Herons Transforming -- Our Bariatric Weight Loss Journey

No Knead Bread

2010-10-11T17:03:00.002-04:00

Haven't tried this one yet, but sounds tasty to me. Warm from the oven, and toasted, with butter and sugar-free jam.... Have I got you yet?

No Knead Bread

1 tbsp. dry yeast
3 cups warm water
1 tbsp. sugar (yes....I said sugar...the yeast needs it as fuel)
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2-3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp. salt (optional)

Mix yeast in warm water and sugar until foamy. Add vinegar and oil. Stir in all-purpose flour then 2 1/2 cups of wheat flour. If the dough is very damp, add additional wheat flour. Leave in bowl, cover with damp kitchen towel, place in warm place and let rise until doubled (approx. 40-60 minutes). Divide in half, and place in 2 well-greased loaf pans. Cover with same damp towel and let raise until doubled (approx. 40 minutes). Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until it sounds hollow when thumped on.

t

Sugar Free Barbeque Sauce

2010-10-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

Tom LOVES to grill out. He loves everything about it. And has been known to do it in a leather coat, in below freezing temperatures, with snow on the ground!

He also loves this sauce. I have adapted a recipe that I found online to fit a sugar-free lifestyle.

Sugar Free Barbeque Sauce

1 qt. tomato puree or cheap catsup (if using the catsup, watch the amt. of sugar added)
1 pt. water
2/3 cups Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
8 oz finely chopped onion (I use 3 tbsp. chopped dried onion)
4 tbsp finely chopped garlic (I use 2 tbsp. garlic powder)
1/8 cup Splenda (but if using catsup, omit the sweetener)
1 tbsp. dried mustard powder
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
salt to taste, optional (I NEVER add salt!)

Combine all ingredients in large stockpot and simmer over medium heat for 60 minutes, or until thickened slightly.

This recipe stores well in the fridge and lasts a long time (2-3 months). It is excellent on chicken, pork tenderloin, and any kind of ribs. Have even poured it over meatballs and served warm as an appetizer.

t

Fantabulous Fruitcake

2010-09-26T17:31:00.000-04:00

Oh NO you don't! This is not the dreaded fruitcake your Grandma has on her Christmas table. AND it is not to be used as a doorstop or a "White Elephant" Christmas gift. If you like moist cake, you will LOVE this! Look for dried fruits that do not have added sugars. They are out there, if you look.

Fantabulous Fruitcake

1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
1/2 cup sun-dried cranberries
1/2 cup sun-dried blueberries
1/2 cup sun-dried cherries
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
1/8 cup candied ginger, chopped
2 cups unsweetened apple juice
1 cup Splenda
1/2 cup Diabetisweet brown sugar (reasonably available on Amazon.com)
10 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 3/4 cups flour ( I prefer 50/50 flour - that is half All-purpose and half Wheat)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
extra apple juice for spritzing

Combine dried fruits, candied ginger, and both zests. Add 1 cup of apple juice and microwave 5 minutes to rehydrate fruit.

Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugars, butter, other cup of apple juice, and spices. Bring to boil, stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool at least 15 minutes. (batter can be completed to this point and refrigerated up to 2 days. bring to room temperature before completing cake)

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a wooden spoon, then stir the eggs in, one at a time, until completely integrated then fold in nuts. Spoon into a greased 10-inch loaf pan (or 5 greased baby loaf pans) and bake 1 hour (40-ish minutes for the baby size). Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes and check again.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack. Baste or spritz top with additional apple juice, and allow to cool completely before turning out of the pan(s). When cake is cool, seal in air-tight container. Every 2-3 days feel the cake, and if dry, spritz with apple juice. Flavor will be enhanced considerably over next 2 weeks.

I often double this recipe and bake in a bundt pan. That will last for the entire holiday season, so I do not have to bake a 2nd cake later.

IF USING ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS, MUST REFRIGERATE. SPLENDA SPEEDS UP THE MOLD-FACTOR WHEN LEFT AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.

t

Sugar-Free Pecan Pie

2010-09-25T18:13:00.000-04:00

Sugar Free Pecan Pie

3 eggs

1/3 cup Splenda

1 cup Sugar-free Maple syrup

1 tsp. maple extract

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup pecan halves

pie dough for a single 9-inch crust

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Mix eggs and Splenda then add syrup, extract, and butter. Stir in pecans. Put the pie dough in the pie pan. Pour filling into unbaked crust. Bake 25 minutes with the crust edges covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake another 25 minutes or until you insert a knife in center and have it come out clean. Cool and serve.

t

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

2010-09-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup Splenda

1/4 cup Diabetisweet brown sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

Preheat oven for 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place butter, sugars, vanilla and salt in medium mixing bowl. Mix, using the paddle attachment of electric mixer until the mixture is light and creamy (approx. 2 minutes). Add cocoa and flour. Mix until just blended.

Remove dough from bowl and form into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. Slice into 1/4 inch slices and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes of baking. Cool on wire rack.

t

A Fall Treat

2010-09-21T18:38:00.000-04:00

All Day Apple Butter

5 pounds of apples - peeled, cored, and finely chopped

4 cups Splenda

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Put everything into Crockpot and mix well. Cover and cook 1 hour on High then 9-11 hours on Low. Stir occasionally until thickened and dark brown. Uncover and cook on Low for 1 more hour to reduce liquid.

t

Brownies!

2010-09-20T19:08:00.000-04:00

No, silly....not little Girl Scouts! This is a Brownie Pie that I found on Food Network/Paula Deen and have modified for a sugar-free diet. But it is not fat-free, so behave yourself!

6 oz. sugar-free chocolate, melted

1 stick butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup Diabetisweet brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray pie pan with cooking spray. combine eggs, melted chocolate, melted butter, brown sugar in a bowl. Add vanilla, flour and nuts (if using). Pour in prepared pie pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. Serve warm. Top with ice cream, if desired. Freezes well.

The original recipe uses chocolate chips and white sugar and is poured into a pie crust. Just seems silly to crust a brownie, so I omit that.

t

The very bestest pancakes

2010-09-18T19:18:00.003-04:00

If you have ever had pancakes at IHOP, you might have tried the Harvest Grain Pancakes. I discovered this recipe and modified it for a sugar-free diet. Top with fruit sauce or sugar-free maple syrup and serve with turkey sausage. Delish!

Harvest Grain Pancakes

1 1/2 cup oatmeal, ground fine

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1//4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup Splenda

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup skim milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/4 cup nuts, chopped

Combine all dry ingredients (first 5 listed). Combine all wet ingredients (items 6-9 listed). Add nuts. Oil saute pan or griddle and heat to medium heat. Spoon onto hot griddle and cook 2-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

If you do not need this much batter, do not cut the recipe in half. Make the full recipe and cook all of it. This recipe freezes well and just pop into toaster to reheat.

t

The Season is Coming.....

2010-09-18T17:12:00.003-04:00

The holidays are just a few months away and I am starting to get the urge to cook and bake. We haven't been posting here very much lately so I have decided to put some of our favorite holiday recipes here to share.

Sugar-Free Mincemeat

3 cups of apples, with some skin

1/2 of 1 lemon with peel, ground

1 orange with peel, ground

1 cup raisins, ground

1 cup raisins, whole

1 cup currants

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. allspice

2 tbsp. flour

1/3 cup Splenda

1 tsp. rum extract or 2 tsp. vanilla

Quarter and core apples, do not peel. Grind in food processor to medium chunk. Pour into large stockpot. Remove seeds from lemon and orange and grind then add to bowl. Grind 1 cup of raisins. Add all of the other ingredients, except extract, stirring well to mix everything. Cook over medium heat until well blended and slightly thickened. Remove from stove and add extract. Store in air-tight container for 1 week before use.

This can be poured into an uncooked pie shell and baked, following your filled pie recipe directions. It can be used as a mincemeat filling in cookies or tarts. It can be eaten with a spoon.

Traditional mincemeat has beef and suet in it. The jarred stuff you buy in the grocery is loaded with fat and sugar. People who like mincemeat can not tell the difference.

Our favorite way to eat this is in Empanadas. I cut circles out of my pie crust. Put about 1 teaspoon of Mincemeat in center. Fold over and use a fork to crimp the edge. I bake them in the oven, following the pie crust recipe, until golden brown. A few bites and a tasty treat.

T

Alcohol Use Following Bariatric Surgery -- What Your Doctor May Not Tell You

2010-09-11T19:57:00.003-04:00

When we first contemplated Tom's rouen y gastric bypass surgery, one of His serious concerns and questions was related to drinking. He'd been a heavy drinker for nearly all of His adult life, and alcohol use was one of His very much treasured pleasures. Each time we brought up the subject, we were told that He'd have to stop drinking altogether for at least the first six or seven months. What might happen with regard to His drinking after that was much less clear. Looking back at it from this perspective, it feels to me that those professionals that dealt with us hedged their answers; carefully avoiding giving it to us straight. On the one hand, the fact that we did not know then what we know now probably increased the potential for Him to go ahead with the surgery. However, our lack of clear information left us battling against an addictive process that we had no warning about at all.

Tom has been amazingly successful following His weight loss surgery. He lost half His body weight, and saw the elimination of a host of serious health issues including diabetes, hypertension, hyper-lipidemia, and sleep apnea. He was entirely compliant with the dietary guidelines imposed by the surgery, and followed the medical advice regarding abstinence from alcohol for seven months. Last October, when he first began drinking again, He was at first tentative about it, but it very quickly began to ratchet up to unhealthy levels. Too, we began to see reactions to alcohol that semed very dramatic and extreme -- far out of proportion to the amounts that He was consuming. As a result, our family has recently begun to tackle issues related to alcohol addiction that have become hugely problematic in the wake of Tom's bariatric surgery. It has been a difficult and painful time for us. All of the gory details of our process are described on our other blog, but we want to publish the more straightforward account of our struggle with this issue here so that those who may be encountering the same issues can learn from what we've experienced.

Your doctor may not tell you the truth about the ways that bariatric surgery can change your relationship to alcohol. There is great uncertainty in the bariatric surgery medical community about what all the data and anecdotal evidence really means. So perhaps that explains the reluctance to speak clearly to patients and potential patients about the likely risks and realities concerning alcohol use, especially after rouen y gastric bypass surgery. It is our hope that, by telling our story, we'll spare someone else from having to stumble along the same path we've followed.

Our family reached a crisis point with Tom's use of alcohol in mid-June. He became unemployed and so entered involuntarily into a de facto retirement for which He was not emotionally prepared. Struggling with the blow to His ego and self-concept, He began to drink daily at very heavy levels. On August 30, He wrote the following on our other blog:

I have been teetering back and forth about the wisdom of exposing much about this aspect of my/our life.

I have a behavior goal I am finding challenging, and that I need to control more effectively -- my alcohol consumption. I am hesitant to reveal this for fear of a cascade or vitriolic comments.

Ten years ago, … I was obese, heavily tobacco addicted, and used alcohol to excess on a regular basis. I have over the last decade managed to entirely end my tobacco consumption (tobacco free since January 2000), and my obesity ended once and for all with my loss of 160 pounds in 2009 after my gastric bypass surgery. The benefits for my health have been amazing for me.

I am determined now to get my drinking under control. Especially after my job loss, I began to drink to excess regularly and daily. I have found my sudden career ending very difficult. I have experienced a range of emotions from fear for our future, to remorse, to ANGER, to depression, to feeling a sense of loss of control (loss of control I always a huge problem for me), and I have self-medicated with my good friend Jack Daniel. However, this is not new behavior for me.

My drinking history since my gastric bypass has been "interesting." After my surgery I abstained entirely from any alcohol for seven months, which was a recommended time period by my medical team. Then I returned to drinking. A challenging aspect of all this is that after Rouen Y Gastric Bypass procedures alcohol you consume gets "dumped" into your blood stream in a "raw" form without the digestive processing a normal gastrointestinal system accomplishes when someone drinks alcohol. This intensifies the intoxicating effects of alcohol, and is particularly acute if one drinks rapidly.

This is my last great health issue and I am determined to control it. Furthermore I am determined not to completely eliminate the behavior altogether as I did with smoking, but to moderate my consumption.

With that as the stated goal, we began to work together to figure out how to do it. He and I talked and negotiated and discussed. We formulated a plan that was intended to help Him reduce His alcohol consumption while retaining for Him the option of using alcohol at some "moderate" level.

We went through a very tumultuous period of a couple of weeks, establishing limits and making plans -- which He pushed against, thwarted, manipulated. Addiction is a terrible beast.

Tom is, however, a Man of great personal strength and character. When He becomes convinced, at a rational/scientific level, of the need to make a change or behave in a particular fashion, there is no stopping Him. At my insistence, He began to investigate the health effects of extreme alcohol use, and in doing that, He came upon interesting and informative material about the effects of alcohol use after bariatric surgery. Armed with knowledge, He has begun the process of changing His life -- and ours.

Here is what He discovered (information that every bariatric surgery patient who also uses alcohol ought to have):

It turns out there is an overwhelming body of research on Rouen Y gastric bypass patients indicating that the effects of alcohol on them are greatly enhanced, and not only that but it takes way longer for them to return to sobriety after drinking than for people who are gastrointestinally normal. My god -- there is a reason for me to be struggling as I am/have! There really is an issue here. I am not just a crazy weakling! There are significant anecdotal reports of patients who, years after their surgeries, drank very small amounts alcohol, such as having two glasses of champagne in toasts of a child's wedding, and then being arrested for DUI, when a normal person would not have been seriously impaired.

Then, on September 10, He wrote:

I've been up most of the last three nights. I am reading that insomnia is the most common alcohol withdrawal symptom. I am not an exception to that rule (darn it). I've had about 6 hours of sleep in the last three nights. I hope I become so exhausted tonight that I finally sleep. Last night (well early this morning) I decided to see if I might use my involuntary wakefulness productively, so I went into further researching the relationship between RY gastric bypass weight loss surgery and alcohol abuse/addiction. The information is far more damning than I had understood even with what I read a few days ago. It turns out the same "mechanical" changes they made to my gastrointestinal system, simultaneously set me up to become alcohol dependent. We really never saw the kinds of behaviors I was having when drinking until I resumed drinking after my surgery. What I am finding in research explains this dynamic. It also leads me to a decision that makes me terribly sad but determined. I must end my drinking. Just as when I encountered my diabetes I decided sugar was poison for me and I would never eat it again, now I have to realize that alcohol is poison for me now and I must end all consumption of it. I am way unhappy and grieving, but better to grieve the loss of my alcohol than my liver or my/our future.

The most direct definitive article I read last night was:

"The New Science of Addiction

Alcoholism in People Who Had Weight-Loss Surgery Offers Clues to Roots of Dependency

By JANE SPENCER Wall Street Journal July 18, 2006; Page D1

On the heels of a five-year boom in weight-loss surgeries, researchers are observing an unusual phenomenon: Some patients stop overeating --but wind up acquiring new compulsive disorders such as alcoholism, gambling addiction or compulsive shopping.

Awareness of the issue is just beginning to surface. Some bariatric-surgery centers say they are starting to counsel patients about the issue. Substance-abuse centers, including the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., say they are seeing more bariatric-surgery patients checking in for help with new addictions. And alcohol use has become a topic of discussion on bariatric-surgery-support sites, such as Weight Loss Surgery Center, wls center.com.

Some psychologists describe it as a type of "addiction transfer," an outcome of substance-abuse treatment whereby patients swap one compulsive behavior for another. At the Betty Ford Center, about 25% of alcoholics who relapse switch to a new drug, such as opiates.

