Before & After RNY with Chris, losing 150 pounds!
July 31, 2018Why I Decided to Have WLS
I’ve struggled with my weight since 2nd grade. I remember my teacher looking at me and saying “you’re gonna pop out of them clothes.” From then on, my parents tried hard to help me lose weight.
Back in the early 90’s, low-fat diets were popular and that’s what we thought was the best approach for weight loss. As time moved on, I would lose a few pounds, regain, and gradually get bigger.
In 3rd grade, we had an assignment that involved weighing and recording our weight. I was so embarrassed that I was 92 pounds. I never got into sports. Why would I? I was overweight, slow, and un-athletic. I learned to isolate myself and began feeling inferior to my peers. I learned to live in big, baggy clothes. I think I wore a windbreaker jacket a whole school year once. Any time I was near a pool, I was in swim trunks and a very large shirt.
Middle school and high school were much of the same. I tried a few other diets, even the miracle liquid diet “juice” that the stars used to drop weight rapidly. At one point near the end of high school, I was able to drop about 70 pounds by going back to what I knew which was a low-fat and lots of walking. Of course, the weight came back.
At some point during my middle and high school years, clinical depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder emerged. I began seeing a counselor that my father found in the phonebook. Of all the dozens of counselors in town, it happened to be Dr. Connie Stapleton, an icon in the weight loss surgery community. God and his mysterious ways!
My weight issues followed me into college and adult life. People occasionally still felt the need to remind me that I was large. I regularly heard, “How much bigger are you going to get?” “Don’t you know how to push away from the table?” I guess that detail was flying under my radar.
Everywhere I went, I felt judged by others and didn’t want people to pay attention to me. I was still trying to get my weight off with low-fat dieting. What I didn’t realize at the time was the amount of sugar and carbs I was taking in.
I would eat two bowls of low-fat cereal, extra sugar with skim milk, and believed I made a great choice. It didn’t occur to me that more carbs = hungry again soon.
I drank so many liquid calories such as sweet tea (my favorite), Kool-Aid, sodas, juice, etc. During one of our sessions, Dr. Stapleton brought up weight loss surgery. I had mildly considered it. She advised me that I would not be able to drink sweet tea after WLS. I probably looked at her like she had three heads. I wasn’t ready at that point. My insurance at the time didn’t cover it either.
By age 28, I had developed several health issues. I was on two medications for high blood pressure. I was using a CPAP for sleep apnea. My triglycerides were ranging between 500 and 600. I began a new career in December of 2012. After completing my annual biometric screening, the vendor called me to make sure I knew how bad my triglyceride levels were.
I decided to attend a WLS seminar conducted by Dr. Michael Blaney. My new insurance covered the procedure, providing I complete a six-month physician supervised diet. This was it! My way of losing weight was not working and I was willing to relinquish my ways and do whatever the professionals told me to get myself into a better state.
I was doing something DIFFERENT.
Before & After RNY with Chris
Total Weight Loss: 150 pounds
Surgery Type: Laparoscopic RNY Gastric Bypass
Bariatric Surgeon: Dr. Michael Blaney
Plastic Surgery Procedures: Panniculectomy, Gynecomastia Surgery, and Lower Body Lift
Plastic Surgeon: Dr. Troy Austin
Having Surgery and Life as a Post-Op
During my mandatory six-month diet, I attended several required seminars through Live Healthy MD. The surgeons, doctors, and dieticians taught us what to expect from surgery, how to make good food choices, how to live with a bariatric pouch, and when to take which vitamins.
I felt like a sponge. I was learning not to be afraid of dietary fat, to put dense proteins in my stomach first, top it with non-starchy veggies, wait half an hour before I drank anything, and walk away from sugary drinks forever. And, of course, I got to visit my friend, Dr. Stapleton, again for my required psych evaluation.
