Thursday, May 24th was one month since my gastric bypass surgery. I’ve lost 35 pounds. I’m eating way less than before surgery which is to be expected. So far, I’ve not experienced any sickness.
The doctor has taken me off of all my insulin and put me on mounjuro. (Sp) It’s a once per week injection of 2.5 mg for 4 weeks. I’m not sure if they’re going to up the dosage after that or not.
If I’m still in my boot and not in a cast, I’m planning on going to Summer camp with the Boy Scouts. There is no way I can hobble around the campgrounds in this boot so I’ve purchased a used mobility scooter. I had to drive 3.5 hours one-way to get it. I just couldn’t pass up the good deal. I’ll find other uses for it I’m sure.
My gastric bypass surgery is this Wednesday, April 24th. It was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but COVID hit. I am having waves of emotion. One minute I’m excited the next, I’m nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. But, all the benefits outweigh the negatives. I think my wife is more nervous than I am. Granted, I know this will be a life-changing experience with a new diet and a new way of looking at my life. An extended life I might add.
Sporting a new cast, but the latest x-rays reveal my foot is in bad shape. The bones have become brittle and deteriorated, with multiple fractures and breaks. However, the good news is that they can save my foot, though it will take up to 18 months and require special shoes afterwards. I have to be really careful as to not damage my left foot as the bones have become brittle as well.
I turned 59 a few days ago. I did not go into a dark, deep depression. It was just another day for me. As many health problems as I have, I consider it a blessing just to wake up in the mornings. My wife, on the other hand, has an issue with each birthday she comes across. She’s a little over a year older than me and when she turned 60, let’s just say that she turned into a different person. It took a few days for her to get out of her slump. I’m not looking forward to next year.
I know I’ve written about it before but one of my health issues is that I’m having issues with my breathing. This has been an ongoing thing for several years. It started off as a side effect of one of my cancer medications. The medication was causing fluid to build up around my heart and lungs. I had to have fluid removed from around my lungs on four different occasions totalling up to around 5 liters. The first time I had it done they weren’t sure what was causing my breathing issue and it took several weeks of testing before they found out. During this time I wasn’t able to do much of anything without getting out of breath. Even walking a short distance became a struggle. Remember now, I was still trying to work through all of this.
Like I said, this has been an on going struggle for a couple of years now but after several medication changes it got better. Now it’s back but with a difference. There is no fluid around my lungs. X-rays have proved it. As with the other times, my weight would go up dramatically, and it’s doing the same thing now. I’ve gained upwards around 30 pounds in about a months time. That’s not normal. I’m on mediation to help relieve the fluid but I ran out last week. I had to wait until this week before I could get it refilled because of the insurance.
I think a big contributor to this is salt. I’m supposed to be on a low sodium diet but that’s hard for me to do. I’ve greatly reduced the amount of salt but I need to reduce it some more. Another thing that is not helping is, of course, my diet. I’ve got to do better. I’ve committed myself to a weightloss program for the next six months. But, until I get this fluid undercontrol, I will just continue to gain weight. Losing weight for me right now will definitely be a challenge. One, I get out of breath so easily so walking is a challenge even the treadmill will be a challenge. Two, the fluid. If I only knew the cause then I might could do something about that.2
On August 15th, my birthday, I weighed in at 287.2. On the 16th I weighed 287.4, 18th 288.5, 19th 290.5, also on the 19th I received my medication and the next day, the 20th I weighted in at 286.6. Of course I peed every thirty minutes or so. I haven’t weighed in this morning so I don’t know if I’ve lost any weight or not. BTW, I know I’m going to get some people telling me not to weigh everyday but this is what my cardiologist wants me to do. I should weigh about 275lbs once I get all the fluid off.
I’m planning on posting weekly to let everyone know how I’m doing on my weight loss.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything and I have probably lost several followers because of it. As I’ve stated several times throughout my time here, I really don’t post to gain followers. I post because this is a way that I can keep myself honest.
If you want to know about me just ask. I’ve posted enough about my health that I think most people turn me off the minute they see that I’ve posted something. I do feel encouraged that people do like a post though. Although they are few, I do like the comments that get posted on here. So far none have been out of line and I appreciate it.