The behavior has long been explained as a psychological phenomenon as patients seek new strategies for filling an inner void. But as substance-abuse experts learn to decode the brain's addiction pathways, some researchers are coming to believe that swapping behaviors may have a neurological basis. A new wave of research suggests that the biochemical causes of compulsive eating are extremely similar to those underlying other self-destructive addictions, such as alcohol or cocaine addiction. Alcohol use in particular is a concern for bariatric patients because some versions of the surgery can change the way patients metabolize alcohol, making it far more powerful.

Exploring the overlaps between compulsive eating and other addictions is a growing focus at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which spent$1.4 million on obesity research last year. Researchers at NIDA hope to piggyback on the drug industry's extensive research on obesity in an effort to find new compounds that might treat multiple types of impulse-control disorders at once.

"The potential is extraordinary," says Nora Volkow, NIDA director. "A drug that could condition craving behavior -- whether it's for chocolate or cocaine -- would be a gigantic market."

Dozens of clinical trials on addiction treatments are under way at the National Institutes of Health. Topiramate, an epilepsy drug marketed by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics under the name Topamax, is currently being studied for binge eating, alcohol dependence, cocaine addiction and compulsive gambling.

Bupropian, marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as the antidepressant Wellbutrin and the smoking-cessation drug Zyban, is currently being studied as a treatment for gambling, obesity, nicotine dependence and alcoholism. And Rimonabant, made by Sanofi-Aventis is being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for obesity and associated health problems, but it is also being studied as a treatment for alcoholism.

Estimates on the prevalence of new addictions after weight-loss surgery vary widely. Philip Schauer, director of bariatric surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and current president of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, estimates that only about 5% of bariatric-surgery patients develop a new compulsive behavior after surgery, such as alcoholism, compulsive shopping or smoking. He adds there is no evidence that the new addictions have any direct link to the surgery.

At U.S. Bariatric, a weight-loss surgery center with offices in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., therapists estimate that roughly 20% of patients acquire new addictive behaviors. Melodie Moorehead, a psychologist who spoke at a session during the American Society for Bariatric Surgery Association annual meeting last month, cited preliminary data suggesting that roughly 30% of bariatric-surgery patients struggle with new addictions after surgery. But she says the issue requires further study.

One possible reason for the disparity in estimates is that alcohol problems can surface several years after the surgery, when surgeons are no longer tracking patients as closely. And some patients may not see a link between their drinking and the surgery, or report their problem to a surgeon. Roughly 140,000 bariatric surgeries are performed in this country each year.

Some bariatric doctors dismiss the issue as pure coincidence. "People don't become alcoholics as a side effect of the surgery," says Neil Hutcher, past president of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. "They become alcoholics for the same reasons anyone becomes an alcoholic. The surgery is not a cure-all for everything transpiring inthe patient's life."

For a variety of reasons -- including the fact that alcohol is high in calories -- bariatric-surgery patients are often advised not to drink alcohol for the first six months to a year after surgery. In addition, most bariatric centers screen patients for heavy alcohol use, and exclude patients who exhibit signs of alcohol dependence.

"The surgery creates profound changes in people, both physical and mental," says Dr. Schauer. "Even though they're good changes, they could ignite problems in people with active substance-abuse problems."

Gastric bypass surgery, which accounts for 75% of all bariatric surgeries in the U.S., involves sectioning off a small portion of the stomach into a pouch that bypasses the first part of the small intestine. As a result, alcohol passes rapidly into the intestine where it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. "You shorten the time to the brain so much that if you liked alcohol before, you'll love it now," says Mark Gold, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Florida College of Medicine. (Lap-band procedures, which account for 20% of U.S. weight-loss surgeries, don't have the same impact. The procedure involves restricting part of the stomach with a silicon band, but doesn't change the absorption process.)

The issue is a sensitive one for the bariatric-surgery community following a series of major studies raising questions about the long-term health benefits of the procedure. A large study of 60,000 gastric-bypass patients published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last October, found that 40.4% of patients who had the surgery were readmitted to a hospital at least once during the three years after surgery, double the 20.2% rate of hospitalizations in the three years prior to surgery. (See related article on this page about bariatric-surgery procedures.) Some in the field hope the concerns about substance abuse will add to the growing interest in psychological counseling of patients.

Some research suggests that obesity might offer some protection against other types of addictions, including alcohol. A study of 9,125 adults published earlier this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that obese people had a 25% decrease in likeliness for substance abuse. And in 2004, researchers at the University of Florida, Gainesville, published an study of 298 women showing that obese women have lower rates of alcohol use than the general population. The researchers theorize that food and alcohol trigger the same reward sites in the brain. Some people may feed their addictive cravings with food; others with alcohol.

Neuroimaging studies suggest that obese people and substance abusers have abnormal levels of dopamine in the brain, contributing to cravings. "They always feel something is lacking, and in order for them to feel OK, they need to use something that boosts the dopamine in brain," says Gene-Jack Wang, chairman of the Medical Department Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Bankole Johnson, chairman of the department of psychiatric medicine at the University of Virginia, says gastric-bypass surgery provides a mechanical solution that leaves the underlying neurobiological problem untreated. "It's like a thirst," says Dr. Johnson. If you're thirsty -- and there's no water -- you'll drink lemonade."

We are into a new phase of our post bariatric surgery lives. Getting here has been very difficult. Being here however, seems "good." To some degree, we wish we'd known all of this much earlier. On the other hand, there were so many changes and adjustments to make in the wake of the surgery. Perhaps, if we'd tried to tackle this too, we'd have just found ourselves overwhelmed with the enormity of the changes.

For now, it is enough if we can share something valuable about all of this with others in the same boat.

swan

Getting Back Down

2010-06-16T13:19:00.000-04:00

Right after the bariatric surgeries, I lost weight right along with the rest of the family -- not as quickly, and not as extreme, but still...

And then, what with everything else, I've slowly put weight back on. A lot of that has been absolutely my fault. I've experienced a real sense of loss and deprivation as the family just quit eating, and more to the point, quit caring about eating. I've joked, many times over the months, that I was going to go onto some sort of dating site and look for a "food buddy." In my mind, a "food buddy" wouldn't want anything more than to share a pleasant dinner and a decent bottle of wine now and then -- just someone who could eat a grownup meal without the potential for puking... In the absence of a "food buddy," I've tended to compensate with fast food burgers, and so I've gained about 20 pounds.

At the peak, I was up to about 198 pounds. That was just enough to kick me into determined mode, and I've been slowly losing weight over the last 6-8 weeks. So, as of this morning, I am down by 7 pounds to 191. That's not great, but it is movement in the right direction.

I feel like I'm a very long way from my ideal weight, but I'm working on it and seeing progress, so maybe that is good.

swan

Poop

2010-04-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery alters the digestive tract in very significant ways. It reduces the size of the stomach, but it also removes a good bit of the small intestine, reducing absorption. It can be a very effective tool in the pursuit of weight loss goals, and that has been true for Master. The effects of the surgery, a year later are, of course amazing weight loss, but mostly just unbelievably improved health and well-being.

There are still challenges to living in the aftermath of the surgical alteration of His digestive tract. Eating is still something that we have to pay attention to. We have to attend to the daily nutritional requirements, and we have to make sure that He gets all the supplements that are needed to ensure good health. Some foods are still a real challenge. We are only now finding that it is possible for Him to eat many of the vegetables that are commonplace on some tables. The same is true for much fruit. Beef and chicken are both sometimes very difficult. Preparation makes a difference.

One of the things that no one really told us about before the surgery is the dramatic impact that has been made on His bowel function. After the surgical removal of small intestine in the first surgery, and then the resection of His bowel as a result of the bowel obstruction last November, we find that His insides are very touchy and that managing that to ensure His ongoing health and physical comfort is a tricky process.

We rely heavily on twice daily doses of Benefiber and He routinely uses stool softeners to prevent serious constipation. Our daily conversation always involves at least some variant of the "Did You Poop?" question.

Who knew that the new skinny life He leads would be so continually focused on the workings of His bowels?

swan

A Promising Place to Find Good Recipes

2010-03-29T19:46:00.000-04:00

One of the things that we are still learning about as we go along is what we can eat. The relatively newly revamped digestive systems in our family don't tolerate many of the foods that are considered "normal" fare, and it is so crucial to get all the nutrients into what little bit they can eat. We (T and I) are forever on the lookout for tasty foods that can be made in ways that satisfy these tiny, little appetites AND provide interesting and satisfying tastes and eating experiences. There's no way to chow down on great quantities, so what we do eat needs to be exquisite...

Tonight, looking for ideas, I came across an interesting blog full of great ideas and wonderful sounding dishes. We'll be dining on two of the recipes I found at Once Upon a Chef in just an hour or so... I don't intend to turn this into a food blog, but surely, part of our way forward involves finding our way to foods that work. This is just one resource to make our way easier and more enjoyable.

swan

Uncommon Conversations Ensue

2010-03-28T12:01:00.004-04:00

I am enjoying my new body this morning. We got up about 10:00 marveling that our new floors we worked feverishly to clean and to reinstall all our furniture and possessions from the garage last night, where we moved them to be out of the way of the flooring workers, were still there. It wasn't all a dream. I have just been walking about nude all morning doing this and that and loving the fact that I am slender,

I am recalling my conversation with my bariatric surgeon Friday when t and I were in to see him for our 1 year post surgery check up. We both passed with flying colors by the way. t has made the average progress that one typically makes with sleeve gastrectomy and has significant health improvements as a result. I have actually lost more weight than is recommended for me. This was the second time a health care professional has told me it would be good if I regained a few pounds. And this comes after I've already regained between two to five pounds depending on where I am in my weight fluctuation. (Today I'm actually only up 1.5 pounds at 160 pounds from my all time low of 158.5 last December.) You cannot imagine what a thrill it is after an entire life of being overweight, to have Dr.'s tell you it might be good if you gained a few pounds! I never thought I'd hear those words spoken in sincerity. He then went on to verify my age. I am 60 now and will be 61 in less than a month. He pointed out that it is "uncommon" for a healthy person in their 60's to have their ideal weight and I am actually a little blow my ideal weight. I just looked at him and said, "Well, you know, I am an uncommon guy.....and I like it that way." A big grin came across his face and he said, "So I've noticed."

It was great to have an uncommon conversation about my new uncommon physiology and health.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

One Year Later

2010-03-23T22:45:00.000-04:00

It is late.
We've had a hell of a week, month, year...
We're tired and stressed out and sad and scared and ...
But ... this is a date that ought to be noted before it passes.
One year ago today, Master and T embarked, with great bravery on a path that would forever change their lives -- we hoped for the better. It has not been an easy path. There has been pain and suffering and a very great deal of adjusting as both of them have worked to learn to live with their very significantly altered digestive systems. With all of that, between them they've lost some 222 pounds. That's notable, and I want it noted here in this place -- before we all move on.

I am awfully proud of the two of them. I am thrilled for the new and healthier lives that they have ahead of them because of this choice. Some few, sour souls have insinuated that there was a lack of discipline that set all of this in motion -- made it necessary. That's just pure, ignorant nonsense. There are real medical reasons why some people cannot successfully control their weight, and there are weight driven morbidity issues that make finding a way to conquer the issue a critical life decision. Choosing the path of bariatric surgery is not a simple decision, and anyone who believes it somehow provides an easy fix is just an uninformed fool. The surgery gave my Master and my T the tools they needed to get control of their weight issues. It was not any sort of magic. They have done the work, made the changes, and won the battle. Today, in the midst of everything else happening in our lives, I want to shout from the housetops that this is a "birthday" of sorts and deserves its own celebration.

swan

Valentine's Day -- A Year Later

2010-02-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

One year ago, we took some pictures of Master and T on Valentine's day. They were glowing and wonderful, and so clearly in love -- but they were also, clearly, two people who had lost the battle with obesity...

Then, on March 23, 2009, they both had bariatric surgery for weight loss. Master had rouen y gastric bypass, and T had sleeve gastrectomy. They each recovered -- T quickly and easily, and Master with great difficulty and terrible pain. We learned our way along the path to a brand new relationship with food and eating and exercise and a whole host of new body-image issues and understandings. We went through an enormous pile of discarded, too-big clothes. Master joked that He was renting clothes from Goodwill as we purchased and then donated back bags and bags and more bags of garments.

As we moved through the year, Master lost 142 pounds and T lost 80 pounds. They are, today, both much lighter and much healthier.

And so, we come around the year to another Valentine's day, 2010. So, we got out the camera and took some more pictures -- and here they are. My lighter, but and even more beautiful Valentines... swan

Socks -- An Unexpected Benefit

2010-01-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

He has always worn Gold Toe brand support hose. They are a pretty premium men's sock, and they are made to provide some pretty intense compression. They are advertised for the treatment of varicose veins, edema, and post surgical circulatory support.

In the bad old days, before His bypass surgery, when He still weighed something over 300 pounds, when moving and bending were just too physically taxing for Him to attempt -- He'd pull those moster socks off and toss them in the hamper; always inside out. ALWAYS. It was just too difficult for Him to work them off His legs and off His feet without turning them completely inside out.

We'd do the laundry, and then there remained the chore of turning all those compression socks back inside out so they could be mated and put away. I know I never thought much about it. It just was the way it was.

Last weekend, wading through a pile of laundry, I got about 3/4 of the way through the pile of socks when it hit me -- they were all RIGHT SIDE OUT! Wow! Turns out that, having lost 142 pounds, taking off His socks is no longer a huge ordeal. He can easily slide them down and pull them off, and they almost always end up right side out.

I know it seems like a small thing. It is a small thing, but it is one more small and unexpected benefit from all the changes that we've been through.

"After" Photos -- Nine Months

2009-12-29T18:53:00.008-05:00

We have passed the nine-month mark since the bariatric surgeries (which happened back on March 23). It has been an amazing and wild ride to this point, and I don't think we really ever quite had a picture of where we would be at this point.

One of the things that has characterized our passage through this transition has been the sheer size of the physical change. Both Master and T have gone through many, many, many wardrobe changes as the pounds have fallen away. We've hauled bags and bags and bags and bags of discarded, too big clothing to our local Goodwill. Too, we've bought our share of "replacement" items from Goodwill. Master has laughingly remarked that He mostly just rents clothes from Goodwill -- keeping them for a few weeks and then returning them to rent others. Whatever we call it, that process has kept them both looking pretty decent, and has saved us a small fortune.

One bit of foresight on my part was that, as He began to shrink, I put away a pair of the largest size pants so that "someday" we could take one of those amazing "after" pictures that you sometimes see -- the skinny new body in the former fat pants. We also managed to hold onto the shirt jacket that He wore home from the hospital right after the surgery -- mostly because He just liked it so well that He was never quite willing to turn it loose. T manged to hang onto a couple of great big shirts (one of which was too small for her when she had her surgery), to help remind her of the size that was.

Today, we pulled out the camera and took some of those "after" photos. Perhaps as clearly as any other images, these photos give a clear impression of the radical change that has happened in our lives in 2009.

Here is Master --

And Here is T --

GOAL ATTAINED !! THE HARD WAY

2009-12-05T11:01:00.008-05:00

The last 4 days, as I've been home from the hospital, I've lost weight steadily. I suspect this is my body's reflecting the weight loss I experienced during the six days I was NPO during my post surgical hospitalization. When I came home I was still swollen and had a good bit of edemous tissue. As those fluids have mobilized and been eliminated, my weight is dropping steadily. Ironically, these last few days at home, I am eating greater quantities of food with greater comfort than I have at any time since my gastric bypass last March. I am trying to be less restrictive in that my weight is down further.

At any rate, the weight of 165 pounds...the weight that sounded so ridiculously unattainable when my bariatric surgeon established it as my goal weight last spring....materialized when I stepped on my scale this morning. I would certainly not suggest the process I have undergone in losing this last six pounds or so for anyone, and certainly not for myself, but reality is that as of this morning my weight is 165 pounds. My next challenge I think is to work at stemming any further weight loss. You would never have convinced me a year ago that those words would ever describe a weight control objective for me.

