The Day I Reached For The Sky! ... Long, but DON"T miss! Updated pics included!
Post Date: 3/31/08 1:45 am
Last Edit: 3/31/08 1:51 am
I'm going to cross-post this one...
I just wanted to share this with as many people here as possible, because I know that a year ago when I was just beginning my journey I would read similar stories and it provided me with hope. Hope that one day all the problems I was dealing with as a result of morbid obesity would one day just be a bad memory. Hope that one day I would be able to perhaps for the first time, live and enjoy life the way God intended. Hope that I could reach farther, reach higher.
My story sounds like a lot of others - after a life-long battle with obesity mounting health problems began to feel like they were to much to bear. The pain of three herniated discs along with the diagnosis of Type-II Diabetes, sleep apnea, and high cholestorol forced my hand. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I was fortunate at the time to be living in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area. I was fortunate because it allowed me easy access to Duke Weight Loss Surgery Center - an ASMBS Center of Excellence, and in my opinion among the cream of the crop when it comes to WLS programs.
On March 29.2007, after shedding fifteen pounds from my all-time high weight of 297 lbs, I checked into Durham Regional Hospital with an expectable ammount of anxiety but a healthy dose of optimism. In the capable hands of Dr Portenier and his team, my laproscopic RNY gastric bypass was performed without complication and I was on my way home just a few days later.
The first few days it was a little bit tough to get the minimum amounts of fluids and protein down, but I hung in there and it got better quick. Before I knew it three weeks had gone by and I had lost over twenty pounds.
The next few months were spent figuring out what I could and couldn't eat, exercising up to four or five times a week, and watching the pounds melt away. I spent those first few months when I was losing rapidly living three hours away from Duke in Columbia, South Carolina and I I was fortunate enough to be welcomed at the support group for SC Obesity Surgery at Lexington Medical Center, where I met some great people. And of course, daily doses of support and advice on OH also helped me navigate the sometimes choppy waters of life as a RNY post-op.
By August, I was nearing "One-derland" and making plans to move back home to Phoenix, Arizona. I tried really hard to make it there by the time I arrived in Phoenix, but weighed in at 200.2 pounds when I stepped on my scale that I left accesable in my truck that morning in the parking lot of a motel along side Interstate 40 in Albuqurque! I made it there though when i weighed in a few days later.
In October I reached my goal of 175 pounds - and kept going. By mid November I reached my lowest weight of 160 pounds. I've been able to maintain within 6 pounds of 162 since then. Yesterday I weighed 165.
So I've made it to goal, but this journey certainly isn't over. To be perfectly honest, to me it feels like this is the hard part. When I was actively losing I was so much more motivated to adhere to the rules and "work the program" because I always had that positive reinforcement of seeing the scale readings drop to motivate me along the way. Now, all I have is the fear of going back to keep me in line. It's a serious motivator, but it's hard not to get down and sometimes it's hard not to slip. I'm still struggling with the idea that this is the way that I'm going to eat for the rest of my life. The hardest part is trying to make it a lifestyle and not feeling like I'm always on a diet - or living in a "food prison."
That's why I still remain active in support groups and OH. I need them. It is still a struggle for me and the support I get makes a big difference. Thank you everybody!
So after one year here is a statistical recap:
297 lbs - all-time high
282 lbs - day of surgery
165 lbs - today
Total lost 132 pounds
4X - shirt size before
S and M - shirt size now
60" - approxiamate waist before
31" - waist size today
Now for the cool part:
A while back a post-op member of the Men's Forum, I believe it was "Boner" posted about how he had rode his bike through a mountain range in Colorado and it got me thinking about what my dream goal would be to do once I got down to a healthy weight.
So ever since then (I believe it was eight months ago in July) I have been wanting to hike to the top of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. Camelback Mountain is not a tremendous mountain that you need ropes or anything like that to climb. But it is a 1275' gain in elevaton from the base to the summit which is 25' taller then the Empire State Building to give you some perspective.
It is a favoite destiation for residents and visitors of Phoenix, Scottsdale and all the surounding suburbs to get out and enjoy the desert without ever leaving the city (It lies right in between Phoenix and Scottsdale and dominates the horizon in the area). Some people who are extremely fit actually run up the mountain and brag about their time. I actually hiked it once before when I was in high school and about fifty pounds heavier then I am now. Back then it was an ordeal to say the least. I had to stop about every five minutes and rest and use my asthma inhaler.
