Capt Derel's Gastric Sleeve Surgery Journey

[royboy 40]

Good luck Capt. Darel on your very good choice! I'm also a CGC, Pilot, and hold a commercial license. I was also fat and could move very freely with my 300 pounds. When I was in my forties, people would be amazed at what I could do with my rather large frame. I didn't have fat hanging on me, I had lots of muscle and was big. No medical issues what so ever, except a bad knee due to a bike wreck.

Fast forward to age 51, high blood pressure, High cholesterol, polysythemia, and diabeties! The weight finally got me. Pilot's license on verge of being pulled, same with CGL, and then my commercial license. The thought of loosing my ability to work was the breaking point. I went to a seminar and decided that the sleeve was the way to go.

I'm down 73 pounds since Dec 5th 2011 and today I go to see my regular doctor that told me to diet and not do the sleeve. I told him that when I come back in feb. he would be amazed at the transformation. Blood sugar is under 100 always, BP is 120/80, and with the lack of taste for red meats, I'm sure my cholesterol is great too.

This will open his eyes to weight loss surgery rather than treating all the bad symtoms of obesity!

Good luck Capt. you made a smart choice!

[Shell.C 15]

Best of luck..

[Capt Derel 287]

The thought of losing my license was my breaking point also. I know what you mean all to well RoyBoy

But as of this morning I am down to 296lbs. I feel better as I can take bigger swigs of lemonade. The cipro is nasty. Hunger- haha whats that?. My only knitpick is that I should have covered my stitches while traveling due to my shirt irritating them. I got home last night and sprayed them with wound wash and blotted them with a gauze pad to dry them and woke up this morning they are fine. Cant wait for them to come out because then I will be 100%fine.

Goodluck future Sleevers The 3 days of discomfort and pain is well worth the outcome.

(null)

[circa 333]

The thought of losing my license was my breaking point also. I know what you mean all to well RoyBoy

But as of this morning I am down to 296lbs. I feel better as I can take bigger swigs of lemonade. The cipro is nasty. Hunger- haha whats that?. My only knitpick is that I should have covered my stitches while traveling due to my shirt irritating them. I got home last night and sprayed them with wound wash and blotted them with a gauze pad to dry them and woke up this morning they are fine. Cant wait for them to come out because then I will be 100%fine.

Goodluck future Sleevers The 3 days of discomfort and pain is well worth the outcome.

(null)

The cipro was nasty - I asked if i could cut the pills and swallow them instead of crushing them and was given the go-ahead. I cut them in 4 small pieces and they went down with ease.

[Capt Derel 287]

Oh i cut them in half but theres no coating on them to hide the bitterness. Gross haha. I just been chilling in my king robe drinking lemonade watching andrew zimmerman eats food. My wife is going through my wls cookbooks and picking out things to eat for now on. Shes gonna make a chicken n mushroom Soup tonight so I can have the broth. I jump her yesterday for eating pizza because she needs to change also in order to help the entire family. About to get my fat ass up and go buy a jack lalane juicer for me some fresh lemonade and lime aides. I feel great, but I know recovery is the main focus at this point.

Btw Betancourt is about to remodel the clinic. I saw the design plans. Hes a salesman but thats his role to keep everything going and with the amount of people on his pay role I understand why. And the red cross unit is a block over. I saw it with my own eyes just for the future readers.

I have lost over 30lbs so far cant wait to see week by week progress. My wife is going to do a scrap book. I learned alot from one of the patients husbands which had the sleeve in june '10. He looked identical to me and now hes 185lbs and skinny. It nice to actually meet with someone that can show you the light lol. Have a good day yall. Its only down hill from here. My pain right now is ZERO

(null)

[circa 333]

Awesome! I didn't get to see the plans but I did hear about it I think it'll be great - can't wait to go back on vacation and see everyone

[Sleeved&Hopeful 182]

Glad to hear you're doing well. I am wondering what they are going to do with the clinic. They really should make the lobby/ waiting area larger and add a few new patient rooms. Interesting! Did you get to see what he plans on doing?

[Capt Derel 287]

Well its been 3 months and heres where I stand

According to my Dr I started at 329lbs right before Feb 17th 2012. I have been keeping my Proteins around 56-109g, Carbs around 40-80g, fats around 26g. Now I have been monitoring my sodium intake cause that is a losing factor for me.

So far I have not had any pain or issues related to the surgery besides gas pain 2 times which Gasx relieved almost instantly and acid from fresh lemonade which put me in pain for 3 hours and that was no joke. I didnt have any prilosec with me but now I carry 3 bottles with me to work. Other than that I feel awesome. I do find that I keep busy doing stuff all day long. My son hates it cause I wear him out. LoL. I do notice that I dont have alot of stamina when doing an activity. Preop I could bust ass all day long but now I can do 3 hours then I have to take a break for awhile. Calorie related? Probably so.

