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It has almost been 10 months since the surgery. I started at 348 and as of this morning weigh 196! My starting BMI was a 51 and is a 28 today. Starting pant size 48 and is a 34 today. That is over 150 pounds gone and a life regained!

It is not all about the numbers, but the things that I can do know. I have my confidence back, I can run and play with my two boys. I shop in regular stors. I am not constantly wondering if people are thinking about how overweight I am. I feel so free to enjoy life.

I went to a conference this past weekend and talked with people who would turn around and come back and say they didn't recognize me until later in the day. It was crazy, but in a good way I guess. I have 11 pounds until my goal weight, I am so thankful to have my life back. 

Today I am six months post op and feeling so good! I have lost 113 pounds in the first six months and have only 50 more pounds to go to my goal weight. It is coming off much slower now, but it is still coming off. I need to loose 33 more pounds to have a BMI that is not in the obese category. I am blown away by the clothes sizes that I now wear and how active I can be without breathing hard or my feet hurting. I am so thankful to have my life back. I am having some extra skin issues. My arms seem to be the worse right now. I need to build up my biceps to help take care of that problem. I do not seem to have a problem with hair loss - it was already thin, so maybe that made a difference. I do still get sick sometimes and there are things I can not eat. It seems to be dense items and bread items for the most part. Meats are still a tricky food for me, too. Hope you all are doing well. If you are reading this and thinking about surgery or getting ready for surgery - the difficulties do not out weigh the benefits! GO FOR IT!!!!!!!! 

So many exciting things have been happening. My surgery was December 29, which means it has been right at 100 days and I have lost 84 pounds. I am now shopping in almost every store that I want to and get clothes off of the wrack! Need to drop one more pant size to shop at American Eagle to get my jeans there and not online. They only sell up to size 38 in the store. I might be there, but I am waiting to go try a pair on after I loose a few more pounds because I don't want to be disappointed. HOWEVER, NO MORE BIG AND TALL SHOPPING! I bought a new suit this week and was shocked at the sizes I was fitting in and how different I look. I also realized today that I am just 16 pounds from hitting the 100 pound mark. This makes me really excited  and gave me another reason to dance around the living room with my wife!  

So most things are going amazing. The only struggle I am having is with eating protein. A large percent of the time I feel really bad after eating meat of any kind. I think I am still either eating too fast or still not chewing enough. However, the feeling that I get discourages me from eating me which means I am not getting in the amount of protein I should. I have a protein shake for breakfast each day and am thinking about adding one for my lunch each day. I am about to buy a mountain bike to start riding each morning. The added exercise will hopefully make a difference in my weight loss. 

Hope you all are doing well and if you are considering surgery to help change your habits and life, it is not easy but it is worth it! 

I can't believe that my life has changed so much in just 12 weeks. I took a new series of pictures and can't believe how large I had gotten and how quickly I have changed into a thinner me. Most of my friends and my wife had never seen me this thin except in pictures. I have been able to drop 4 pant sizes and went from 2XL and 3XL shirts to XL and a few 2XL shirts. I have so much more confidence and will now go out in public with my shirt tucked in. I also used to wear a jacket as much as possible to hide behind - but not any more! I am so thankful to have had the surgery and so thankful to be getting my life back. The ability to play with my kids and move around is HUGE! Not that everything is perfect - I still am constantly wondering if people are thinking about how big I am, etc...we are our worst enemies so often. Lastly, with the loss of 2 more pounds I will be half-way to my goal!

12 Weeks Post Op
Highest Weight - 348.8 pounds
Current Weight - 269.2 Pounds
Total Weight Loss - 79 pounds
Pounds to Goal - 82

Today I am at 285 which means I have lost 63 pounds and have exactly 100 more to go. I am really excited about loosing the next 7 pounds - that will move me from extremely obese to just obese.  I moved into a new jean size this weekend. I am finding that I am between sizes and that is now fun. The larger size is too big and the next size down is a little tighter than desired. I know it will pass with the loss of a few more pounds. Two days away from my 2 month mark since the surgery. It is amazing how much my life has changed since then. Hope you all out there are doing well. 

 This past week I have finally been able to start eating and drinking comfortably. That has been GREAT! I am now 6 and half weeks post-op and have lost 56 pounds. I have been stalled for the last week and a half. I went to the doctor this last week and because I have been eating so little my stall has meant loosing about 2 pounds over that time period. Hope that now that more food is able to go in and I have been able to start taking my vitamins, etc...things will pick up for me. Hope you all are doing well.

I am down 49 pounds and have left the 300s! I am having post nasal drip stuff and it has really upset my stomach the last three days. Using Nasonex, but no relief. Anyone have a suggestion? 