I've been doing quite a bit of hiking the past few weeks as I have found that it is a type of exercise I actually enjoy because it allows me to combine several things I enjoy: nature, flowers, photography, exercise and adventure. I had been saving this one though. The other hikes were just a prelude. A warm-up to the main event. And the date I chose for this occasion? What day would be more fitting then the one year anniversary of the surgery that started me on this path!
So the night before my "surgiversary" I crawled into bed and set my alarm clark for 5:30 AM. My goal was to hit the trail right at sunrise. When you live in Arizona, you learn quick that if you're going to do outdoor activities during the warm part of the year (and it is already pretty warm - upper 80's) you do it during the early morning when it is twenty to thirty degrees cooler. I arrived at the parking area right around 6:20 as the sun rose.
I decided to take the Cholla Trail which traverses the SW side of the mountain above the Phoenician Resort. Parking for this trail is actually about half a mile away, so by the time I hit the trail it was 6:39. I didn't really care how long ti would take me to get up. While the destination represented a major goal, I was still really determined to enjoy the journey. The trail started out with a steady climb above the gofl course. It was beautiful. The contrast of the brilliant yellow flowers on the blooming brittlebush against the deep green of the golf course at Phoenix's finest resort was stunning.
After about twenty minutes I started to get my first western views of the valley floor and was in awa of the sheer vastness of this valley - for those of you who haven't been here - it is very spread out like L.A. about 80 miles by 50 miles of almost continuous urban sprawl.
35 minutes in and I took my first break, to enjoy the view, and get a breather. It was a short one though - after all i had business to take care of. A little further up the trail and the hard part appeared. A 1/4 mile run up about a 45 degree slope of boulders. Near the top of that section were little people that looked like ants. My heart pounded and I dug down and set off scrambling up the boulders. I had to pull myself up in spots, pick and choose my route, but amazingly I made it up that section without stopping, although my thighs were burning and I had to remind myself not to be a hypocrite and whine.
At the end of this section I got my first glimpse of the summit. Ah-hah - I was almost there! My legs were tired, but thanks to the enthusiasm that I felt from glimpsing the finish line adrenaline began to coarse through my veins. I began walking faster, scurrying over boulders the size of small cars. I wasn't even looking at the view anymore. My eyes were just going back and forth between the top and the ground beneath me as I had to choose my steps carefully on that rough and slippery terrain.
All of a sudden I remembered that according to hiking guides the average time up and down this trail is two hours and it occured to me that I might actually make it up to the top in half that time - now since it takes longer to get up then down - making it up in an hour would mean that you actually ascended more quickly then average. I looked at the time on my phone: fifty-eight minutes - No Way! I couldn't, not me....I was almost there, a few more steps...the theme song from the Olympic Games starts playing over and over in the soundtrack of my mind....
I made it! One-thousand-two-hundred-and-seventy-five feet over a trail one-and-a-half miles long. I found the tallest rock at the summit and climbed up. I just stood there. I took it all in and then started thinking about the moments in Anasthesia holding at the Durham Regional Hospital. It had only been 365 days ago but it seemed like such a distant memory. I thought about how grateful I was for the opportunity to be given the tool that I needed to finally turn around and walk away from my life as a morbidly obese man headied down a dark road of complications and suffering. It felt like a metaphor I had turned around, started walking, and didn't stop until I reached as high as I could go. Where will I go next? I don't know for sure, but I can tell you that without the extra 130 pounds weighing me down, the sky is the limit!
Last Edit: 3/31/08 1:51 am
I'm going to cross-post this one...
I just wanted to share this with as many people here as possible, because I know that a year ago when I was just beginning my journey I would read similar stories and it provided me with hope. Hope that one day all the problems I was dealing with as a result of morbid obesity would one day just be a bad memory. Hope that one day I would be able to perhaps for the first time, live and enjoy life the way God intended. Hope that I could reach farther, reach higher.
