One Year Anniversary
Well, it's been about a year since I had my surgery (RNY - 9/25/06). It's been a while since I've checked in here so I thought I'd take some time since this forum was so helpful to me when I was getting ready.
The thing that made me really start thinking that I needed to do something that would help me conquer my weight problem is when I saw this picture that was taken of me at my daughter's baptism--
What's normally such a happy occassion where you take pictures that become keepsakes became a sad reminder of how much I had let myself go. My daughter was happy with me, I just knew I wasn't and I knew I had to change.
A few months after that I saw someone that I had known since I was a child. He had always been heavy, but suddenly he looked like he was loosing weight. I asked him about it and he told me that he had Gastric Bypass surgery. My wife and I were both interested and so we looked into it and decided that was what we needed. We were tired of trying to do it the traditional way and be unsure whether or not we'd be successful. We decided that our kids were old enough that they needed us to be an active part of their lives. My younger daughter even told people that I was having the surgery so I could go skating with her!
Here is my picture that I took before surgery. I weighed 438 lbs!
The year since then has been a very active and fun one. It's been fun to watch the scale go down and to feel like I could get out and be active more. I've gone to the gym and even have been running a little-- although I prefer running on the treadmill to running outdoors.
I played church softball for the first time in my life and had fun doing it. I've been skating with my daughter quite a bit. I've gone on hikes and have ridden my bike a lot.
Probably the most monumental accomplishment in the year since my surgery is that I climbed Mt. Adams. The second tallest peak in Washington State on 9/1/07. Here is a picture of me at the trailhead--
The summit of Mt Adams is a little over 12,000 feet. I only made it to what is called the "false summit" which is a little over 11,000 feet. I couldn't go any farther because my boots weren't properly broken in and I had really bad blisters. Here I am on my highest point--
This is definitely something that I had never even imagined that I would do before I had the surgery, and yet when I was climbing the mountain, i had this overwhelming sense that something had fundamentally changed in my attitude of life. I used to be wishy-washy about wanting to do things, but always finding excuses not to and then just forgetting about it and going on with my life. But now I have a different outlook that i'm not going to let opportunities pass me by. If there's something I feel like doing, or I say I will do, I now feel like I have the ability to get out and make it happen.
I can trace this attitude transformation to the fact that a year ago I went from lightly considering having gastric bypass surgery, to actually having it! What a transformation!
Now I plan on doing a similar major event every year on the anniversary of my surgery. It'll be a way for me to always have a goal... something to train for. Next year it will be to get all the way to the top of Mt Adams. Then who knows? Maybe Mt Ranier!
For now, I'm just happy to know that I'm going to be there for my two daughters. Not just "there" but involved and active with them and not be the one holding them back from doing things just because I don't have the energy to get them there.
For anyone considering whether or not to have the surgery, let me just tell you, you won't regret it. Sure it'll be hard and sure people might think you've cheated... but who cares? You'll have launched yourself into a new phase of a happier and healthier life!
Oh, and I almost forgot! I know weigh 252 lbs. I've lost about 186 lbs. I'm 6' 3" tall.
What's normally such a happy occassion where you take pictures that become keepsakes became a sad reminder of how much I had let myself go. My daughter was happy with me, I just knew I wasn't and I knew I had to change.
A few months after that I saw someone that I had known since I was a child. He had always been heavy, but suddenly he looked like he was loosing weight. I asked him about it and he told me that he had Gastric Bypass surgery. My wife and I were both interested and so we looked into it and decided that was what we needed. We were tired of trying to do it the traditional way and be unsure whether or not we'd be successful. We decided that our kids were old enough that they needed us to be an active part of their lives. My younger daughter even told people that I was having the surgery so I could go skating with her!
Here is my picture that I took before surgery. I weighed 438 lbs!
The year since then has been a very active and fun one. It's been fun to watch the scale go down and to feel like I could get out and be active more. I've gone to the gym and even have been running a little-- although I prefer running on the treadmill to running outdoors.
I played church softball for the first time in my life and had fun doing it. I've been skating with my daughter quite a bit. I've gone on hikes and have ridden my bike a lot.
Probably the most monumental accomplishment in the year since my surgery is that I climbed Mt. Adams. The second tallest peak in Washington State on 9/1/07. Here is a picture of me at the trailhead--
The summit of Mt Adams is a little over 12,000 feet. I only made it to what is called the "false summit" which is a little over 11,000 feet. I couldn't go any farther because my boots weren't properly broken in and I had really bad blisters. Here I am on my highest point--
This is definitely something that I had never even imagined that I would do before I had the surgery, and yet when I was climbing the mountain, i had this overwhelming sense that something had fundamentally changed in my attitude of life. I used to be wishy-washy about wanting to do things, but always finding excuses not to and then just forgetting about it and going on with my life. But now I have a different outlook that i'm not going to let opportunities pass me by. If there's something I feel like doing, or I say I will do, I now feel like I have the ability to get out and make it happen.
I can trace this attitude transformation to the fact that a year ago I went from lightly considering having gastric bypass surgery, to actually having it! What a transformation!
Now I plan on doing a similar major event every year on the anniversary of my surgery. It'll be a way for me to always have a goal... something to train for. Next year it will be to get all the way to the top of Mt Adams. Then who knows? Maybe Mt Ranier!
For now, I'm just happy to know that I'm going to be there for my two daughters. Not just "there" but involved and active with them and not be the one holding them back from doing things just because I don't have the energy to get them there.
For anyone considering whether or not to have the surgery, let me just tell you, you won't regret it. Sure it'll be hard and sure people might think you've cheated... but who cares? You'll have launched yourself into a new phase of a happier and healthier life!
Oh, and I almost forgot! I know weigh 252 lbs. I've lost about 186 lbs. I'm 6' 3" tall. 
OUTSTANDING!! What a great post. I know what you mean about the attitude thing. I have confidence that I never had before. In the circles that I have been known to be in, biker world, you have to be self assured and not show weakness. But now it is completely different.
Sounds like you are out there living life. Congradulations!
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