I was ecstatic when I finally got an insurance approval and surgery date. As expected, the two-week liquid diet prior to surgery was tough but doable. Before I knew it, September 16, 2013, was here and I was checking in at Trinity Hospital (the time of the facility at the time of my surgery).
The surgery itself was easy. The hardest part was getting onto the table for the barium x-ray since I was sore. Dr. Blaney was an amazing surgeon and checked on me many times. I made my required 30 laps around the floor and was discharged after two days. Getting in my fluids was not easy since I could only take tiny sips. I had about five seconds of regret because I was so thirsty. That was very short-lived.
As my life as a post-op took off, I gradually found my stride. Live Healthy MD guided me through every step from liquids, to soft foods, to more dense proteins. The weight began to fall off. At times, the loss would slow down and even stall. I was walking through the store one day and suddenly realized how fast I was moving.
After a year, most of my weight had come off and I was working toward eating a whole cup of food at a time. Eating was so physical in the beginning; it only took a few bites to feel full. I started to understand the mental component of food and how I responded to it.
I learned how powerful head hunger is and that the stomach doesn’t need to be fed just because I feel a sensation or I “think” I’m hungry.
Today, I’m a little over four years post-op. My weight hit an all-time low for a split second about 18 months after surgery, then settled in the 180’s. Just like most post-ops, I become too liberal with my diet at times and have to check myself and adjust my behaviors. If the scale starts moving in the wrong direction, or clothes don’t feel right, it’s time to self-evaluate.
Planning meals, monitoring food choices, taking vitamins, going to support group, and exercising are forever, not optional. This is all part of the recovery from obesity.
I take one, lower does blood pressure pill now instead of two. My cholesterol and triglycerides are now in normal ranges. I also put the CPAP machine aside. I can walk, jog, ride a bike, and play like a big kid on the playground with my nieces and nephews. My confidence is so much more. I can walk into a crowded room and not immediately want to find a place to hide.
To me, I look like a normal guy. At the same time, I am the same person and have the same brain I had before going under the knife. My demons, habits, obsessions, compulsions, and anxieties are still here and a part of me. They have to be managed because WLS doesn’t fix or cure us.
I have found that WLS gives us the ability to put obesity in remission, give us a better quality of life, and move forward. This was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. God has blessed me with better health and an array of supporters. My wife is my biggest support. She keeps me in check and reminds me when certain things shouldn’t be in my mouth.
Live Healthy MD is always at my fingertips. The dieticians run a monthly in-office support group and an ongoing, private Facebook support page for only post-ops. Dr. Stapleton is also in the private group and offers many online, free programs to assist us in the post-op life. I, along with every other patient that has gone through Live Healthy MD’s program, has been set up for success. I am so truly grateful.
My Milestones and Non-Scale Victories
Milestones:
- November of 2014, I made it to “one-der-land” (under 200 pounds). To celebrate, my wife and I got tattoos for our 30th birthday.
- March of 2015, I was able to have my abdominal skin removed (Panniculectomy) by Dr. Troy Austin.
- Summer of 2015, for the first time since I was a toddler, I went swimming in swim trunks without a baggy shirt.
- Summer of 2015, I got my first bicycle since childhood.
- Summer of 2017, I ended the use of a beta blocker.
- March of 2018, I was able to have a lower body lift and Gynecomastia surgery, again by Dr. Troy Austin.
Non-Scale Victories:
Now, I fit in a bathtub, walk up and down stairs, jog, ride a bike, fit in rides at amusement parks, fit in chairs at work, turn over in bed without getting winded, work in the yard for hours on end, see my knuckles and collarbone, see abs, get my thumb and middle finger around my wrists, not shop in the big/tall section, and not have to turn my body sideways to fit into the attic opening.
How ObesityHelp.com has been part of my journey
I am so thankful for ObesityHelp.com! I started seeing articles from this site shared on Live Healthy MD’s page and have found them most helpful. Post-ops will be in recovery from obesity for life; resources and support are absolutely crucial for long-term success. Thank you so much!
Share Your Before & After Success!
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