Before the surgery
I hit a milestone on New Years Day in 2012, I finally weighed 300 pounds. All of the failed diets and yo-yoing left me in a bad mindset, and I had all but given up. I ate without a care in the world, and I recall resigning myself to the fact that I was going to someday die of a heart attack.
My youngest daughter’s birthday in February 2012. I weighed about 320 pounds in this picture.
This is a good time to mention that my family has an extensive history of heart issues. 3 of my 4 grandparents died from heart related issues. Either or both of my parents have battled pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and obesity. To their credit, they have managed to largely control it with diet, exercise, or medication. I have obese aunts, uncles and cousins. My relatives all originate in an area of Pennsylvania where eating baked Amish foods, potato chips, and other junk food was just the usual way of life. I easily followed in all of their foot steps. I still crave all of that stuff. I ate it as a kid and as an adult, and it did me no favors. Believe what you want about the possibilities of genetic disposition with regards to obesity and heart disease, but I had doom written all over me no matter how you looked at it.
Through the course of much more yo-yo dieting, I somehow managed to only gain 5 pounds in the year of 2012. 2013 began and I weighed 305. I was still morbidly obese, unhappy, and a ticking time bomb for a heart attack or a stroke. By this time, I also suspected I had sleep apnea. My wife would suddenly complain about my snoring, and the fact that I would routinely wake up gasping for air. I distinctly recall waking up gasping for air on a few occasions, and it felt like someone was smothering me. At first I could resolve it by sleeping on my side. Eventually, after enough weight gain, that didn’t even work and I had sleeping issues regardless. Either because of the poor eating, sedentary life, or the sleep apnea, I never had any energy and was always feeling tired. I would nod off constantly. Sometimes, I’d even nod off briefly while driving, which scared me even more.
Me hunting in February 2013. I weighed 307 pounds in this picture.
My wife one day asked about bariatric surgery, again. She showed me an ad for a seminar about bariatric surgery at my local hospital, the Anne Arundel Medical Center. Coincidentally, I had another consultation with my primary care physician a day or two later and decided to ask him again about bariatric surgery as an option. This time, he had a completely different viewpoint on the idea. He said that the hospital had since hired a terrific surgeon that performed the bariatric surgeries, and that my doctor had seen several of his patients get the surgery and vastly improve their health. Such progress clearly made a believer out of him, considering he used to be a skeptic. He also dropped a bomb shell on me that day, and informed me that he had concerns about me living to, or beyond, my 40s, if I didn’t address my obesity immediately. Thoughts of a widowed wife and fatherless children raced through my head. That was all I needed to hear at that point, I was interested.
Around August of 2013, I went to the seminar and sat among 30 or so morbidly obese people. It was the first time I didn’t feel quite so bad. I weighed 320 pounds by then, but I didn’t look as bad as some of these people that were clearly in the 400 pound range and had difficulty moving, sitting and standing. The seminar was absolutely terrific. They carefully explained each of the 3 surgeries they performed at the time, the lap band, the gastric bypass, and the gastric sleeve. The gastric sleeve immediately sounded the most appealing to me. They had a husband and wife who both did the surgery around the same time, give testimonials. They both clearly had more weight to lose, but it was very encouraging and I liked their optimism and dedication. I was sold, and I was going to get the gastric sleeve.
I informed my wife, who was extremely supportive. My parents, weren’t. My mother was clearly worried about my weight issues and was glad I was doing something about it; however, she was clearly afraid of her only son getting surgery. My father came across as a lot less supportive. I’m still not certain why, but I believe he thought it was unnecessary and my weight issues could be resolved through safer means. Regardless, I knew it would take something drastic to finally put me on the right course, so I signed up for surgery for February 2014. The hospital had to schedule it that far out because my insurance required that much time pass first, presumably because they hope you lose the weight somehow beforehand so you don’t need the costly surgery.
It turned out to be a good thing the surgery was so far in the future. Dr. Gandsas, my surgeon, required numerous tests to be performed in advance. They basically require a sleep study, a heart scan, a gastric scan, blood tests, a psychological evaluation, clearance from your physician, nutritionist consultations, and participation in their Bariatric Optimization Program (also known as BOP). The BOP program was actually somewhat fun, because it was basically free personal training to prepare you for a life of exercise after surgery. BOP also broke the ice with me being in a gym, which historically was foreign territory for me. BOP was a lot less fun before the surgery compared to after surgery, because I was doing physical activity while weighing 320 pounds!
Like an idiot, I figured that since I was getting bariatric surgery, I could just go ahead and eat whatever, and however much, I wanted. I gained 30 pounds between the seminar January 2014, and weighed my heaviest ever on January 14, 2014 at a whopping 352 pounds! By this time, every facet of physical life was unpleasant, and the things that thin people take for granted were a huge chore for me. Putting on my socks, tying my shoes, getting in and out of a vehicle, going to the bathroom, bathing myself, going up stairs, standing up from a seated position, and even walking were difficult for me and would take a lot of effort and I would almost always be drenched with sweat. Sleep was anything but restful, and I would always wake up exhausted and sweat covered. While awake, I always felt tired, agitated, and lethargic. The surgery could not come soon enough, and I quickly became very eager.
A month before the surgery, the surgeon required us to follow a strict diet for the purposes of shrinking our liver. If our liver is not sufficiently shrunken, he cannot access the stomach and has to cancel or abort the surgery. That was not an option for me at this point, so I followed the diet to the letter, and was able to proceed with the surgery. Also amazingly, I lost 30 pounds in that month alone, just following their diet. In hindsight, I always wonder if I could have just stuck to a similar diet and lost all the weight. I can comfortably say no, because it required something drastic to make me have the discipline to stick with a program long enough to lose all the weight.
I want to note that over the 6 months leading up to the surgery, I was routinely visiting Dr. Gandsas’s office to meet with his support staff. His nurse and nutritionist are top-notch. They were very friendly, supportive and encouraging. Clearly I was nervous about the risks associated with getting surgery, but they helped calm those jitters and reassure me that it would be safe, and I would have the support I needed after surgery from them and others. They were absolutely correct.
On February 12, 2014, I went to the hospital, disrobed, and put on a hospital gown. I was wheeled into the Operating Room, and got on the bed, and met the extremely friendly staff that was going to help out with the surgery. One of them looked at me, offered a comforting smile, and then everything went dark.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this blog is based entirely upon my experiences and observations. I am not a medical professional and you must do your own research and consult your doctor before making any changes to your eating, fitness, medication, or supplements. This general information is not intended to diagnose any medical condition or to replace your healthcare professional.
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