Craig Wildi

I am Craig, a 44 year old male. I have struggled with my weight since childhood. I am relatively active, and am an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, swimmer, snorkeler, boater, and pretty much interested in anything water related. My wife and I enjoy many of the same hobbies, but she is one of the lucky ones who stays skinny no matter what she eats! I was a law enforcement officer until 2013, and had 18 years on the job. It was an interesting career, as I worked for a couple of unusual departments during those 18 years. My two most unusual departments were a.) an Island police department, and b.) as a Village Public Safety Officer in a remote village in Alaska.  In more recent years, my health has suffered due to, or exacerbated by, the excess weight that I carry. I have been taking blood pressure medication since about 2002, using a CPAP since about 2007, and am pre-diabetic. For about the last 15 years, I have had back issues. I do not know if any one specific thing injured my back, or if it was just a gradual degeneration of my disks, but there were times when I was unable to walk due to pinched nerves. The excess weight contributed to the problem, but the problem contributed to the excess weight too. As my back gradually got worse, my exercise dropped off. It was too painful to do some common exercises, even fitness walking has become too painful to do for any long period of time. I had back surgery in 2010, to remove bulging disks in my lower back. The relief was instant, and lasted for a month or so, then the pain returned, eventually becoming worse and more intense than pre-surgery. In September of this year, 2015, I went to my primary care physician because I was ready (in my mind) for another back surgery. During that appointment, he asked if I had ever considered weight loss surgery. I told him that I had, but I highly doubted that my insurance would cover it, and I surely could not afford it on my own. He told me that he was going to give me two referrals, one to a back surgeon, and another to a weight loss surgeon. I agreed. I went home, and called my insurance provider, and learned that they did, in fact, cover the weight loss surgery, with some requirements. I postponed my appointment with the back surgeon until after my appointment with the WLS. After meeting with the Bariatric surgeon, I ultimately cancelled my appointment with the back surgeon. So, here we are, and I am having surgery on December 28, 2015. I have a few friends who have had WLS, and they have been so very helpful to me during my process. They told me what to expect, and I learned a lot by reading posts on this website and others. I hope that this tool (the sleeve) will be the extra tool that I needed to reach my goal of weight loss, and restored health. I look forward to the networking and support that this forum and its members provide! Feel free to ask questions, if you have any!