Happily Not Looking Back

[BrandonKea 20]

Hello!

I actually just stumbled upon this page tonight looking for general information, and I'm happy I did. I can already tell this is a wealth of information.

I'm 28 years old, married with a 2 year old daughter. I've been overweight for most of my adult life, but only within the last few years has it really gotten out of control. I had been successful with many efforts to lose weight, such as basic calorie counting and Portion Control, exercise, and (especially) the Atkins Diet. I say successful but with that caveat, it was only at losing weight. Eventually, the pounds came back, and they usually brought friends.

Almost 2 years ago, I went to the doctor for a routine check-up. Not news to me was that I was overweight, what was news is that I was in a range of "morbid obesity" that also came with high blood pressure (likely the cause of my ongoing, near-daily headaches.) I immediately started lisinopril to manage the HBP, and basically didn't change much.

A few months later, I noticed simple tasks were getting more and more difficult to accomplish. Trying my shoes, zipping up my pants, getting in and out of bed. It was time for me to jump on the scale and see how bad I really had it. That was the second alarm; 390 pounds. As recently as 2008, I was only 300 pounds, relatively in shape, and considering a career as a Police Officer or serving on the Border Patrol. Now, I was carrying around an entire extra person.

One of my bosses at work had recently had success in meeting with a dietician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Bariatrics Center. Seeing how much weight he had lost, I immediately made an appointment. Rather than see a dietician, however, I went right for the medically supervised weight loss program. After a brief assessment, I was prescribed Qsymia, a relatively new (and thus, expensive) drug that combines phentermine and topiramate. Starting with the low dose, I progressed to gradually more potent combinations of the same drugs, but eventually quit because the side effects were very challenging to cope with on top of a lot of work stress at the time.

Did I mention work stress? I'm a 911 Dispatcher, a job not noted for its low levels of stress. I do suffer from PTSD due to some calls that I wish no human being would ever have to listen to again. You name it, I've heard it. The worst part about this job is that you aren't there to witness anything, so your brain has a tendency to fill in the blanks with the most graphic visualizations you can imagine.

So, after the stress of work and some very drastic side effects from my medications became too much for me to handle, I slipped back into my old routine of eating bad food and lots of it. Working the afternoon shift means no time for a nice sit-down dinner, it means a cold dinner at your desk scarfing down take-out between phone calls and radio traffic.

Fast forward to the summer of 2015, and I noticed my weight was creeping back to unhealthy ranges. I had actually lost almost 40 pounds fairly quickly, but by now had put all but 9 pounds back on. I went back to my doctor and asked what it would take to be a candidate for gastric bypass. Surprisingly, I didn't have much left to do.

I had completed a new sleep study, quickly got back into eating well and losing weight, and was on a semi-regular workout routine (just walking, nothing crazy like P90X which I was doing before.) My doctor told me at the end of August that surgery before the end of the year was completely possible. I wouldn't have believed it, but as I'm writing this, it's the 28th of November, and I had surgery a few days ago.

Opting for the Gastric Bypass over a sleeve or Lap Band, I knew that if I was going to resort to surgery, I wanted the tried and true method that would offer me the most results. Despite some mild complications during surgery, I survived, spent a few days in the hospital, and am now home recovering. I'm looking forward to learning from others on here as I go, and can't wait to see how much healthier I will be post-surgery.

[LoreLu 79]

Welcome to the losers bench! I had a sleeve in August and no regrets yet.

There's a wealth of info on this website - browse around. If you have any specific questions, there's always someone who can help. Just keep up with your liquids, Protein drinks and Vitamins and you'll be a shadow of yourself in no time. There are some rough Patches (I just finally dropped off a 27-day plateau), but don't get discouraged! Mark down your current weight and "dimensions" - when you hit a plateau, you'll be amazed at how much your body changes while you stay the "same weight". There are days I feel like nothing has changed (we see ourselves in the mirror every day), but the size of my ankles, calves, waist, ... have all shrunk.

[The Candidate 3,215]

Welcome Brandon and congrats on your recent bypass. I had mine on 07/29/15 and I've no regrets. If you can handle the stress of being a 911 operator you've definitely got this in the bag!

[treblecutie23 318]

Welcome and congrats on making the leap! I used to do 911 and dispatch in my early 20's and it definitely comes with its stress. I still remember in vivid detail most of my graphic calls. Kudos for all you do!!!!! Good luck with everything!!!!

[WannabeH 114]

Good luck on your health journey. You have been helping out so many people, and now it's you turn.

This site has been a god send. It's so comforting to been in touch with so many like minded people.

[BrandonKea 20]

I couldn't agree more, I've learned so much just reading the other posts, it's nice to see such a supportive group and to have so many resources. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

[nieuwevis 294]

i just wanted to agree more with lorelu...don't let lack of scale movement discourage you, it's normal. i also take measurements primarily by noticing how my clothes fit

[BrandonKea 20]

nieuwevis, that's some very good advice. I used to tell people "I've lost xx pounds, but I don't know where because I still look fat," but I always seem to forget about how well my shirts/pants were fitting. It's very motivating to have outgrown (in the good way) some shorts that I bought at the beginning of summer that barely fit me. Hopefully, I'll keep having those non-scale victories.

[BrandonKea 20]

Hi all,

Wanted to drop an update on here.

I've run in to some more complications post-op than I'd like. I'm that low percentage of patients who apparently have issues.

When I actually had my operation, my stomach pouch leaked, so they did a revision on the spot, which basically just means they stapled more off. This resulted in an even smaller pouch than the standard RnY patient. It also meant some very deep stitches to keep everything from moving around. So, post-op, the stitches (which were sealed in place on the surface with staples) were the source of tremendous amounts of pain. I have a high pain tolerance, and hydrocodone wasn't even touching my pain.

I ended up going back in, they ran some labs, gave me IV fluids, took the staples out, and told me to continue to lie low, it should heal on its own. After a few more days of my pain being at a 12 on a 10 scale, it did finally get better.

Then, earlier this week, I started having an issue with the pureed food I was eating just sitting in my stomach. The only way I could move it was to throw it up. This was happening with food and liquid/water. So I went back in again, and after an upper GI, they determined my stomach was very, very slow to empty. Now I'm waiting for 2 weeks to have them go in with a scope and balloon open my connection from my pouch to my intestine. In the meantime, I'm back on a liquid diet.

So, I guess my update isn't really that positive, but there it is. My weight continues to fall off. I'm down 36 pounds from surgery just over 4 weeks ago, and soooo close to being below 300 for the first time in I don't know how long. Those are positive. But I'd really like to be semi-normal now...

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

Temporary bumps...you will get there...thanks for shari ping your journey and your truth.