Archive for the ‘Bariatric surgery’ Category

Thoughts…

Posted: November 12, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Weight loss
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So, as many of you know, I’ve been in a bariatric surgery program since May. Thus far, the program has consisted of workouts, consultations with a psychologist and dietitian, and regular visits with my primary care provider. I’ve attended support group sessions, information sessions and classroom sessions. I’ve researched the various surgical options available to me. I’ve weighed the risks and rewards, I’ve waffled, I’ve gone from one camp to the other.

In short, I’m really not any closer to a decision than I was.

It boils down to one thing… do the risks frighten me enough to overcome the desire to have my diabetes go into remission?

The short answer? I don’t know.

On one hand, 70-80% of the gastric bypass surgeries result in complete remission. As in no more meds. No more injections. No more having to carry around a load of vials and enough needles to make a hardened junkie jealous. The other hand? Bowel obstructions, leaky staple sites, infections, problems with urination, basically any of the same risks with any abdominal surgery.

As you can see, this is not an easy decision to make. I read of the complications, but the people I know who have had a successful surgery all swear by it.

Either way I decide, the earliest we would be doing it would be in January. In the meantime, I’ll keep up with the workouts and keep weighing the risks/rewards.

It’s my life, after all.

Another Friday, another post

Posted: November 2, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Exercise, Gratuitously Naked Guy, Physical activity, Weight loss
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So, I made it back for a regular gym session this afternoon. It was good. Very good. I also made my long-awaited return to the treadmill. I didn’t kill it… I’m way out of practice. I managed 2.8 mph for 18 minutes. Not bad, seeing as I haven’t been on it since the last time Stubby misbehaved. I hope to add to the time and speed in the coming days. I have another vacation to get ready for.

I said it was good. It was, especially after the day I had. I got handed a job that should’ve taken a few minutes to complete. On the surface. Turns out, nothing but problems. I got it done after the time I was supposed to leave and had to bust ass to get to my appointment on time. About the only thing I didn’t encounter to slow me up was an Amish buggy. I hit red lights, pretentious asshats in Beamers, the proverbial driverless Cadillac, and the slow elevator. After that, I was bound and determined to have a good workout.

Sugar was up a little. Who am I kidding? It’s been up. Today was due to stress. Four hours after lunch, it was 164. When I was done, I stuck a 103. I’m good with that. In addition to the treadmill, I did the arc trainer and elliptical. I also did strength, which really isn’t a problem. I always feel good after lifting.

Rather than go right home, I elected to stick around for support group. Apparently, Dr. McPhee is making crab cakes. I love crab cakes, and if they are prepared in a healthy manner, it’s one cake I can still enjoy. I’ll be interested to see the recipe… Always like to get hold of decent recipes. If the cakes are good,I’llqbe sure to pass it along to you.

The group session room is really nice. They have video screens, and a spacious demo kitchen. The meetings usually include a talk by a dietitian or exercise guru, followed by a cooking demo and a chance to talk to others in my predicament. The first one I attended, I had to cut short, as I was due back at work. This time, I took the time to listen and really learned a lot from listening to the various people. Some of what I picked up? Morphine can make you nauseous. The minty protein shakes are pretty tasty and can be gotten cheaper at the doctor’s office than buying online. Oh, and if you play your cards right, you might get the phone number of a hot nurse with a twin sister. Not that I’d need to know that, though. Right, honey?

Honey? (crickets chirping)

I’m sure she just stepped out for a minute. I hope.

One of the highlights of the session is toward the beginning of the meeting. They ring up a success story. Someone shares what their journey has been like, showing before and after pictures and sharing why they started down the road. It’s actually pretty inspiring. They also unveiled the Wall of Fame, where folks who are 1 year post op have their before and after photos posted. Amazing stuff.

So, anyway… it’s Friday now and I’ve got a full day of work ahead of me and very little time to sleep. I’m also scheduled to work Saturday. My wallet likes those Saturdays, but my mind usually doesn’t. I did manage to get the sump pump cover resealed, the dehumidifier running and some stuff put away. I’ll do more tonight. After all, it’s like weight loss… doesn’t happen overnight. I also think that I’ll try to get to the rec after work… Gratuitously Naked Guy be damned.

Song of the Day: Mexico – Jimmy Buffett

Currently Reading: The Panther – Nelson DeMille

Busy weekend…

Posted: October 21, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss
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So, as I sit here typing away on a Sunday morning, I thought I might take a few minutes and reflect up on the weekend. Supportive Partner Woman (newly promoted!) travelled to State College for a Daily Collegian reunion in honor of the publication’s 125th anniversary. Sadly, whilst she was out making merry, I had to stay home and actually go to work yesterday.

