My RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery

[DangerMouse007 105]

Hello, my name is Ed aka Danger Mouse. I'm originally from Austin, TX but currently live in Upstate NY outside Albany. My surgeon is Dr. Baranov in Saratoga Springs, and I had my RNY Gastric Bypass surgery on August 10th, 2015. This is my story.

IN THE BEGINNING

I posted the meat of this in another thread a week or so ago, but I figured it's a good way to start out a thread on my story and use it as sort of a living diary I guess post op...as long as I can keep it up. So I start at the beginning...

When I see pictures of myself when I was younger (before 9 years of age), I was very skinny.

Before that time my parents would send me to after school daycare. There they would feed us a small snack and then send us outside into the playground until our parents came to pick us up. When I was 9, I started walking the mile home from school. Even with that exercise, being home alone for a couple of hours before the parents got home opened up the entire refrigerator for me, leftovers and all.

I still remember when I turned 13 years old, I had to take a physical to play football. On the paper I turned into the coach I was 5'10" tall and weighed 215 pounds. I never grew another inch as I still stand 5'10".

Strangely enough I was a pretty decent long distance runner. I loved it! I remember clocking in a 6.5 minute mile which seemed pretty impressive for my size and age at the time.

When I got to college, we had to take a couple of PE credits, and I elected to do weightlifting. Our pass/fail grade was based on how much weight we could bench press and leg press divided by our actual weight. That was quite an incentive to hit the weights hard and lose some weight. I started my first freshman semester at 265 pounds and got down to 238 pounds a year later.

I would do the weightlifting class Monday and Wednesday afternoon then head home and run 3 miles.

Then my sophomore year, it all fell apart. I became a delivery driver for Papa John's. Oh, yeah! Free food!! It was all over after that. I never ran again and very rarely lifted any more weights.

Unfortunately I don't have any weight statistics from when I was 19 until I was 31. I never went to the doctor or made any effort to weigh myself. My guess is that I got upwards of 350+ pounds before 2003 when I started exhibiting symptoms of diabetes. I didn't recognize those for what they were though, and I really loved the weight loss that came with being a hardcore diabetic. I remember running into a woman at the time who I had known before the diabetic weight loss, and she mentioned that I looked really good. I felt like I looked good, but oh man, was I feeling crappy in other areas: constantly thirsty, dry mouth, constantly urinating, etc., etc. However, since I had no idea I was diabetic, I was continually downing sodas and just about everything else with tons and tons of sugar.

When I finally saw a doctor in 2006 I was 300 pounds with blood sugars in the 300's. He immediately put me on insulin, and I gradually got up to 390 pounds in a year. I've documented what happened next in other threads, but I stayed at around 390-400 until late 2010. I was put on Victoza and lost about 60 pounds over the course of a year. Then I put it all back on in 2012 and then some.

It was in October 2012 when I went to see my cardiologist at the time that I realized it was probably time to do something. His scale didn't go over 400. They couldn't document my weight at the time, and when the nurse left me in the examination room, I lost it and broke down. That's when my cardiologist recommended WLS. It was something I thought about afterwards, but I really am so commitment-phobic, I just wasn't sure I wanted to put that kind of commitment in myself.

In July of 2013 I lost my job of 15 years due to a reduction in force. That certainly didn't help matters, and I became very depressed. It took me a few months, but I ended up taking a job 1800 miles away from where I lived in Austin, TX to where I now live in Upstate NY north of Albany. That was in February of 2014.

[DangerMouse007 105]

The Path to Surgery

I still resisted the idea of doing WLS but finally late last year I got up to 440 pounds due to a new blood pressure medication that caused me to retain Water. The first weekend in December, 2014, I went back home to Texas to attend a cousin's wedding. I went to the wedding wearing the same slacks and shirt I had bought when I lost my job for interviews and such. But guess what? They didn't fit at all, and I was so uncomfortable all afternoon and night long wearing a shirt that was way too tight, and slacks that were just ill fitting as well.

So finally, I went to a Bariatric Surgery Seminar right before Christmas last year and met with the surgeon in February of this year. My insurance required six months of supervised weight loss and wanted me to lose at least 22 pounds. My surgeon wanted me to lose 30-50 pounds before surgery. He put me on a "Lean Cuisine" diet. Basically all I was to eat was a light Breakfast and then Lean Cuisine meals for lunch and dinner. Obviously that is probably still not the healthiest diet, but along with a change in my blood pressure medicine I lost 30 pounds in 6 short weeks. Basically all that Water I had retained previously melted off...or out.

Then the stalls happened. I was having a really hard time losing much more weight month to month. I mean, I would lose 1-2 pounds a month between the first of April and the 1st of June, but nothing like those first 30 pounds.

