Journey to the Center of Me!

So this was the week I had been working for the last 5 months.   Surgery was not scheduled till 2:30 in the afternoon, so we did not have to be at the hospital until 12:30.  My dad came down and gave me a blessing (Yes I am LDS or Mormon).  We got to the hospital and checked in and waited, and waited.  My surgery was delayed because the forgot that I was scheduled that day.  So an hour later, I was in surgery, and an hour later I was out.   After Surgery picture.  Bottom right is where they took the stomach out! I don't remember being in much pain.  I went for two walks around the floor that night.  The nurse did ask me if I wanted pain meds and how strong did I want them.  I went for the weak ones, and was fine.  Was woken up at 3 by a vampire (Blood Work).  I was woken again, by Brandon, who works with Dr. Graf, to see how I was.  Him and Dr. Graf  said I could stay another night, but also said I co...

Everything that I have been working for the past 6 months, has come to pass.  I have a surgery date of December 12.  Earlier in the week I had gotten a call from the doctors office, telling me that first, all of the test of I have done the past few weeks, they don't have them.  Then she tells me, that the surgery can not be done until January 7th.  I was not to happy to hear this news.  My thought went from, all the work I had done was for nothing, and I was not going to have the surgery, to delaying the surgery until we get back from Hawaii.   So my doctor's appointment was for Thursday.  So we went in there with a lot of questions.  So we see the PA, who says he will send in the scheduler.  She comes in and says that we can get me in on the 12th, and they have everything but my chest x-ray.  As we are driving home, I remember that I had a chest x-ray on the 17th of October.  I called back in and gave them the date, and the...

This week was some what a normal week for me.  Got to get back to my work out schedule this week with not interruptions.  The only difference this week was, on Saturday, I normally do a short  walk and then go to the gym.  But it was raining really hard, so I skipped the walk. I had two interesting things happen to me this week.  The first was, on Friday, I woke up with my right leg and foot in a lot of pain.  I have been have problems with my foot for a while now, but on Wednesday as I was finishing up my walk, I pulled the muscle in my left calf.  So I resigned myself that I was going to take it easy today, and not walk.  But as I am sitting there, my mind is telling me that I need to get up and walk, that I can not skip today.  So I got up, got ready, and took it easy.  I felt much better for getting it done. The second was, I get asked a lot why I am doing the weight lose surgery.  Last night, I somewhat saw my future....

This week has been a very emotional one for me.  I've had highs and lows.  I'm wondering if I am making the right decisions.  Am I making the right choices?   Is all the hard work that I have done really worth it?  Is it worth the compromises I will have to go through? For about ten years, I have had doctors and family members trying to get me to do "the surgery".  My girlfriend has been talking to me about this for a year.  It was not until I went to the weight loss class that I decided to do this.  I started doing the hard work months before even going to the class and seeing the doctor.  Now that I am going through the process, some doubts are creeping in... Am I cheating the process if I do the surgery?  I've already lost a lot of weight by myself.    If I do the surgery, is writing this blog really worth it?  And is this the lifestyle change that I want to make?  I've done so well on my eating and ...

As I sit here at one in the morning, stressed at what I have to do in the next few weeks, I forgot one milestone that I needed to talk about.  It really is not a big one, but it is a big one to me.   On Friday, I walked half a mile with out stopping.  I know this might not mean much, but it is something I have  been trying to do for a few months now. 

Today I had an appointment with my doctor to go over my last test.  I was told they were normal, but what does that really mean?  When I went to see him when I had pneumonia, all of my numbers were way off.  I was put on some medication to control the mount of insulin, because my body was making to much.  So the doctor wants to take me off the medication and see what the numbers will be in 3 months. He wants to see if the insulin has changed because of the drugs or my lifestyle changes. I am all so down 6 lbs since the last visit.

It is interesting to lose weight and see the effects that it has on your clothes.  Since I have been on my diet, I have lost a lot of weight.  I had to buy a new belt a few months back, and I have jumped three belt holes since I bought it.  Today it was to the last hole on the belt.  I love wearing button down shirts.  I no long look like I am about to pop out of those shirts. I live in shorts.  If they  would let me, I would wear shorts to church.    And there is a gap between my hips and shorts.  And they fit better as well. Oh how good it feels!!!!

Just got back from a week stay in Ventura, California.  What a great place to stay.  But the week before our vacation I was worried that being on vacation. Could I slip backwards from all the hard work that I have down the past two months. First worry:   What to eat.  Who eats good when they are on vacation?  This was something new for me.  They only thing I could think that would be good would be In and Out Burger.  I could eat a double-double protein style with no problem.  I have been doing that for over a year.  But what about the other times.   The first day we went to one of my girlfriend's family favorite places to eat, Duke's.  I knew they had hamburger, but I really loved there fish tacos.  So the first time, we went I got the fish tacos with no tortilla and grilled.  Come to find out, I really do not love grilled fish.  I ate it, but never ordered it like that again.  We went back three more t...

Weight for me was never a issue until a few years ago.  I have always been some what of a big guy.  In high school, in a science class, it was asked who was the largest person in the class weight size.  It was me at almost 200 lbs.  It really did not both me.  I stayed active  swimming almost every day during the summer.   As I left my high school years, weight was a thing that was always in flux.  I went on a mission for my church weighing almost 250 lbs and came home under 200 lbs.  As I got married and my weight would go up and down as I worked a demanding job and went to school. By my 30's I was still working and very active.  But my weight was now over 300 lbs. During this time I was racing cars and having a driver that is heavy is a penalty of the total weight of the car by 100 to 150  pounds. But it still did not bother me, even though my dad was after me to lose the weight.  At the same time I am working ou...