Now for the up to date part so far. I am 3 months and 2 days post op today. My weigh in was 251.8lbs. Which is fantastic compared to some others. I still havent hit the gym yet but I do other activities to help out some. Going buy a elliptical real soon on the other hand.

Just wanted to do a 3 month update. My next post will be my 3 month bloodwork update. Cant wait to see where I stand. I took no meds since surgery in order to see where I really stand. Keep it real people.

Capt Derel

[GivingItMyAll 168]

CONGRATS!!!! Sounds like you are doing GREAT!

[Capt Derel 287]

My meds preop

Synthroid 175mcg

Metformin

Testosterone Enanthate 200mg once a week

Lysinopryl

As of today I am perfect. How can I be perfect at 251lbs? Dr said no more pills and come back in another 6 months to retest to see whats happening.

Feels good to have a baseline of no meds.

[Dooter 1,457]

You're tearin' it up!! Way to go!!

[Capt Derel 287]

Today is May 27th, 2012.

7 days ago I was at 245lbs. I reintroduced Creatine monohydrate into my diet to combat muscle catabolism. Within 1 day I have packed on 3 lbs of Water weight. 5 days ago I reintroduced weight training. My training is NOT catabolic training but is anabolic. Its been since 2006 the last time I trained at this intensity. In 2006 I got hurt "tore severe skeletal muscle on the entire upper back" and stopped training in order to recouporate.

Today I am still at 248lbs. My body feels like I am losing weight "which I know it is cause I recognise the sensation". I dont plan on seeing any weightloss "scalewise" the next couple of weeks to be honest ,but I will see an improvement on the saggy skin on my arms and legs lol.

My diet will not be changed in any way. Still High Protein, Max carb 75g, Max fat 35g. Will be adding Forskolin to my added vitamin/ mineral mix as soon as I can get around to ordering it.

Cant wait to see the progress. I have a 15 year reunion coming up in september lol

[tjmom 200]

What an inspiration you are! i am 3 weeks 4 days post-op and stories like yours are so encouraging ... Thank you for sharing your wls experience and helping a newbie like me....

[Capt Derel 287]

What an inspiration you are! i am 3 weeks 4 days post-op and stories like yours are so encouraging ... Thank you for sharing your wls experience and helping a newbie like me....

I still consider myself a newbie lol. But I look at this from a scientific perspective. I dont mind trying different approaches because I know that I will rock this sleeve. I figure the more information that is out there the better we will all be in the long run.

[kemo46 82]

Today is May 27th, 2012.

7 days ago I was at 245lbs. I reintroduced Creatine monohydrate into my diet to combat muscle catabolism. Within 1 day I have packed on 3 lbs of Water weight. 5 days ago I reintroduced weight training. My training is NOT catabolic training but is anabolic. Its been since 2006 the last time I trained at this intensity. In 2006 I got hurt "tore severe skeletal muscle on the entire upper back" and stopped training in order to recouporate.

Today I am still at 248lbs. My body feels like I am losing weight "which I know it is cause I recognise the sensation". I dont plan on seeing any weightloss "scalewise" the next couple of weeks to be honest ,but I will see an improvement on the saggy skin on my arms and legs lol.

My diet will not be changed in any way. Still High Protein, Max carb 75g, Max fat 35g. Will be adding Forskolin to my added vitamin/ mineral mix as soon as I can get around to ordering it.

Cant wait to see the progress. I have a 15 year reunion coming up in september lol

Hello Capt Derel, I am very familiar with the creatine. The one thing I would watch at your stage is the carb and calorie intake. It is very hard to balance the weight loss and the muscle building together at your stage. As you know the creatine will make you retain Water in your muscles which is a good thing. The bad thing as you know you need to increase your carbs and calories for your workouts to build up. This makes it REAL HARD to lose weight at the rate you need to be losing it at this stage and trust me, you want to lose the max weight your first 6 months because it gets ALOT HARDER after that. I lost 120 lbs. and reached my goal 9.5 months out, I was 1 year out about 3 days ago. The majority of my weight loss was in the first 4 months.

I worked out with cardio and strength training from the time I was 6 weeks from surgery and still go to the gym every day. I had to choose to lose the weight while I could or build up during those first few months. I choose to lose the weight, do moderate weight lifting and build a cusion for the weight I am adding on with more and more muscle. I concentrated on muscle toning for the first year to reduce loose skin and it worked. I am now in the muscle building process. I really carb up before workouts and have Protein before and after my workouts. I have just started on the creatine which as you know does wonders.

I am just mentioning this to you so you do not lose the very important first 4 months of the weight loss process. You can still tone and lift weights just watch the supplements and carb and calorie intake while doing it. I went over all of this with my NUT and personal trainer which also is a registered dietician. You can do what you wanr with the information but once those first few months are gone, you cannot get them back and trust me, it does get harder and much slower to lose the weight after that.

Good luck on your journey.