So I am celebrating, somewhat with awe and somewhat with concern, having reached my original weight goal of 165 pounds.

I feel better and stronger each day as I rebound from my surgery. My pain is less and my strength and stamina are steadily increasing as I progress. I hope I will soon be back to feeling really healthy in time to enjoy the December holidays.

Thank you again to all of you who have traveled this journey with us and provided us such wonderful support and caring. You have made this outcome so much more attainable because of the gifts you shared with us here.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined

Frankenstein?

2009-12-02T20:03:00.004-05:00

This was our first day at home. Our alarm clock went off first thing this morning, at 5:45, just as it does every single school day. That was an opportunity to "sleep in" actually since my usual get-up time while we were staying in the hospital was 4:30 AM.

Generally, here at home, I pile out of bed first and head off to shower and get dressed. Then I scramble out to the kitchen to make breakfast, lunch, and get us both ready to go. Of course, today and for the next bit of time, He doesn't need His lunch packed, and He isn't getting ready to "go" anywhere. So, this morning, as I was in the bathroom getting ready to go, He came in to pee and weigh and survey the damage. There were no full length mirrors in the hospital room -- just the one small mirror over the sink.

He is a "sight." He has a fairly long mid-line incision and 10 trocar incisions that were made to allow attachment of the mesh for the hernia repair. There are also two punctures where the surgical drains were installed in His abdomen. He has a pretty impressive hematoma on His belly, and enormous and ugly bruising on His hips that is the result of the heparin injections that they gave in the belly every day as a preventative for blood clotting. Standing there in the bathroom, checking it out, He said, "we ought to take some pictures of this."

So, bleary-eyed and sleepy-headed, I wandered off to find the camera and snap a few shots of the damage. They are not terrific -- I wasn't entirely awake yet, but perhaps they will give you some idea of what it is He's been through this last 8 days.

swan

Transfusion Day

2009-11-28T09:58:00.001-05:00

Today, our team of doctors is stymied. They simply cannot figure out what is going on with Him, and I suspect that they are having some fairly heated doctor conversations about what to do with Him -- some arguing more aggressive approaches, and others advocating for restraint and patience. It seems that the latest x-rays are still showing some distension of the small intestine, and that could indicate another obstruction -- although the CT scan didn't show anything to be concerned about in that way.

But He continues to have significant nausea, and while He is having bowel movements, they are very watery and, this morning, essentially clear. Without being able to get a fix on what is happening, our doctors are opting for keeping the nasal tube in place. None of us are anxious to have to have that re-inserted again, so there's no sense of urgency to get it out before it is really time.

Another concern is that His blood counts, both red cells and white cells are low, and they can't figure out why. There is no blood in His stools; no blood in His vomit; no obvious hematomas that are not accounted for and entirely expected as a result of the surgery. Still, the counts are low.

So, today, He is receiving two units of blood. So far, that is going well. We are aware of the risks of transfusion, but we just don't feel likf there are good options.

swan

Alligators

2009-11-27T14:30:00.002-05:00

I remember that during my college years, we were fond of telling one another that "when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is difficult to remember that you were originally trying to drain the swamp."

That is kind of the way this is beginning to feel... A swamp full of alligators, and it is probably alligator mating season. The alligators (problems and challenges) are big and they are all over the place -- refusing to stay in their own separate little ponds.

This morning, after a very difficult and miserable night, "crazy" doctor Hamid came bursting into the room well before the sun was up. The good (but crazy) Dr. Hamid (who we think might be the head resident) seems to have a penchant for drama, and a lack of gentleness in terms of his approach. Looking at Master's chart, I guess he decided that he was, "worried." He ordered another CT scan with contrast, and stood in the middle of Master's hospital room talking about the potential for another yet more surgery. And then, he swept out of the room to go spread terror and chaos somewhere else. At least I am guessing that's where he was headed.

Master and I were shocked, frightened, left with a million questions. We huddled next to each other in the pre-dawn chill and darkness, and held each other's hands, barely daring to breathe.

The nurses came in and put the contrast solution through the NG tube, and they told us that the people from the radiology department would be up to get Him in about 20 minutes. An hour and forty-five minutes later, after battling for well over an hour to keep the contrast down in spite of severe nausea, they finally came to get Him. He was gone for a very long time it seemed.

We were told that "as soon as the doctors had a chance to review the results of the CT scan, they would be in to talk to us." It was over two hours when our nurse finally called someone to see what she could find out for us.

It turns out that the CT scan doesn't show anything alarming. Just the ileus that we already are dealing with. There is no additional blockage, and no internal bleeding. Blood work shows that His blood count is low, but is holding steady. We still have not seen a doctor as I write this at 2:20 in the afternoon.

Master is still struggling with nausea, although it may be some better this afternoon. He is feeling tired and stressed and frightened. He has been incredibly strong and very brave in the face of a major surgery, and some wickedly nasty procedures.

Right now, we are daring to hope that a couple of days will resolve the ileus and He'll start to feel better. I know and believe that we WILL be heading home together sometime in the next few days... if only we can stay out of the clutches of all the many alligators.

swan

Ileus

2009-11-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

Today has been a very difficult day.
Yesterday, the naso-gastric tube to Master's stomach fell out. The doctors had contemplated taking it out anyway, but it came out entirely on its own. That seemed like a good thing at the time, and during the balance of the day, they removed the catheter. This morning, they discontinued the IV pain medication, and He was allowed to begin taking clear liquids by mouth. By mid-day, He was begining to belch, hiccup, and vomit up significant quantities of liquid. The nurses tried administering a couple of different nausea medications along with Nexium. Those medications helped for very short periods of time, but each time, the vomiting resumed within the hour.
Finally, at about 9:00 this evening, the night nurse decided to call in the doctors, and they ordered some x-rays. That showed an ileus. An ileus is a paralysis of the bowel -- without the normal peristalsis, nothing passes through the digestive tract and pressure builds up in the stomach. It seems that this is a fairly common aftermath of handling the bowel during abdominal surgery.
Sigh.
So. Tonight, they have reinserted the naso-gastric tube. Once it was in place, the pump immediately suctioned 700 cc's of fluid from His stomach. He is disappointed as this will surely keep Him in the hospital for another 2-4 days. On the upside, He is not vomiting anymore, and we didn't end up going home without anyone knowing about this issue -- a sure recipe for making another midnight run to the emergency room.
He's tired. I'm tired. Our spirits are a bit low. Hopefully, soon, we'll be able to settle down for the night and try and sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit better.
swan

Update

2009-11-24T22:33:00.001-05:00

I am home tonight. T is staying at the hospital with Master.
Today, He's made a bit of progress. His breathing seems less congested. He is in pain, of course, but that is kept tolerable with medication. He took two walks today; a short one in the morning, just before I hade to leave, and a much longer one this evening with T. He still has tubes sprouting everywhere: drains, catheters, naso-gastric tube, oxygen, IV... Moving Him or changing His position or bathing Him is a sincere challenge. But. Today. There. Was. A. Bit. Of. Progress.

And that is good. Tomorrow, maybe, some of those tubes may become unnecessary. Tomorrow, hopefully, He'll hurt less. Tomorrow, He'll be one day closer to being healed and well again.

I, and We, are so very grateful for all your good wishes. Thank you. All.

And now, I am off to try and get a night's sleep.

swan

Your Thoughts, Friends

2009-11-23T10:57:00.001-05:00

Today, November 23, is the eight month anniversary of Master and T's surgeries.

Last evening, about 9:00, Master began complaining that His stomach hurt. And then it hurt worse... and worse... and worse. Finally, we decided to head to the emergency room, arriving there at about 11:00 after a very harrowing drive (during which I had to pull off the road to allow Him to vomit at least three different times). They did two CT scans -- one at midnight, and a second one at 4:00 AM with contrast. At 5:00 this morning, they got Him situated in a room. And at about 7 AM, the doctors decided that He needed emergency surgery to correct an obstruction in His bowel. Apparently, this is another of those rare (less than 1% of cases) complications.

He is in surgery as I type. I've come home to shower, grab some clothes for both of us, and rescue my car out of the repair shop where I dropped it last evening so it could have an oil change. This is the very worst possible timing for such a horrible catastrophe to occur. There is the end of the year stuff with His agency, holidays are upon us, I have parent-teacher conferences for the next three days.

We'll all get through this somehow, but please hold us all (and especially Master) in your thoughts these next few days.

swan

Why Would A Doctor Be That Way?

2009-11-14T22:36:00.004-05:00

In one week, we will mark the 8 month point post weight loss surgery. T has lost almost 80 pounds and Master has lost 130 pounds. It has been hard work, and it has sometimes been very scary. The success they have achieved at this point feels really good and they are justifiably proud of the accomplishment. It is amazing and wonderful.

There are a variety of challenges, for all of us, as we continue to work our way along the path to learning to live long term with the changes that have come about as a result of the surgery. We deal with the daily demand for paying close attention to what we eat, to making sure that they get enough hydration and the appropriate vitamin and mineral supplements. We count grams of protein, and we watch out for carbohydrates and fats. Master, especially, works hard to make the time for the very important exercise component of the new lifestyle we've adopted. We are very, very, very careful and serious about the health regimen this change has brought into our lives.

So, why is it, I wonder that we occasionally encounter healthcare professionals who seem hell-bent on raining on the parade? Take last night, for example... He had developed a skin irritation around His nose. It had started earlier in the week as some flakiness and dryness, and had steadily spread and grown more serious. By the time I got home late Friday afternoon, there was a half moon shaped area below His nose that was angry red, swollen, puffy, just on the verge of blistered. It was so much more extreme than it had been that morning, that I was alarmed. I had visions of it becoming even more widespread and inflamed as the night wore on -- and I was worried that He'd be miserable at 2 AM. So, I talked Him into going to a local urgent care facility to have it looked at.

We got there, got checked in, went through the preliminary workup with the nurse, and waited for the doctor. She eventually came into the examination room, and very tentattively looked over the irritation on His face. Deciding that it was likely some sort of contact allergic reaction, she suggested that she could prescribe some prednisone that would probably resolve the problem. One thing we have to be careful of since the surgery is the size of pills. His narrowed stomach opening cannot handle pills bigger than a small button -- so we asked her how big the pills would be. When she looked taken aback by the question, He explained about His gastric bypass surgery, and then described to her the kind of success He's had.

She got a sort of sour faced pouty look, and said, "I see lots of patients who have had that. After a year or two, they stretch their stomachs and gain it all back."

What?!?!?!?!?!?

What is wrong with her? What is wrong with the segment of the medical profession that are so negative and pessimistic with us regarding this surgery and the aftermath? I know, and we know, that it is possible to undermine and defeat the impact of the surgery. We were thoroughly briefed on the risks and issues before we made the decision to move forward. WE KNOW!!!

What is the upside, from the standpoint of a physician, to negating and dismissing a patient's success in this endeavor? Why would a doctor do that? Why wouldn't a doctor look at a patient who has been very successful after weight loss surgery, and congratulate that person? Why wouldn't a doctor, celebrate the success, and offer good wishes for continued health and wellness? Why?

I think this tendency for doctors to act as nay sayers is very odd, and it is beginning to make me angry. I know that there may be some controversy about the longterm health benefits and risks associated with this surgery... but when you are looking at a patient who has ALREADY HAD THE SURGERY, it is too late to suggest that it might be a bad idea. It is a done deal! Get a clue, Doc! Where there is success, recognize it; acknowledge it; move on. Whatever the future might bring, no doctor can predict. Save your skepticism and negativity for some inconsequential, non-medical something or another in your personal life. Leave it out of the exam room.

swan

NO MORE SLEEP APNEA!

2009-11-02T14:58:00.003-05:00

I've not used my Bi-Pap machine since mid-September in that there was anticipation my weight loss had ended my sleep apnea, but there had to be a final definitive test to determine that. Last Tuesday night I had to stay at the Sleep Center for an over night sleep study. I really hate those, and am glad it is past.

Today I met with my sleep specialist and the news was wonderful! My sleep apnea no longer exists. I will not have to sleep with a Bi-Pap machine again so long as I remain as healthy as I am now.

The weight loss this surgery has enabled me to achieve has eliminated my sleep apnea. Anyone want to buy a used sleep apnea machine?

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

A Typical Day's Menu

2009-11-02T10:25:00.003-05:00

Selkie asked what a typical day's menu might be like on this new regimen. Tom and Teresa eat somewhat differently due to the differences in their surgical procedures. However, since the part that is probably most "amazing" about this last seven months is Tom's 130 pound weight loss, here's His usual daily meal plan:

BREAKFAST --
Milk shake (1 scoop of fat free, sugar free ice cream, 1/2 cup of skim milk, 2 scoops of chocolate flavored protein powder)
Coffee with chocolate protein powder
Crystal Lite Orange drink with Emergen-C vitamin supplement
Liquid Calcium supplement

LUNCH--
High protein power bar (peanut butter and chocolate flavor)
CarbMaster (high protein) yogurt
Hummus
Wheat Thins 5-grain crackers
Jello sugar free pudding cup

DINNER --
Some sort of protein source (meat is generally difficult, but fish works and so does a meat substitute product made by Quorn which is really very good)
Sometimes we supplement with a bit of fruit or some vegetables. Applesauce works well, winter squash is good, mashed potatoes go well... Other vegetables seem very problematic.
In the last couple of weeks, Tom has been able to add a small (very small) glass of wine sometimes.

The Next Milestone

2009-10-30T22:35:00.003-04:00

Today, when I returned home from walking, I weighed 170.5 pounds. That means that I have lost over 130 pounds since we began all this. Additionally I have 5.5 pounds to go to reach my weight goal. I honestly had thought that perhaps I had "bottomed out" in terms of my total weight loss. Certainly my weight loss has slowed the last couple of weeks, and I certainly am not dissatisfied with where my present weight is, but today I am down an extra pound and a half suddenly. Thus, I have broken the 130 pound weight loss barrier.

Additionally earlier this week I purchased some new sport shirts. Thank god for Walmart and $9.00 polyester cotton blend plaid sport shirts. The news is the shirts I bought were size medium and they fit me great. I have gone from size 3X (and was approaching 4X), to size 2X, down to 1X/XL, then size Large, and now I am a size medium. I cannot even imagine how many decades ago it was that I could wear a size medium shirt (hell, a size medium anything:)

So this process continues and I am still progressing. I also received the results of blood work ordered by my endocrinologist in the last week. My Hemoglobin A1c was 5.1 (that's about as good as it gets for those of you not informed about diabetes) and all my other tests, i. e., cholesterol, vitamin D, etc. were equally perfect. Thank goodness not only for this surgery but for our dietary regimen and for our swan who sacrifices her own diet to eat right along with t and I in terms of our "gastrointestinally challenged" diet.

Thank you once again for all the support so many here have lent us.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Seven Month Anniversary Photos

2009-10-25T16:26:00.005-04:00

Seven months ago, Master and T were still in the hospital, still recovering from the surgeries. Those were difficult and physically painful days, and it was very hard to keep sight of the hoped for benefits of what they had just gone through. Today, we stopped to take pictures -- seven months later. What an amazing journey.

Cheesecake

2009-10-21T14:09:00.000-04:00

This blog was intended to be (and has been) about our family's journey into and through weight loss surgery. We meant for it to chronicle the changes and the challenges of this major shift in our lives, and we wanted to capture moments as they happened so that we could look back when it was all over with and examine where we'd been...

Here, as at our other blogs, we track stats, and we have begun to notice an interesting phenomenon. It seems that roughly half of the hits that we experience at this site come from people interested in our experience with bariatric weight loss surgery. The other half, almost exactly 50%, are from people who are looking for cheese cake recipes!

Really.