In May I did the unthinkable and googled bariatric surgery complications. I got so scared and begin to doubt wanting this surgery so badly that I almost quit!! Thankfully I did stay the course and decided to have the surgery.

Finally the weight started melting off again. By my last visit with the surgeon pre-op in July I had lost a little over 40 pounds since early February. With a few weeks before my surgery they recommended I still continue to lose weight, but I thought I might have a bit of a tough time with that because I was going home to Texas at the end of July for my food funerals. You know, tacos, BBQ, fantastic mexican food and mom's home cooking. I would still try to eat one Lean Cuisine type meal once a day while down there, but dinner was definitely self indulgent.

As it turned out I neither lost nor gained weight while I was in Texas.

My surgery date was August 10th, and three days before, I went on a clear liquid diet. I really wished I had known before with that diet I was going to lose another 13 pounds!! The morning of my surgery I was 369 pounds.

[DangerMouse007 105]

Post Op

Again I've documented some of my experiences in other threads so I'll keep this section really short.

I did not have any complications post op. I was taken out of the Recovery Room and into my own hospital room fairly quickly, and I was walk, walk, walking and sip, sip, sipping as soon as I did. I only spent one night in the hospital before going home. When the surgeon came to visit me the day after my surgery he said it looked like I hadn't even had surgery. That was a plus to me.

I haven't had too much trouble eating since the surgery. I stayed fairly true to my surgeon's/nutritionist's recommendations which seem to be almost completely different then most people on here. If I did stray off the recommendations it was only by a day or so. In other words, I started trying meats, chicken, salads two days before my "green sheet" recommended.

As far as food I stay away from, bread for sure which is a good thing. I won't even have a sandwich. chicken sometimes gives me a problem, but that may be more of an issue with me not chewing well I think. A few weeks ago I baked some chicken wings at home; barely a handful. But I had two of them and vomited them out shortly thereafter. The next day I tried again, and vomited again.

I'm not sure I've experienced dumping although I did have something that might have been dumping Halloween weekend. I went back to Texas to visit with a friend and her daughter. We went to San Antonio to hang out for the weekend. We went to one mall and stopped at a yogurt shop to get some yogurt. I had a small bowl with very little yogurt and added a cherry, a strawberry, and some pineapple. About 20 minutes later, I could feel my heart rate go up, and I had to make a run to the bathroom. There I calmed down and seemed fine after that.

Another issue I had was at Chipotle. I personally had never been there before, but in Texas we have Freebirds and in Austin, Cabo Bob's which basically serve the same thing (and where I've gone previously when I lived won there) so I decided to try it. I ordered a steak salad. I only had maybe 4 or 5 bites before I felt that tightness in my chest. Not too long after that I vomited it all back up. So unhappy about that, but I'm not trying that again.

Oh, yeah, and the pork chop. I found a recipe to make pork chops in a slow cooker. I made it one afternoon, and the pork chops came out fantastic...meat just coming off and shredded like a pot roast in a slow cooker. Again, just a few bites, and it came back out.

I still have not tried a steak mainly because I'm worried that I'll vomit it out again. Ground meat is pretty much the only "red meat" that I've tried. At home I basically cook everything now. I live alone so I have plenty of leftovers that last a really long time. I have a vacuum sealer so that helps keep my food when I use it and put the excess food in the freezer for later.

When I was in Texas for Halloween we went out to eat for every meal which was a bit of a challenge. I ended up either just having a Soup or salad everywhere we went. I'll admit to hating being limited to that at every restaurant, but I didn't want to risk getting sick in front of company. I think somebody on here recommended taking some kind of plastic bag everywhere you went. That's a bit extreme, but I'd rather avoid vomiting all together.

At the moment, I don't seem to have daily Protein or calorie guidelines from my nutritionist. The only recommendation that I have is that I eat 3 solid Protein meals per day which also means no Protein shakes. At my next appointment I will ask about the protein and calorie intake.

[DangerMouse007 105]

Weight Loss Milestones

I guess we all have our own personal weight loss milestones. All of my milestones are pretty much based on previous weigh in's. Something like this:

Milestone #1: 335 pounds - weight I was at in November 2011 after weight loss from Victoza.

Milestone #2: 300 pounds - weight I was at in August 2006 before being put on Insulin for the first time

Milestone #3: 265 pounds - weight I was at in September 1993 as a Freshman in College

Milestone #4: 238 pounds - weight I was at in September 1994 before becoming a Papa John's Delivery Driver

Milestone #5: 215 pounds - weight I was at in August 1988 based on my physical at the time

Goal Weight-Surgeon: 220 pounds - This is what the surgeon said I would get down to in 12-18 months post op

Goal Weight-Personal: 180 pounds - My own personal goal.

The weight loss post op has been fun but oh so frustrating with those stalls. And I hate, hate, hate gaining weight during a "stall". It definitely makes you rethink your decision, but then it all just melts off. That part is the most satisfying.