Harumph!

I always like “harumph” as is brings to mind a scene from a favorite movie:

The good news, though, came from my doctor’s visit. See, Friday was the 6th and final program visit. It’s good and bad, because while I still don’t like going to the doctor’s office, I’ll miss my monthly visits and support sessions with Rachel Ho, my favorite East Coast health care professional and second-favorite overall. Anyway, I managed to drop the five pounds I gained AND two more pounds to boot. Guess the no snacking at the vending area AT ALL is a good thing.

The big news, though, concerns Supportive Partner Woman (finally being recognized for her mad editing skillz!). Seems that her current employers have recognized her general awesomeness and decided to name her sports editor. She’s the first woman to hold that post in the history of the paper and one of only 6% nationwide. She’s got a lot of big ideas, but if anyone can get them implemented, it would be SPW. Also, I might add that I don’t feel threatened as a dude because my wife knows more about sports than I do. It’s cool in that I have someone to go to a game with who can discuss the game knowledgeably and enjoy the on field action. After all, we had to make sure that there was a television in the bar at our wedding reception showing the Penn State – Ohio State game.

So, moving on, I have a big decision to make regarding my surgical options. The only decision I’ve made so far is to not have any operation until the new year. With the holidays and upcoming vacation, it would be too difficult to deal with the recovery and liquid diet phases. I’ll keep you all posted,

Hope that you all have a great day and I’ll be back soon!

New morning…

Posted: October 12, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Chick-Fil-A, diabetes, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Stress, The Beetus
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After the abject negativity of yesterday’s post, I slept on it. Not for too long, but long enough to get the gist of what happened yesterday. Basically, it was me being petty and spiteful and ignoring the blatantly obvious.

I’m still eating too much.

It’s nowhere near what it used to be. In my heyday, I would think nothing of swinging by Chick-Fil-A, snagging three sandwiches and a box of nuggets and scarfing them all down in one sitting. I could eat an entire pound of ham, and a pound of cheese, and go looking for more. I usually would feel disgustingly full after I did that, swear to never do it again, and promptly do it again the next weekend.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

I never got a good handle on why I did stupid, mindless shit like that. All I knew is that food made me happy. The texture of some thick, dense bread on the tongue would make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s an addiction, like alcohol or drugs or gambling or sex. Just so happens, my drug of choice is food and you need food to live. Talk about a kick in the teeth. To live, I need the very thing that will prematurely kill me if I can’t succeed.

However, next Friday marks the six-month point since I started the bariatric program. Theoretically, I’m ready for the operation, but I don’t know if I want to have the surgery done. I know there are benefits, but there are also some pretty big risks as a counterpoint. Also, if I do have the surgery, what procedure do I have? Do I go for the band, which is the least invasive? Do I go for the bypass, which is the most invasive, but also offers the best success at “curing” the Beetus? Do I opt to try to go solely with diet and exercise? Also, do I have the operation this year while the insurance still pays more or do I wait until after the holidays?

Even the name is right…

See, so many choices and me with so few answers. And I really am not good at making decisions.

I think I’m going to see how this week goes, see what my regular doc has to say, and go from there. I’ll just keep moving forward.

Good things

Posted: August 31, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Comcast, Exercise, Supportive Partner Woman, Xfinity
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Good morning!

In my last post, I wrote something regarding our Comcast service. I had written something not intended to be a scathing criticism of Comcast, or of my customer service experience. It was primarily meant as a simple observation. However, someone at Comcast read the post and contacted me to get our issue with the internet straightened out. Let me just say they are serious about this.

I replied via email to their representative. Within minutes I received an acknowledgment of that email and they called not only my cell (which I had with me) but also SPW’s cell AND our home number, I intended to call back once I shook myself out of my morning stupor and before I could do that, they called and are sending a service rep out to the house on Sunday between 10:30 and 12:30. Not too shabby. I will let you know how things go, but I’m very encouraged by the proactive response we’ve gotten to our issue.

Moving on to the topic of the day, I’m sorry to report that SPW is suffering from nasty back pain. This of course had me up worried most of the night… I wound up sleeping in a chair downstairs for a couple of hours. This is where a gym visit will come in handy. Hopefully I will build up enough energy to make it through the workday. On the plus side, it’s a three-day weekend for me, which makes me happy. I’m sad that SPW doesn’t have one, but by working the holiday, she gets some extra days off.

