Figured out what size pants I wear...

Went to Wally World with the wife the other night. I haven't worn a pair of jeans in probably about 12 years. I always wear what I call "baggies" (which I make myself) or sweats because, well, they are comfy for fat people.
I am going to Portland with the boys FIRST robotics team next weekend (GO SCALAWAGS)and decided I would like to get a pair of jeans to wear.
Now I have no idea what size I wear at this point. Last time I got pants it was class A's at work. These are trousers, the type with the strip down the leg like troopers wear. Last time I got a pair I think they were a size 62!!
So we started searching and I found a size 50X30 and a 48X30. In those sizes, the longest inseam I could find was 30". I knew that wouldn't be long enough, but decided to try them on.
Well, the 50's were pretty loose, and as I assumed, too short. The 48's actually fit sort of loose, and were also too short. I wasn't sure it was going to work, but I asked my wife to start hunting for a 46X32. Seems that is the magic number you can get longer inseams for. She found me a pair of 46X32 carpenter jeans, so I headed in to try them on.
SUMBITCH!! They FIT!!
So I now have my first pair of jeans in 10 - 12 years, and didn't have to go to a big and tall shop to get them. I was so excited I bought a nice new polo shirt to go with them.

I weighed in this morning at 310 pounds. I am planning on busting my ass in the gym this week to see if I can get under 300 by the 1st of March.

Well, that's about all the new news that's fit to print for this week.
I added a new picture below that shows my progression over the last 3 or so months. Notice the last one is me in my new jeans and polo shirt.

3 Month Check Up

I had my 3 month check up with Dr. Read on Monday.
He was pleased with my weight loss so far and said I was doing good.
He said if anything I was losing a little too fast.
I told him to get used to it. I plan on joining a gym here in town so I can start increasing my workouts from two times a week to four.
I also plan to start an eight week training program this week to get prepared for the 5K I am planning on running in June.

I am feeling great and think I have the ulcer problem under control at this point.

I am down a total of 120 pounds, 90 pounds since surgery on November 9, 2007.

Here is a before and after photo. The after photo was taken on Superbowl Sunday 2008.

Time to catch up...

OK, ok, I know it has been a while since I updated.
I am going to try to get better about posting updates. I plan on starting to update this blog once a week on Sunday. In the mean time, here is what has been going on since I posted last.

I am currently down 110 lbs. from my original weigh in weight of 435. As I had mentioned in previous posts, I lost 30 lbs before surgery, so that is 80 lbs since November 9th, 2007. It feels really good. My knees are liking it. My back isn't always sore anymore. I move better, and have more energy.

Last time I posted I mentioned wearing a new size BDU to work. I didn't put the size. Before surgery I was wearing a 6X BDU pant. (They are cut a little small, but still, a 6X!!!) So when I went back I was comfortably wearing a 5x. Well, I am now comfortably wearing a 3x, and hope to be getting 2x to wear by the end of next month.

I have been hitting the gym at work twice a week. I usually do 2 or 3 miles on the treadmill, and then lift weights for 30 to 45 minutes. It has felt really good. I am planning on joining a gym here in town next week so I can start going in another 2 times a week here during my weekend. I also have to get some good running shoes. I have been trying to jog part of the time on the treadmill. I am still to damn fat to run too far, but I am trying to build up some stamina. With the shoes I have now, my right foot always hurts after I jog much. I tend to walk on the outside of my feet. I think a good pair of running shoes will help with this some. I am trying to work up so I can run the 5k they do here in town for the local Strawberry Festival. My daughter did cross country last year, and she is going to help train me and run it with me.

Now the only downside I have had through this whole adventure of mine. I had the flu around Christmas this year. I got over it ok after a few days, but still couldn't eat well. By the middle of January, every time I ate something I had bad stomach cramps and just felt like crap. Then I started having back pain, not like an injured back, but just a radiating pain through the middle of my back. It got so bad, I had to leave work one night. I had already been scheduled to get my stomach scoped later that week. I called the doctors office and they were able to get me in the next night to check it out. Well it turns out I developed a bad ulcer after surgery. The ulcer is actually not in the new stomach pouch, but just beyond where they attached the intestine to it. That is what was causing the cramps and pain radiating into my back. They gave me some medicine that I take half an hour before eating. It coats the stomach and ulcer, so now no more pain or cramps when I eat. I am also on an industrial strength antacid so the ulcer will heal. They told me it takes time, 6 to 8 weeks, for it to heal, but it should heal up just fine.