For example, the day before Halloween I was 320 pounds. So far so good. When I came back from Texas, I weighed the same on November 6th. On November 13th I weighed 327 pounds. What?!?!?! I gained weight! As of this afternoon I'm 311 pounds. I'm sure there are scientific explanations for such a swing in weight, but as long as it works I'm happy. I don't need the finer details.

So yeah, Milestone #1 was made and passed several weeks ago. Now I go barreling down into Milestone #2. I'm going to be so happy when the scale hits 299, you would not believe. I may cry.

[Cervidae 2,389]

Hey, I'm in Rochester. I had my RNY on August 17th, so right around when you did. I also have really similar stats and progress. Thanks for taking the time to write out your experiences so concisely, I think it will be really helpful to some newbies and pre-op people. Keep on keeping on.

[hildaruiz29 16]

Glad that you have a positive attitude and continue your journey.

[DangerMouse007 105]

Something I forgot to mention was clothing sizes. When I was at my biggest I was wearing size 64 inch pants. Unfortunately anything above 60 is relatively rare in the store at least at the Destination XL stores I would visit. I would have to order them online. Now I'm down to a 52 inch pant. I ended up having to buy jeans recently because there's no hiding that the larger pant sizes just do not look right anymore.

I was also wearing 5XL shirts. I still do to a certain extent but, before my weight loss I would wear my shirts untucked. Now they do look really big on me, but if I tuck them, they look relatively normal. At least on those I can keep for a while. I can wear 3XL shirts now, but I'd rather not have to buy shirts for as long as I can hold out before doing so.

[DangerMouse007 105]

3.5 Month Post-Op Surgeon Visit

I had my 3.5 month post-op appointment yesterday morning (11/24). In a way, I hate getting weighed there because they weigh with my jeans, shoes, etc. on. At home, I just weigh myself in my shorts. Of course, I do weight myself at home in shorts and then with the jeans, shoes, etc. just to see how close my scale is to theirs.

That being said, officially, according to them, I've lost 113 pounds since early February. They also said that I've lost 41% of my body weight, but I haven't yet figured out how they calculated that one. Based on my calculations I've lost 26%. I probably should have asked, but it didn't occur to me at the time. At 41% they've said I've made good progress; they usually only are concerned if I was below 30% lost. Have to figure out that calculation. I'm thinking it might have to do with ideal weight vs. real weight, but I'll figure it out eventually.

Unfortunately my blood work had not yet been received by them. We had this problem in late August as well. Lab Corp for some reason just didn't send it yet. I have not received a call back with the results, so I'm assuming all is good, but I couldn't call myself today to verify. I'll have to call Monday due to the holiday. That also means that I don't have my most recent A1C which is my most important number right now I think.

I am still on insulin albeit very low amounts compared to what I was pre-op. I told them that my blood sugar is baselining between 110-120 and hasn't gone down below that which might indicate that I wouldn't need it anymore. I have a feeling I may still be on insulin the rest of my life, but we'll see.

I did ask about Protein shakes since that seems to be a staple for some of you on this board. The PA I was talking to mentioned that in her previous program they did push Protein Shakes, but here they do not. They don't like to encourage liquid calories. So that's out for my particular diet. They primarily encourage three solid Protein meals (not even a Protein Bar since they tend to be mushy?) and one small snack.< /p>

I also asked about protein and calorie recommendations/requirements that gets talked about quite a bit on this board. She told me that they don't have any requirements but I should be at around 800-1000 calories/day and again with the three solid protein meals. She also stressed the half cup per meal since I mentioned that I had vomited a few times with chicken or pork chops.

I had documented it in another thread and forgot to mention it here, but my sciatica flared up again in September. It was really bad the last few years, but as I lost weight since February it seemed to disappear altogether. I felt fine until it flared up again. Instead of going to a back doctor and physical therapy as I did a few years ago, I opted into seeing a chiropractor. He's helped tremendously! I still see him once a week, but I can legitimately walk now with no pain. That is a definite relief since I'm hoping being able to walk long distances again will help the weight loss a bit.

I'm happy with the weight loss results so far. Disappointed about the insulin, but I'm still rather encouraged about the future.

Edited November 26, 2015 by DangerMouse007

[The Candidate 3,215]

@@DangerMouse007

I've enjoyed reading your backstory and look forward to future updates. You've already come so far and will eventually achieve all your milestones, I'm sure. Thanks for sharing your journey. I'm always humbled at the many routes we take to all eventually travel along the same path. I'm routing for you!