We are rapidly approaching decision time regarding an operation, though. I’m very torn as to what to do. My insurance mandated 6 months are up at the end of October, at which time I could have surgery. I could opt to wait until after the holidays and Reunion, which is what I am leaning toward. Mainly because I’d love one last hurrah at Ohana but also because it really wouldn’t be fair to be on a liquid diet or pureed diet around Thanksgiving. When I say fair, I’m referring to the need to make everyone else at the table watch me eat a half cup of goop. I’m also referring to my mom’s potato filling, which is so good it’s like a food group all its own. The other major question is what type of surgery will I opt for. I know I’ve said in the past that I’m leaning bypass, but I’m not even sure about that anymore. A colleague of mine just went through the bypass operation… I’ll be sure to consult with her before making any hard and fast decisions.

I do hope all my US readers enjoy their upcoming holiday weekend. I wish you all safe travels and happy memories.

Song of the Day: Head Over Heels – Tears for Fears
Currently Reading: 11th Hour – James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Quote of the Day:

More die in the United States of too much food than too little. – John Kenneth Galbraith

Disappointment

Posted: July 13, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, music, Stress, Weight loss
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So, had a bariatric class today. Usually one of the first things you do is weigh in when you have class and with all the time I’ve been spending at the gym, I was excited to see the results. See, I’m currently too fat for our at-home scale, so I really don’t have any idea how much I weigh on a daily basis. The last time I got weighed on that scale, it was 368.

Today? 365.

I somehow expected it would be about ten pounds less. I feel so much less fatigue when I climb steps, my clothes are fitting better… and, well, I’m still pretty hefty.

Today’s session was about stress and its effect on eating habits, with a dose of night eating syndrome and a bit on binge eating disorder. Very timely. If I hadn’t been made to think about my stress reactions and the compulsion to eat, I probably would’ve gone home and gnawed the lining out of the fridge. Instead, I did something both more beneficial and less productive.

I took a nap.

Dr. Collins, the psychologist who works with the bariatric team, normally conducts this session. She was out today and her slot was filled by a Dr. Christa Coleman. Dr. Coleman talked about how adjusting to stress and developing better coping mechanisms can help aid us in our quest to be healthier. That’s something I need to learn to do. I usually internalize a lot of my stress, which really doesn’t help my metabolism and doesn’t help me in the weight loss quest. I just have a hard time letting go of things and I’m a worrier. Maybe I need to learn how to meditate or do yoga or something. Of course, if I try to bend myself into a pretzel, well, I’ll probably stay that way.

So, to make a long story shorter, I came home, had a sensible lunch and took a nap. Dinner tonight will include some pulled pork carnitas in a wheat burrito with salsa and a little cheese. Supportive Partner Woman (master of the slow cooker!) makes a mean carnitas that is reasonably healthy and loaded with protein.

View from our seats. Hall of Fame Club!

Tomorrow, SPW and I will be meeting up with our friend Fred and taking in the Roger Waters show at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia. Roger will be performing The Wall in its entirety and as Fred described it, “This is bucket list stuff, dude!” The set is supposed to be incredible, dominated by a wall measuring some 40 feet high and 500 feet long. We are supporting the local economy as well, seeing as the rigging is done by a Lititz, PA-based company called Tait Towers and the sound is by the world-famous Clair Brothers, based in Manheim, PA.

In short, there’s a chance my next post will be a review of the show. I hope I’ll be able to capture some video, although any video I might capture will not do it justice.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Upcoming challenges

Posted: July 6, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Exercise, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss
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Upcoming challenges… it sounds a lot worse than it is.

Let’s look at what’s coming up.

First off, its tomorrow’s picnic and the abundance of picnic food. Especially as I have a cousin who invariably brings a tray from the Philly Pretzel Factory. Pretzels have long been a weakness for me… especially soft pretzels. In the bad old days, I’d eat an entire box of Superpretzels in one sitting. The ironic thing is that I wouldn’t use the salt packets… guess I was trying to be healthy or something. Probably something. I’m lucky in that I’m not a huge fan of potato salad and the like. Not quite enough carbs, I suppose. Not sure what’s on the menu, but I will do my level best to stay the course.

Next week I’ll be struggling to do five days a week at the gym. I know I’m going to have motivation issues… I always do. Luckily, Ryan has pointed out a little fact. If you tell yourself you’re just going to do a little, you more times than not will wind up doing the work you normally do. And besides, even if you do an abbreviated workout, you still have done more than you would have done otherwise.