That about covers the main points of whats been going on lately. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. I will answer them on Sunday. I probably won't have much to add on Sunday this week, but I will answer any questions and try to put up some new pictures.

Little over two weeks post-op

Well, it is a little over two weeks, and I am feeling really good.
I am down about 32lbs since surgery, down 62lbs overall.

I got issued new work pants (BDU's) about 8 months ago. They have been sitting in the closet since then because they were way too tight. I wouldn't have been able to wear them at work. I tried them on a week before surgery and they fit, although still a bit snug, but they were wearable. Then last week when getting ready to return to work, I put them on again. They fit, and fit comfortably. In fact, they are a little loose now.

Thanksgiving was not too bad at all. I had a deviled egg and felt fully satisfied. Yeah, all the food looked and smelled so good, but I found it wasn't that hard to pass it all up after I had eaten the egg. Weird how one little deviled egg seemed to be enough. Other than that, got to hang out with the family and it was fun.

I am trying to get myself in the habit of walking each day. My goal is to walk 1 mile on the days I work, and 3 miles on the days I don't. I work 12 hour shifts, so I only work 3, sometimes 4 days a week, so i figured this would make about 15 miles a week.

I am eating soft foods this week, eggs, cottage cheese and have had no problems with anything so far. Everything else seems to be working just fine, and overall I am feeling really good.

Can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for me.

Post-op meeting

Went in Monday, Nov. 19th for post-op meeting with the doc. It was a pretty short one really. He wanted to know how I was feeling, looked at the stab wounds on my stomach and said he thought I was doing really good.
I asked him a few questions about nutrition and vitamins and then asked if i could go back to work. He said, sure, if you feel like it go for it.
I weighed in at 382lbs, which is a 23lb loss in two weeks. My blood pressure was also down to a good level. Last few times I had it checked before I had surgery it has been borderline high.

So I went back to work last night. This works out well because I only have to work last night and again tonight and then I am off for the next four days. It lets me kind of ease back into the routine a bit. Things went good last night and I felt just fine. I had one little problem when I first got to work because I forgot the papers the doc signed for me, but you can read all about that at my work blog here.

Well, that's about all the new news for now. Thanks for checking in on me.

My weight loss and exercise log

I looked around the internet and couldn't find a book I liked to keep a journal of my weight loss, and eventual exercise habits.

I decided to make my own and put the things in it I thought would be important.

I decided to make a little one page web site and make the journal available to other people.

The link is http://pruittclan.net/wlsjournal and can be found to the left in my links of interest.

If you know anyone interested, point them to the site.

One week out...

Well, it has been a week since doc went in and cut up my innards.
I feel great. I am doing the mantra...sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, walk, and healing up just fine.
All the puncture wounds in my belly are healing very nicely.
I have plenty of energy to get out and walk around.
Haven't taken any pain meds since Tuesday evening.
Don't even have much soreness in the stomach from getting up off the couch anymore.
Basically, I have been blessed, lucky or whatever you want to call it and have had no problems and am doing great.

I DID get the whole head hunger thing a couple times this week. I haven't been hungry by any means, but on Monday, the kids were home from school, my son cooked some spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. DAMN that smelled SOOOO good. Despite not being hungry, i wanted a bowl of that so bad. So, I grabbed a sugar free popsicle and just enjoyed the aroma. That happened again last night when my wife brought home chicken for dinner. That one was not as bad I think, just because I knew it wasn't too much longer and I could tear the skin off and join them for that one.

I was on full liquid this last week. I get to have "creamy" foods this week. Creamed soups, or cream of wheat, that sort of stuff. So today is looking even brighter with a bunch of new tastes and options opening up for me.

So, to make a long post even longer, I am basically doing very well, feel fantastic, spirits are up and want to thank everyone of you for all the support and help through this wonderful journey so far.

Surgery went well....

