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I'm new to this message board so I thought I would introduce myself and give you all a little background. I have not been heavy all my life. I started putting on weight in college when I stopped participating in school athletics and started drinking beer. But ever since college and throughout my 20 years in the Navy, I've been battling the body fat problem. It's been up and down, but I've stayed pretty active. That's probably why I never weighed as much as my two brothers. One is over 400 lbs and the other is just under 400. The Navy and running helped me keep the weight down a little. I've completed three half-marathons and in the fall of 1999, I was able to run a half-marathon while weighing about 250 lbs. After that though, I stopped running and gained even more weight. By the time I retired from active duty in August of 2003, I weighed in the upper 280s, and without the discipline of the military, I gained even more weight reaching a high of 327 by April of 2004.
A couple of years prior to this I started having medical problems. I developed high blood pressure and high cholesterol which caused a TIA (mini stroke) in April of 2003, so my Navy doctors put me on three different prescriptions for the blood pressure and cholesterol. I also found I had Sleep Apnea and started wearing a C-Pap machine to sleep at night. Plus add acid reflux and another prescription.
My father passed away at the age of 54 from a heart attack caused by diabetes. My mom also passed away at a young age, 67, in a hospital on the operating table having an aorta replaced. Both my brothers have diabetes. Because of my family health history and my own medical problems, I asked my primary care doctor about Gastric Bypass Surgery, and he highly recommended it and referred me to the Coastal Center for Obesity in Orange, CA. I did a good bit of research on the clinic, asking around and checking the Internet. The three surgeons at the center, Dr. Owens, Dr. Hajduczek and Dr. Oliak, have combined experience of well over 600 laparoscopic Bariatric procedures, operations, and bypasses.
I've been interested in Gastric Bypass Surgery every since my wife Priscilla first had it in 1998 through Pacific Bariatrics in San Diego. She has her own weight loss story, so I'll let her tell it in her own way.
At my pre-op appointment in June, the clinic weighed me in at 322 lbs. I had lost five pounds from my highest weight in April. I hadn't done anything to lose the weight, wasn't dieting, wasn't working out. I didn't know it at the time, but I had developed diabetes and the disease was causing me to lose weight. I would lose another 25 lbs before the surgery. I would also have some of the other symptoms, being thirsty all the time and drinking lots of fluids, having to urinate at lot, and always feeling hot. It was also affecting my eyesight. I should have had them test me for diabetes earlier, but I didn't until the day I had surgery, when they found my blood sugar to be above 300, and they immediately put me on insulin.
The day of my surgery (August 3 of this year) I weighed in at 297 lbs. A few days earlier I had my measurements taken: Neck - 17 ½ inches, Chest - 51 inches, Stomach - 53 ½ inches, Waist - 50 ½ inches, Thigh - 26 ½ inches, and Calf - 18 inches. Three days later I went home and the following day I was down to 294 lbs. I started my four weeks of only protein shakes and 10 days after surgery, I was back to work. Just prior to going back to work, I saw Dr. Owens, who took me off Prevacid, my acid reflex medicine. One week later I saw my diabetes doctor and he was very pleased. At the two-week point my blood sugar had dropped to below 80, my high blood pressure was looking good, and my high cholesterol was looking better, so he allowed me to stop my daily insulin shots, took me off my diabetes and high blood pressure pills, and all the high cholesterol medication except the Zocor, which he cut in half about a month later, down to 10 mg a day. I also no longer need to use my C-Pap machine when I sleep at night. Right after surgery my eyesight turned bad and my body heat went down. I started getting cold more often. The doctor said that was caused by my diabetes quickly getting fixed. So I had to start wearing glasses. A month out my eyesight settled down and I don't really need my glasses for distance, but they do help. However I do need them to read my computer, and especially books and maps.
One thing I found out is that I wasn't hungry. I haven't been hungry since the surgery. But during that first month of shakes, every burger or pizza commercial on television made me miss my favorite foods just that much more. Three weeks out from surgery, I had to buy new pants. Before the surgery I was wearing mostly size 48 waist, but I had bought one pair of 50s. After three weeks, I was down to 44s.
