I'm Brian, and what you see here is usually the product of my warped sense of geekiness. I started the blog to chronicle my struggle against being overweight but I've branched out into social commentary as well as the trials and tribulations of bariatric surgery. When I'm not being snarky on here, I like baseball, music, and travel, as well as keeping up with technology. Oh, and I also have a wee bit of a Lego problem.
It helped that the temperature is pretty moderate, the humidity better than normal, and a nice breeze blowing. Oh, and the trail is very shady.
That’s right… I said trail.
Supportive Partner Woman (Getting serious!) and I have noticed a walking trail a few miles from our house for the six years we’ve been here. About damn time we used it. There’s a nice parking area near the county’s public safety training facility, along with some public restrooms (which we did not have to use) and easy access to the trail.
A curious bovine looks on
The trail itself is well-maintained. Mostly gravel and cinders, with some muddier spots for good measure. The weeds are well-controlled and the bugs were not bad. It parallels the creek for a portion and it’s nice to stop for a minute and hear nothing but the birds and the rushing of the water. It also runs along some farms and pastures, so even though there are portions with more “fresh country air” than others, it’s not so bad. Plus, you get a curious bovine checking you out, not to mention multiple chipmunks and other fauna.
The best part about the trail is that it’s flat and there’s plenty of places to break into a jog. We managed to do that several times. SPW even managed to capture some video. I warn you, it’s not pretty and you can see how my feet problems have caused my right foot to go to the outside to compensate for the missing toe. Here’s the 12 seconds in all it’s glory.
Like I said, it’s not pretty, but it will improve. Practice!
Quick note… I’m pleased to start working with my Team AllEars mentor, Rich. I look forward to learning from him and getting the benefit of his experiences with various running events. Thanks in advance, Rich!
Again, please consider donating to the Avon Walk. My personal fundraising page is located here.
At any rate, that’s about it for today. Hope you all have a great weekend!
I not only killed it at the gym, I managed to wound Stubby as well.
See, on Thursday, I was actually running on the treadmill. It felt pretty good… the left ankle was barking a little, but that was the extent of my pain.
When I got home from work that night, well, I found that Stubby had a pretty substantial blister that had developed where there was a corn.
Cue frowny face.
I had Supportive Partner Woman (tender of my feet!) give it a Betadyne bath, then slept with my foot hanging off the bed, allowing it to air out. The next day I called my podiatrist and scheduled an appointment for this morning. He was impressed at how well it is healing and told me I could get out of the Boot of Shame. So I have that going for me. The bad news is that I’ll need to spend a week in it in early August. The doc wants to straighten the two remaining hammertoes on my left foot. Not something that I’m really looking forward to, but what can you do? This will hopefully prevent any more corns from forming.
In the other news, it’s time for a rant.
Got another letter from Evil Bitch Queen Wanda of our homeowner’s association. This time saying that we need to put down a “mulch” barrier to prevent damage to the siding from the lawn crew trimming.
My first thought was, “Seriously, this is the first you mention it after the lawn crew has had SIX YEARS to jack up the siding?
My second thought was a lot less charitable.
I posted about this on FB and one of my friends had the winning comment regarding the “mulch barrier.” She said, “Four foot bunker made of bags of mulch. Check.”
Amen.
So far we’ve established that the foot is healing nicely, me running isn’t pretty,and, oh, yeah, Wanda is an evil bitch.
Not bad for a day’s work.
So, on to the fun part of today’s post… Another fine inspirational story.
When I was in elementary school I had a very good friend named Mark. We played together pretty often and we kept in touch well through elementary and middle schools. At that time we went to different schools, and as frequently happens, we lost touch. Fast forward 20 years and we reconnected via Facebook. I’ve been very open about the health issues I have faced, and he had faced some similar issues. It’s been a long road for both of us, but he’s done some running and it inspired me to get in better shape. It’s kind of funny that I can find inspiration from someone I haven’t seen in over twenty years but still think the world of.
Thank you, Mark, for your friendship, inspiration, and also your donation to the Avon Walk. Every little bit counts.
Speaking of which, if you want to contribute, visit my personal fundraising page at
Perhaps best known as the last words of executed murderer Gary Gilmore, they really have special meaning to me today. See, yesterday, I had my “physical” and my pre-op EKG. The physical wasn’t quite what I expected. I’m used to the whole “turn your head and cough” thing, but this was more checking if I had a pulse, had continued to lose some weight (down two more pounds… Woot!) and evolved into a question and answer session with Dr. McPhee.