My story sounds like a lot of others - after a life-long battle with obesity mounting health problems began to feel like they were to much to bear. The pain of three herniated discs along with the diagnosis of Type-II Diabetes, sleep apnea, and high cholestorol forced my hand. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I was fortunate at the time to be living in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area. I was fortunate because it allowed me easy access to Duke Weight Loss Surgery Center - an ASMBS Center of Excellence, and in my opinion among the cream of the crop when it comes to WLS programs.
On March 29.2007, after shedding fifteen pounds from my all-time high weight of 297 lbs, I checked into Durham Regional Hospital with an expectable ammount of anxiety but a healthy dose of optimism. In the capable hands of Dr Portenier and his team, my laproscopic RNY gastric bypass was performed without complication and I was on my way home just a few days later.
The first few days it was a little bit tough to get the minimum amounts of fluids and protein down, but I hung in there and it got better quick. Before I knew it three weeks had gone by and I had lost over twenty pounds.
The next few months were spent figuring out what I could and couldn't eat, exercising up to four or five times a week, and watching the pounds melt away. I spent those first few months when I was losing rapidly living three hours away from Duke in Columbia, South Carolina and I I was fortunate enough to be welcomed at the support group for SC Obesity Surgery at Lexington Medical Center, where I met some great people. And of course, daily doses of support and advice on OH also helped me navigate the sometimes choppy waters of life as a RNY post-op.
By August, I was nearing "One-derland" and making plans to move back home to Phoenix, Arizona. I tried really hard to make it there by the time I arrived in Phoenix, but weighed in at 200.2 pounds when I stepped on my scale that I left accesable in my truck that morning in the parking lot of a motel along side Interstate 40 in Albuqurque! I made it there though when i weighed in a few days later.
In October I reached my goal of 175 pounds - and kept going. By mid November I reached my lowest weight of 160 pounds. I've been able to maintain within 6 pounds of 162 since then. Yesterday I weighed 165.
So I've made it to goal, but this journey certainly isn't over. To be perfectly honest, to me it feels like this is the hard part. When I was actively losing I was so much more motivated to adhere to the rules and "work the program" because I always had that positive reinforcement of seeing the scale readings drop to motivate me along the way. Now, all I have is the fear of going back to keep me in line. It's a serious motivator, but it's hard not to get down and sometimes it's hard not to slip. I'm still struggling with the idea that this is the way that I'm going to eat for the rest of my life. The hardest part is trying to make it a lifestyle and not feeling like I'm always on a diet - or living in a "food prison."
That's why I still remain active in support groups and OH. I need them. It is still a struggle for me and the support I get makes a big difference. Thank you everybody!
So after one year here is a statistical recap:
297 lbs - all-time high
282 lbs - day of surgery
165 lbs - today
Total lost 132 pounds
4X - shirt size before
S and M - shirt size now
60" - approxiamate waist before
31" - waist size today
Now for the cool part:
A while back a post-op member of the Men's Forum, I believe it was "Boner" posted about how he had rode his bike through a mountain range in Colorado and it got me thinking about what my dream goal would be to do once I got down to a healthy weight.
So ever since then (I believe it was eight months ago in July) I have been wanting to hike to the top of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. Camelback Mountain is not a tremendous mountain that you need ropes or anything like that to climb. But it is a 1275' gain in elevaton from the base to the summit which is 25' taller then the Empire State Building to give you some perspective.
It is a favoite destiation for residents and visitors of Phoenix, Scottsdale and all the surounding suburbs to get out and enjoy the desert without ever leaving the city (It lies right in between Phoenix and Scottsdale and dominates the horizon in the area). Some people who are extremely fit actually run up the mountain and brag about their time. I actually hiked it once before when I was in high school and about fifty pounds heavier then I am now. Back then it was an ordeal to say the least. I had to stop about every five minutes and rest and use my asthma inhaler.
I've been doing quite a bit of hiking the past few weeks as I have found that it is a type of exercise I actually enjoy because it allows me to combine several things I enjoy: nature, flowers, photography, exercise and adventure. I had been saving this one though. The other hikes were just a prelude. A warm-up to the main event. And the date I chose for this occasion? What day would be more fitting then the one year anniversary of the surgery that started me on this path!
So the night before my "surgiversary" I crawled into bed and set my alarm clark for 5:30 AM. My goal was to hit the trail right at sunrise. When you live in Arizona, you learn quick that if you're going to do outdoor activities during the warm part of the year (and it is already pretty warm - upper 80's) you do it during the early morning when it is twenty to thirty degrees cooler. I arrived at the parking area right around 6:20 as the sun rose.