It gives me pause. I wonder how significant cheesecake is in the workings of the world, that half of everyone out there is looking for the secret of the perfect cheese cake... Perhaps the answer to everything lies in this simple, delectable, unassuming dessert. Maybe we could win the hearts of the people of Afghanistan, convince the conservatives that there is really no issue at all with allowing marriage equality, find a way to provide everyone with health insurance, solve the financial crisis, and raise the test scores of every school child if we just created the perfect manufacturing and distribution system for cheese cake. Perhaps this is the work to which we ought to convert our entire military and industrial complex?

Half. Half of our readers want to know about just one thing...

swan

Victory!! Final Goal Reached

2009-10-21T07:52:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, without acclaim, swan adjusted her weight scale, above here on our Blog, to reflect a one pound weight loss she experienced yesterday morning. Now mind you, swan is the non-bartiatirc surgery patient member of our polyamorous triad intentional family, but the lifestyle changes that t's and my surgery have kicked off have effected every one of us in the household. I only wish it wasn't her curent bout of what we have humorously been calling the "Hiney Flu" (H1N1) that had precipitated this final weight loss.

Swan has now lost 25 pounds since we began all this last March. She is the first of us to reach the top end of her optimum weight range. While she did not begin this, thank goodness, with morbid obesity, she too is experiencing health benefits from her weight loss.

Our swan has reached the magic 25 BMI: the standard of health for us all.

We couldn't be more thrilled and proud for her.

Thank you for all you've done to support t and I through this transition, from endless nights sleeping in a recliner chair next to my hospital bed as I struggled with my post-operative infection, to forgoing eating what anyone would consider anything close to a "normal" diet along with your bariatric surgically challenged dining/family partners, to walking with me, to now, having the courage and discipline to achieve your health goal.

Thank you for doing all this to prolong the time you will be Mine Always and All Ways.

I love you so much.

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

One Year Later

2009-10-18T15:36:00.009-04:00

A year ago, as our family dressed up to go to the major fund-raising dance for Master's agency, we took some photos...

Last night, we were, once again all dressed up, ready to go out for an evening of fund-raising. Himself was slated to be the Master of Ceremonies. Once again we took some photos before we left for the evening. They pretty well speak for themselves...

Milestone Reached October 7, 2009

2009-10-07T08:23:00.003-04:00

Today I awakened and staggered off to the bathroom for the daily weigh-in. I was 176 pounds. My baseline weight last March 9 was 301 pounds. I have now reached 125 pounds weight loss in under seven months from my baseline weight. This represents another 1/4 of a hundred pounds lost, so I feel like it is noteworthy. Technically this means I have 11 more pounds to lose until I attain the original weight goal recommended by my bariatric surgeon of 165 pounds. He was quite pleased with me when he gave me my 6 month check last week. He said that rarely do patients do as well as I have in this time period, and he knew I was not done yet.

I will likely attain the goal he set at 165 pounds. I am probably going to push on past that. The more accepted weight/height charts suggest that for my 5 feet 8 inches my ideal weight is within a range of 139 pounds to 169 pounds. I have seen some of the more high end charts that have based their prescribed weights on those that maximize longevity. They suggest my ideal weight as 151 pounds. My Cardiologist has suggested I use that as an end weight. At 150.5 pounds I will have lost 50% of my weight. That seems like a goal worth pursuing and so I will. So to date I have lost 125 pounds and have 25 more to lose.

I haven't tracked us as a family for a while. As of now, between the three of us, we have lost 221.6 pounds. Damn, by the time I reach my new goal we will have, between the three of us, almost lost 246 ponds plus any further loss by t and swan:) We will have lost a good sized football player worth of human mass:)

It helps so much to have chronicled this journey here. Looking back on it is amazing for me. Much of what has empowered that dynamic has been the tremendous support readers here have provided us all.

Thank you all for your support.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Hips Hips Hooray! They are smaller today!

2009-10-03T08:17:00.004-04:00

I AM WEARING A SIZE 14 PANT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have not been this small since I was 12 years old and involved in sports year-round. I pulled on the jeans I had been wearing and they looked plain silly. Handfuls of denim at the hips on each side. They were 18's.... I had skipped a size when I bought this style, thinking that I could wear them big for a bit and then the 14's would be tight for a while....but NOOOOOO!! These 14's are JUST RIGHT!

I have not been moving, weight-wise. Sorta depressing, but there is a bunch on the plate right now....but I must be shape-shifting or sumptin!

T, off to go do the walker-dance with Mom!

Cheering Section

2009-09-27T11:08:00.003-04:00

Our walks take us out and through and around our neighborhood. We walk six laps -- around and around and around. It isn't a big neighborhood, and we spend an hour and a half each day (or at least most days). We've been at it since April, and we've reached the status of a regular event with those who live around us.

The changes in that time are dramatic, as those who read here are aware, and it has reached the point where our walking is often interrupted by neighbors who drive by and roll down their car window and comment and cheer for the obvious progress. Just yesterday, one lady who lives up the street from us, commented on the weight loss, and when He reported his now 121 pound loss, she said, "WOW! I'm proud of You!"

That sort of response is so genuine and so heart felt, and it comes from people that we mostly know by sight but not by name. It is really amazing and a little bit stunning. It reminds us that people do see us and do pay attention, and that the change in our lives is one that has, in some small way, changed the world around us.

swan

Pictures at Six Months

2009-09-25T20:59:00.003-04:00

Here are the photos to mark the six-month anniversary of the surgeries:

Watch This Space!

2009-09-24T12:18:00.002-04:00

I know that Master promised pictures. And it is true that our 6 month photos should be here, but our lives are just crazy this week. It may very well be the weekend before we can get us altogether in one spot with enough energy and time to take some pictures. So, be patient. We haven't forgotten. Honest.

swan

The Six Month Mark Reached

2009-09-23T11:47:00.005-04:00

I took time out this morning to make one of my 5.12 mile walks. It struck me that when I returned home at 11:00 AM it was just about exactly 6 months to the minute since they wheeled me out of the surgery having performed my Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass March 23, 2009. I weighed myself upon my return from my walk today, and had reached 182 pounds for the first time. I have now lost 119 pounds since beginning this process and lost 18 inches off my waist.

I am sure we will post more tonight, and if t and I can get our schedules together with swan (our photographer), manage to get one of our traditional one month milestone pictures up here to document our progress as we pass through this, but I wanted to commemorate the one half year point with this comment.

As always the support of everyone who has read and commented her has been a huge help to t and I both. Thank you so much to all of you.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Free of the Evil Bi-Pap....Free At Last!

2009-09-10T08:53:00.002-04:00

Last night for the first time in about four years I slept without having the Bi-pap (breathing device used to keep throat open during sleep to negate sleep apnea) strapped to my fact and blowing air up my nose. I was told by my sleep specialist that I should jettison it at 180 pounds. I seem to be in one of my "holding patterns" I've encountered on the way down, bouncing between 186 and 188 pounds for the last few days. My facial contours have changed dramatically what with my 115 pounds weight loss and I am finding I can no longer get the Bi-pap to seal on my face, resulting in the darn thing blowing cold air noisily all night long. It has really bothered my sleep the last few nights. So last night we finally said the proverbial "screw it" and went off to bed without it. swan spent much of the night snuggled close to me and waking constantly to make sure I was breathing OK and not snoring (snoring is a sure sign of apnea.) I did fine and awakened much more well rested today.

I take a Zyrtec pill and spray Flonase nasal spray each night to enable me to deal with the nasal congestion the Bi-pap has created for me. I hope that as we proceed forward here over the next two weeks or so those too will be some of the further medications I will no longer require because of my weight loss.

Thank you again everyone for your interest and support as our evolution with all this continues.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you you've imagined.

I've Lost a Foot and a Half From My Waist!

2009-09-05T12:32:00.004-04:00

This morning I acted on the fact that the 38 inch waist pants I've been wearing all week appeared to be getting "roomy" on me. I tried on a pair of 36 inch waist cargo pants swan picked up for me a week or two ago in anticipation of this time, and low and behold, they fit perfectly! It is not that I am able to stretch into them and somehow pull the waist together desperately and get them to fasten. They actually fit just as they should and look fine.

This is another milestone. I began with a 54 inch waist before my surgery. Thus I have now lost a foot and a half (18 inches total) off my waist since March, 2009 and the beginning of this journey. Even I am beginning to feel astounded and impressed with this.

I think the, "America's Biggest Loser" folks should hang their heads in shame. They are nothing but a bunch of pikers:) Well we are off for another walk to see if, what with this development, we can reach a new fastest lap time average.

Thank you all once again for your interest and support.

All the best,

Tom

P. S. I did expand my walk to 6 laps today and hit a new high average speed at 15 minutes and 48 seconds per lap. Too, I hit 187.5 pounds a new low weight having now lost 113.5 pounds. I have 22 .5 more pounds to lose to get to my ideal weight goal of 165 pounds, and 7.5 more pounds to lose before I get to quit using my evil bi-pap machine each night when I sleep.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Journey Update September 3, 2009

2009-09-03T07:54:00.005-04:00

It has been a while since I wrote a summary of our progress in our weight loss journey. As of now I have lost 112. 5 pounds (weighing in at 188.5 pounds down from 301 pounds March 9, 2009.) My t is down 77 pounds at 193 pounds down from her original 270 pounds. sue, who underwent no bypass surgery, but whose lifestyle is hugely effected by t's and my dietary and exercise regimen, weighs in now at 185 pounds. sue's down 17 pounds from her original 202 pounds (and is by the way already within her ideal weight range as a result of this loss.) Thus our combined "family weight loss" to date is 206.5 pounds.

As for observable changes I now am wearing (and actually they are getting roomy) 38 inch waist pants. I began with a waist of 54 inches. I have lost 16 inches off my waist and suspect a 36 inch waist is not far off into my future. t shared last night that she now wears a women's size 14 to 16. She started at 24. While I don't know sue's actual size information she went off to school yesterday in a really cute dress she was able to wear for the first time. She bought it last year from a catalog but has never actually been able to get into it before.

Anecdotally, the three of us share two one car garages and drive ways. I let the both of them (who are generally off to work way ahead of me) park in the garages. Usually I am parked in the driveway behind swan each morning. When she heads off to school each morning (at an ungodly and uncivilized hour) I pull my car out of the driveway while she pulls out and then pull back into the garage after her. Usually as I do that I notice the newspaper that has been delivered in the driveway or lawn of t's and my condo next door. It used to be, before my surgery I used to pull into that driveway and lean out of the car to retrieve the newspaper. My arthritis pain, my ability to bend at my waist, and my general avoidance of walking was such that it was just easier to let the car do the work. I am still tempted to do that, but now I make a conscious decision to park the car in the garage and then walk out to the front yard next door and get the newspaper. I have to remind myself that no longer hurts, and whatever I do to further increase my physical activity. Even that little bit burns calories. It makes little sense to go out and power walk 4 to 5 miles a day only to go fetch the newspaper from out front in the car:)

It seems everything from major health conditions now gone, to little details of the physical activity of daily living have changed and improved greatly.

Thank you all again for your continued interest, and the huge support we gain from sharing with you all here. You have been, and are, such great friends.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Five Months and One Week

2009-08-30T19:38:00.006-04:00

We didn't ever find time last weekend to take the five-month photos. Life was just too crazy. So, one week late, here is the latest set of photos of my very skinny spice :-) The before pictures are on the left.

Further Progress

2009-08-20T07:47:00.004-04:00

I've not invested as much energy here the past week of so since T's Mom's surgery led to her strokes and subsequent serious debilitation but this process continues and as I look back on this record of how we passed through this in times to come, I'll be glad to see how things progressed during this period. And progressing we are:)

Last night we shifted swan's and my walking routine from summer vacation schedule to early school year schedule. We did our 4.26 mile "stroll" between 9:30 PM and 11:00 PM last evening relying on our new LCD headlight forehead bands for improved vision and safety. It was late enough to have missed the daytime heat. Our Cincinnati mid August weather is terribly hot and humid. We have previously been walking early to mid-morning as allowed by my professional schedule. To do that now that sue's schedule is ramping up would require us to get up at like 3:30 to 4:00 AM in order to get up eat then walk, shower, get ready for work and then have her there on time, so that is just not possible for us. We will have next Monday off, so we will be able to walk in the morning that day weather permitting. Then next Tuesday she will be in classes with kids. I have an evening workshop presentation (how to influence public policy regarding disability issues for family members and people with disabilities) Tuesday night, and a meeting of our Board Thursday night. How that week will work with our walking routine time will tell. Maybe I'll have to walk alone mornings and her at night. That would be sad. We've come to love our time together walking and sometimes have great talks as we walk. Sue has her beginning of the school year parent night that evening too though, so I don't know how that will work. We do have a treadmill and I'm sure that as time progresses and the weather changes we'll eventually have to resort to that option to keep the exercise routine going.

Anyway, after last night's walk I weighed 195.5 pounds, which is a new low. At 196 I have lost 105 pounds. This morning I weighed 196.5 pounds at get up. If I would split the difference between the two weights as an average, I'd be 196 pounds, so I guess I can accept that as a new weight. Thus I have hit the 105 pound weight loss level. That means I have 31 pounds to go to reach my optimal weight. As I type I weight 195 down from 301, it seems sort of like a surreal dream. Who would have imagined this could be my reality by mid August not quite five months yet our from my surgery.

T is pretty well right where she has been, (down 72 pounds in under 5 five months from surgery...no mean accomplishment) fluctuating up and down through a 1 and a half pound weight window. When you think about the stress she has been under with her Mom's illness, grabbing food in the hospital cafeteria, eating with her other family members some (the whole family other than her is way dedicated to high fat, sugar, and unhealthy eating and smoking) makes staying on her course extra challenging. Between her work and time with her Mom, she really has no time for exercise, other than maybe the trek from the hospital parking garage and the ICU to see her Mom. For her to have not regained is a huge accomplishment. Even as she continues this way she will be losing more soon. It is way slower and more gradual for her with her gastric sleeve bypass, than it is for me having been able to undergo the Rouen Y gastric bypass procedure.

So there it is. I'm down 105 pounds (perhaps even plus a half pound more were we to accept my 195.5 pound weight after my walk last night.)

Thank you all who have followed this journey with us and cheered us on. It would have been way more difficult to do this without the energy you have given us with your good wishes and encouragement.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

We are becoming Vegetarians!......well, kinda, sorta….

2009-08-11T21:10:00.002-04:00

Many years ago I was a casual Vegetarian. I stuck to a veggie diet pretty much, but when I craved a burger or steak, I didn’t deny myself. And that was about 2 times a year. I have always liked that style of eating, but have grown away from it as I have gotten older.

As everyone knows by now, we are primarily PROTEIN people. I have to have a minimum of 60 grams of protein and Tom has to have a minimum of 80 grams of protein daily.

Lately, Tom has been having problems eating meat. It upsets his stomach and often sends him to “driving the big white bus”. And I have become less enamored with meats as well.

Sue has been hunting high protein, vegetarian recipes. Last night we did a tofu recipe that was pretty tasty. And I have hit the web for other veggie options that have higher protein numbers.

Tom dislikes…see, I was polite….Beans. Any type of beans except for Green. :::SIGH::: Sue and I LOVE beans. I could live on baked, or black, or navy beans. Baked, refried, sautéed, soup, stew, you name it, I love it…..no beans for us…. We will have to do protein other ways. Not that I do not stick beans in my pantry and eat them when I feel like it, but then we are not eating as a family and that is the only meal we can eat together during the week.

So….all you vegetarians out there…..if you have a good veggie recipe, please email it to Sue or me. The higher the protein, the better…..and psst….no beans!

