Why does this **** me off so much???

Okay, so this particular story is about a sports caster here in OKC, and maybe that's why it's sooo freakin irritating to me... Bob Barry Jr. A sports caster on Channel 4 here in OKC had RnY 2 weeks ago!!! Yeah I'm so excited for him... the piece they showed on the news last night was GREAT, very positive, I don't remember anything negative about it at all, I was VERY impressed with the piece... Then I go to the site this morning to read his blog about it... and here we go!!! He's ALREADY F'N not following his meal plan!!! SERIOUSLY 14 days out and already testing his limits... it's really a GREAT thing his blog doesn't have a comments section because I'd be all up in his A$$!!! He says in the segment they aired last night that he needs something so drastic and permanent because he's CHEATED everyother diet he's EVER been on and the MORON is doing the same thing now and doesn't even relize it!!! ARRRRGGGG!!!! this is EXACTLY why our surgery has such a bad rap... it's not the tool that's not working, it's the freakin patient and it ****** me off!!! I've linked the story in case you want to read/watch any of it... Am I alone here??? www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=6765100&nav=menu99_2_5 Okay rant over Lori

Lori, I'm blaming the guy's surgeon. Evidently, he did not have the **** scared out of him pre-surgery like I did. Here's what the blog said: ************************************************************* Technically, I'm supposed to begin eating "soft" foods this week...but I've already started experimenting and I'm sure I'll hear about it from Dr. Walton Wednesday. We were at a friends house Saturday and they cooked out steaks and hot dogs. I decided to give it a whirl. So I ate about half a weiner and took as much time as I could. I chewed slowly like they tell me and I washed it down with several sips of bottled water. No bad response. Then I took a few very tiny bites of Gina's steak and a few bites of her baked potato. Again, everything went down okay and then I noticed...I had eaten enough. Shocking ! I'm used to WAY bigger portions, obviously, but I actually went through about a 30-second period when I thought I had eaten too much and might lose it. But that feeling passed and everything was fine. I followed that "experiment" up with about half a hamburger patty Sunday night and a few bites of kernel corn, squash and sliced cucumber. Again, I reached a point where I honestly felt I'd had enough...and I quit eating, feeling totally full. What a change ! I over-did a little Monday night - trying a grilled chicken breast and feeling just about every single swallow go down pretty hard. Even on a "regular" stomach, dry chicken takes alot of fluid to wash down - so I need to remember this the next time I eat poultry. But I did not throw up or anything...I just reached another point of needing to stop - having eaten less than HALF a chicken breast when I normally would have 2-3 big pieces as well as all the sides when enjoying Gina's chicken. ************************************************************ Never in my wildest dreams could I have eaten half a hamburger patty , corn, squash and cucumber two weeks after surgery. I can barely do that now. I don't think this guy was well educated prior to surgery. He's eating potatoes and steak AFTER eating 1/2 a hotdog and washing it down with water. Let me tell you, my surgeon scared the bejeezuz out of me prior to surgery. I didn't dream about breaking any rules for a long, long time after surgery for fear of doing terrible damage to my pouch. And how big is this guy's pouch anyway? If I had tried eating what he's eating two weeks after surgery, I would have been in the emergency room with a blown pouch. My theory is that this is a guy who is self-pay, didn't have to spend months and months waiting for insurance approval and learning everything he could about the surgery and after-life. No disrespect to those of you who were self-pay, but I've known a couple of people who walked in the door, dropped a check on the desk, had surgery a week or two later and suffered for it because they didn't fully know what they were getting themselves into. One woman I'm thinking of had surgery the same day as me. At our one week checkup, she turned to me in the doctor's lobby and said, "When do we get to have Snickers and Coke again?" I looked at her and said, "Never." I thought she was going to cry. OK, I've certainly had a candy bar and of course there are lots of people who drink diet soda, but it never occurred to me early in the game that Snickers and soda were going to be a regular part of life again and they're not. I feel sorry for this guy. I don't think he has a support group and being in the public eye, he's on a crash course for public failure. I hope he gets back on track because he's off to a very rocky start. Connie

He's probably was self-pay, but I wonder if he didn't get it for free, since he's a public figure and got publicity for the surgeon... they followed into the surgery room and documented that part too... It wouldn't surprise me at all if he got it for nothing... I really hope that he gets his act together soon... I still can't eat more than 1/2 hot dog... I can maybe eat 1/2 hamburger patty, without a bun, and I still can't eat steak or chicken more than a bite or two... I don't want him to fail... I don't want anyone to fail... I'm just so glad that I'm not just overreacting about this... I think I'm going to email him today with my concerns. Lori