Every time I interact with him, I feel that much more confident that I’m making the right decision. He’s very frank and open, describes what he’s going to do and why he does it that way, and what kind of success he’s had with the bariatric procedures. One of the things that was worrying me was the possibility of a leak. Dr. McPhee said that he’s not had a leak yet (knock wood) and that he takes “old school” steps to avoid them. Primarily, he doesn’t just staple the joins, he sutures them as well. He said it may make for a slightly longer procedure, but one with less risk of leaks.
We discussed possible complications, including scar tissue, leaks and blood clots. They are very proactive in that they give you a shot of heparin before the surgery and monitor things closely. They also hook you up with the squeezy things for your legs to make sure that blood is kept moving through the procedure.
There’s also the possibility that, if everything goes swimmingly, I could be released the next night. I’m not going to push it, but if I have the opportunity, I’ll do it. I did of course, tell the surgeon that all depended on the cable package. He said it’s just basic, so I should bring my iPad.
Once again, I can’t stress the amount of individualized care that the practice puts into each patient. I’m left with the distinct impression that if someone fails in the quest to become healthy, they take it personally. That’s actually been the case with the vast majority of the health care professionals I’ve met while dealing with the LGH system. The jackass ER doc being the exception, of course.
There’s a story there, as there always is… seems that when I visited the ER with the original infection, I had to deal with an extremely brusque ER attending physician. He took one look at my foot and pronounced, “Well, that’s coming off,” and walked away. Seriously. For that, he got a bigger insurance payout than the surgeon who did two operations on my toe. WTF?
At any rate, I’m going to get prepped for the liquid diet. The real reason behind it is that it shrinks the liver and gets it out of the way, giving the team more room to work. There will be two board-certified bariatric surgeons in the OR with me, which doubles my confidence level. I’m still scared, but I’m more sure that I’m making the right decision. And after I shed a Backstreet Boy, and am off my meds, well, then I’ll really be sure I did the right thing.
Had a foot doctor appointment this morning to see how Wayne is doing. In a word, he’s pleased.
About time that phalangeal bastard behaves himself. Just sayin’
Prescribed care is to continue with the betadyne for a few more days, then I’m good to go. Most importantly for me, this means I can get back to a somewhat normal workout.
See, I’m released from the Boot of Shame. Woohoo!
In other news, we had the family combined birthday thing yesterday. My mom, sister, aunt and uncle all went to the Lobster of Redness. Sadly, Supportive Partner Woman (possessor of a norovirus!) was unable to attend due to illness. My aunt and uncle extended their invitation for Easter dinner and I had to tell them that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to travel too much, being all of 5 days post surgery at that point. My mother seemingly forgot I told her I had a date set. That didn’t go over particularly well, but what can you do? We did manage to talk about it afterward and while her and my sister might not agree with my choice, they’ve both pledged their support, which really means a lot. Granted, if my mother decides to come and stay with me while I’m recouping, it will be like the genesis of Stubby, Part Deux. We’ll just burn that bridge when we get there.
The bad part is that the week away from regular workouts has probably not helped my weight loss efforts. I’m thinking of trying a pre-liquid sort of liquid diet. Two meals including fruit, yogurt and/or protein shakes, and a sensible dinner. I’m also going to hope I don’t get hit with what SPW got hit with.
I’ll continue to keep you posted as I transition to third shift. I’m also assuming that you can expect some rather doped up posts while I’m in the hospital. They supposedly have wifi, so that’s a plus. I have the iPad ready to go.
Leaving the lame puns behind, it is, in fact, March. Going to start the surgical countdown. That would make today T-24 days.
24 days until my life changes forever. 24 days until I start leaving the fat armor behind.
Wow.
Today’s results
So, all that being said, I’m really focusing on trying to keep the workout intensity levels up. Today was a good example. I managed to burn over 730 calories and cover over 3 miles. For someone who had trouble walking a mile without being out of breath and succumbing to blisters, I’ve made some progress. I almost feel like once the weight is reduced, I’ll be able to do anything. Granted, a marathon is probably out of the question, but I think that 5K is firmly within my wheelhouse. It probably won’t be pretty, and it probably won’t be fast, but I just know that the feeling of accomplishment will make up for the pain.
