wheezer53
Ok, so where do I start?
I grew up as a normal skinny kid, through high school and college being normal size. During my youth years, I always had trouble with colds and coughs and never could really get rid of them in a short time. In 1980 I began my career job with the local school district in maintenance and grounds, among other jobs. Once again I caught a bad cold and this time my PCP told me to go somewhere and have it diagnosed. I went to Scripps Institute in La Jolla, CA and after about 20 different examinations, they determined I had severe Asthma. And with all these examinations came about 20 different medications to help me with this disease including the most dreaded one: Prednisone! I have been on Prednisone for over 25 years now! One of the many side effects of Prednisone is the increase of appetite coupled with the inability to sleep. So began my weight gain as I couldn't sleep, so stayed up watching tv, and .... you guessed it....ATE! and ATE! Now I can't totally blame old prednisone for my weight gain, because God gave me a will to say no, and I leaned into these habits by saying yes, again and again. But due to the disease, my mind and will was totally destroyed and I ate! To make a long story short, in the last 27 years, I have steadily increase in weight. Oh sure, I tried many of the diets out there. I even had two or three medically supervised diets, but the same old story came true everytime! I would lose 10 lbs and gain 20 lbs back! The diet which gave me the most success was Weight Watchers. But as soon as I quit going to the sessions, the weight crept back on! The medically supervised diets run by M.D.'s figured it was a mental thing, and I was put on anti-depressants and xenecal, and the other medical diet pills, only to screw up things with my asthma!
My mother and father were very normal in weight through their entire lifes. I have an older brother who never really was morbidly obese, but did have issues with weight gain, as did my younger sister. They are both at a good weight now!
As my body grew heavier and heavier, there came more medical problems, such as sleep apnea, diabetes II, cushing syndrome, water retention, gerd, etc. etc. etc. Seems as though everytime I went to the doctor, they found something else wrong with me and gave me another pill to combat the problem. At my peak I was taking over 16 drugs on a daily basis!
In November 2005 my pcp discussed with me of the possibility of consideration of Gastric Bypass Surgery. Did this scare me, NO! I had already had 2 nasal surgerys to better my breathing, a total knee replacement (another side effect of prednisone), and a fusion in my lower back! So I began to find out about GBP surgery. In December 2005 I weighed around 270 but by November of 2006 I was up to 325, my highest! I had a rude awakening when my doctor told me I had an 8 on my HDL blood count, and I'd better do something before I croaked because of high blood sugar count. I changed my diet drastically and since November 06 I lost 30 lbs. I weighed 295 when I first went to Dr. Quilici in March of 2007. By the inspiration of my wife, who has lost weight on her own, I continued to lose more.
After being terminated from my school maintenance job after my back surgery and being unable to afford the medical plan through Blue Cross through COBRA, I signed on with my wifes medical plan...an HMO. If you have an HMO, you will know of the struggles with getting specialists approved. Well, this happened to me too. (note: surgery date of 8/24/07....only 20 months later!) After some of the stories read on this site, I guess I can be thankful for only 20 months! I did have 2 denials for specialists of which I appealed. I also appealed cataract eye surgery and won! (It pays to appeal!) Anyways... after a long and winding road, I had my approval for surgery!
And now... I am post op, on the loser's bench, and beginning a new way of life....forever! With GBP Surgery, I have stopped most of my meds for diabetes II, take no meds for GERD, have reduced pressure in my CPAP, and have reduced some of my meds for Asthma. I feel as though in the future, I may be able to rid myself of most of my medications, but time will tell. I look forward to being able to someday join my wife and dog on walks, possibly ride a bike, and enjoy fishing with my son. Gastric Bypass Surgery was the only option that has fulfilled my dream of losing weight.... forever! To those who are just beginning their journey, I wish you the best! You are smart to take care of this at this time. Don't give up, don't give in...Give it all to HIM! Our Lord and God can and will carry you through this with His hand in yours!
