Quick update

Hey, Fellas - Once again, I've been a little lax in posting in here.   But, I'll most likely be in here a bit more over the next few weeks, as I find myself getting ready for another surgery on Friday. So - here's the quick update: I'm down to where my weight is at about 285.  Some days I'm as low as 280, others as high as 287.  I've been at this weight for about four or five months.  I know some of you are thinking, "Damn, that boy still has a ways to go!"  But - here's the deal.  I started out - as many of you know - at 652 lbs.  That was my highest recorded weight, and I personally have absolutely no doubt that I was higher than that a few months before that.  I have a vague recollection of being weighed when I first started this journey at 677, but I can't remember for sure. At any rate - 652 or 677 - that's still a lost of around 370 lbs.  That - to me - is an AMAZING success.  My life - and in turn that of my family - has turned around.  I'm getting ready to get back into the workforce after being unable to work for the last five or six years.  My wife and I are getting out and enjoying things.  I still have FARTS - where I suddenly realize I can do something.  Starting out from being able to walk around for more than 10 feet.  Moving on to being able to clean myself comfortably, on up to being able to put on my own shoes and socks and walking for a mile and realizing I can could keep going.   To sum it all up, right now, at (almost) 40 years old, I'm healthier and lighter than I was when I graduated from high school some 22 years ago. The one .. I'm not even sure I'd call it a serious complication, but the one residual thing I have from a medical standpoint is a hernia.  It's a big one, upper right abdomen right below my ribcage. (I can feel my ribcage now!)  It's not causing me any physical pain or anything - just looks like I have a half of a giant grapefruit sticking out right below the surface of my skin there. So - on May 2, I"m going in to have the hernia repaired, and some of the excess abdominal skin removed.  I'm nervous, but excited.   My wife and I have plans of buying bicycles, riding along the shorecliffs here in Huntington Beach, riding up in Silverado Canyon, and going for hikes and camping and all that stuff that we've always wanted to do but been unable to.  We're even going to fly up to Alaska so I can see my daughter for the first time since 2001. She - by the way - is doing awesome.  She had the RNY done in January.  She's a half pound shy of losing 60 lbs.  I'm no saint, I know I still have some areas to work on, and I am.  But - this whole experience has been a success, even if I never lose another pound.   I'm going to be around again a bit more - especially as I recover from surgery and have more time to sit in front of the computer.  So be warned. 

Dave,

Good to see you again. Sounds like you've got a healthy attitude toward you loss. After all you started out heavier than the heaviest of Sumo wrestlers, Konishiki *****cently got an RNY:

http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/16772311.html

Sounds like you're having fun and keeping a healthy lifestyle, too.

Best Wishes,

Dave

Hey Dave, Your post reminds me of when I was in Japan and got asked if I was a wrestler in the U.S. (implying a Sumo wrestler of course). I guess at a tad under 6'5" and nearly 500 pounds, I cast quite a large shadow in the land of the setting sun.

You would stand out, Terry. Even post op my weight (about 175)is still on the "heavy" end here in Nippon.

Yo Dave! Good to see you are doing so well. Have the Greatest on Friday! Having the “grapefruit” tamed and back inside And pulling away a bit of that extra skin Will do worlds of good. Be crazy, anal retentive about germs And get past the early recovery soon. Hollar out if we can be of help! Best Wishes- Dx

Sorry, I missed the medical part. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Dave, Awesome story, you are a great success. Good luck with the surgery, and here's to a speedy and uneventful recovery.

----- 
Even the toughest criminals become remarkably docile 
 once separated from society by six feet of soil.