jwollet
One-year surgi-versary
Today's my one-year anniversary, the cause for a little reflection...
Starting weight: 428
Starting BMI: 50.7
Today's weight: 231.5
Today's BMI: 27.4
Total loss: 196 pounds I never wanna see again!
Plusses:
+ Feel great, look better
+ Blessed with awesome close-family support (wife/son) through the whole process
+ Weighing less than my "little" brothers
+ No more meds for arthritis or cholesterol
+ Tremendous amount of energy I hadn't had in years
+ Enjoy clothes shopping, and NOT at fat-boy shops
+ Finding a variety of clothing that fits!
+ Still enjoy eating a variety of food--just less of it
+ Love eating protein
+ Adapting to the WLS lifestyle wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be (or made it out to be in my head!)
+ Compliments from people, esp. coming from people who were genuinely concerned I was eating my way to an early grave
+ Enjoy walking (esp., hiking and backpacking) again
+ New experiences, like going to a rock-climbing gym with my son (never imagined I'd do that a year ago!).
+ Great sex, big Johnson (men-only secret...don't tell!)
Minuses:
- Still taking meds for blood pressure (my PCP says I might be one of the lucky people who could weigh 110 lbs. and still have high BP).
- Worried about back-sliding, esp. w/sweets
- Exercising, but not often enough
- Job stress still is a food trigger; gotta work like hell to keep it under control.
Would I do it again? Heck, yeah, in a heartbeat!
So, to you newbies and pre-ops out there, I guess that makes me a veteran now The wait is worth it, the insurance hassles are worth it, the pre-op jitters are worth it. When your turn comes, git 'er done!
Surgery day
It's early in the morning Wednesday, February 23, 2005. Kathie and I have risen early, showered and dressed, and gotten ready to leave for the hospital. Today is the day I am having gastric bypass surgery and I'm scared.
The journey to this point reminds me of driving across Colorado. At the age of 17, following graduation from high school, I drove from Cleveland to Denver to visit a former teacher and his wife--my breaking-the-bonds-of-home, summer-before-college road trip.
Never having been to Colorado before, I drove across the states in succession, arriving at the Kansas/Colorado state line expecting to see mountains ahead of me. Crossing into Colorado, the plains continued and there was no sign of mountains in the distance. It was only after more driving that, in the distance, I finally saw the Rockies. Upon arrival in Denver, I was greatly surprised to learn the city was in the "flatlands" just east of the foothills. In my mind, I had always pictured Denver being nestled between mountains.
Denver--the mile-high city--was a lot higher in elevation than my home near Cleveland, which is roughly 600 feet above sea level. Traveling across the country, nothing indicated I had climbed nearly 5,000 feet. Sure, there had been ups and downs as I drove through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, but they were gentle hills.
My weight gain was very similar. A pound or two here or there, belt-loosening at Thanksgiving and Christmas, new pants one size bigger than the last ones--but nothing to indicate I would double in size and become more than 200 pounds overweight. More than 30 years after that trip to Colorado, here I was, preparing for the first open surgery of my life.
Arriving at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in the cold darkness of a February morning, Kathie and I walked briskly to the hospital entrance, a biting Lake Erie wind coaxing us to hurry along. After joining other surgical patients in the admitting center, we were taken to the third floor. I changed into a hospital gown while Kathie waited. Next I was told to lie down on a gurney and a disposable surgical cap was placed on my head. It looked hilarious and made both Kathie and me laugh. The laughter helped the tears, as I was having dreadful thoughts about not surviving the surgery. From my mother, I guess I inherited a sense of the morose, always thinking the worst would happen to me. That way, if it didn't happen, things came out better than I expected.
Kathie and I had a long, tender goodbye before they wheeled me into the surgery anteroom. I no longer had my eyeglasses, so the room and all the faces were literally a blur. The anesthesiologist came over to introduce himself, someone started an IV in my right hand and other surgical assistants all busied themselves with preparatory work. All the while, I prayed the "Hail Mary" repetitively.
My surgeon, Dr. Indukumar Sonpal, arrived shortly thereafter. Impeccably dressed in a stylish suit as always, Dr. Sonpal greeted me and explained what would be happening. He then found out that the patient beyond the curtain to my right was a friend of a friend, admitted for some type of intestinal blockage. Dr. Sonpal, ever the comedian, poked his head around the curtain and announced he had arrived for the patient's vasectomy. That helped break the tension for me.
An anesthesiologist named Rocky came over to me and told me I would be intubated for surgery. Once the surgery was over, he would need me to acknowledge him by squeezing his finger. We talked about it for a minute until he was certain I understood I'd have a tube stuck in my throat until I squeezed. I promised to squeeze.
Next, Rocky explained that he was going to give me a drug that would relax me. He said it was quite potent, so I quipped "It's really good stuff, huh?" Rocky laughed and confirmed it would be good stuff. He injected it into the IV tube and went about his business while I continued saying my "Hail Marys."
"Joe! Joe! Squeeze my finger."
Groggy from the anesthetics, fading in and out of alertness, I must have squeezed Rocky's finger, as I have no recollection of being intubated. After Rocky had injected the powerful drug into my IV, I had drifted off quickly. The next memory is after surgery was done, with Rocky instructing me to squeeze his finger. From there, I drifted in and out again.
Kathie told me I was out of it while in the recovery room and I must have been. I remember people coming and going, hovering over me, instructing me to do this or that, such as click the trigger for more morphine if I felt pain. I didn't feel any significant pain just laying there, just a heaviness on my abdomen, which I later learned was an elastic binder pulled tight around me to assist in closing the incision site. On top of my belly, the nurses had also placed a heavy pillow for me to squeeze whenever I coughed.
Once I was assigned a regular patient room in the bariatric wing, the anesthetics faded, I became alert and learned the surgery had been very successful. My gastric bypass was done and I could start the long drive back down from Denver to Cleveland.
12/31/2005 update: Happy New Year!
Ten months post-op and I'm continuing to do well. Total weight loss is 180 lbs. since my first surgical consult. Amazing!
Since summer, I started a blog to write about WLS and other interests of mine. Anyone wishing to see my screed can check it out at: http://campfirering.blogspot.com.
8/23/2005 update: Six months today and feel great! The stats:
428 First surgical consult
412 Pre-admission testing date ("official" starting weight)
292 Today's weight
214 Personal goal (exactly 1/2 of weight on first surgical consult)
210 PCP's goal for me
183 Cleveland Center for Bariatric Surgery's goal for me
With a few more months of practice, I'm hoping to be half the man I used to be!
Original profile (4/2005): I'm two months post-op and have lost 55 pounds. The first 4-5 weeks were amazing, as the weight just melted off. Now I've seemed to stabilize, losing perhaps 2-3 pounds a week, but the rate is definitely slower.
My hope is that I can maintain the dietary momentum. It was easy sticking to the recommended diet when the pounds were coming off quickly, but my fear is that I'll revert to old habits since the weight loss is less noticeable now.
