15 Month Update

Jan 29, 2011

 Well, I guess it is has been quite awhile since I posted an update.  So, I had my surgery on October 21, 2009.  Everything has been going great in regards to the surgery and I couldn't be happier that I made the choice to have this surgery.   Well I started my journey for the DS in July of 2009, at a high weight of 495 pounds, wearing a 5X/6X shirt and a size 58 pants.  Well 15 months later, I am at 255 pounds, a 240 pound weight loss, an XL shirt, and depending on the pants, 36 or 38 waist.  

I had a great summer, doing a lot of golfing, which I hadn't done for about 13 years.  I golfed in 2 leagues, one of which me and my teammate tied for 2nd place overall.  I also won the low net club championship at the golf course that I played.  It was nice to be back golfing again, even the my game was extremely inconsistent.  I had both of my brothers visit, whom I hadn't seen since before I had my surgery.  And I had my oldest nephew here for a month this summer. We did many things that I know I wouldn't have been able to do had I not gotten rid of a lot of the weight.  I also spent 3 weeks out east visiting my brother and family (while returning his son) and also went camping on the beach while I was out there.  I also got my hockey skates back on this winter for the first time in probably 13 years as well, I guess once you learn something, you never really forget how to do it..

I was hospitalized for about 8 days in the middle of November, but it had nothing to do with having DS or weight loss surgery.   It is not really certain as to what caused it, but to the best that they could figure out, I had some form of viral hepatitis (not  the common A,B,C or even D-F).  There are many different strains that there just isn't a test for, which means there is also no cure or to what causes them.  The result of this was acute liver and kidney failure.  The liver was pretty close to normal by the time I left the hospital, but my kidneys were not working and had to be put on dialysis, with the hope that at some point they will start working again.  Well after I left the hospital, I had outpatient dialysis 3 times a week for 4 hours a day, until the middle of December, when my kidney function started to return.  After  a week and a half of tests, they were normal enough to remove the catheter that was needed for dialysis, the Monday before Christmas, so I guess it was a good christmas present for myself.  Everything has seemed to be normal since then.  Hopefully I do not have to deal with that again.

I am looking forward to the cruise I am going on next month with a group of about 50 and about 30 of them being people that have had the DS.  

I know I still have a ways to go, but from where I have come from and to where I am at now, I could not be happier.  If I were to not lose anymore weight, I would be fine with that, but would like to lose another 30 pounds, and ultimately another 60 to get below 200 pounds.  I guess we will see where it goes from here.

Jeff

0 Comments