Well, the big day finally arrived.
I woke up WAY too early Friday morning (4:00 am) and jumped in the shower.
Made a last minute check to make sure I had everything. CPAP machine, bag with toothbrush, deoderant, all that good stuff, my Bariatric notebook, I was ready to go. We drove to Corvallis and checked in.
I was taken right into a room to await surgery. Changed into an interesting gown. It was your basic hospital type gown, but it was disposable and had these little pockets lining the inside. They had a hose that attached to it and it had a climate control. You could turn it up to warm you, or if you were hot you could cool it down. It was kind of cool. The anesthesiologist came in and asked a few questions and told me what he would be doing. Then Bobbie, who is the program manager for the Bariatric Program, came in and talked to me for a while. At 7:30 am they came in and wheeled me away.

They took me into the surgery room and had me scoot to the operating table. Then the anesthesiologist gave me a shot of the happy stuff and the lights went out.

I woke up in recovery. Pain. Lots of pain. Felt like someone had cut up my insides. Oh yeah, they did. The upper part of my belly was really sore. They eventually took me to my room. I was pretty out of it most of the day. I had a button I could hit every ten minutes to administer pain medicine. It would make me groggy as hell, I would sleep for 15 minutes or so, wake up, hit the button again....wash, rinse repeat. Most of the day went like that.

Then in the afternoon the physical therapist came in and had me moving my limbs and asked if I wanted to try going for a walk. Since my back was getting sore at this point, I figured I might as well give it a try. It was the best decision I could have made. Getting up seemed to help clear the head a little and helped relieve some of the pain. It also helped to get up and stretch the back a bit. I got up two more times that night to walk around.

By Saturday morning I was feeling much better. I wasn't hitting the pain medicine pump but once or twice an hour. The physical therapist came back in about 9:30 am and asked if I wanted to try walking again. I told her I did and that I had been up a couple more times the night before. She took me out walking and determined I could get up and walk on my own from now on, without having to have someone with me. By this time Dr. Read had come in and checked on me while I was standing next to the bed. He asked how I was doing and I told him I felt pretty good. I asked him to please have someone come in and take the damn catheter out. He said he would, and someone came in shortly after to remove it. Then I started pleading my case to go home that day. Bobbie came in and said that if I could go to the bathroom on my own, and if I could tolerate the liquid Vicadin for pain tolerance I could go home that afternoon.

I was able to meet the requirements, so by 3:00 pm they started the paperwork to release me. By about 3:30 pm I was on my way home.

It felt good to get home, and the last couple days have not been too bad. I haven't had any problem getting the amount of fluids down they want me to. I am supposed to get in at least about 50 ounces of liquids a day. Since I have to drink small sips, it means sipping on water all day, but I haven't had any problems with it. I also have had some sugar free popcicles and sugar free jello. That will pretty much be my diet for the rest of this week.

I have a post-op appointment for the 19th of November. Denise forgot to write the time down, so I have to call tomorrow and confirm the time for the appointment. Other than that, things are going pretty good.

Will update again after my post-op appointment unless something new comes up in the mean time.

B1 (Thiamin) level is good to go

Got a call from Susan yesterday. She told me to actually STOP taking the B Complex for a few days. Seems now my B1 level is high. I guess the double doses I had been taking did the job. So that was the last little hurdle to get over for surgery.

I go in next Monday, the 5th of November for pre-op.
I am so ready to get this done and get healed up so I can be a loser!!

It's Official !!

Got a call from Susan today. She heard back from the insurance company and everything went through and is approved. I am officially a go for November 9th.

The Cardiologist went just fine on Tuesday. I went in, doc asked me some questions, then had the nurse hook me up and do a short EKG. Then he came back in the room and listened to the ol' ticker. He said he thought I would be fine, told me I was cleared for surgery and wished me good luck.

On Monday I went to the hospital and visited with the vampire. She drew blood to do the work up and check my B1. Oh, and she was DAMN good. She didn't even bother with the, "Gonna feel a little poke here". She just did it, and I didn't feel a damn thing. Others lately have had a time getting blood from me, but she hit it right off and boom, boom, boom, filled three little vials and was done. Anyway, still don't have the results from that yet, but I think that even if my B1 is still a little low, they will just add a drip to my IV when I have surgery.

More appointments

So, I now have an appointment for a Cardio consultation with a Dr. Bream on Tuesday, October 22. Not sure if I will need another after this, but I am hoping this will be the only one I need and I can get clearance that will satisfy the insurance company.

