Introduction

[Note: The entries in this diary appear last in first out, after this Introduction.]

This is my diary of my experiences with weight loss surgery. I use this general term, because there are two (actually more) types of weight loss operations: gastric bypass or lap-band. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Click to see more...

[Note: in the rest of this blog, you will see the "Click to see more..." message at the end of each posting. Many times,there is actually nothing more. So, at the end of those posts, I have proceeded the "more" link with "End of post, so don't ...".]

Friday, September 26, 2008 I had my first set of appointments in the preliminary examinations for Weight Loss Surgery. Here are the facts:

• Weight: 343lbs (350lbs with clothes on, but I will use 343 as it seems to be my body weight set point)
  
• Height: 5' 11"
• Body Mass Index: 47.8 (non-overweight BMI: 18.5-24.9)

(go to BMI Calculator to figure out yours)

The standard qualifications for WLS patients are a BMI > 40 and an age between 18 and 65. I qualify.

I had an electrocardiogram which was judged OK, but there was one little dip where there should have been a rise and so, since I am 61 I am scheduled for a stress test to make sure everything is OK.

The subject of the appointments I will have, ending with a meeting with my chosen surgeon, are:

• Two seminars on Weight Loss Surgery
  
• Blood work
• Introductory meeting with Bariatric nurse
• Introductory with director of WLS program at BIDMC
• Ultrasound to determine if I have gallstones
• Stress test
• Nutritionist
• Psychologist
  
• Exercise physiologist
  
• Surgeon

i.e., extensive.

On my application to the Bariatric Surgery Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, my answer to the final question of "Tell us about yourself..." was:

My primary reason for wanting to get control of my eating and consequently my weight is because I am fearful of all of the adverse health conditions that have accumulated in my body due to being significantly overweight in the last 15 years. Yes, there are many activities that I no longer can do because of my excessive weight. Things like walking, hiking, enjoying the adventurous aspects of traveling. Then there is the self-loathing that results from my lack of discipline to "just eat less" and my appearance.

I'm pretty smart and that has worked against me. Although I was very successful in loosing weight in Overeaters Anonymous, after a while I started to fail because I started to ignore the advice that "Thinking is not on of the tools of OA". And indeed it has taken me several years to fill out this form, because after I investigated everything there was to know about weight loss surgery, I thought "Why go through that? I can always exercise the discipline that you will need after the surgery and loose weight without going through the surgery." The only problem is that I never got around to exercising the discipline, and so the weight stay on. I have finally realized that all of this intellectualization has resulted in me weighing 350 pounds and on the verge of diabetes, the third or fourth medical condition due to my obesity. My biggest fear is how to deal with the stress I currently relieve by medicating myself with overeating. Then, of course, there are the unknowns about what it will feel like after the surgery, and the well publicized surgery complications.

Having said all of this, I want you to know I am both enthusiastic as well was watchful about what I am going to do. Please wish me luck.

Harry

P.S. Why did I choose the name "Reboot" for this blog? Well, in computers when the machine starts to perform badly because of the accrual of lots of junk, mismanaged memory, rogue processes, etc., the best thing is to reboot the machine and start from scratch. I find this a metaphor for what I am about to do regarding my eating: lots of bad habits, reasons for eating, out of control behaviors. The best thing is to start again with learning how to eat and WLS surgery is the only 100% foolproof way to do this. -- HF

Back Home, Returned to Reality

I felt really good in the hospital. The biggest pain was the awkwardness of the IV. Getting out of bed wasn't a big deal. Everything was new and I thrive on change.

I came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and back to my normal surroundings While moving around the hospital was pretty smooth, riding home in a car on normal roads with their inevitable bumps and pot holes was a different story. And switching from the on-demand morphine to the liguid Oxycontin/Tylenol was a step down in the pain relief department.

Bottom line is that I have to work a little harder to manage the pain of the incisions -- but this is only day 3. I am expecting this to improve with time. Patience...