Speaking of workouts, I did get to the gym today, as did Supportive Partner Woman (queen of the crossramp!). There were a few changes to the facility, but the equipment is still where it was. I started on a CrossRamp with fixed handlebars. I’m not a huge fan, but the ones with moving handlebars were occupied. I did five minutes as a warm up, then went to the arc trainer for another five. I noticed that the regular ellipticals were open and did another ten minutes before moving over to the weight room. I worked my chest and shoulders, but managed to throw in some back and leg work as well. All told, about 50-60 minutes and it felt pretty good.

Afterward, SPW (and I headed home and I watered the plants outside, then threw together a couple of veggie pizzas for lunch. These are so easy to make and they are pretty tasty. I take two of the FlatOut Italian wraps, some pizza sauce, a little mozzarella, and cut up some Roma tomato and green pepper. Put the flatbread in the oven for five minutes at 350, take it out, spread two tablespoons of sauce and around 1/4 cup of mozzarella. Sprinkle with the cut vegetables and throw it back into the oven for five more minutes. You have a tasty lunch coming in at around 200 calories. Not too shabby. Actually, between that lunch and my bowl of cereal and banana for breakfast, I was at negative calories for the morning. Oddly, I didn’t feel too hungry.

This brings me to the final challenge. As many know, I’m pretty addicted to Diet Pepsi. I managed to get from six bottles a day down to two. I’m going to try to wean myself off of it completely in the next couple of weeks. See, Dr. Ku and Dr. McPhee mentioned that studies have shown for whatever reason, both Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke seem to stimulate the appetite. Not saying that’s my only issue, but it’s worth a shot. Until I can get to total water, I’ve been drinking Propel Zero and little pouches of 4C. I love these things and have recently turned SPW (drinker of caffeinated beverages!) on to the half and half. Between that and the Propel, I’m doing better on my beverages, plus, since the 4C is sweetened with Splenda, I don’t need to worry about the aspartame melting my brain any more than it already has.

Anyways, that’s all I have for you this evening. Hope to report back over the weekend on how my face off with the picnic food went.

Have a great weekend

It’s Thursday, must be time for another butt whuppin’

Posted: July 5, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Cooking, Exercise, family, Physical activity, Weight loss
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Greetings!

Having just returned from another session at the gym, I’m feeling pretty good about myself. In just three sessions, I’ve managed to get my cardio up to 30 minutes without totally feeling that my heart is going to say “Oh, hell no!” and jump out of my chest. That’s a good sign.

Seriously, I’m starting to feel some small changes in myself. Not only am I actually being active, I look forward to these sessions (does that make me a masochist?) and I’m finding myself able to dig deep into my psyche and pull out an extra rep or couple minutes on the elliptical.

The elliptical… quite possibly my favorite piece of cardio equipment. I get a good workout and it’s not as hard on my knees and ankles as the treadmill. They’ve also had me up on the arc trainer as well, which I don’t care for as much due to chafing. Might need to invest some money in a case of Bodyglide. Our friend Mel swears by the stuff. She’s like the Bodyglide queen… as she should be. She runs marathons and stuff and knows all about this sort of thing.

In the good news department, I was able to up the weight on my strength training and the intensity level on the cardio. It’s a good sign and both Cory and Ryan seem very pleased with my progress. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, though, but all good things take time.

Tonight was also my first visit to support group. I’ll surely go again… I found it very informative. I would like to stay longer the next time, but I had a lot of prep work to do for my next group of trainees. The program consisted of a brief talk by a success story, in this case a woman who dropped 175 pounds. There were before pictures and the after was quite astonishing. After her talk, Dr. Ku and Dr. McPhee took the floor for a Q&A with the guests. It was interesting, as both men seem very down to earth and very positive. They were following it up with a snack sample, but neither Supportive Partner Woman (sitter in uncomfortable chairs!) nor I were really into a tuna and white bean salad. I did manage to score a couple of interesting recipes that I will have to try. One is for a chicken chili that seems like it could be quite tasty. I’m always up for good chili.

So, that’s all I have for today. I hope everyone is staying cool as we have a few brutal days ahead. So much so that the Yard Sale of Doom, Part Deux, has been postponed. I’ll miss seeing everyone, but I won’t miss the yard sale all that much. We still have a picnic to go to in the afternoon with my side of the family. This time, no surprise party that I am aware of. Yay?

Until next time.

I survived!

Posted: June 28, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Exercise, Physical activity
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Greetings!