T

That was Then, This is Now

2009-08-11T14:20:00.003-04:00

I am continually fascinated by the incredible changes that have come about as we've progressed through this process. Just the other day, Master had occasion to "dress up" for a photo shoot at His office. We got Him all gussied up and on His way, and as it turned out, the photo ended up being a really good one. Then we got to talking about the event that we attended last October -- another one of those "dress up" occasions. We took some photos then, too. Just in case you were wondering, this is a really good illustration of the benefits of bariatric weight loss surgery...

This was October, 2008:And this is August, 2009:

Protein Powder Recipes

2009-08-08T11:12:00.003-04:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Protein Powder. I love how it works. It fills me up. It is thick and delicious LOOKING..... I HATE THE TASTE!!!! I have tried to love the UNJURY that Tom adores and the surgeon's dietitian recommends.... I HATE the smell of it when I open the container. The taste is thick and unpleasant. The strawberry is disgusting. The chicken soup is thin and if your water is too hot, it curdles, so you are lucky to get room temperature yellow stinky chicken water. The vanilla....well, let's put it politely....VOMIT IN A JUG.....ahem....but I digress....

I went out and found a protein drink by EAS that is thinner and chocolaty and doesn't make me sick to my stomach to drink. I also found a Kroger's store brand of Soy/Whey chocolate protein powder that doesn't reek.

Most weekends, I am on my own until noon-ish. Some days I am online. Some days I do the grocery shopping or laundry. Today I hunted down recipes that use protein powder. I found several that seem promising on paper, but as they say, the proof is in the puddin'. So I gathered my ingredients and put together a Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball and Chocolate Oatmeal Protein Cookies. The batters smelled good....a HUGE step for me. Nothing queasy about this....so let's taste....YUMMO! I modified the recipes a tad, to add natural sweetness without extra sugars or fats. But for a first foray into Protein Powder baking, I think these 2 items are excellent!

Chocolate Oatmeal Protein Cookies

2 1/2 cups Oats
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs (or 3 egg whites)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
3 scoops of Chocolate Protein Powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup Agave Honey (or Diabetisweet Brown Sugar)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or raisins or apricots)

Toss everything together and blend well. Spoonfuls of batter on parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Don't overcook. This is a dense cookie after baking, but before baking it is a tad runny looking. Do NOT let this fool you into adding more oats or powder to stiffen the batter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Agave Honey
1 scoop Chocolate Protein powder
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Mix peanut butter, honey, Protein powder and oats until well blended. Roll into walnut-sized balls and roll into chopped nuts. Chill until firm. Store in a Ziploc bag in fridge.

These are both very tasty and the protein count is 5 grams per Cookie and 2 grams per Ball. One cookie was plenty at a time for me. And I made the Balls a bit smaller than the recipe called for so it was almost like a chocolate candy bite (Closer to 3 bites per). Very satisfying and probably the best use of protein powder so far!

T

Starting to Claim the Benefits

2009-08-07T12:36:00.003-04:00

There have been so many amazing and wonderful improvements in terms of health, but also in terms of quality of life issues since the surgery. One thing that has started to come up in the last few days, however, just blows my mind...

We have a public official who is a great advocate for children's health. One way that he draws attention to the cause is an annual walk. Each spring, he and a group of supporters walk the 112 miles to our state capitol.

In the last few days, as we've walked our daily laps, Master has mused that, "maybe next spring...I'll walk with him."

Wow! The first time He said it, I thought it was an interesting idea, but as He has repeated it, I've started to hear it as an aspiration and a declaration of freedom and belief. Coming from someone who struggled to walk to the bathroom a year ago; who could barely stand up long enough to get dressed in the morning, that is a fabulous improvement in well-being on all levels.

Next spring! Let's all walk for kids' health!

swan

Breaking the 200 pound barrier!

2009-08-06T12:30:00.002-04:00

Much to my surprise, after my 4.32 mile walk today, I weighed 199.5 pounds. This is my first reading below 200 since sometime in late 1998. It is a surprise since I awakened to find a waking fasting weight of 202.5 pounds. I suspected that such a large overnight gain had to be water weight of some unknown cause. I would suspect that the 3 pound loss during our walk in the fairly warm August morning bright sunshine, bears that hypothesis out.

Whatever the explanation, I have not given a scale reason to weigh less than either 300 or 200 plus pounds in eleven years, and I will most certainly and joyously accept it.

Thank you again for everyone's interest and support.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Selkie asks.....

2009-08-03T21:04:00.002-04:00

What food do you miss most?

T misses: Diet Mountain Dew, sugar-free chocolates, Pasta, Steak

Tom misses: Steak, Pasta, good crusty bread, Irish Whiskey

Both of us have been bemoaning steak this week. Sure it is a protein and if we did a nice lean piece it would work within our dietary restrictions.....but it is too dense. We both have problems with GROUND beef....steak scares both of us!

We tend to do better with lighter proteins. Fish, shrimp, crab, chicken, turkey, pork tenderloin, eggs, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese....things like that work well for us.

T

Answering Questions

2009-08-03T20:16:00.003-04:00

Chloe asked:

*** How many calories are you eating in a day, and how do they break down in terms of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates?

We do not count calories. We need 60-80 grams of protein daily. We eat very low fat, very low carb, no sugar, no caffeine, no carbonation. We need 64 oz. of water daily.

*** Do you lean toward things like sprouted grains to optimize nutritional breakdowns in carbs?

We have always done whole grains, when we do any at all. Our tummies are so small that we mostly eat protein with a bite of veggies and carb.

*** Do you find yourself going for healthier options even when you don't "have" to, simply because you are more focused on your health now? (Aka, is some (admittedly VERY SMALL) part of your utterly amazing transformation perhaps due to a change in attitude/eating habits, perhaps precipitated by, but not mandated by, the surgeries?)

Before our surgeries, we were already eating low fat, whole grains, nothing fried, no sugar meals. The biggest hurdle has been learning what size portion keeps us nourished without tossing our cookies.

*** Do you take supplements now that you didn't used to take? (Like a vitamin B complex, or iron, or vitamin D? Or does a multi-vitamin do the trick?)

We do a multivitamin, we do calcium citrate, we do vitamin D, we do B-12. Tom does all chewables and I do some in pill form. The B-12 is a weekly nasal spritz.

*** Do you think you get enough fiber in your diets? (This is something I just wonder about since I feel like filling your now-much-smaller tummies with veggies wouldn't actually get THAT much in you, and if you went all veggies/fiber you'd miss out on protein and such...)

Sometimes, I would say "no" for me. I am not a fan of the Benefiber that Tom drinks everyday. If I notice that I am having problems, I will gag down the Benefiber. But since we do primarily proteins, we do not get many natural fibers.

(I have roughly a million more questions like this. I'm annoyingly curious when I am fascinated and awed by something.)

Ask away! We are happy to answer anything people ask. And as you can see by reading some of our posts, we are hardly shy. We are finding that when we go out into the public, there are many people we feel like we should pass our surgeon's business cards to. We figure a commission on each surgery would get us early retirement! OR the people receiving the cards might cause us early disability!!!

T

I'll Only Pass This Milestone Once:)

2009-08-03T11:49:00.002-04:00

After our walk this morning I climbed on the scale and reached a weight I've been waiting for since this began. I weighed 201 pounds. When all this began March 9 with the two week pre-surgery liquid protein diet, I weighed 301 pounds. As of today I have officially lost 100 pounds!!

Only another 36 to go and I'll reach my ideal weight of 165. Who would have imagined I'd be here by August 3!

Thank you all of you for your support and of course mostly to my t and my swan.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

I DID IT!!!!

2009-08-01T08:08:00.002-04:00

I WEIGH 199.6 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have not been this small since college in 1976.

I got on the scale this morning, thinking that I "might" be down another pound.... I walked in the morning and at night yesterday. And was down 2 pounds!

I still only make 1 round of our walking path each time I walk, considerably less than Tom and Sue hoof, but the knee starts hurting about half way and I am trying not to wreck the knee Totally too soon. Today might be a pain pill day, the knee kept me up most of the night.

But still......

I WEIGH 199.6 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.......so the knee will live.

Tickled T

More Changes In Response to Kaya's Question

2009-07-31T18:03:00.004-04:00

Kaya asked us to talk about changes we're experiencing as a result of our weight loss and the surgeries that precipitated it.

This question has had me listing quality of life improvements all day. I am walking...power walking.......four and a quarter miles each day. We were rained out for our walk last night and so today we walked this morning and we are going to go out tonight again after dark (as much as anything, because we want to try our new LED head lamps for night walking we just had delivered.) Thus we will walk 8 1/2 miles total today. Before the surgery I couldn't do one lap (.85 miles) without at least one, and sometimes as many as 3 stops, for a rest. Sue and I were talking while we walked this morning. She talked about how terrified she was throughout those walks that I might have a heart attack or a stroke because I was so struggling with the exertion of this simple walk. That is a huge change.

My hips, and particularly my knees, are terrifically arthritic. My left knee needs replacement when I get to it. The level of pain in those joints had diminished greatly.

I used to awaken in the middle of the night feeling that someone had doused my upper left leg in lighter fluid and ignited it. It was a lovely neurological condition called meuralgia peristhetica. It results from obesity. It is gone.

I used to drink most nights as a primary means of relaxation and recreation. Now I drink not at all. My primary recreations seem to be walking, surfing the net, spanking and fucking:)

I haven't taken a Viagra since my surgery and weight loss.

I take less than one fourth of the pills I used to take. My doctor's office called today and told me to discontinue taking, Zetia, my cholesterol medication. My cholesterol is now perfect without medication.

When I go to public meetings, receptions, etc., an important aspect of my job, I can stand up with everyone else without being in terrific pain and sweating profusely as was the case before my surgery and the subsequent weight loss (which is today BTW within one and a half pounds of reaching the 100 pound weight loss milestone.)

I no longer shop at big men's stores because it is the only place I can find clothes that fit. Now we shop for me at second hand stores, in that I pass through clothing sizes about every two to three weeks, so it doesn't make sense to buy new clothes which will be too large for me in 2 to 3 weeks.

OK now here are some very personal ones...which you might not want to read so be forewarned.

I used to not be able to wash between the cheeks of my ass. Now that is no problem.

If you've been reading over at The Heron Clan you know how very much swan and I have come to enjoy OTK spanking. I couldn't do that before. You can't take someone over your lap for a spanking when you have no lap.

I am on hormone replacement therapy for testosterone. The Testosterone is a gelatinous clear semi-liquid that I rub on my butt, well I do today that is, now that I can reach my butt.

My penis is now 4 or 5 times longer than it was, and, no, I have not purchased any product advertised by spammers to accomplish that. If you have a 50 foot tall rocket and you bury 49 feet and 9 inches of sand (or more like it, fat) around it, it will appear to be a three inch bump. Now I am not claiming to have 50 feet, but I think the analogy works. And my previously retarded ejaculation....well it ain't retarded no more! Swan keeps telling me I'm like doing a 16 year old in the backseat of a Chevy. I keep asking her how she knows:)

I will likely think now of a couple of dozen more things, but the improvements are many and varied as you can see.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Cha...Cha..Cha...Changes!

2009-07-31T10:46:00.005-04:00

Kaya asked what changes do we see since the weight loss.

First for me was I can cross my legs like a normal person. I have NEVER been able to cross them like a lady....it has always been the ankle over a knee. I was STUNNED that I can do this and find I do it all the time now.

There are bones in my butt! Geesh, how do skinny people sit without poking bones thru' their butt cheeks? I feel like I have to haul a pillow around with me to keep from marring furniture with my sharp bits. I also have found rib bones....where in the HELL did those come from??

Shaving legs is easier. Scrubbing the tub is easier. Scrubbing out the fridge is easier. Bathing is easier. Sitting in normal chairs is easier and way more comfy. Trimming toe nails is easier. Getting 3 in a bed is easier.

We went to Red Lobster and I sat in a REAL BOOTH for the first time in years. And there was plenty of room between me and the table.

Walking is easier. Yesterday my office went to a baseball game. I was parked away from the elevator that we usually use, and thought I had 1 flight of stairs to climb....it was FOUR! And I did it without breaking a sweat or getting short of breath! I was pretty tickled about that.

I shortened the seat distance in my car because I have more room between me and the wheel. Sometimes I drove with the tips of my shoes, because my tummy was on the wheel.

Shopping is easier. Walking doesn't kill the knee like it used to. Yesterday, I was shopping and forgot to get something on the other side of the store. In the past, I would have deliberated whether that item was REALLY necessary or could I get it on the next trip....yesterday I didn't even think about it, I just hauled my bony butt across the store and back again. No sweat!

Being in public is easier. We look better, feel better, move better. We are perceived differently in professional settings.

I am sure there are MANY more differences and Tom will probably note quite a few, as well.

They say "Change is good".....suddenly I am all for it!

T

Pictues at Four Months.

2009-07-26T19:20:00.002-04:00

It has been four months since the surgery. Here are pictures, taken today. On the left, are pictures that we took in the days just before the surgery -- for comparison with the newest photos on the right...

Forerunner 101

2009-07-24T13:58:00.003-04:00

He and I have adopted walking as our exercise mode of choice. It is simple to do right here around our little condominium neighborhood, and being outside relaxes us and gets us to spend time talking with one another. It is relatively inexpensive. We have some decent shoes and socks that we invested in a number of years ago. We have headlights that we use if we happen to be walking after dark. We have some water bottles that T bought just before the surgery. That's it. Nothing fancy.

We have been using His watch (which has a stopwatch feature) to time ourselves as we walk, and we've long estimated that the path we follow is "about" a mile. Therefore, we could count laps, multiply -- and come up with an approximate distance we were walking. Hence, as we've moved up to walking four laps each day, we've calculated that we were covering four miles. Not a bad distance.

Now though, we have a new toy. He ordered a Garmin Forerunner 101 hand-held GPS unit, and we tried it out this morning. It tracks distance and time and a whole host of other interesting data. It is a neat addition to our walking gear. The very first bit of news that we got, using it on our walk today, is that our route is not quite a mile; it is actually only 0.85 of a mile. So, we haven't been walking 4 miles. We are closer to 3.4 miles. Ahhh well. Good to know.

swan

Entertaining Bariatric Style

2009-07-19T10:38:00.003-04:00

For the past 3 weeks I have been planning a surprise party for Tom's 91 year old father. He lives in a senior apartment complex. It is a very nice place, very reminiscent of an up-scale hotel. He lives in a 1 bedroom apartment and dines with the other "Inmates", as he calls them, in the main dining room. Since moving in, he has become great friends with many of the other "Inmates" and has even found himself a darling "Lady Friend".

A few weeks ago, someone asked "How do you handle food for gatherings/holidays?". I mentioned that I cook as usual, but Tom and I just eat less and enjoy the company more. But with this event having just happened, I thought I would expound...

The party was yesterday. At "The Home", as many of the "Inmates" call the complex, they have a happy hour every day at 4:30. They meet in the lobby bar and share a cocktail hour before going to dinner. This is where I planned the party. I called the family and got them organized then made invitations that I delivered to the complex and the staff passed them out for me. This was a surprise party, and I held my breath thinking that one of the "inmates" might slip and tell Dad-in-Law, but they all behaved very well.

I made simple appetizers and got a yummy store-bought cake. Our ex-wife brought finger sandwiches and a tuna salad with assorted cheese and toppings. I made tomato/mozzarella skewers, a shrimp mold, bought a veggie tray, and made a sugar-free punch.

We arrived at "The Home" and Sue and I did the setup. People started arriving and the staff started pouring cocktails. Sue and I were the greeters and Tom was with his Dad in his apartment so he would not wander out early.

At the appointed time, I called Tom and he brought DIL to the party. He was surprised alright. Even with everyone singing "Happy Birthday" and saying his name in the song, he thought it was all just a festive happy hour. Then Tom told him it was a surprise party for HIM, and pointed out that the entire family was there to share with him. I think he was very tickled.