Lori, I applaud your passion! Would that we all expressed such strong feelings about staying committed to doing this RIGHT!!! I think you should call in and set this guy straight, right on the air. Think of all the people out there that would benefit from hearing YOUR story!!! I was watching that new show, "Big Medicine" two weeks ago and I heard that older surgeon say to a prospective new patient, "You'll never gain the weight back." I thought I must have heard him wrong and turned to Jim and said, "What did he just say?" Jim confirmed that I heard the good doctor correctly - man, I wanted to jump right through the t.v. and strangle him! Get on the phone while he's on air and get up his A$$!!! right then and there - there are people out there paying close attention to this guy's experience that need to know the truth of it all. Take care, sweetheart. Reenie

I don't think I could contain myself if I got on the phone with him, so I think I'll just email him about how I feel. I always seem to miss that show Big Medicine, but I can't believe that a surgeon would EVER tell someone they won't ever gain the weight back... OMG, are you F'N kidding me??? Oh well... I'm just beside myself with the ignorance around me... Lori

god my brain is in such a jumble after reading all of this. i wish i had the time to comment fully cause i agree with all of you buti'm runnign late for work!!!! that man is an idiot who will not be successful. he will lose some weight rave about how wonderful it is and gain it back if he's lucky he won't blow hs stomach but what he will do is end up with even more problems because he's not going to obsorb ever like he should he's also going to be in that group of people who lose gain lose gain lose gain an damage their hearts. ya just wanna kick him ya know? even now i can't eat 1/2 a hamburger. in over 3 years i've had 3 sips of soda. before surgery i shoudl have been connectect to diet cafe free pepsi intravenese. i can't even remember what it tastes like anymore don't even miss it. i use to eat 3 or 5 candy bars a day. i'd buy bags of the big candy bars for the trick or treaters and eat them all myself. bags for kids who never came cause i live in a tiny condo with no kids i'd get 5 kids and buy 20 bags i'd start buying the stuff when it first woudl go on the shelves i was a regular inthe candy isle. no more. maybe once a month i have a sugar free candy piece nothing major i do not drink during meals either. but i still can't get below 160. after i made it to 157 now i'm 168 too close to 170 thinking strong about the reenie challenge. gotta run late late late

Okay I emailled him this morning, and here's what I wrote! I'm sure you received more than a few emails over the past two days regarding your bypass blog, and I'm glad to say a few of them were a result of me posting your story/blog on a few of the message boards I frequent in regards to the RnY surgery. I'll try not to take up a lot of your time, but tell you a little about myself. My name is Lori and I had RnY surgery on March 30, 2004. I'm 3 years post op and love my life now. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I was when I saw your segment on Tuesday night, I was so glad someone finally put out a positive piece about the surgery, THANK YOU so much for being so out in the public about it, and not being ashamed. You DIDN'T take the easy way out, you took the HARDEST road EVER, and I know from being there myself! On the flip side, I can't even begin to tell you how hellaciously angry I was when I read your blog yesterday morning, talking about "experimenting" OMG, I was so mad at you!!! How dare you be on TV and be so open and even saying in your segment "Why do something so drastic, so permanent? I've cheated on every diet I've ever been on, I need drastic and permanent!" then state in your blog that you've experimented!!! I'm 3 years post op and just now experimenting and testing my limits, and I'm not being watched as closely as you are/will be. You need to follow your dietitian program to the tee, and whatever you do, DON'T DRINK WITH YOUR MEALS!!! I wish you NOTHING but the best with your new tool... Treasure it and keep it new and sparkly, don't take any chances... You did this for your health, don't cheat yourself out of a program that you can finally be successful at! I have a friend that has been trying to get approved for surgery for 5 years and keeps getting the rug pulled out from under her at every turn. You've been blessed with something that lots of people need, but can't get and may die trying to get, please don't screw it up! Best wishes on your new life and new journey, it's bound to not be fun, and extremely bumpy, but I know you're going to make it. Lori

Great reply, Lori. I hope he takes this to heart. I don't think he has any idea of how he is setting himself up for failure - yet again. Sounds like this guy could really use some mental health help to figure out why he is so driven to sabotage himself. Connie

Great job Lori! You very likely saved lives with this note! Joy

Lori, you obviously influenced this guy in moving in a different direction with his "journey" - I'm very proud of you! We all need to be much more open with communicating about the pitfalls of after-surgery life - especially the post-two year mark. NONE OF THIS IS EASY - none of it has been easy, none of it will ever be easy. There but by the grace of God.....Love ya, huge, sweetheart - Reenie