Category Archives: Photography

Step Two Complete

08 Friday Dec 2023

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The above moon shot is this month’s Beaver Moon.

Today’s appointment was with a Shrink. Supposedly, after all the weight loss, there might some be behavioral issues and they wanted to find out if I already had some issues that might need to be addressed. I had seen a shrink a couple of years ago when I was trying to get on dissability so I sort of knew what to expect. She said I passed. I had 26 out of 30 possible points. My next step is to get a chest x-ray sometime next week. I’m going to have to schedule a special class sometime in Januairy, Then it’s on to three months with my primary doctor. I have to proove to him that I can stay on some sort of program for three months before they invest in their time,

Step One Complete

07 Thursday Dec 2023

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I spoke with the Bariatric surgeon on Monday and discussed my options. We both concluded that the gastric bypass was the way to go. She was a young doctor and my wife questioned her ability. I think she was just jealous of her looks. We talked about the class that I am going to have to take and the three visits I have to have with my general practitioner. Those will all have to be scheduled. I think I’m going to wait until the first of the year to start this because of the temptations with all the Christmas foods.

My next appointment was with my Gastrologist on the same day. I found out that my stomach ulcer had healed and I can now reduce the meds that I am taking. That’s good news because that was one of the concerns I had with the Bariatric surgery. I also found out that I had a Hiatal Hernia. This can also be taken care of during the Bariatric surgery.

The doctor visits will take three months. If I start in January, that would mean that the surgery would not be until April of next year. There is no mention of any amount of weight that has to be lost but there are several things that I have to do these three months. I have to keep a record of my meals, which I already have an app for that. I have to go to the gym or somehow show that I’m at least trying to exercise every day.

This is going to be a long drawn-out process but I’m ready for it. I’m tired of looking the way I do and feeling the way I do.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

23 Thursday Nov 2023

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I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and spent some time with their families. I spent the majority of my day with my family. My mom and dad are in their mid-eighties and don’t get around as much as they used to. Today is one of the few days that I allow myself not to be too concerned with what and how much I eat. Christmas is another holiday that I do this. The rest of the year is spent watching how much carbs I consume. Tomorrow is a new day and I’ll get back on my diet then.

I hope everyone has a good and restful night.

Peace to you and your families.

Some Might Say It’s About Time

20 Monday Nov 2023

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I’m tired and I’m giving up. Let’s face it. Without it I’m screwed. I love to eat the wrong things and I can’t do the right exercises with my health the way it is and the situation is getting worse. Life is just too short to spend the rest of my life in a constant state of disappointment about my weight. For years now I’ve fought with the idea to have some sort of weight-loss surgery thinking that I didn’t pay someone to get this fat so I’m not going to pay someone to get rid of it. Two weeks ago, I made the phone call to hopefully get the ball rolling.
I made an appointment to sit through a virtual seminar. The first thing that they asked us to do was to make sure my insurance would cover the surgery. Before the seminar, I made a few phone calls and found out that Medicare does cover the surgery IF you meet certain qualifications. I talked to a nice lady and she asked me several questions. Some of the qualifications included were obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and BMI over 30. Unfortunately, I met all the above. I”ll just have to pay 20 percent of the bill. But there is a hitch. I have a stomach ulcer. In some cases, they will not do the surgery on a patient with a stomach ulcer.

On December 4th, I have two appointments. One to see my gastrologist and then to see the weight-loss surgeon. Hopefully, the gastrologist will give me the go-ahead to have the surgery. I’ll keep everyone updated.

O

Let’s go fishing!

19 Monday Jun 2023

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I’m still having the problem of fluid retention. It’s not as bad as before though. I’ve only had one Thorsontesis done in the last couple of years. Fluid mainly accumulates in parts of my body such as my feet and legs now. I can start telling by seeing a couple of extra pounds on my bathroom scales every day. When this happens, I take a couple of my booster meds, and in a couple of days, my extra weight is gone. It’s a major pain having to keep up with it. Now that I have gained control of my fluid I have started to feel a little better. I still can’t do much without getting out of breath but I’m doing what I can.

I’m not sure I’ve written anything about it but about three years ago I drove to Knoxville Tn and purchased a kayak from one of my high school friends. It’s a Tarpon 120, 12ft long kayak. I used it a lot the first year I got it but it sat under my deck for the next two years. Not this year though. I go fishing at least once a week since it got warm.

I’ve taken my wife, who doesn’t like to fish, and one of my daughters who likes to fish. It’s not riding a bicycle 20 or so miles but at least I’m not sitting on my couch 24 hours a day like I have been.

Week 3

16 Friday Sep 2022

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This has not been a good week. Fluid started collecting in my body. Each morning I would weigh and the number would be two to three pounds more than the previous day. I had gained nine pounds before I was able to start back on my booster meds. With the booster, it was not enough to have a loss week.

On another note, I got some results from my oncologist the other day. One of the things they test is my creatinine levels. It has gone up in the last couple of months. This is not good. The higher the number the closer I get to dialysis. For those that don’t know, I’m at stage 4 out of 5 kidney failure. I have got to limit my salt intake otherwise I’ll be on dialysis three days a week. I do not want that.

Two Weeks Down

09 Friday Sep 2022

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Samantha in the Rain

What a rollercoaster of a ride! I thought I knew all about weight loss but nature threw a curve ball at me. I was doing so well but I woke up one morning to find that I had gained three pounds over the course of twenty-four hours. I had counted all carbs and it was far below my allotted amount. I had exercised quite a bit that day too so I felt confident that I going to see a new number. Boy, when I stepped on that scale thinking I would see a much lower number, I was astonished to find out that I had gained three pounds. The rest of the week went about the same. This week’s weight loss was a struggle but I managed to lose exactly one pound. I’ll take it.

One Week Down

02 Friday Sep 2022

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After a rough start to the week, I was able to get back on track and do what I needed to do. To help matters, I had a flower bed that I needed to replace the dead rose bushes. It took me three days to do it but I managed to replace the dead bushes with new bushes. I am completely worn out. After all that I managed to lose 2.8 pounds last week.

Let’s see what next week has to offer.

Time for a Poll

01 Thursday Sep 2022

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Tomorrow is weigh-in. I’d like to see if anyone out there is willing to voice their opinion as to how much I’ve gained or lost.

Come on guys let’s play along. Did I gain weight? If so, how much? Did I lose weight? If so, how much did I lose?

I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys have to say. Remember, I lost over fifteen pounds last week. Did I lose that much again? What do you think??

Alice Fitts. One of the girls that I photographed earlier this week.

Just Breathe

24 Friday Jun 2022

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I would if I could. For years now I’ve been having trouble breathing, especially when I do anything strenuous. Walking up a hill or an incline, pushing or pulling an object or just taking a shower causes me to get out of breath. For years now I thought it was due to fluid being built up around my heart and lungs due to diastolic heart failure and medications for my CML. I just recently went to my pulmonologist and they found a little bit of fluid around my lungs which I had it removed it was only 1.5 liters of fluid. After having it removed I’m still having trouble breathing. The pulmonologist put me on a once a day inhaler for 2 months. Today marks the end of my inhaler as well as my next appointment for my pulmonologist and I’m not any better as of yet.

I’ve got my doctor scratching his head because there is no apparent reasoning for my shortness of breath. The pulmonologist did suggest that I tried to lose weight because I’ve got a lot of pressure against my lungs.

I’ve lost 6 lb since my last visit two months ago.