John Hoffmann

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Hello to all my OH friends and Happy Thanksgiving.  It's been awhile since I posted.  I finally had what I hope is my last hernia/abdominal reconstruction surgery with Dr. Parra Davila at Florida Hospital in Celebration, just about healed up.  Ohter than that, just eating right and keeping on track.  Life is good, moved to an apartment on Fort Lauderdale Beach in August.  On a sadder note, my wife Amy and I divorced in August as well.  We remain close and I will always be grateful for her support on my journey.  So good luck to everyone and be well.

John

Happy Memorial Day OH family.  Life is good except once again I have hernia issues and am exploring options for some kind of permanent fix for the problem.  I'm also getting real serious about getting some plastic surgery for some areas.  One day at a time.  Other than that, enjoy waking up every day.  Be well all.

Yeah I know it's been awhile.  Things are good as far as maintaining my weight, but the hernia issue continues.  Gotta another, this after another repair/abdominal reconstruction in June of 09.  I talked to Dr. Rosenthal, my bariatric surgeon, personally about a month ago, and he wants to work on it.  He proposes to put synthetic mesh across my whole abdomin instead of bio-mesh.  We are going to talk about it further.  Right now it doesnt bother me, so we are letting it be for the time being.  Other than that, status quo in the health department.  Amy and I have gone our separate wasy.  Just kinda drifted apart I guess.  We remain the best of friends and see each other on a regular basis.  She has and probably always will be the biggest supporter on my journey, and I will be forever grateful to her for that.  She is the one who helped me make the decision to have my bypass.  Thanks for everything D, love you always.

Until next time....

Well gang, here's the latest update.  Same ole, same ole as far as maintaining my weight, sticking to my diet (I mean eating program), vitamin regiment and exercising.  Today I was at 193#, I pretty much maintain in the low to mid 190's.  Sometimes I may jump to the high 190's, but it always goes back down within a day or 2.

Now the update on my stomach, the never ending story.  I still have not healed completely from my last surgery in August.  I am going back in to the OR on 1/9/09 for a short procedure to have the skin at the opening cut back a little to remove some of the old synthetic mesh that they werent able to get at in August that my body is rejecting.  Until it is completely gone, it wont heal.  On a good note, the bio mesh that was put in during the August surgery has done it's job, no problems whatsover.  So if I can just get through this last procedure, hopefully this will do the trick once and for all.

Other than that, life couldnt be better.  Had a real good Christmas and looking forward to spending New Years Eve at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, gambling, drinking and dancing.  Yes I've become a Scotch man, not alot, and only every now and then.  I can get totally wasted on only several tablespoons of the stuff, so I have to water it down alot.  But I enjoy it.

So thats it, I will update after the procedure on 1/9.  Happy New Year to all and good luck, wherever you are in your journey.

John

So here's the latest.  I am just about healed from my hernia surgery in August.  I had a few problems, some of the stiches decided that they were'nt going to dissolve, so they had to make their way to the surface.  I have had four removed in the last 2 weeks.  The docs say it happens with some people, so it's just gonna take a little bit longer to heal.  But otherwise I am doing great.  I am back to soaking in my hot tub and taking a swim every night before bed, and back to the beach again.  I spent the afternoon on Boynton Beach yesterday and was at the Dolphins game today.  Life if good.

I am still maintaining my weight of 195 +/-.  I go to the gym 5 times a week, I do 1/2 hour of eliptical machine and 1/2 hour of weights.  I'm still keeping up with a high protein/low carb diet. If I do have a treat, like ice cream, it is low carb/no sugar added.  Bryers makes a good one.  And I have at least one and sometimes 2 protein shakes a day.

So thats the update.  I feel great both mentally and physically.  Feel free to contact me if you want and say hi, always willing to make new friends.  Be well all.

John

Things are going very well for me.  I had another hernia surgery on 8/21/08.  Dr. Rosenthal and Dr. Szomstein performed the surgery for me at Cleveland Clinic, same guys that did my bypass.  This time they used a biomesh, which, I am told, is fabricated from human cadaver, but is supposed to be much superior.  I had to have open surgery because there was alot of old mesh and sutures inside of me that had to be cleaned up.  I spent 3 days in the hospital, but as always recieved excellent care.  All the rooms at Cleveland Clinic are private.  I got my staples and drain tube removed this past Monday.  I'm feel really great, like nothing ever happened, just cant lift anything heavy for awhile, I cant go back to the gym for another 3 weeks and I cant swim.  Those are the worst parts.  I'm used to going to the gym 4 to 5 times a week and to the beach every weekend.

Otherwise I've stuck to my eating plan and continue to take all my supplements like clockwork.  My weight hovers right around 195 +/-.  My waist remains at 32 to 34, depending on the type of pant and my shirt size is large or 16 neck depending on the type of shirt.  Post-op is was a 58 waist and 4X shirt.  The local big and tall stores and catalogs have lost a lot of business from me.

So otherwise, not much to report.  Toby is a good dog, he is up to about 55 pounds now at 7 months.  He is a monster but I love him to death.  He loves swimming in the pool, I cant keep him out of it.  And I had an electronic fence put up, so he can go in and out as he pleases.   For anyone whos ever considered this, it is probably one of the best investments I've ever made.