I survived my first session with the exercise physiologist this morning. I currently ache in some muscles I forgot I had, but it’s a good ache. Hope tomorrow will be the same story.

I arrived at the Bariatric Physician Specialist office at 10:00 and Cory came out to get us. There were several of us in the session, and I figured I’d be the one in the worst shape. Cory, one of the trainers, took us back to the workout area. It’s a well-appointed space with several treadmills, ellipticals and rowing machines, as well as some machines and free weights. There are lots of windows to look out over the parking lot at the health campus. (For those of you not familiar with the health care systems in Cow Country, the Health Campus is a sprawling cluster of buildings containing all sorts of medical offices… in addition to the bariatrics suite, there’s a women’s and babies hospital, a rehab center, a hospice facility, and soon to be a cancer center and forensics lab.) Not the most awesome view, but nice to get some sunshine.

Cory started things off by explaining their procedures. They require diabetics to bring their glucometers and test before and after workouts. There’s locker and shower facilities, and clean towels provided.

They wanted to get a baseline on me, so Cory started me out with 20 minutes on the treadmill. It was a little choppy at first, but I soon got going up to around 3.1 mph and on a slight incline. Not too bad for someone who hasn’t set foot in a gym for the better part of two years. After I was done on the treadmill, Cory took me over to the weight machines and had me do some chest work. They are able to modify the form, which is a good thing since I have a partial tear of my right rotator cuff. After a couple of 12-13 rep sets, we started with the “S” word. Squats. Or, the enemy. He was smart and broke up the squats with reps on a pulldown machine. After more squats and pulldowns, it was back to the treadmill for a ten minute cool down period.

After the workout was done, we checked blood glucose again. Before I started, it measured 110. Afterward, I stuck a 97. Both are good readings, but I did take a glucose tablet before I started the workout, since the 110 seemed a little low. Next time, I’m going to just see how far it drops, especially since Cory or Ryan will be there to monitor what I’m doing.

I can’t thank those guys enough… For the first time I actually feel like I might get something out of going to a gym. At the very least, I’ll learn the proper form for lifting. The funny part was I didn’t want to leave the gym. Oh, well… little steps are a good thing.

I have another session on Monday… I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.

Two posts in one day? Sheesh!

Posted: June 27, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Exercise, Stress, Weight loss
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Yup… you read the title correctly. I’m opting to use part of my break to write rather than attempt a distance record. See, the dogs were barking after last night’s walk. I thought it best to take an abbreviated walk rather than risk blister city and be knocked out of action for weeks until it fully healed.

So, tomorrow morning I have my first session with Ryan. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also pretty intimidated. Here’s a guy who’s exceedingly fit, next to me, Captain Schlub. My biggest exercise is usually raising a fork full of food to my face. I’m looking forward to it because here’s a guy who can teach me how to get the most out of a workout. I’ve done the gym many times, and it never seemed to help. It was like I wasn’t getting anything out of it. Plus, I was always intimidated by the gym because of my bulk. Some of the looks you could get from other members were downright brutal. I got the impression that they were offended by the mere presence of a fatty among them.

This general feeling of not being welcome has become a constant. I’m not saying everybody is like that, but you can see the disgust that my weight causes in some. I said in an earlier post that it seems that fatties are the only group it’s still ok to discriminate against. Seems that the beautiful people are disgusted by what they perceive as unattractiveness. Found a good article at Jezebel.com about the anti-fat hate crimes that are taking place. Here’s a small excerpt:

People tend to have unconscious but powerful negative reactions to those they find unattractive. Weight specialist Dr. Ian Campbell: “It’s innate in people to dislike what they see as a lack of attractiveness. It makes them think such people are worthy of derision. Very young kids have been shown to have a bias against their overweight peers.”

It’s sad, really, and while this is one of the things that the bariatric program has taught me. It takes work, but you can lose the weight and be healthier. I know I can get there. I made it once from 410 pounds to 270. Now I’m going to learn how to finally make the life changes I need so as to not rebound. Whether or not I have an operation, there are medical options as well as surgical. Plus, I have support that I didn’t have before.

If I leave you with anything tonight, please don’t ever feel ashamed to ask for assistance. If you feel you have nowhere else to go, search for bariatric physicians or ask your regular doctor. There are so many folks willing to help you be healthy and if you’re willing to listen, they can help. This is something I’m finally learning. I’m not alone. You don’t have to be alone either.

… We have news for the beautiful people. There’s a lot more of us than there are of you. – Lewis Skolnick

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