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My Story
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My Journey to a Better Life |
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| At my heaviest, 365 lbs and 1 year before surgery |
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| Hiking in the canyon |
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| My WLS Journey:
My journey to a better life.
I had been heavy all of my life, I was born 13 lbs. 3 ounces! I even made the front page of the Denver post, being the heaviest baby born up to that date. All through elementary school and Jr. High I was always the last one chosen for baseball or soccer, I had very few friends and a very low self esteem.
In high school it started to get better because all of a sudden I was getting all kinds of attention because of a wonderful coach that had asked me to try out for the football team. I did and I made it and I was all of a sudden very popular the weight started to change into muscle and for the first time I had a glimpse of what it was like to be "normal". Well it's funny how things work out sometimes, I had a very serious accident while playing and was not able to play football again. My old fat friend started to show his ugly face again. When I left for a mission for my church at 20 years old I topped the scales at 295 lbs, not terrible for a 6'4" ex defensive tackle, but still brought back terrible memories of growing up a fat kid.
After my mission I pretty much accepted that I would always be a "big guy" and I just needed to make the most out of it and be happy. I can honestly say that I was. My college years were good for me and I married a beautiful little Dutch girl that could see me for what I really was. I attended Culinary school in Europe and the pounds continued to pour on, cooking is a difficult profession to be in if you are trying to watch your weight, I guess I just watched it continue to increase.
I developed type II diabetes shortly after my 32nd birthday. I was a good boy and had it controlled pretty much with medication for quite awhile. It seems that I had tried every diet that has ever been thought of and like many people I was successful, for awhile, and then the weight would come back and always with a few pounds more than when I started. Soon the diabetes was out of control and the doctor was telling me that the only option left was to put me on insulin. I come from a long line of diabetes in my family and you could look at each person in the family and tell at what point in their lives they were put on insulin. Almost without fail their general health would improve for a little while but they would have so many more serious problems in the long run. No way was I going to have to start giving myself that shot every day. I had to do something to lose the weight!
I remember watching Al Roker on TV every morning and all of a sudden he was skinny! I got on the internet and found some stories about Weight Loss Surgery and began looking into it without really condisering having it done because it was after all the "easy way out" and I knew that there had to be a diet out there that would work for me. After about a year and a half I began to finally realize that this was something that I needed to do because my health was deteriorating very rapidly, I had reached an all time high of 365 lbs. I had been active all of my life being very heavily involved with scouting. During the last year or two I found it very difficult to do any of the things I used to love doing. It was time.
After some looking on the internet I came across a web page called Obesityhelp.com. It eventually steered me to the Bariatric Support Center. What a godsend, I was afraid, no terrified of having surgery, I had found every terrible, sad, devasting, depressing story ever written about WLS on the internet and I had convinced myself that I would die if I went through with the surgery. I decided to to seek out counsel from my religeous leaders. I went to my bishop with my wife in hand and he proceeded to tell me a story of a gentleman in our church that had gone in for the surgery and never woke up. He then told me that I needed to go home and put my affairs in order, tell my wife where all my life insurance policies were and about any bank accounts that she didn't know about. I went home very uplifted and calmed, NOT!!!
Well the surgery was very uneventful, other than some pain from the gas, I had laproscopic surgery. I went home after just 3 days and then all you know what broke loose. With in 5 days I was back in ICU with a severe case of pneumonia, I was in the hospital for 10 days, remember the "easy way out". I lost weight quickly though and was at my doctors goal of 220 lbs when I was 6 months post op. I made it to my personal goal of 210 lbs shortly thereafter. It has been a battle physically and mentally, it still is but I have been given the tools that I use on a daily basis that help me to make this operation a success. Weight loss surgery isn't a magic bullet that is going to make you all of a sudden thin without any work. It is only part of a life changing process that you need to work at every day.
This surgery isn't for everyone, it isn't a magic pill that will cure all of life's ills for obese people. It is a tool only one of many tools that is needed to be successful. I have to work hard every day to be successful, I wish those that believe this is the "easy way" could spend some time in the shoes of a weight loss surgery patient and see how easy it is. To eat a fraction of what a normal person eats and still gain weight because it's the wrong kind of carb. To experience "dumping", hair loss, dehydration, constipation and a myriad of other stepping stones we must endure.
Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!! I am healthier, I haven't been on diabetes medication now for 19 months and my average blood sugar is 70. My resting heart rate is 60, I sleep more soundly, I have much more energy, I am happier.
Life is good |
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