Pain. That’s an interesting subject. When Stubby reared his ugly head back in 2010, most of the problem was that my diabetic neuropathy prevented me from feeling what should’ve been excruciating pain. As a result, I lost part of a toe. It seems that the more my glucose has been under control, there’s actually been a return of some sensation to my feet. It’s good and bad… good in that I have a little more feedback as to how I’m doing in the blister department, and bad that I know when my feet hurt.
My primary issues with the workout time have been achy ankles and other assorted joints. My ticker feels better than it has in a long time, as does my general health. My hope is that the less weight I’m carrying on my joints, the less pain they will have to endure and the less general abuse they will take. My hope is that it will lead to less likelihood of joint replacement in the future.
In other good news, I’m wearing a shirt from the depths of my closet. It’s one of my favorite Disney polo shirts (anyone who knows me knows that I pretty much live in polo shirts (and I don’t pop the collar) so it’s nice to pull one out of the closet that doesn’t have holes or is so threadbare from constant wear. See, I set a goal for myself when I embarked on this journey to not buy any new clothes unless absolutely necessary. There are a couple of shirts with holes that Supportive Partner Woman (Pyromaniac?) has pledged to burn as soon as I no longer need them.
That does bring to mind something I need to think of. With the speed in which weight can come off post surgery, refreshing the wardrobe can be a tad expensive. Guess I will have to haunt thrift stores and secondhand shops. I’m usually not opposed to wearing loose-fitting clothes, so that’s a plus. I’d hate that some of my favorite t-shirts wouldn’t be worn. I should be able to fit in the baseball jersey collection sometime during the season. That’s a good thing… and maybe even actually close the jersey? That would be awesome.
At any rate, that’s what I have for today. I will continue to keep stuff posted as the date comes closer.
Song of the Day: Talk Dirty to Me – Poison
Currently reading: The Path of the Assassin – Brad Thor
No, I didn’t have a food relapse or anything like that.
I stuck a 40 on the glucometer after my cardio. For anyone keeping score at home, that’s about 57% of my suggested low end. The scary thing is that I didn’t really notice it until I got off the treadmill. It was a good workout up until that point. I did about 30 minutes with an average speed of 3.1 mph. I was also wearing my new trainers. They felt pretty good and no evidence of Stubby or Wayne acting up. I’ll give them a good once-over when I get home for the night.
I decided to let off some steam last night and went to see a movie after work. One co-worker was really driving me nuts and I needed the break. I opted for A Good Day to Die Hard. I wasn’t expecting anything socially redeeming and I was not disappointed. It wasn’t the greatest entry of the Die Hard franchise but it was big, noisy and violent with lots of car chases, gunplay, and weapons-grade uranium. If I had to summarize, Blah, blah, blah, kill the bad guys and blow shit up, blah blah blah. If I had to rank all five entries in the series, it would be the first one (Alan Rickman FTW), followed by all of the others.
Another halfway decent food day yesterday. I opted for a turkey wrap for lunch… it was pretty good and not totally swamped in mayonnaise. There was even some bacon (YAY!), which I never complain about. I’m not quite sure why I like bacon as much as I do… good thing I don’t eat it as much as I would like to.
So far today, I’ve had two bananas, a protein shake, and some sugar tablets. I also had some candy to get the sugar levels up. I also had a nice chef salad for lunch that was really fresh. Plenty of veggies and also some good protein. Gotta love that it fills you up and doesn’t kill you calorically. Not sure what dinner will be, but I’m sure I’ll think of something. I was going to do some chili, but I neglected to soak the beans. Duh. All part of my senior moments.
In the good news, I’m still soda and caffeine free. Not sure how I’m managing to do it, but suffice it to say, I’d like to continue. I still feel pretty good, though, and that’s a plus. The blood sugar thing, other than the lows, is also a positive development. I like it being on the low side.
I’m just going to keep moving forward. It’s the only way to fly.
Here we are… end of January and the weather’s been freaky. There’s a surprise. It was ice storm fun on Monday, then it was 60 degrees, then it was biblical rainstorms last night. Go figure.
So, had to order what will hopefully be my last batch of test strips and insulin. Ordered from Caremark (I’m too young to get them from Liberty Medical) and jumped through the hoops, including them arbitrarily canceling the order. So, they send me a tracking number yesterday and, of course, it’s signature required. That would be at the time when Supportive Partner Woman and I aren’t home. So, I arranged to have the package held at the local UPS office. All good. I get a phone message from them after I get home letting me know that my order will be shipped on the next business day. Guess the left and right hands never met.