So, I'll update again soon.  Thanks for reading and feel free to private message me if you wish.  Be well.

John

Hey gang, just thought I'd update my profile.  Things are going great.  I am maintaining a weight of 185 pounds, +/- a couple depending on what I've been up to.  I am working out consistently, 4 to 5 days a weeks, half hour on an eliptical machine and 20 minutes of weights.  Seems to work pretty good for me.  Still getting in mostly protein, a little salad here and there.  My diet consists mostly of protein shakes, beef, chicken, seafood, eggs, cheese, nuts and peanut butter.  I eat Bryers Carb Smart ice cream bars for treats.  I eat 5 to 6 small meals a day.

I had my 2 year follow up with Dr. Rosenthals office on 4/11.  Things couldnt be better.  They told me I was a great success story and they want me to continue to follow up with them on a yearly basis.  Up until now I had been getting my labs done every 6 months.  I am going to do it once a year at this point, right before my follow up, unless I'm having a problem otherwise.

I started a new job in early February thats going really great for me.  I am senior estimator/project manager for a construction company in Ft. Lauderdale.  The company is owned by Dwight Stephenson.  He used to play for the Dolphins in the 1970'/80's.  A really nice guy and I work with alot of great people.  I feel like I'm not killing myself anymore like I was with my old company.

Otherwise, everything is really good.  I spend my weekends at the beach and I recently got a new pup.  His name is Toby, he is part Lab and part Australian Shepard (we think).  He is about 11 weeks old and weighs over 13 pounds.  Judging by the size of his feet and front legs, he is probably going to be a big dog.  We have been told anywhere between 70 to 90 pounds.  He's a good pup, pretty intelligent.  We've already got him basically housebroken in less than 2 weeks (knock on wood).  The cats don't care for him much, but they'll come around.  Bobo seems to be a little more accepting of him than Maizy.  I downloaded a pic of him here.

So thats it for now.  Thanks for reading, and if your a pre-op reading this and looking for advice on just be friends, feel free to message me.  Always willing to help.

So I know it's been forever since I've posted.  I've just been so swamped with life that it's unbelievable.  So here's the update.

The ongoing problem with my stomach has now hopefully been taken care of.  I had surgery on 12/10/07 to remove some old mesh and scar tissue from previous hernia surgeries.  Apparantly, my body was rejecting the mesh and it got infected and just wouldnt clear up on it's own.  2-1/2 weeks ago, my surgeon put me on a wound vac. which is an apparatus that sucks the fluids and junk from the surgical site to help it heal faster and prevent infection.  It's been working pretty good and my last day to wear it is this Tuesday.  It can only do so much, plus I'm going up to DC to visit my family on Friday and dont want to have to drag it up there.  We are having a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom, should be a good time.

Today I set my WSL surgeon's goal of 179 pounds.  I had been maintaining in the low to mid 180's and working out at the same time.  Following this last surgery however, I cut back on fatty foods and up'd  my protein intake since I knew I would'nt be able to do much after the surgery.  Should be able to get back to working out before the end of January.

So thats whats happending for now.  I will try to update on a more regular basis from now on.  Thanks for reading and be well.

Be well all.

I know it's been awhile since I've updated so here goes.

Things have been going pretty well.  I have stablized I think at about 180 pounds +/-, which I am extremely happy with.  I found some old paperwork from my surgeon at my pre-op consult, which indicated that my ideal weight should be 179, +/- 10 pounds.  They almost hit it on the head.  Now the task is to maintain the +/- 10 pounds.  So far, so good.

i had my hernia repair on 5/25.   It went very well.  They were able to do it laproscopically and I was home the next day.  That was a little over 7 weeks ago.  I healed up great, no problems with the puncture sites.  However, since the surgery I wasnt feeling 100%, a little achy all the time, tired, sometimes a little feverish.  I also had an ear infection during this time and thought it could be that.  But this past Friday, my stomach started swelling up and became red and hot to the touch, and I've been running a low grade fever all weekend and feel like shit.  My surgeons office (hernia repair, not WLS) called in an antibiotic for me yesterday and told me if I wasnt better Monday to give them a call.  I'll see how I'm doing in the morning.  Probably got a staff infection, wouldnt be the first time.

So other than that, things are great.  Work is good.  i am now in a size 34 waist and generally a large shirt.  I still stick to my eating plan and get in all my supplements and liquids.  On 8/1 this year, my company is getting a new health insurance plan, BCBS of Florida.  I have found a PCP near my house, a women in her mid 50's who has also had gastric bypass surgery.  Who better to have a doc than someone whos been through it.  We'll see how it works out after we have the new plan.

OK, getting late, gonna go watch the tube and take a dip in the hot tub and pool before bed.  Hopefully I'll get to the bottom of this stomach problem tomorrow, or else this antibiotic kicks in.  Take care all, till next time.

Down another 2 pounds to 193.  Feeling great.  I plan on posting a new pic on my 1 year anniversary date on 4/10.