Sue and I made plates for the less-mobile folks. And we all circulated, ready to assist when needed. Each resident brought a card, some brought gifts and a good time was had by all. Being a bit worried that dinner would not happen if we continued to feed them, we did the cake and candle blow-out and they all moved to the dining room for dinner. Tom and I carried the cake to the dining room and the staff was more than happy to cut cake and served it after dinner.

Tom and I were very involved at the party. He snacked a few appetizers and I had time for a glass of the blueberry lemonade punch. But for the most part, we circulated and chatted and assisted as needed. Neither of us felt deprived, and we came home comfortable, not queasy.

This was our first out-of-the-house party. I was a bit nervous that one of us might get sick when we tried this....but all was fine. And Sue was a fantastic support, not only to fussy me when the family was running late, but to the "Inmates" who absolutely adore her! One of the residents told another that we were Tom's Wife and Sister....well, I think of Sue as a Sister, but she is really more Wife than sister, but I was not going to cause a heart attack with that crowd!!

We cleaned up, put the lobby back to order, and decorated his apartment with the balloons and all of his lovely cards.

A good time was had by all!

T

Cheese Cake Recipe

2009-07-17T20:22:00.006-04:00

Morningstar mentioned that her Sir sometimes eats cheese cake -- and messes up His blood sugars with the indulgence. So, here, for morningstar, her Sir, and anyone else who might enjoy it, is a cheese cake recipe that I've been making for years. It can be made sugar free and relatively low fat. It is very simple to make, and absolutely pure and simple and yummy...

Cheese Cake --

3 eggs

3 packages (large) of cream cheese or Neufchatel (can use lowfat or fat free)

3/4 cup of sugar or Splenda (sugar free)

3/4 tsp vanilla

Blend ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth. Bake in a buttered, floured springform pan (I've also made this in a regular 9x13" pan) @ 375 degrees for 20 minutes. NOTE: Trust the times on this. Do not overbake.

Topping --

Large carton Sour Cream (can use lowfat or fat free)

3 Tbs. sugar or Splenda (sugar free)

3/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix the topping and spread over the top of the baked cheese cake. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Cool completely before serving.

90 Pound Loss reached

2009-07-12T16:12:00.003-04:00

I awakened today to find my weight has become 211 pounds. I began all this with a baseline weight of 301. Thus I have reached 90 pounds of weight loss.

Today t is down 67 pounds, and sue is down 15 pounds, so at this point the three of us have lost 172 pounds.

It won't be long before t drops below 200 pounds and in a few weeks I'll reach 201 pounds which will represent my having lost 100 pounds, and then in two pounds further loss, I will drop below 200 pounds myself.

This is starting to get "serious":)

Thank you for your support.

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Learning to Live in a New World

2009-07-11T15:25:00.002-04:00

We are approaching the 4th month anniversary of Tom and Teresa's surgery date. They are both seeing amazing physical changes as their weight drops day by day, and week by week. Now that they are pretty well through the physical recovery phase of all of this, we are finding that we are increasingly confronted by the other changes that are becoming more and more a part of our lives.

One of the biggest adjustments that is being driven by the post-surgical changes is that we are learning to figure out how to be social in the world without the very common lubricant of food.

Think about all the places where food is an integral part of our social lives. Most holidays revolve around food, or have traditional foods at their center: turkey at Thanksgiving, Christmas cookies, Easter eggs, barbecue at the 4th of July. Here, in the heartland, summer is the season for community festivals, and festivals are all about food: corn on the cob, and turkey drumsticks, funnel cakes, and lemonade. If you go to the movies, there is popcorn. If you go toa friend's wedding, or a bar mitzvah, or a funeral, there will be food in abundance. We meet for dinner and drinks, and we do business over lunch. We make birthday cakes, and we give chocolates to our sweethearts.

For Tom and Teresa, food has become something to be approached very deliberately and with purpose. There is the daily need to consume an adequate quantity of protein, and that must be accomplished within the constraints of what they can actually consume in terms of quantity. Right now, neither of them are able to eat more than about 1/3 of a cup of food at a single sitting. There are still a number of foods that simply do not go down well. Every bite has to be eaten with conscious intent.

So food can't serve as the social lubricant anymore. Food has to be FOOD. It is necessitating a complete re-examination for us all of the place of eating in our lives. We are learning to be social by being social rather than by eating with others. It is an interesting shift. Feels like a whole other level of living an alternative lifestyle.

swan

Applesauce

2009-07-09T16:20:00.001-04:00

Long before the surgeries, I got into the habit of making applesauce for our family. Nothing fancy -- just plain, honest, simple applesauce like the kind that I think my grandmother might have made, and like the kind that Master's mother used to make. My version is sugar free... It has become a staple of life in our post surgical culinary world.

Here, if you are interested, is the "recipe" for this comfy food:

Apples (3-4 pounds) quartered, cored, and peeled.
Splenda sweetener (about 1 cup)
Water
Cinnamon (1-2 teaspoons to taste)

Quarter, core, and peel the apples. I use a mixture -- usually half Granny Smith and half Red Delicious. Cut up the apples and put them into a large pan. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and come up about 1/3 of the height of the apples. Add the cinammon and the Splenda and cook, uncovered, stiring occasionally, until apples are softened and the liquid is reduced. This process generally takes 20-30 minutes. Watch to ensure that the sauce doesn't boil dry. When the apples have softened, mash them to make an applesauce consistency. I like mine with a few lumps left, but suit yourself.
The cooled applesauce can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, and it freezes well.

Alien?

2009-07-05T18:51:00.008-04:00

I want to mostly talk about the hernia that Tom has developed at the site of the main incision from His bariatric surgery, but before I get to that, I wanted to give you another look at how significant the physical changes that we are seeing really are. Three months ago, on Sunday, April 5, we took some pictures of the, then pretty new, belly wounds. Of course, you cannot take pictures of "belly wounds" without also taking a picture of the belly. Back in April, the belly was something to behold...

Today, the belly is much smaller. Take a look...

But, as slim as He is getting, there is this hernia that is beginning to look like something right out of a science fiction movie. Our primary care doctors do not seem to think that this "critter" is presenting any immediate medical problem, but it really does seem to be getting bigger day by day, and He is beginning to talk about consulting with the surgeon who did the stomach bypass about correcting this...

Independence Day Update

2009-07-03T16:35:00.002-04:00

What with tomorrow's celebration of the 4th of July, Independence Day, here in the U. S., I thought it would be a good time to record how we three are progressing in our weight loss.

Today my weight reached 215 pounds, a weight loss of 86. t has lost some more and her loss now totals 61 pounds. swan is now down 15 pounds (without weight loss surgery).

Thus we three are now down 162 pounds total for the whole family since we began all this last March.

Everything seems quite well in terms of all of our heath including considerable health improvements for all three of us. The one 'glitch" so far is that I have developed a very noticeable hernia not far below my rib cage where the original incision was for the "hand assist" by the surgeon during my procedure and then re cut again when they opened me up to drain my infection. It is very noticeable, and seems to be even more so over time, whether that is a result of growth in the herniation, or greater relative prominence as I lose more weight. My primary care doc has seen it and has said it is a hernia and not in need of any sort of immediate medical/surgical intervention. It doesn't hurt. I see my bariatric surgeon for a 4 month check four weeks from today and I plan to discuss his remedying this. I imagine that means another surgery to repair the hernia, although those typically are out patient and not a difficult recovery.

Maybe I'll ask swan to take a picture of this beast so we can record this further anomaly to my ruen Y gastric bypass experience.

Thank you all of those who continue to show concern for us by reading here, and for all your truly gratifying expressions of support.

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Pictures at Three Months

2009-06-24T21:17:00.005-04:00

As we mark the three month anniversary of the date of the surgeries, the weight loss we are seeing is amazing. As Tom reported, He is 81.5 pounds less than when He started, and T is down 59 pounds. They both look fantastic!

Three Month Anniversary of our surgeries and counting

2009-06-23T11:16:00.003-04:00

Today is the third one month "anniversary" of t's and my gastric by-pass surgeries March 23. I awakened to a weigh in of 219.5 pounds. This is only one and a half pounds down from my 221 pound weight yesterday. Sometimes I get this sudden significant weight loss event phenomenon just as sometimes I get frozen at a weight for four or five days, or even regain some weight. The significance of this development, more than my being 81.5 pounds less than when I started, is that I am now into the "two hundred teens" in my weight, which does seem pretty wild having exceeded 300 pounds three months ago. When I lose another twenty pounds my weight will be in the one hundred pound plus range:) This really is beginning to seem like progress.

My t is down 59 and my swan 14. We are 154.5 pounds down combining our entire family's weight loss.

Thank you all again for your interest, kind words and thoughts, and support.

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

New Milestone and Significant Progress

2009-06-22T11:50:00.004-04:00

I awakened this morning to see the magic number 221 pounds on my bathroom scale. The magic involved with those three digits is that March 9 that same scale read 301 pounds during a fasting morning weigh in. I have just reached the 80 pound weight loss milestone.

Too t, who has struggled as she has progressed through the 50's in her weight loss, has just had a larger than usual drop. She was down 59 pounds as of this morning.

swan too is now down 14 pounds (you'll recall that swan did not have weight loss surgery.)

So combined the Heron Clan has now lost 153 pounds since March.

Tomorrow, June 23, will be the third anniversary of t's and my surgeries.

Thank you all once again for your interest and support here and in your personal communications and email.

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Tom's Dr. Appointment

2009-06-19T14:29:00.003-04:00

Tom had an appointment with our PCP/Infectious Disease Docs today. The wounds are looking great. He has to have a fasting blood test because they might be taking him off of his cholesterol medication. He is already on the lowest blood pressure medication and they will reevaluate that on his next visit.

They all "oooh'd and ahhhh'd" all over him. He looks FABULOUS! But that is just from us....it is always better coming from others, me thinks. And they don't want to see him for 2 months!

Also, he has a hernia from the abdominal surgery. They are not concerned about it, but will keep an eye on it anyhoo.

He is down nearly 80 pounds and I am still dancing around 57 pounds.

So There!

T

One More Milestone passes Behind Us

2009-06-12T19:22:00.002-04:00

This morning I awakened to a weigh in of 225.5. That means I have lost 75.5 pounds. I feel like surpassing the 75 pound weight loss mark is a major milestone.

Too t is now down 57 pounds and her increasing slimness is showing as she has finally gotten past here plateau.

swan, who left today for Denver to visit her new little one, is down 13 pounds. She and I are walking daily and often managing a distance of 3 miles (in 58 minutes or less thank you very much:)

Thus we three are now totalling 145 pounds weight loss for the entire family:)

Thank you all for your wonderful support in noticing our progress and commenting on it.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

More Milestones

2009-06-08T16:16:00.002-04:00

I awakened to have achieved a weight of 229. This is only 2 pounds down from a week ago, so not a huge step, but I am very pleased to have reached beyond the 230's down into the 220 pound range.

Way more importantly my t awakened to realize she had suddenly lost 3 pounds. She has been "stuck" for about two weeks fluctuating up and down a pound or so. It is very reinforcing for her to have finally seen a result.

So now t has lost 56 pounds. I am down 72 pounds. sue continues to hold with her 12 pound loss. Thus we have now had a total of 140 pounds weight loss between the three of us.

Thank you again for all the support.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Latest Milstone

2009-06-01T08:18:00.004-04:00

I awakened this morning to perform my daily nude, fasting weigh in and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a the numbers "231" staring back at me on our digital scale. My baseline weight was 301. I have reached a total loss of 70 pounds this morning which is precisely 10 weeks from the morning of our surgery Monday, March 23.

One more milestone behind us in our progress.

Today too, t was down 53 pounds, another pound gone as her weight loss has slowed, making each pound she loses a precious achievement for her.

I think swan is still down 12 pounds. (I didn't actually ask her her weight status this morning. Inquiring of our family member who didn't have weight loss surgery frequently seems inappropriate. We will be very pleased when t or I, either one of us, gets down to swan's BMI.)

That means the three of us are down a total of 135 pounds between us:)

Anyway I have breached the 70 pound weight loss mark for the first time:)

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

We are Ten Weeks Today!

2009-05-31T16:47:00.003-04:00

Here are some photo "collages" that give a sense of where we are with this process. Today, Master and Teresa are ten weeks post-operative. These picture sets show them at 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and 10 weeks.

swan

Yesterday's Endocrinologist Visit

2009-05-27T08:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I had my first post-surgical visit with my "endo." The result is I am now off all diabetes medication and have ceased the small remaining does of diuretic I was on, and the requisite potassium dose I had to take along with the diuretic. That means three more prescription meds I was taking have been discontinued. When I take my morning and evening pills now, it is an experience that is laughably simple compared to two months ago. She hypothesized that my monthly drug expense is reduced well over $2000.00. This should quickly enable my insurer to make up the cost of the surgery and post-surgical care I had, and to have a large net savings over time.

She said that my blood sugar numbers are in a range that would be classified as "pre-diabetic": not even high enough to support a diabetes diagnosis:)

My weight is holding at the level I had last weekend. That is fine. I am confident it will go down as the week progresses.

Thank you for your interest and support.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

2009-05-25T18:09:00.002-04:00

We are eight weeks post-operative and feeling better and better. Life is beginning to resemble what will, eventually become "normal" for our household, and we are making strides toward learning how to live this new life we've been given. Holidays, like today (Memorial Day) which used to be for big cookouts and serious feasting do present some emotional/intellectual challenges, but we are figuring it out. Today, we went to the Cincinnati Reds baseball game, and with a few appropriate snacks that we carried to the park with us, we had a very nice, very comfortable time... Life is good and getting better!

swan

Living in the Closet

2009-05-23T23:13:00.002-04:00

About three years ago, I spent a chunk of my summer vacation time sorting out all of the accumulated clothing that Master had accumulated as His weight fluctuated up and down ... shorts, shirts, pants, sweaters, and jackets ranging from size 38 to size 50. By the time I was done I had four gigantic Rubbermaid bins full to the very top. The bins are equipped with wheels which is a good thing because when the bins are full, they are too heavy for me to move.

As we've gone through the rapid weight loss of the last couple of months, I've begun to drag the giant bins back in from the garage, and start wading through them and restocking His closet with clothes that fit. From 52's to 50's to 48's to 46's, His pant size has steadily dropped. That has also been true with shirts as He's come down from 3X and 19-1/2 inch neck sizes to 2x and size 18 necks. This weekend, once again, I've been in the closet, pulling out all the things that are too big, and replacing them with things that do fit. I've removed every pair of pants larger than size 48, and all the shirts that are larger than an 18" neck. I have 13 trash bags full of items to haul to the local Goodwill donation center -- and there's more to do!

They never told us that we'd spend the first year after surgery living in the damn closet!

swan

Memorial Day Weekend Update

2009-05-23T13:58:00.003-04:00

As we begin the three day long Memorial day weekend here in the states, I thought I'd check in with the latest update.

My weigh in today featured me at 235 pounds meaning I have lost a total of 66 pounds since March 9. T is down 50 and Sue down 12 for a total now of 128 pounds lost between the three of us.

t is not happy her weight loss is slowing. This may well be our seeing the differential effects of the gastric sleeve procedure the surgeon was forced to choose for her mid- procedure because of her medical history, and my rouen Y gastric by-pass which is more invasive and "radical." She has undergone a procedure which significantly reduces her stomach capacity, where as I have undergone a procedure which not only reduces my stomach capacity (to even a greater extent than hers), but also the removal of 35% to 40% of my intestine creating malabsorption of nutrients I eat. Her results may be as great as mine, but they will likely be achieved more slowly than I will reach mine.

Our t is doing what she needs to do to take care of herself, and she needs to remember that we love her now just as we did before the surgery, and as we will when she loses oven more. This was never a competition, but a quest for better health for us both (and our swan).