Other fun in the medical department was my podiatrist appointment on Tuesday. As he’s working on my toes, the dialogue went something like this:
Dr. Miller: “You know, Brian, I don’t think that you’ll ever win any awards for good looking feet.”
Me: <blink>
Stubby the Wonder Toe: “Oh no you di’ent! Imma bust a cap in yo ass!”
I can’t say that I’ve ever been told that before. Sigh. The consequences of diabetic feet.
I’ve continued to be more active, even though the workload has picked up at the office. Looks like I even get to do a little bit of a woodworking project for the boss, building read boards. This should be fun… I haven’t built anything in some time and I’ve kind of missed it.
At any rate, SPW is on her way home so that we’ll actually get to spend some time together while both of us are conscious. Yay!
Hope you all have a great rest of the week.
Chicken Man
Pretzel Guy
P.S. I did managed to come up with some cool new Lego minifigs over the last couple of weeks. The coolest one is the guy in the chicken suit. He’s this set’s equivalent of the pretzel guy from Series 8.
Made it another day… was not an easy one, but I set a record for 2013 with over 47 minutes and 2.23 miles walked. I had to back off speed a bit, due to achy ankles, but I’m still proud of myself for getting that far. My average speed was 2.84 mph. The rest will come as the weight decreases.
I worry, though… I just feel that due to Stubby I can’t walk with the grace I used to walk. Surprised no one ever made a replacement toe bone. Maybe that could be my great contribution to science. Hmmm.
I’ve been thinking long and hard, though, and I need to set a post-surgical goal. I realize that with my toe and other issues, I’ll never be physically able to run long distances, so a marathon is out.
I’m going to set my goal to participate in the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 5K.
There, I said it. I know it won’t be easy, especially for someone who would struggle to run the mile in high school (when I was in better shape), but I think it’s a reachable goal. Plus, I’ve gotten so much encouragement from the Disney fan community as I go through this process that I feel it’s a great way to pay it back and forward. To reward myself with a feeling of accomplishment and to pay back everyone who has supported me and encouraged me. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but they are my family as much as any blood relation. Logistics will be forthcoming, but I will keep you apprised and this will be the place to post the picture after I finish it.
So, yesterday was pretty cool, though. Not only did I find an error in a CNN.com story (yeah, not like they’re a reputable news source), I actually got to have a Twitter exchange with one of my favorite sportswriters. I just tweeted out that the CNN flunkie had gotten his name wrong (guess checking that fact would be a little too much effort) and sure enough, a reply. It was actually kind of cool. I’m not a huge Twitter fan, unlike SPW (lover of the hashtag!), but this might make me like it a little more.
At any rate, gotta go for day 9 in the morning. And I’m going to do it. Does that make me a probie gym rat?
I know, its been quite awhile. I started writing this from the laundry room of Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort. I know… I go to such interesting places on vacation. What can I say? It’s a gift.
So, it’s been about a month since I scribbled anything down. Just been crazy busy at Chez T and, well, just nothing really interesting to report. Done some stumbling recently, food-wise, not a serious backslide, but enough that my last doctor visit resulted in just a one-pound loss. In a month. Granted, I wasn’t working out like crazy… trying to keep the tempo down to prepare for our trip. Fat lot of good that did me.
See, after one day of serious walking, with preventative measures in places (Stubby cocooned in moleskin, his counterpart wearing a gel pad), I get a freakin’ blister NEXT TO THE GEL PAD!!!! This, as you can imagine, did not make me happy. Especially not with five days to go.
Supportive Partner Woman (de facto nurse of unparalleled skill!) then decreed an easier pace and began a regimen of rubbing my feet with ammonium lactate cream, which, according to the surgeon, is good stuff. This, coupled with Betadyne and gauze and a lot of moleskin, really enabled me to stay upright. It’s the one blessing of neuropathy… I can’t feel the pain of a blister. Looking back, I thing the problem was due to the crazy high humidity. It made the air chewy and we usually wound up with two showers a day.
So, for us a vacation to Disney World is more about the friends and the food than anything else. We paid two visits to Ohana for meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat on a stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick! There’s an art to eating somewhat healthier at Ohana… that is to view it as a high protein meal. Just keep in mind that when the nice server brings a sizzling skewer of dripping meat, he or she will automatically adjust your request by a factor of three. So, if you would, in fact, like one more piece of steak, make sure you have friends to share it with, because you’re getting three giant pieces.