Then on Thursday, October 25th I have an appointment to get a new CPAP machine. The doctor wrote me a prescription for a new type machine. I am hoping it is easier for me to use and keep on all night.

Then on Monday, November 5th, I have a pre-op visit with Dr. Read. So now I am just hoping all this other stuff falls in line so we are able to go for the November 9th surgery date.

To add to the madness of this next couple weeks, I need to get the FMLA paperwork back from Dr. Read and get it turned in at work. I need to make a run to the hospital and get the bloodwork done again to check my vitamin B1 level. Oh, and I am working on a web site for some friends, and would like to have it done and up and running before surgery so I don't have to mess with it afterwards.

Insurance demands...

I got a call from Susan yesterday. The insurance had already contacted her and they want me to have a cardio consultation before they will approve me for surgery.

It seems when I went to the sleep lab for the sleep test, I had a number of instances of an irregular heart rate. The doctor made a note of it in the report, so they want me to get the ol' ticker checked now. I will be trying to call them this morning to try to get an expedited appointment so we can keep the surgery date.

The good news is they contacted her just the day after she turned in the packet. So I think if all looks ok with the cardio, and the blood test shows my B1 is adequate, I should be good to go for the November 9th surgery date.

Good news and GREAT news...

Good news is, I tried on a pair of BDU's I got for work about 5 months ago. When I first got them they fit too tight to wear comfortably. Now, although they are still a little tight, I can wear them!

The GREAT news is Susan just called me. I have a tentative date to have surgery on November 9th. As long as they get the approval from the insurance (and we assume they will) I will be having the surgery in just a little over 3 weeks.

I'm so excited, I don't even know what to say at this point.

Last weigh in

I went over today and weighed in at the bariatric office.
I am officially done with all the things I have to do to have surgery. I had to lose 5% of my weight, and I hit that goal today. I lost 8 pounds since I weighed in last week!!
(In case you are curious, I am a slim 411 lbs. now)

Bobbie told me Susan is out of the office until Tuesday next week, and when she gets back she will call and probably set a tentative date for surgery. She will get the packet sent to the insurance for approval. She said my insurance is usually pretty good and we will most likely get an answer back from them within 2 weeks. Then a blood test to make sure my vitamin B1 level has come up sufficiently and I am good to go.

I will post again next week after I talk to Susan.

Getting Close...

The back surgery seems to have been a success. I have not had any sciatic pain down my back and leg since the surgery. It is SO nice to not have that pain all the time.

I also had to go to the sleep lab and have a sleep study done. Well, big surprise, it turns out I have sleep apnea. So I now have a CPAP machine I use when I sleep to help keep my airway open so I sleep better. I have had it for several weeks now, and I am still trying to get used to it. I have a tendency to pull it off part way through the night. It seems to dry my throat out or make my sinuses stuffed up. Oh well, hopefully I will be having the WLS soon and the sleep apnea will go away as I lose weight.

I met with Dr. Read on September 17th. It was a good meeting and just re-affirmed my first impression of him. He is a down to earth, honestly nice guy that cares. So many surgeons (at least the ones I have known) have a varying degree of "God Complex". They seem to be so detached and uninterested in you other than doing the job and moving on.

Dr. Read is NOT one of these. We talked about my reasons for wanting the surgery, and if I was prepared to do the things that I will have to do afterward to make it a success. I have given this a lot of thought and the answer is a resounding YES! I am so tired of always being tired.

The day I saw Dr. Read I also had blood drawn for some tests. I got a call from Susan last week telling me my B1 vitamin level was way to low. So now on top of taking a one-a-day vitamin and calcium tablets, I have to cram a vitamin B complex for the next 3 to 4 weeks to get the levels up before they will do surgery.

The Psychologist has finished and sent her report in. I am getting very close to getting a date. I have not been serious enough at losing the weight I need to. I have continued to lose, but very slowly. As of last week, I still need to lose another 6 pounds. That is basically all I need to do at this point, so this next week I will be seriously working on getting those last few pounds off.

Once I get those last 6 pounds off, my packet will get sent off to the insurance company for approval. I don't think this is going to be an issue. I think once I do that we will actually schedule a surgery date, pending getting my vitamin B1 up where it needs to be.

I am getting pretty excited now. This means within the next 6 weeks or so, I could be going in and having something done that will change my life. I will be posting more as things progress...