So the saga goes on. We have decided to go to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game Monday afternoon so that we will not be sitting around here mourning the absence of our traditional Memorial Day cook out feast, which were we to prepare it, we could never eat.

Thank you again to all of you who have supported us through this process. We are well and well- along:)

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Yet More Progress

2009-05-19T10:50:00.002-04:00

I wrote yesterday that I had reached (barely) the 230's range for my weight. I talked about how I had been stuck in a weight loss plateau in the low 240's range. I awakened this morning to get on the scale thinking, OK I'll be glad if I simply haven't regained weight (my weight has been so labile lately). I stepped on the scale and low and behold, I weighed 237.5 pounds. I am down a whopping two pounds from yesterday, without my having done anything exceptional yesterday. Thus I am now down a whopping 63.5 pounds from my baseline. Interestingly my work schedule yesterday got in the way of my exercising, beyond my regular daily activities. I guess we can hypothesize that the weight loss plateau is past. It will be interesting to see if my weight loss continues in this accelerated fashion.

Thank you again everyone for your support.

Tom

One Further Minor Step Froward

2009-05-18T16:05:00.002-04:00

This morning I weighed 239.5 lbs. Now this is only 1.5 pounds less than I weighed a couple days ago when I was touting that I was 60 pounds down from my starting weight, but it is a milestone. It is in the 230's (just barely) not the 240's! It seemed earlier on that the weight just flew off me, but this last 10 pounds has seemed to just drag on. I felt like I would never slog my way through the 240's, so this morning when a number with a "3" in the second digit place appeared, I gave a mild yahoo ( a very mild one...I'm neither very enthusiastic or vociferous at 5:45AM.)

Anyway I am down to the 230's and feeling way glad to have the 240 range in the rear view mirror of this experience.

All the best everyone and thanks for your support,

Tom

The Next Milestone

2009-05-16T21:37:00.002-04:00

Today when we pried ourselves out of bed (not until 10:00 AM, God I love weekends:) I did my usual first thine morning weigh in. I was 241 pounds. This means that at long last I have finally reached the 60 pound weight loss milestone. My weight loss which had been so rapid at first, has now slowed so I am glad that I finally got here.

T is now down 53 pounds and swan down 12 pounds so we are at a family total of 165 pounds weight loss. This is starting to sound serious!

My eating is getting easier. I am finally learning to sense when I am reaching the capacity of my new stomach and realizing that that means STOP! Don't eat another bite! The consequences of continuing involve a serious stomach ache nausea and sometimes vomiting which may last as long as an hour. It is comforting to finally have accomplished this learning well enough that most of my "meals" don't result in my feeling like I have been hit in the stomach with a cinder block.

Also, when sue and I took one of our walks today, I managed to complete two laps of our complex (equivalent to two miles). While this is hardly a marathon, we accomplished this in less time than one mile required when we first began trying to walk, not long after I was released from the hospital. It too is only a beginning, but it is significant progress.

Thank again for all the support here that has meant so much to all three of us as we are progressing through this.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

Calcium Supplements

2009-05-15T17:29:00.002-04:00

One of our ongoing concerns -- something that we will forevermore need to be attentive to, is calcium intake. The bypasses that were done to alter the digestive systems for Master and for T create a variety of malabsorption issues, and so it becomes necessary to carefully and routinely supplement certain vitamins and minerals.

There are a variety of options for the calcium citrate that is needed. Neither master nor T were very happy about the initially recommended chewable calcium tablets. They were gritty and simply not very easy to handle, AND they had to each manage to chomp through 6 everyday. It was just too much.

The first thing that we tried, as an alternative, was the Bluebonnet brand liquid calcium. Master likes this one OK, and it only requires two "shot glass" size servings a day to get Him what He needs.

T was not as taken with the liquid, and she's had far more extensive upset stomach problems than Himself. She has found that she does better with the Bariatric Advantage chewy calcium citrate bites in chocolate flavor. She has to take a bunch of them, but they are close enough to candy that it works for her.

So, at least for now, we've got that part of all of this handled.

swan

A Handsome Man!

2009-05-13T22:01:00.002-04:00

T and I are finally convincing Himself that He really needs to keep transitioning into the smaller clothing sizes that FIT Him now. He's feeling better and better, and with the wound VAC gone, it is much easier to really dress for His professional role.

This morning, He had a "serious" meeting to attend, and so was up and dressed and looking wonderful as I was preparing to leave for school. I just couldn't resist snapping this picture of the handsome Man that is emerging in our world these days.

What a really nice image to have as we all head off to work!

swan

A good day....

2009-05-11T21:11:00.002-04:00

Today, for the first time in weeks, I ate food and was not sick to my stomach. Usually the smell or the look of something would make me queasy. But, not today.

I ate normal foods and nothing made my stomach ache. Nothing made me cough and wretch.

I had Instant Breakfast and OJ. I had about 1 tbsp of peanut butter for my snack. I had 1/4 cup of BBQ Beef at lunch. I had a string cheese for snack. And dinner was 1/2 of a small cheeseburger (no bun, just catsup) with a tbsp of cottage cheese and a few slices of fresh pear.

Tonight, Sue made homemade chocolate pudding and I am looking forward to that!

Maybe I have turned the bend. We shall see.

T

We Ate Burgers!

2009-05-11T21:06:00.002-04:00

Well, OK.

These are not the burgers that we used to eat, and they are surely not the same as what you might buy at any fast food place, but for us, these little burgers were a real achievement.

The burgers I grilled tonight are smaller than what we used to make, and I found these wonderful, skinny little buns. Bread is such an issue for the new tummys that anytime we can find bread that is lighter and thinner than usual, it is a great plus. I toasted these, added some lowfat cheese, and then Master and T each ate about 1/3 of a burger.

Served up with some thin sliced tomatoes and lowfat cottage cheese and a few slices of fresh pear, and we had what felt like a feast! Just the approximation of real food is a huge step forward for this family, and we're loving it.

Oh yeah, and we did it up big with candles on the table.

swan

"Pizza"

2009-05-08T09:21:00.000-04:00

Feeding the "new" tummys that we have in this place is a real challenge. At this point there is still some real sensitivity to spicy foods, and many meats are pretty challenging. We are really focused on getting enough protein everyday, and managing to make that happen between the limits to quantity and the limitations in what is "edible" at this stage is an interesting proposition. Too, what works one day might very well not be any good at all the next day. Arrrghhhh!

Anyway, both Master and T have been talking about pizza lately. And real pizza, the kind you order out for and have some nice kid deliver it to your door, is just not in the cards. So, I've been contemplating the problem of "pizza" in our new world.

Here's what I came up with -- bariatric pizza...

Suzie's Spelt Flat Breads with Italian Herbs
Olive Oil
Classico Sauce -- Tomato and Basil
Sliced Provolone Cheese (2 slices)
Shredded Lowfat Mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Lou's Famous Oven Roasted Chicken Sausage -- Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic
Wellshire Canadian Style Seasoned Uncured Turkey Bacon
Sliced Pepperoni

Preheat oven to 425. Thinnly slice the sausage and brown in a pan sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Set aside. Cut the Canadian Bacon into small dice and brown using Pam. Set aside.

Assemble the pizzas --

Lay flat breads on a cookie sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil. Spread a heaping spoonful of sauce on each flat bread. Top each "pizza" with toppings of choice (sausage, Canadian bacon, or pepperoni). Put provolone, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses on each pizza and place into preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Serve hot.

Bariatric portion -- 1 pizza.

End of my First Week!

2009-05-07T20:07:00.003-04:00

I am not as tired as I expected, but I am TIRED! As most of you know, I work 4, 10 hour days and am off Fri., Sat., & Sun. So when I started back to work, it was to a 10 hour day. Not a bad week....honestly.

I am in the process of cleaning out my closet tonight. Tomorrow I will run several bags of 3x, 4x, and 24-26 clothes to the local thrift store. Everything is in good condition, most in excellent condition, but I am not too sorry to see it all go!

I have a few items that I am not going to part with though. All of my BDSM/Poly Tees are staying. They are HUGE, but there is a story or an event behind each one. I might not be able to wear them, but I am thinking about making pillows or a wall hanging or something out of them. Stay tuned.

I am keeping my 2 work hoodies. They are beyond HUGE, fitting like dresses....but I love them. Nothing better to snuggle in on a cold night or when a migraine strikes.

I have a pair of pink fleece jammies that Sue got me several years ago. They used to fit perfectly and were ever so soooooft. Now they look silly, but I still love them, because they are from our Sue.

All that will be left will be about 3 pairs of pants, 1 pair of crop pants, and 7 tops. All of that in a walk-in master closet. I could rent it out for extra income! It fairly echoes in there.

Also: UPDATE! Tom is down 58 pounds and I am down 52 pounds. It sounds weird to say that out loud. But I can live with it!

T

We've Graduated

2009-05-06T08:54:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the visiting nurse saw Tom and formally and officially released Him from their care. She packed up the remaining supplies and the wound VAC, and prepared it to be shipped back to the company. It will be picked up today. She declared that the remaining wound seems clean and free of infection, so the latest antibiotic seems to be doing its job. There will be no more nurse visits. We need only to change the wound dressing each day until it heals, and that should be the end of that. Perhaps another 4-6 weeks. He will see the doctor tomorrow to have the infection looked at again.

Both are still coping with unsettled and unreliable tummys. Hopefully that will resolve with time, but we do seem to be stepping ever so gradually toward some sort of normal life again.

And the weight loss continues. I'll have to leave it to Tom and Teresa to report numbers -- I can't keep up!

Six Weeks

2009-05-03T21:45:00.002-04:00

It is exactly 6 weeks since the surgery.

We've had a good weekend. Although, Teresa continues to struggle with upset stomach issues, we have managed to get out to see a local community theater production, and to have our first dinner party with Tom's extended family -- kids, kids' significant others, grandpa and his significant other. Teresa fixed ham and Honey Baked turkey breast, au gratin potatoes, and some broccoli slaw.

The kids had birthday gifts for Tom and a mother's day gift for Teresa.

We had some great conversation and lots of laughter. It was a nice evening.

Yesterday, we went through Tom's closet and sorted out 5 trash bags full of clothing that will be donated to the local Thrift. He is two pants sizes down, and the big issue right now is finding a belt that will work to keep those smaller pants up. Luckily, Tom is a "pack rat" and we have lots and lots and lots of clothes for Him, down through probably 8 or 10 sizes. It is just going to be a matter of finding time to unpack all the bins that I so painstakingly packed up a couple of summers ago. I am imagining that much of what is in there will need to be laundered and pressed before it is really wearable, but I am glad that it is all saved and organized.

Here are the latest photos of the two rapidly vanishing family members. I am not sure what's up with my camera, so they are darker than I like, but still show the changes we are seeing. As of today, Teresa has lost 50 pounds, Tom has lost 56 pounds, and I've lost 12-1/2 pounds.

Infection Update

2009-04-30T15:04:00.002-04:00

Last week, when we went to our PCP/Infections Disease Doc., they did a test on the inside of Tom's largest wound. We got the results back yesterday and he has a secondary infection. Cipro was prescribed and started last night. HUGE PILLS. We no longer can do any pills larger than a shirt button. First we cut them in half. Today it was in fourths. And Tom says they taste terrible.

Today was the return to the PCP/IDD, and he explained the situation and they have prescribed Liquid Cipro. Whew! A relief. And the wound VAC is done, as far as the PCP/IDD is concerned. So as long as the surgeon agrees tomorrow, the VAC is history!

His smallest wound is scabbed over and looks like a belly dimple. I am telling everyone that he is a bad-ass and it is a bullet wound. The larger one is about 1/2 centimeter deep and about 2x4 centimeters in diameter. We are doing wet/dry dressings 2 times a day, although the PCP/IDD says we really only have to change it 1 time daily. What a difference this makes for Tom. Not having to haul the "man-bag" around and having to plug into the walls, when possible. You just don't notice how free and spontaneous we all are until you are tethered.

I am still working on the tummy thing for me. Food sucks. I can throw-up something as simple as water. We have the surgeon tomorrow and I might be getting another anti-nausea medication, Zofran (Phenergen tastes HORRIBLE and makes me sleepy).

Today, Tom is having food issues. He is still able to eat, just less than before and he gets an upset stomach easily. He is not as bad as I am, but I wonder if this is a "phase" and we will get over it. Hope so, since it sucks.

That's all folks!

T

Back to Work

2009-04-28T14:17:00.002-04:00

Today, Tom and I got ready and BOTH WENT TO WORK. Normally this would be a "yawn", but this is US!

Tom went into the office for about 3 1/2 hours. He loaded the car and drove himself into the office. I was about 10 minutes away, so if he needed me, I could get to him. He didn't, and he is coming back to this side of town to take his Dad to the Dr. A good day!

I went in for 2 hours. I just wanted to clean up my work email before returning to full-time work on Monday. Good thing I did, I had 220 emails. About 60% work related, about 35% crap, and about 5% offers to make my penis larger. I work for a major insurance company. Sometimes the emails I exchange with Tom and Sue (from work) will not go through because of the security/encryption programs....BUT I CAN GET PENIS-ENLARGEMENT OFFERS, nooooooo problem!

My co-workers were stunned by my appearance. I am down 45 pounds, 3 sizes, and can cross my legs like a normal person. I also have found that when you have less ass, chairs are damned uncomfortable! I think I might have to start carting around a butt-pad!

A good day... how cool is that?

T

Monday Update

2009-04-27T13:50:00.002-04:00

As of this morning.....

Tom has lost 54 pounds.

Teresa has lost 44 pounds.

Sue has lost 11 pounds. (together, we have lost a "Super-Model")

If Tom continues to progress as he is, the wound VAC might be history in 2 more days.

I am having tummy troubles. Most foods make me sick to my stomach. Cottage cheese and applesauce are my friends. Probably calling the nutritionist to see what can be done.

That's the scoop!

T

Good Days!

2009-04-24T10:57:00.003-04:00

We had a PCP visit yesterday. Our PCP is an Infectious Disease specialist and she is taking over Tom's care, regarding the infection. They did a test on the larger wound and will get results in a few days, but she did not seem to be concerned about the look of everything. And has a follow-up visit with her scheduled for next week. He has also had a BUNCH of drugs discontinued (see below). Today the wound VAC was reinstalled over the larger wound only. It has been a good few days.

Over the counter supplements and medications--
daily multiple vitamin (converted to chewable) - CANCELLED
aspirin (81 mg/ once daily) for heart health
glucosamine (1500 mg/twice daily) for joint health - CANCELLED
chromium (200 mcg/once daily) to increase glucose tolerance - CANCELLED
CoQ-10 (50 mg/twice daily) for heart health - CANCELLED
Saw Palmetto (540 mg/once daily) for prostate health - CANCELLED
D3 and K2 (1000 IU/once daily) for bone support
MagOx (400 mg)/once daily for acid indigestion - CANCELLED
Zyrtec for allergies related to Bi-PAP use
Calcium Citrate

Prescription medications--
actos (30 mg/once daily) diabetes
janumet (50 mg/1000 mg/twice daily) diabetes - CANCELLED
ultram (100 mg/twice daily) arthritis pain
celebrex (200 mg/twice daily) arthritis pain - CANCELLED
zetia (10 mg/ once daily) cholesterol
welchol (625 mg/ 6 times daily) cholesterol - CANCELLED
vesicare (5mg/once daily) prostate health
lovaza (1 gm/once daily) cholesterol - CANCELLED
gabapentin (100 mg/three times daily) meuralgia nerve pain - CANCELLED
diovan hct (320 /25 mg once daily) high blood pressure
furosemide (40 mg/ twice daily) edema
potassium cl (10MEQ / twice daily) required with furosemide
protonix (40 mg / once daily) GERD - CANCELLED
folbic (once daily) diabetic neuropathy
flonase (once daily) allergies related to use of Bi-PAP
Androgel (once daily) hormone replacement
Lidoderm patch (once daily) meuralgia nerve pain - CANCELLED

I had my blood pressure medication reduced; cancelled Celebrex; cancelled lovaza.