The food at Ohana is not bad… you start with the Ohana welcome bread, which is a sweet Hawaiian style bread that has a touch of pineapple flavor. Then you get a salad, which would be better with less dressing. It’s positively drowning. I’m pretty sure I saw a lettuce shred clinging desperately to a life ring as its mates all drowned in the Vinaigrette Sea.
The staff follows this with the chicken wings and dumplings. I’m not a huge fan of wings to start with and these are just meh, so I usually pass on them. The dumplings are awesome, though, and it takes a great deal of self-restraint to not totally strap on the feed bag. This is followed with the greens, which consist of snow peas and broccoli that are well prepared. The share a plate with some tasty lo mien.
After the BS is dispensed with, it’s on to the main event. The meat. See, Disney wants you to believe that Ohana means family, but in reality, Ohana means meat. Lots of meat. Lots and lots of meat. We’re talking meat with a capital MEAT. The room is dominated but an open wood fire cooking giant skewers of steak, chicken, pork and shrimp. I love the shrimp. It has a nice level of spiciness without being too much to numb the palate. The steak has a wonderful marinade… not sure what all is in it, other than garlic, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Makes it very bold.
The chicken is pedestrian… not a ton of flavor, probably kept mild for people who don’t care for spice. The pork, though, is not that great. It’s usually a little overcooked and the BBQ sauce is way too sweet for my palate. I think the open fire is simply too hot and dries out the meat. Pork, IMHO, should be done low and slow with just enough sear on the outside to keep the juices in. Here’s a view of the cooking fire in action:
After the gorging is over, they hit you with dessert. They bring a banana bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream. If that’s not enough, they will dump an Exxon Valdez sized load of caramel sauce on top. I’m lucky, though… since I have dietary restrictions, they usually bring me a nice plate of fresh fruit.
I will provide more food details over the next few days, but suffice it to say that even with all the food, I still managed to lose 2.5 pounds while away. So, not a total loss.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
Song of the Day: Gangnam Style – PSY Currently Reading: The Tombs – Clive Cussler
I got to spend some time this morning on the horn with Comcast. For the most part, I don’t have a lot of complaints… at least not regarding the internet. The service is fast, affordable and generally reliable. It helps that we are located between the big scary Lancaster office, and the much smaller, quieter, and friendlier Elizabethtown office. We also have phone service with them and that, too, is generally reliable. Today? Not so much. I was trying to call our eye doctor to schedule our annual exams and *BANG*, no dial tone. I pull out my cell phone and call them, actually speak to a live person. He gets the phone all squared away, then I ask about the problems we’ve been having with the net… dropping out, slow, etc. He starts to say he can help, then AT&T drops the call. Grrrrr.
Near as I can tell, the issue is with the new cable modem. I’m thinking that even though it’s recommended by Comcast, it’s the culprit. Maybe it’s blind loyalty to the trusty old Linksys, but the SURFboard seems to like to pop on and off at random intervals. This does not make me happy… I have the AirPort app on my iPhone and iPad and I can usually see that it’s disconnected but when you need to power cycle it, well, that’s a pain in the butt. I’m going to try to call Comcast again tomorrow and see if there’s anything they can do for me.
Today was fruitful in the gym as well. I made it to Hempfield and hit the elliptical for a half hour and did some weight training. I did a whole body interval on the elliptical that involved going backwards. I didn’t go too fast, keeping it around 100 steps per minute, but I didn’t fall over. I’m taking that as a good sign. It just felt so right to be back there and sweating. I know I still have a long way to go until I’m fit, but I will get there. As I stressed before, my immediate goal is not to figuratively die at Disney next month.
Oh, and a yoga update. Supportive Partner Woman (possessor of better flexibility than I!) has been doing this BodyFlow stuff, which is combination pilates, tai chi and yoga. She was showing me some of the poses and I’m not sure I’ll have the balance to handle it, since Stubby has a negative effect on balance for me. Maybe I should just make sure I get started on mats so I don’t kill myself during the inevitable tumbles. Am I scared about it? No, not scared. Perhaps a little apprehensive.
So, folks… that’s the score. I’m doing some training the rest of the week at work, which is a good thing, and my trainee seems to really be liking the subject matter. I’ll take that as a victory.
Talk to you soon!
Song of the Day: Basket Case – Green Day Currently Reading: 56 – Kostya Kennedy
Quote of the Day:
Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip. – Arnold H. Glasgow
Memoirs of a Soon-to-Be Former Fat Guy 