[DangerMouse007 105]

I called this morning to find out if they did have my blood work yet, and they did review it with me. Everything was good except for my A1C; it was 7.6. Incredibly disappointing and clearly shows I still have some work ahead of me in regards to my blood sugar monitoring. What really disappoints me is that's not even the lowest A1C I've had in the last 9 years since being put on insulin. The lowest was 7.1 back in the 1st quarter of 2011 a few months after adding Victoza to my daily regimen. Definitely lots more work ahead of me.

[DangerMouse007 105]

These stalls drive me nuts...well, maybe not a stall so much as a baseline re-leveling. Ha ha! So a couple of weeks ago I was down to 304 pounds (from 311 nearly a month ago), but I've been fluctuating between 304 and 309 since then. So very frustrating, although I did lose a couple more inches on my waist...always nice to see that.

I keep thinking though...as mentioned I live alone so I'm basically cooking for one when I do cook. This means I have tons of leftovers, and I usually end up eating the same thing for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner day in and day out. I'm thinking this monotony may be contributing to my non-weight loss in the last month. Body is just used to the same thing over and over again.

Another thing that I've been thinking about since my 3 month post-op appointment: vegetables or lack thereof. Of course, I always wonder, if I can only eat 1/2 cup of food per meal, where do I put the veggies? I mean that's like one big broccoli floret right?

On a different subject, I mentioned that I used to run when I was in college. I was running 3 miles twice a week. These days the kids call that a 5K so I've set a goal for myself of running a local 5K in May. My only worry is my knees since my back is feeling so much better, but yeah, we'll see how that goes for sure.

[DangerMouse007 105]

Milestone #2: 300 pounds - Achieved!

Well that seemed much more difficult than it should have been. I mentioned in my last post that I was fluctuating between 304 and 309 for a few weeks. This afternoon I stepped on my talking scale, and for the first time since I bought it a year ago, it started with the words "two hundred..." So yeah, I've met my second personal milestone.

I have to admit...I did get a bit emotional.

And none too soon. It was my goal to get to 300 by Christmas since I'm flying down to Texas for a few days to visit with friends and family. I'm actually going to be interested to see if I still need a seat belt extender on the flight. I haven't been sub-300 since mid-2006, and at that time, I didn't need one.

Here's hoping that the drop continues before I hit another plateau. My next goal is to be at 265 (Milestone #3) by April 1st. Training for that 5K I mentioned earlier should help.

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

You are doing fine.Thanks for sharing your journey and your truth.Inspirational.My surgery is December 28...lots of work ahead.

[DangerMouse007 105]

So I still needed the seat belt extender after all when I flew this past weekend. I guess the weight I'm losing is coming from other areas other than my waist.

BUT I lost my extender!! Agh! So disappointed by that. I decided to fly on Christmas day which meant I flew a different route than normal (fewer routes available). Usually I fly from Albany to either Baltimore or Chicago, change planes, then fly into San Antonio. This time I flew from Albany to Orlando, was supposed to stay on the same plane to fly to Houston, then change planes to get to San Antonio. At the last second in Orlando, they let us know that they were doing a plane change so I rushed off the plane to get to the new gate/plane. And left my seat belt extender.

Oh, well...my next scheduled flight will be in late March or early April so hopefully I won't even need it then.

One other thing that is beginning to bother me...the extra skin. I guess being obese for 31+ years isn't going to be kind to my skin. Right now I'm especially noticing the extra skin under my arms. I'll have to ask around locally about eventual arm lift options I guess. I know one person I talked to who had the sleeve done had just had arm lift and Tummy Tuck surgery right before I had my RNY surgery back in August. I don't think insurance will cover plastic surgery unless there's a medical need for it. Even if they did, there would be a significant cost to me since all of my employer's insurance options now have deductibles and no longer cover 100% expenses. Something for me to think about.

And thankfully I did lose some weight while on vacation in Texas. I was actually a bit surprised. With the exception of Christmas night, we went out to eat for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That included a visit to The Cheesecake Factory which most of you know gives out HUGE portions. I normally love the meatloaf, but there's no way I could eat 3 slices of that thing now plus the mashed potatoes and corn that comes with it. Thankfully they have a Skinnylicious menu; I ended up with the grilled steak medallions with veggies which were really good. Even then I was only able to eat less than half of it. I took the rest of it home, but I was traveling with a friend who's not really into leftovers. After just one day in the fridge she threw them away! Had I been home I could have easily saved them for at least an additional 1 or 2 meals.

Edited December 31, 2015 by DangerMouse007

[DangerMouse007 105]

I'm normally a very upbeat person and enjoy a positive lifestyle. But for the last week I have been severely depressed.

I've not been able to eat much of anything. I just am not hungry at all. I have to force myself to eat, and when I do I barely get 2-3 bites before I just can't go any further. I have been making sure that I get my daily Vitamins though since I know that if I'm not eating well, I'm probably not getting any kind of the correct nutrients I should be getting.

Edited January 9, 2016 by DangerMouse007