We are on the mend and full steam ahead!

T

Hippo Birdies my Darling Man!

2009-04-23T10:33:00.002-04:00

Tom's original birth date is April 23, 1949....but THIS YEAR is his RE-Birth date! He is down 51.5 pounds and is as handsome as ever.

So a rousing cheer from the wiffie!

Hippo Birdies two Ewe
Hippo Birdies two Ewe
Hippo Birdies Deer Toooooommmm
Hippo Birdies two Ewe

Mores & Mores!

T

About Drugs -- Change we can See

2009-04-22T09:35:00.000-04:00

Before the surgery, we listed the drugs that Master was taking and hoped that, as weigh loss occured and improved health began to be the reality, we'd see a decrease in the medications He was taking. Here's where we stand at this point (discontinued medications are shown in red). Some of these have been discontinued because they were simply too difficult to swallow and the condition they were intended to address seems to have improved or righted itself... There's a series of doctor's appointments scheduled in the next few weeks that may eliminate others. At this point, this amounts to an almost 35% reduction in the number of medications He's using...

Over the counter supplements and medications--
daily multiple vitamin (converted to chewable)
aspirin (81 mg/ once daily) for heart health
glucosamine (1500 mg/twice daily) for joint health
chromium (200 mcg/once daily) to increase glucose tolerance
CoQ-10 (50 mg/twice daily) for heart health
Saw Palmetto (540 mg/once daily) for prostate health
D3 and K2 (1000 IU/once daily) for bone support
MagOx (400 mg)/once daily for acid indigestion
Zyrtec for allergies related to Bi-PAP use

Prescription medications--
actos (30 mg/once daily) diabetes
janumet (50 mg/1000 mg/twice daily) diabetes
ultram (100 mg/twice daily) arthritis pain
celebrex (200 mg/twice daily) arthritis pain
zetia (10 mg/ once daily) cholesterol
welchol (625 mg/ 6 times daily) cholesterol
vesicare (5mg/once daily) prostate health
lovaza (1 gm/once daily) chloesterol
gabapentin (100 mg/three times daily) meuralgia nerve pain
diovan hct (320 /25 mg once daily) high blood pressure
furosemide (40 mg/ twice daily) edema
potassium cl (10MEQ / twice daily) required with furosemide
protonix (40 mg / once daily) GERD
folbic (once daily) diabetic neuropathy
flonase (once daily) allergies related to use of Bi-PAP
Androgel (once daily) hormone replacement
Lidoderm patch (once daily) meuralgia nerve pain

Why I Had a Sleeve Gastrectomy instead of Roux-en-Y

2009-04-20T21:13:00.002-04:00

I have been asked this before and am not sure I ever responded....so here goes.

In 2000, I had diverticulitis. During a prep for a colonoscopy, my bowel ruptured. I just thought I was sick to my stomach (as usual) and the increased temperature didn't really strike me as being much worse than the one I was running on a normal basis. Tom was at a meeting and when he got home, he called the Dr. who said to stop drinking the prep and just come in for the procedure as scheduled. We had an alarm set for 5am and when it rang, I fell to the floor when getting out of bed. I could not stand because of the abdominal pain, so Tom dressed me on the floor and took me to the emergency room. Nothing touched the pain...even with a butt-load of morphine, I could still feel the vibration of rubber soles walking in the hall!

I had emergency surgery later that evening to repair the rupture. They removed 8 inches of my colon, gave me a colostomy (reversed 4 months later), and found that my peritoneal abscess was MRSA. I was in Intensive Care for 8 days and the surgeon gave little hope of my recovering. Then I was in quarantine in a standard room for another 10 days, since they were concerned about someone leaving my room and giving another patient MRSA. Finally went home on IV antibiotics (Vancomicin) 2 times a day, daily dressing changes for the gaping hole in my stomach (no wound VAC back then), home health nurses 3 times a week, and the most patient & loving "Nurse Tom" a gal could ever ask for.

Since that surgery and colostomy reversal, I have had 4 hernias along the main surgical scar and another hernia at the reversal site. I am LOADED with mesh to keep from having further hernias (I have had a total of 7, so far).

To have the Roux-en-Y surgery, one needs to have a decent intestinal tract. For Tom, they removed 8 feet of intestine and most of his stomach. They then stretched the remaining intestine to attach to the bottom of his stomach pouch.

I do not have a decent intestinal tract. It is fill of scar tissue, adhesions, and mesh. I always knew it was a possibility that I would have the gastric sleeve, but did not know for sure until I woke in recovery.

So that is my tale of woe. I have received a call from my surgeon's nurse who says "Don't worry...this is normal....and we WILL get it covered....it will just take some time." So I am working on not worrying.

Thanks!

T

Another Update.....

2009-04-20T10:04:00.003-04:00

Ok...ok...ok.... I am posting!

Friday evening I got the mail and found the EOBs for our surgeries. Tom's was covered 100% and mine was NOT covered. It was too late to talk to anyone about this and I have been a fuss-fidget all weekend. I left messages for our Case Mgr at the insurance co and our surgeon's office.

Got a call from our Case Mgr first thing this morning.....she was all "I will help, I can take care of this...." UNTIL I mentioned that my Roux-En-Y had been converted to a Sleeve at the last minute.... I practically heard her brakes slam down over the phone. She says "Oh no....that is experimental and not covered...not sure what I can do.... Call your surgeon....bye" (Not quite so harshly, but that was what I heard).

I called the surgeon's office and explained what was going on....And this is where I heard "This claim will probably be denied several times, but DO NOT WORRY, we will get this covered and paid for. We do this ALL THE TIME....and it might take awhile, but it will be taken care of... Don't you worry, just get well!" Ahhhhhhhh...... Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my surgeon and his staff???

Today we had a new home nurse to do Tom's VAC change. She was very nice and very thorough, but she wasn't our NORMAL nurse. So she didn't really have a basis for comparison. Tom has a small area (think clock.... area between 5 and 7) that is reddened and firmer and a tad warmish. Something to watch, as it could be the natural healing process, could be beginning of infection (although temp is perfect), or possible celuitis. The best would be the natural healing process....the worse might involve debriding as an outpatient or inpatient for a few days. I will watch his "ouchie" like a hawk and pray it is natural. It was not like this during last change on Friday.

I seem to be in a holding pattern with my weight. I put on a pound last week (how in the hell does that happen when I am eating less in a week that I used to eat in one day???) I am going to start with the stationary bike and treadmill this week. Maybe I need more exercise than just walking...who knows?

For those who have mentioned shopping-therapy.....I have. I already have enough pants to get me through for a few months. But my tops look silly, I have bought a few to get by. Next is a bra. Mine is a riot. If I lift my arms, I might strangle myself....it is that loose. I am using a sports bra now, but that is almost too big.

Swan is trying some of the recipes on the EggFace blog. Last night we had a small crab item (made in mini-muffin pans) that was like a cross between crab rangoon and egg foo young. Tasty. Tom ate 3 and I ate 1 1/2. I found a recipe for BAKED Falafal and am going to make it for tonight. With a cucumber/yogurt sauce and hummus on the side....sounds tasty to me.

That is it for me. I am off to the shower.

T

Milestones and trudging on

2009-04-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

I want to apologize to those of you who have been so dedicated to us here as we go through this, who have had to ask us for an update because it had been so long since we posted anything. swan's post "Trudge" aptly summarized how this feels now. I am still hooked to the wound vac machine 24/7. I am slowly seeing signs I am better but, not at all feeling well. Today I am 24 hours without pain med. I had quit pain medications once before but then found that pain kicked back up when I started with the wound vac. I seem to be tolerating it fine now without any pain medication. I am sure the absence of that med will mean that I will feel better today and in the future.

Also I awakened this morning to do my morning fasting weigh in and low and behold, I am at 251.0 pounds. When we began our pre-surgical diet two weeks before the surgery (March 9) my baseline weight was 301. Thus, I have achieved 50 pounds weight loss in roughly 6 weeks. As dramatic as that is, I feel like I've earned each pound I've lost.

Friday and Saturday here were beautiful with highs around 70 degrees F and sunshine. Each day I got us out for a walk. T went with sue and I on Friday. Saturday it was just sue and I. We took the "full circuit." There is a hiking route around our condo complex I like to walk. I had been out a couple of times before this and had done an abbreviated version of it trying to build my stamina. The full circuit we think is a little more than a mile. Each time it took me about an hour. Yes that's right it took me about an hour to walk 1.1 miles. How's that for slow! And when I was finished I was every bit as exhausted as a marathon runner who'd finished his race. It is difficult to fathom how weak I am or how little stamina I have. Then yesterday most of the day I had trouble walking at all. That little bit of exercise and my legs, ever part of them, were both so stiff and sore that it was dificult to walk at all. I was joking to my self that I thought I'd developed polio or muscular dystrophy or something. They seemed to have calmed down by the time I went to bed last night. I hope my strength recovers soon.

For M:e who is asking about the wond vac progress. The smaller of my two wounds has become very small likely less than 2 cm. in diameter and may .75 cm. depth. There is a slight amount of tunnelling in one location. The larger wound is decreased about 35% to 40% in overal size and depth. It has much more generalized tunneling but the tunnels too have reduced in size and depth commensurately with the rest of the wound's overal reduction. I have my next dressing change between 8:00 and 9:00 this morning.

I am bored and concerned that I've had no interest in sex since my surgery. I don't even think I've had an erction. I see attractivenss in my two and my nurses and am attracted. I've tried looking at erotica and porn on here and while I find it sort of interesting or even mildly entertaining, I just have little response. I feel that loss a great deal, and can tell that swan is longing for reconection and spanking. I just am not there, and am becoming increasingly sad about that.

I am adjusting to the eating with all of this which is not much eating at all. Still all in all we make sure that I eat the requistie amount of protein and hydration each day, and it has gone relatively well, despite my having dificulty branching out to eat more "normal" foods without getting sick (needing to remember to eat very small amounts very slowly is the issue.)

I am very tired of being like this and want to feel like I'm OK and alive again.

Thank you all of you for caring to be here with us. I'm sorry I didn't do a better job keeping you up to date.

All the best,

Tom

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

To Trudge...

2009-04-19T15:47:00.005-04:00

Oh!

Sorry about that...we didn't mean to just vanish without a word.

It is just that life in the last week or so has devolved down to a slogging, trudging, plod from day to day.

This business of recovery has turned wearisome. We are all just tired. Tired of hurting. Tired of nurses and doctors. Tired of medication schedules. Tired of queasiness and worrying about whether we are getting all of the right stuff in each day.

trudge -- To walk in a laborious, heavy-footed way; plod. A long, tedious walk.

The wound V.A.C. is still doing its thing and there is progress on that front. No word yet on how soon we'll be done with that.

As for weight loss, that does seem to be the one part of this that is going as advertised. As of this morning, Master has lost 49 pounds, and T has lost 34 pounds. She went to visit with her mother yesterday, and when she put her fanny pack around her waist, it just dropped to the floor. Tah Dah! Time to shorten the belt on that baby :-)

It is working its way toward spring, and I need to work on shifting the closets around. I'm imagining that He's going to want smaller pants and smaller shirts, but until we get the belly healed up, it is hard to contemplate trying on "grown-up" pants. He is pretty dedicated to His sweats at this point.

We are cooking more and more from the Egg Face website recipes. Of the things we've tried so far, her stuff seems the most viable and interesting.

We ordered Him a special Bento Box for carrying His lunches and snacks as He begins to contemplate going back to work. It hasn't arrived yet, but we'll do a product review when we see if it works as we hope it will.

That's it for news. Thanks for stopping by.
swan

T stands for TICKED!

2009-04-15T15:47:00.003-04:00

Today has sucked. I woke up feeling all down and sad and just plain out of sorts. I have tried all day to get out of the funk and to not let Tom see it, because there is not a damned thing he can do, and he has enough to deal with right now.

I did some grocery shopping and got the mail. Then my day really went down the drain. Seems our insurance company.....you know, the ONE I WORK FOR!!!!! Has denied the claim for the wound VAC. Saying not enough info was given to show that this was the best option over traditional wound care!!

I called the number on the denial letter and got some chick who has never HEARD of customer service. I don't even think she can PRONOUNCE "COMPASSION". Needless to say, less than willing to assist or even CARE.

I have called the surgeon's office (voicemail message left). I have called our Bariatric Case Mgr. (she is on LOA and I left a voicemail msg with her partner). Tom has called the home health company, you know...the one who gave the information for the DAMNED APPROVAL (she will call us back, she is in a meeting). I have emailed a co-worker who is the head of the Bariatric Case Mgt team (will probably hear in a day or 2 from her... she IS busy).

Tom is trying to keep me calm and Sue is saying "Don't worry, we'll pay for the damned thing if they won't!"

But, dammit, that is not good enough. It is not right. This is the company I work for. Someone should care. Someone should help. And someone should have known BEFORE SENDING The VAC that it was Approved.

Tom is greatly improved because of the VAC. Today, the smaller of the wounds is about 30% of the original size. The larger wound about 50% of the original size......after 6 days!!!! We would be doing the wet/dry packing and bandaging for approximately 8 weeks..... now we might be looking at 3-4 weeks. For that 8 weeks, the insurance company would have to pay for supplies, medications, and a nurse 3 times a week. With the VAC, it is rental of the Unit, medications and a nurse 3 times a week FOR 3-4 WEEKS!!!! Which seems more cost-effective to you??? Yep, that is what I thought.

I am done today. Last night I started a post and deleted it because I felt like I was being a big whine-baby. Well, I am still a whine-baby.....but a pissed off one, at that!

T

5pm update:

We have received calls back from the wound VAC rental company (they will assist with an appeal, if needed. And they cannot understand why it was denied since this Insurance company approves them ALL THE TIME!), and our surgeon's office (who started with "Teresa,honey, calm down. We WILL get this taken care of. It just might take some time, but we will do whatever necessary to get this resolved for you!")

Ok.....I am calmer and more confident that this will be resolved appropriately now that we have people on-board with us to do the work......now where is my migraine medication???

Progress Report

2009-04-14T11:54:00.002-04:00

Yesterday there were two positive developments in this recovery saga.

First, Master had the first dressing change since the wound V.A.C. I wasn't there, but both T and Master told me that the wounds are looking MUCH improved, and that the smaller of the two holes is so much improved that by Friday of this week, it may be closed completely and no longer need the wound V.A.C. The other is progressing as well, but since it was larger to begin with, it is likely to take a bit more time.

The second thing that happened yesterday is that Master and T took a drive to Master's office so that He could attend the staff meeting there. It was a "surprise" visit as they didn't tell anyone they were coming. It sounds like the whole crew was thrilled to actually get to see Him and talk with Him. I think it was good for everyone concerned. T took goodies, and I suspect they enjoyed those too, but just getting some face time with Himself was a real plus.

Last night, both T and Master were tired from the exertions of the day, but it was a good tired. He and I are still waking up in the night to take care of pain medications every four hours, so there is no such thing as uninterrupted sleep, but in between, He seems to be sleeping much more comfortably than just a few days ago.

I am beginning to believe that we may eventually see the end of this part of this business. It will not be too soon for any of us. I know that.

swan

Weight Loss Graphs

2009-04-12T12:42:00.003-04:00

Photos are one thing, but I have a bent toward the mathematical. Master keeps a daily log of His weight and blood sugar. T has been keeping hers too. When that data is put into graphs, it shows exactly the kind of change that is occuring...

swan