I decided to take the Cholla Trail which traverses the SW side of the mountain above the Phoenician Resort. Parking for this trail is actually about half a mile away, so by the time I hit the trail it was 6:39. I didn't really care how long ti would take me to get up. While the destination represented a major goal, I was still really determined to enjoy the journey. The trail started out with a steady climb above the gofl course. It was beautiful. The contrast of the brilliant yellow flowers on the blooming brittlebush against the deep green of the golf course at Phoenix's finest resort was stunning.
After about twenty minutes I started to get my first western views of the valley floor and was in awa of the sheer vastness of this valley - for those of you who haven't been here - it is very spread out like L.A. about 80 miles by 50 miles of almost continuous urban sprawl.
35 minutes in and I took my first break, to enjoy the view, and get a breather. It was a short one though - after all i had business to take care of. A little further up the trail and the hard part appeared. A 1/4 mile run up about a 45 degree slope of boulders. Near the top of that section were little people that looked like ants. My heart pounded and I dug down and set off scrambling up the boulders. I had to pull myself up in spots, pick and choose my route, but amazingly I made it up that section without stopping, although my thighs were burning and I had to remind myself not to be a hypocrite and whine.
At the end of this section I got my first glimpse of the summit. Ah-hah - I was almost there! My legs were tired, but thanks to the enthusiasm that I felt from glimpsing the finish line adrenaline began to coarse through my veins. I began walking faster, scurrying over boulders the size of small cars. I wasn't even looking at the view anymore. My eyes were just going back and forth between the top and the ground beneath me as I had to choose my steps carefully on that rough and slippery terrain.
All of a sudden I remembered that according to hiking guides the average time up and down this trail is two hours and it occured to me that I might actually make it up to the top in half that time - now since it takes longer to get up then down - making it up in an hour would mean that you actually ascended more quickly then average. I looked at the time on my phone: fifty-eight minutes - No Way! I couldn't, not me....I was almost there, a few more steps...the theme song from the Olympic Games starts playing over and over in the soundtrack of my mind....
I made it! One-thousand-two-hundred-and-seventy-five feet over a trail one-and-a-half miles long. I found the tallest rock at the summit and climbed up. I just stood there. I took it all in and then started thinking about the moments in Anasthesia holding at the Durham Regional Hospital. It had only been 365 days ago but it seemed like such a distant memory. I thought about how grateful I was for the opportunity to be given the tool that I needed to finally turn around and walk away from my life as a morbidly obese man headied down a dark road of complications and suffering. It felt like a metaphor I had turned around, started walking, and didn't stop until I reached as high as I could go. Where will I go next? I don't know for sure, but I can tell you that without the extra 130 pounds weighing me down, the sky is the limit!
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I think that is such an awesome way to celebrate your surgiversary and the beginning of a new life. Way to go!
p.s. Your pics are gorgeous! 
what an inspiration you are mike! i remember when i first moved to the valley 8 years ago and climbed squaw mountain, now piestua peak sp? i almost died it was so hard! i said i would never ever do such a thing again in my life. now, after surgery and reading about your success i think i too can make it on my 1 year surgerviersry dateof March 28,, 2009. that will be my goal. thanks mike
Hey Michael,
Congratulations on reaching your goal and achieving something that just over a year ago you thought was out of the question. I know how it feels. About 15 years ago I dropped 60 pounds in 6 weeks and road the El Tour De Tucson. I completed the 111 miles in 6 hours and 35 minutes on a mountain bike when I weighed about 240 pounds, I now weigh 375 pounds with two bad knees and a bad back from two herniated discs. I look to the day that I can ride the El Tour again. Again congratulations… Keith
Mike! Congratulations to you friend! Your story should be published in O.H.!!!! You totally inspire me to find my own mountain!
Have a blast in Europe and be sure and share some pics with us!
C U when you get back!
P.S. I got your e-mail. I didn't make it through my long list today but promise to take care of your request ASAP!!!! :)
Joyce Rny 2/11/03-> ERny 12/26/07-> Duodenal Switch 5/12/2010
www.dsfacts.com , www.dssurgery.com , & www.duodenalswitch.com
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