Gastric Bypass Surgery in the Morning
July 15, 2008 by Terry
Filed under Terry's Rambles
Tomorrow morning July 16th, I will be entering the Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, Oregon and having my laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. So last night I decided to enjoy a nice steak and baked potato. This morning after having my son take a picture of me that you see in this post, I went out for ham and eggs (no potatoes) Okay, I know this is the wrong thing to do but I had the urge and did it and have no regrets.
People continue to ask me if I am scared or if I am excited. I really have difficulty describing how I feel for it is neither. Perhaps I am anxious for I am tired of being fat. For most of my life I have been obese to morbidly obese with the exception of periods in between diets and a 6 year period when I was in the U.S. Marine reserves. For me being fat has been a real emotional downer for I have felt ashamed of not being able to maintain a “normal” weight. I have lost about 25 pounds since the first of the year and yet still do not like to see myself in the mirror for I know that a “normal” weight person is hiding within those buckets of fat. I realize that carrying this extra weight is not good for my heart. During the last few years I developed health problems I had never experienced before. While none of my health problems are life threatening they are the type brought on by excess weight that can turn obesity into “terminal obesity” if allowed to get out of control. While I realize that I am not as heavy as many people, caring an exta100 plus pound has made mobility difficult. While I enjoy the outdoors I have been much less active than what I wish to be. Even fishing, something I really enjoy has become difficult.
On July 24th I will be celebrating my 67th birthday. As I age each day seams to go by faster and faster. Next year is my 50 year high school reunion and it will be nice attending it as a “normal” weight person. I love life and look forward to living at least the next 20 years as a “normal” weight person. I look forward to being able to hike or just work in the yard without feeling so much pain in my legs and hips from carrying those extra pounds.
My own self image has really held me back when it comes to dating. Here it has been over 6 years since I lost my wife to diabetes and I have not had a single date. I would love to meet a loving woman that is in good health, a non smoker that also wants to maintain her weight and good health. Someone that would likes the outdoors, perhaps likes to travel, enjoys writing, some one that appreciates my enjoyment of blogging and would like to share this interest with me and if it works out become my life partner. Unfortunately I realize I am not the best catch for during the last several years of my wife’s life I went through most of my assets. Most of my retirement was dependent upon a land investment I made as a young person and held on to for nearly 40 years. Unfortunately these 87 acres of land in Orange County, California that should have been worth a few million became worthless as the extreme environmentalist were successful at stopping building in the area. Eventually we had to sell the land at fire sale prices as we could no longer afford the property taxes. Today I share a home with my son and almost 9 year old grandson. This has been good for all of us though it is perhaps not the best situation for a woman that I bring into the relationship. Sorry, I did not mean to make this an ad for a woman or to have you shed pity upon me. These are my feelings and when I started this blog I said that I would be open with my feelings. While I should be thinking about the gastric bypass surgery, my thoughts are not on it but instead upon the future and how much better my life is going to be when I shed the pounds.
To those people that keep saying to me such things as, “Terry, why do you need surgery aren’t you motivated enough to take it off and keep it off yourself?” I say, walk in the shoes of a person that has struggled with a serious weight problem for their entire life before you decide what is best for them. I am not making my decision for this surgery based on what others want or think I am making the decision for myself. I will not allow morbid obesity to become terminal obesity, I wish to live a very long life, do things I have never done and reach goals that I have not obtained so far.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing my feelings and experiences with you as I recover from the surgery, learn to eat like a pigeon and start to shed the pounds. I am now starting to try different vitamins, nutrients and protein drinks and as I find those I like I will share the good news with you. When I can eat real food again I will be experimenting with new recipes and sharing this information too. I appreciate each and every one of you for just taking the time to visit this blog. I know that this blog is young and we do not have a lot of traffic yet but would appreciate hearing from others that would like to share their own weight loss successes, failures, thoughts, ideas and experiences that will help others.
Prior to surgery you have to sign all types of releases should you sustain injury or not make it. They even give you an Advanced Directive should you wish to have it on file. Today very few people die during gastric bypass surgery and I do not expect to be one that does. Still, to my family and friends if for some reason I do not survive this surgery I want you to know that I love each and every one of you more than I can express in words.
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