On September 3, one month after my surgery, my weight was down to 266 lbs. That's 31 lbs since the surgery (about a pound a day) and 61 pounds total from my highest weight in April. I had my measurements taken again that day: neck - 17 ½ inches, chest - 47 inches, stomach - 48 inches, waist - 46 inches, thigh - 26 ½ inches and calf - 16 ½ inches. I had lost 15 ½ inches total since my first measurement on June 25.
On the day I could go to real food, I tried scrambled eggs and refried beans. Wrong choice! My body did not like it at all. It made me sick. The dumping lasted about 1½ hours. I dumped a lot in the next two months. It seems my system didn't like very many foods. During the two weeks of soft foods I learned I could eat cottage cheese, oatmeal, yogurt and mashed potatoes. After the two weeks of soft foods I was able to add chicken and turkey, and sometimes chili. It wasn't until after three months out from surgery that I could start to add some other foods, like shrimp, crab, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, rice and some soups. And I'm still testing and learning about other foods I can start adding to my diet that my system will allow. The moment I started dumping I no longer reacted to food commercials and didn't miss my favorite foods at all.
I've only had two minor complications so far. One was a stricture at about the two month mark. This is where the esophagus swells, tightens or closes down where it enters the stomach pouch. Mine wasn't entirely closed. I was sent to a specialist who did an outpatient procedure (in the operating room of a hospital) with a scope and stretched the opening for me. The second complication was more serious. I developed some internal bleeding and had to spend a few days in the hospital. The doctor thought maybe I had an ulcer on the bypassed stomach (not the small pouch) caused when I stopped taking Prevacid cold turkey after the bypass surgery. But he's not really sure where the internal bleeding came from, because he says I should feel pain if it was an ulcer, and I didn't feel pain. He doesn't think it's my pouch though, because he did a scope and did not find any bleeding. My blood count dropped all the way to 8.4 before it came back up. The doctors now have me back on Prevacid, and I haven't had anymore internal bleeding problems.
November 3rd was my three month anniversary and I had my measurements taken again: neck - 15 ½ inches, chest - 42 ½, stomach - 42 ½, waist - 41 ½, thigh - 24 and calf - 16. That's a whopping 35 inches lost since my first measurement on June 25th. Today I am down 120 lbs total (90 since the surgery) and weigh in at 207 lbs. I'll do my measurements again on Friday, Dec. 3, my four month anniversary.
This has been a pretty long email, but if you want to read my entire 10-page weight loss story, check out my website at http://www.FreedomExpress.net and click on the "Bariatric Surgery Support and Bill's Weight Loss Story" link on the left side of the page in the green teal area. The surgery has saved my life... I feel better, look better and I am much more active. I am down to a size 40 pants and probably should buy 38s. It is so great to be able to buy clothes at a regular store. That's enough for now. I look forward to hearing from everyone, but I'm only signed up for the daily digest, so it may be awhile before I answer emails. Thanks for reading this far.
Take care and continued success,
Bill Johnson-Miles
"From the Girth, A Rising Phoenix, A Bariatric Butterfly."
I can't believe I'm admitting to this... but I really like chocolate oatmeal. I take a chocolate HMR and add it to oatmeal. It's really warm and yummy. Check out the recipe on my website. Plus I eat a lot of roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. Chicken and turkey work fine for me, but beef (unless it is in chili) makes me dump. I have a friend who went totally vegitarian (sp) after her surgery. And she use to love meat.
By the way, how do we get our picture put next to our message?
Thanks for the hugs and welcomes eveyone.
Take care,
Bill
hi, you get your picture put there by sending it to [email protected] ...include your user name and i.d number, its found on the left side on your profile page.
i was looking at your recipes, and i was wondering what the protein is you use and where you get it, i never seen it before. i have not found one i like yet.
have you been losing hair from surgery? mine is coming out like crazy.
Linda
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