I lead a pretty boring life so there’s nothing much to post about unless it’s my health. Having CML does make it a little challenging. Something is causing my breathing issues but we are not sure yet.
Stat tuned, I’ll have a story to tell about our flooring project that’s going on now.
Like I said earlier today, I’m still here. I kept thinking that I needed to post something but as always, I got busy with something else. I’ve got a bit of bad news to share. The breathing problems that I’m having are not caused by my heart or fluid in my lungs. What’s worse is that they don’t know why I’m having these issues. I can’t walk into my home and climb the one flight of stairs without becoming winded.
Not so long ago I was riding my bicycle twenty miles a day. Not any more. My son now is riding my bike where he lives. At least my bike is getting some mileage on the tires.
It’s been too long. I had no idea just how long it’s been. I’m still alive, obviously. I’ve got a lot going on so I’ll post more about some of the things later this evening.
A lot has gone on since my last update. I’ll try to limit my discussion to one or two items as so not to bore you.
My last Oyncologist report was good but on one of the tests shows that my Creatine levels were high so off to the nephrologist I go. Wwe illinated some meds and reduced my lacix but that didn’t help. I was told to lay off my lacix altogether but when I did that I gained nearly ten pounds in a week. Cause? Fluid. Fluid has been my advasary for quite some time. I go to the gym twice a week, I diet all week long, I drink at least 64 oz of water a day but my weight remains about the same each day. As long as I’m on the lacix I’m okay but when I go off it I gain weight. But, on the other hand, while I’m on the lacix I don’t lose weight no matter how hard i try. This has been going on for a couple of months now.
I had a conversation with my cardiologist the other day and he said that he didn’t want me to get my heart rate much above 130 and I’ve been trying to abide by that. It really doesn’t take much to get my heart rate up and when it does it stays around 125 to 135 and that’s when I’m on the treadmill or spin cycle. I usually try to stay on those machines for at least thirty minutes each. When I’m working out with my trainer he has my heart rate up to nearly 120 at times.
Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about my recent eye surgery.
As part of The Great Cyclel Challange, a cycling effort to raise money to fight kids cancer, I have set myself a goal to ride 50 miles a week throughout the month of September. My goal for the event is just 100 miles because at the time I just didn’t think I could ride that much due to not riding any for about a year. It has become apparent that I may want to up my main goal to 200 miles.
I was short milage last week because I had broken a spoke. I’ve never replaced a spoke nor did I have any spokes to replace it with. The guy at the bike shop stated that it would be the 9th of September before I’d get my wheel back. I told him why I needed it back sooner but he didn’t have the same concern that I had. I was able to get the wheel back a lot sooner than expected so that meant that I had at least 23 miles that I had to ride to reach my 50 mile/week goal. Yesterday I road a little over 25 miles which made my weekly goal of 51.98 miles.
The goal starts over today but I’m doing a recovery day. Yesterday came with a small price. I went to stop and I couldn’t get my left foot unclipped from my peddle and down I went. Banged up my left knee pretty bad. I’ve been hurt worse but I’m going to take it easy today. Maybe I’ll spend the afternoon cleaning the bike. It’s gotten quite dirty over the past week of riding.
When I started riding back in 2013, I rode a total of 1700 miles. I know, to some of you that’s a drop in a bucket but I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. 2014 is when I was diagnosed and because of my health issues, I was only able to ride 530 miles. I was able to increase my mileage somewhat to 890 miles in 2015. 2016 was a different story. I stayed in the hospital for several weeks because of complications and I never had the energy nor the strength to ride therefore I rode zero miles that year. In 2017, I was determined to start again and I did get a decent start with 150 miles but it soon faded because I was plagued with complications again. In the next two years, I was lucky to get 100 miles or less because of fatigue and weight issues. Because of this challenge that I’ve signed up for, I’ve pretty much-given caution to the wind and I’m going to ride if it kills me.
Today I was able to ride six miles, most of it pretty well. I did have some issues going up against some steep hills but I think once I lose some weight and get more in shape, I’ll get better with the hills. The only way I’m going to get better is to keep doing it. In 2013, I had worked up to 25 miles every time I got on my bike and I was riding close to four days a week during the Spring and Summer. There’s no way I can do that now but that’s my goal.
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