next week, looks like I was a little off in my estimate. 

Yesterday was my worst day so far! I got to find out what it feels like if you eat too much and it was very painful ALL DAY LONG!  I had a little over 1 hard boiled egg mashed up with a little butter and Mrs. Dash for breakfast and I found out that I can't eat a whole egg at the moment, it is too much food.  It seems that since an egg is so sticky it formed a ball in my little pouch and wouldn't move!  i couldn't even drink water without excruciating pain!  Needless to say that was all I ate yesterday. lol  Finally at about  6:30 PM I was able to drink water again and it seemed to finally leave my pouch and life was good again.

It is really amazing that it only takes 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of food to fill me up to the point where I am stuffed!  I just have to learn to eat slower! It takes about 20 minutes for the message from your stomach that your full to reach your brain... Gotta eat slow enough for that message to reach your brain before you are stuffed.  I feel great again today though so I am happy!!

They started me on this med that I have to take for the next 6 months for my Gallbladder.  It is common for obese people who experience rapid weight loss to get really bad gallstones, to the point where they need to remove your gallbladder and this med is supposed to lower that chance to 2% or less.  I was blown away how expensive the stuff is, my insurance co-pay was $20 for 100 pills, the retail price was about $250!!!  And I need to be on it for 6 months...

Starting Saturday I get to move to my stage 2 food, I get to add hamburger, fish, deli meat, beans, fruit and a few other things that I am looking forward to  having again.  It is pretty wild though to eat so little of anything, basically I get one thing for food each meal, not a variety since my meal size is so small.  That will start in two weeks when I get to expand what I eat and the quantity a little.

I am looking forward to returning to work next week, and trying on my slacks.  Should be a little looser now than the last time I put them on.  I have almost another week of weight loss ahead of me so who knows what I will be at by the time I get back to work.

If I don't have another update before Christmas I wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!

Ok, so I got up this morning and did my normal, shower and scale… I was a little let down when the scale showed 276.5 pounds! Up ½ a pound!!! LOL The scale is a hunk of crap I think… as you can stand on it 5 times in 5 minutes and get at least 3 different numbers, so who knows if it is wrong today, or yesterday or some other day, but I started with this thing so I am going to finish with it…

Anyway, I didn’t know an egg could taste so good! I got to start soft foods today so after my shower I made a hard boiled egg and a little oatmeal. That egg tasted so good!!!

I have been really dizzy for the last two days, so bad that I have been making my wife drive again, but about an hour after eating it was gone. As I assumed it was the lack of protein in my diet. I feel great now and am waiting for my wife to make me some yummy split pea soup for latter and I am cooking her and the girl’s steak!

Hope you all have a great weekend and I will update soon.

Gavin