Was released from the hospital on Sunday and it feels so good to be home. I actually was able to eat today. I had 1/4 of a red pair (they are really soft) and broth from tortilla soup for lunch and dinner. I also have been able to get about 20 ounces of water down. Hope to get some more before bed. I ventured out on my own tonight with my 4-year-old. We went to Wal-Mart. It was really nice to be out. I have to admit I am EXHAUSTED! NO food for 18 days and almost no activity has left me pretty weak. Things are on the upswing though. My wife took some pictures for me last night. I am blown away at the difference in my face. 42 pounds down now and I am so excited by the difference. My clothes are so different and so many things are already too big to wear and it feels so good to be in the old things again. Really looking forward to loosing the next 7 pounds, as I will move out of the 300s and will be at the 50 pounds of lost weight mark!

Looking forward to all that is coming up! 

I can't believe I am here again. The doctor put me back in the hospital on Wednesday of this last week. I had my surgery 18 days ago and have been in the hospital 13 of those days. Still had lots of nausea, vomiting, and pain. Got dehydrated again and without the ability to get liquids down, I understand why I had to be put in here again. It has been very hard to be away from my family. With an 8-month old and a 4-year old, they can't be here much. My 4-year old has cried the last two nights on the phone for me to come home. It has broken my heart.

They started me on a new medication which I think has helped, but the side effects of the medicine are...undesirable as well. I know this is going to be worth it and once I am feeling better will forget about these problems. My doctor has basically said this just happens to some people and I have a bad case of it (whatever it is). He said I may be able to go home tomorrow or Monday. So I guess the good part - I am down a little over 40 pounds - right at 30 of that is post op. I know I wont feel normal for a long time, but I sure am ready to feel better. 

Also, I have been thinking about the stigma of WLS. Only my inner circle of friends and family know what has gone on. I am so afraid for other people to know. Do any of you feel this why and why should we feel this way? A friend came by the hospital to see me today and he had surgery 4 years ago and said he has stopped telling people because over the last few years people have become so derogatory to having the surgery. 

 Well friends, this was a much longer journey that I had anticipated. I had some unpleasant encounters while in the hospital after the surgery. The first day was very painful from the air in my abdomen. That two about 2 and a half days to go away. The my first night after the surgery was also difficult. I woke up unable to breath - my away had closed off. I hit the call button and screached out HEELLLPPPP. A nurse come in and realized what was going on and ran back out, almost a minute later she comes back and sees my still not able to breath. She leaves again. This point my wife walks over to me and starts praying for God to open my airways and heal me and within seconds my airway starts opening. Minutes later 3 nurses come in with my chart and kind of...meander around the room. They decide this must be because of my diagnosis with sleep apnea and order a CPAP machine for me. Never mind that I have never had an issue like this and NEVER use a CPAP machine. So they bring it in hook me up and say you are going to be all better now. But no doctor checked me out or anything. Then the pulse ox machine started going off every 5-15 minutes saying that I did not have enough oxygen in my body. So I finally take the CPAP off and just use the oxygen nostril thing but notice nothing is coming out. I was reassured by my nurse that it was hooked up and working. Despite my last please that their is nothing coming out she says, just lay back and you will be fine. Five minutes later the alarm is going off again. This time she checks the tubing and....it was not hooked up as I had said. Things got some better and finally the night was over. 

The major issue that I was having was that I could not get any liquids down without super intensive pain to my stomach. Pain that could last up to 30 minutes long and would rate 8-10 on the pain scale. It was really bad. I was set to be discharged on Friday, but it was clear I could not leave with the amount of problems I was having. I was on the morphine drip and getting morphine boosters through the IV periodically. They decided to send me home Saturday afternoon even thought I could not drink anything on my own. So Saturday and Sunday I was at home in pain and unable to stay hydrated and after trying some of the doctors tricks for home remedies, I was readmitted to the hospital on Monday. I was really dehydrated. They additional swelling in my stomach was still causing the largest problem because it would not allow me to put anything into my stomach. They decided to start giving me an ant-spasm medicine 30 mintues before trying a "meal" (of all liquids of course). It took almost 24 hours for the hospital to work those details out. My doctor's nurse practitioner was really upset when she found out what had happened. The pill helped just a tiny bit and on Wednesday they began in i.v. treament of a steroid to serve as an anti-infamatory to stomach. Throughout Wednesday, I could feel the change taking place. By Wednesday night I had my first post-op meal a jello cube and 1/2 ounce of diluted gatorade. IT WAS MAGICAL AND EVERYONE WAS VERY EXCITED!!!! Today was even better, got more liquids in by mouth, had allmost an entire bowl of jello squares and some broccoli cheese soup for dinner. They took me off of fluids late in the day and as long as I can keep getting liquids down and the swelling does not return I can finally go home tomorrow. 

I have not lost any weight the last two days, but have lost just over 30 pounds total. Pre-op diet until now. I have been very dedicated to getting up wand walking the hallways. I try to make laps around this floor at least 5 times a day. That will hopefully help my exercise program be a little easier to get started once I am out of here. 

No, everything isn't perfect now - but I do feel my body is now functioning and I don't feel like I am in the process of dying! I have started smiling again and cracking jokes. Both are really good signs for me. Now I am just ready to see what comes next on this journey into my new life!