Sipping 96 oz of water a day is going to be a challenge. Let's see, 96 oz times 8 sips per oz makes 768 sips per day. No more chugging down a cool one for me. In fact, no more cool ones for me: carbonated is a no-no and although alcohol is not prohibited, it seems to be highly discouraged.

OK. Those are all of the negative thoughts for this morning...

I am currently sitting in our wonderful explorer's room -- Ben's room reclaimed when he got an apartment in Brighton. Modeled after various explorer's clubs, adventure club, Yale L&B library, Yale Club (NYC) library rooms we have come across over the years. No stuffed animal heads, but rather various souvenirs we have bought over the years of traveling, plus a lot of guide books. We have several pieces of mission-style furniture and I am sitting on a big old mission arm chair. Quite comfortable because it allows you to sit with your back at a slight angle back. Good for tummies that have a lot of small incisions in them.

The Operation

Marsha, Will and I set off at 6:40am on Monday morning for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. We got there exactly at 7:30 when we were supposed to be there. The receptionist handed us one of those hockey puck pagers they hand you at a restaurant. "They" would page us when they were ready for us. An hour and 10 minutes later, our hocky puck went off. We went up to the 5th floor and after calling in on the telephone, I was lead into the operation preparation area by a nurse. Marsha and Will had to stay in the waiting room for now. Various nurses and doctors came by and asked me a lot of questions. Then Marsha and Will came in and we waited another hour. During that time, my surgeon, Dr. Schneider, came in explaining that the first surgery of the day took a little longer than expected.



Manny (pre-dreadlocks), Dr. Schneider, and Red Sox Scholar Gerard Widzaire
aDr. Schneider looks quite young, although he isn't as young as he appears. Most importantly, he has a lot of great experience in doing Wieght Loss Surgery and General Surgery. I told him that taking his time when performing surgeries was fine, I hope he hadn't rushed on his last operation -- the implication being that he wouldn't rush on mine... So, my operation that was supposed to happen at 9:30 actually started at 11:30am.

While I was waiting, the nurse gave me some sort of relaxant, but I was already pretty relaxed. The anesthesialogist said was he about to give me the anes...

The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room, a little groggy at first, but then quite comfortable and cheery. The operation lasted about two hours. At that point Dr. Schneider came into the family waiting room and talked to Marsha and WIll, saying that everything had gone fine. Meanwhile down in the recover room, I guess I was still out of it because I don't remember much of the next three hours. I think some of the assistant Drs came by, in particular one very nice Dr (I think Dr Li) that I had seen in the preparation bay.

The next thing that happened was that I was brought up one floor to my room -- which was a single room -- very nice! Will and Marsha arrived shortly after and it was great to see them. I wasn't feeling any pain... W&M left at around 6:15pm. I watched the 6:30pm news.

At around 8pm Ben came by and after going for my first walk, he and I watched a reply of the BC - UNC Basketball game where BC beat the #1 ranked, previously undefeated UNC. Vert sweat. When that was over, I walked Ben out to the elevator.

The nurse installed a self-administering morphene dispensor into my IV. This worked very well. It regulared things so that I could give myself a small dose that lasted six minutes. The dispensor was regulated so that it would only respond once every six minutes.

I went to sleep at about 10 pm and although I woke up several times during the night for vital signs readings, I slept quite well.

Tuesday morning I went onto "Stage 2" food -- instead of water only, I could expand to flavored water. Wow!

Dr. Schneider came it at around 9am and said that everything had gone fine -- that the 13 pounds that I had lost had helped a lot when navigating the band between the stomach and the liver. We talked about the followup appointment and he was gone.

Marsha came in at about 11am, and to make a long story short, we left the hospital at about 1:30pm with instructions and perscriptions.


I think most of the excitement is over now and we are entering the long hall part of the process. I spent a lot of time getting to my current state. I am assuming it will take some significant time to get to a better place.

-- Harry

End of post, so don't ...