Category Archives: Photography

January 10th, 2024

10 Wednesday Jan 2024

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My wife and I attended the Bariatric Diatairy and Fitness class yesterday. Wow! Words can’t describe all the emotions that we went through. This surgery is more than I had anticipated. We were there for a total of 4.5 hours and they just touched the tip of the iceberg. I had no idea that this would be so entailed. If you were not scared before, you should be now!! I thought I had done some research but none of the research that I did prepared me for what I am to expect after surgery.

I know that they are not going to throw me to the wolves after surgery. There will be follow-ups. There will be more classes to attend. There are several social media outlets to help you through the tough times as well as other support groups available. I’m just in a state of shock right now. What’s going to be the toughest part is going in the hospital able to eat anything you want and coming out only to be able to drink your food for two weeks. It will be at least eight weeks before I’ll be able to even think about eating solid foods again.

Something else the teacher said. Some of the things that I love to eat before surgery I will not be able to tolerate afterwards. Then again, there will be some foods that I hate now, I will be able to fall in love with. My mindset about food will change she said. 

One thing I just don’t get and maybe once I have the surgery I’ll understand but why do people go through all that they have to go through just to ignore what the doctor says and go back to eating again and gaining everything that they had lost?

Today’s weigh-in: 279.2

Total loss: 1.6

This months goal 275

January 8th, 2024

08 Monday Jan 2024

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I had a colonoscopy last Friday. I’ve had one previously done about five years ago. This one was different. I woke up during the procedure. That’s something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I was too droggy to say anything but by the way I was groaning, I think the doctor knew I was away. Nothing was said or done, he just kept going until the procedure was done. Tomorrow, my wife and I have a dietary/fitness class which is required by my Bariatric surgeon. It’s a four-hour class starting at 11:30 am and should end around 3:30 pm.

‘The diet is going good but the weight is fluctuating like a rollercoaster. I have never understood how I can eat like a bird and still gain weight the next day. Go figure.’The diet is going good but the weight is fluctuating like a rollercoaster. I have never understood how I can eat like a bird and still gain weight the next day. Go figure.

Today’s weight: 278.4 lbs

Total Loss: 2.4 lbs

This month’s goal: 275 lbs

January 2nd.

02 Tuesday Jan 2024

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No, I’m not going to post every day. It’s just this week is full of doctor appointments.

Today I saw my nephrologist. My numbers were up a little since my last visit four months ago. Not to worry she says because we had to deal with two holidays with food involved but I’m really going to have to buckle down before my next appointment. Tomorrow is another doctor visit. This one will be with my primary care doctor and the first of three visits required by Medicare for my weight loss surgery. On Friday will be my colonoscopy What fun.

Today’s weight 281.6 Gained 1.2 lbs

January 1st. Happy New Year!

01 Monday Jan 2024

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New year, new beginnings. I’ve said this before in the previous New Year, but it will be different this year. Why? Because this year I’m in the process of getting approved for weight loss surgery. Why now? That’s the same thing my wife asked. It’s because I’m tired of being fat. I’m tired of this rollercoaster I’m on and want off. I turned sixty years old this past year and don’t want to live the rest of my life out of shape. I have a colonoscopy planned on Friday so this should give me a boost to my weight loss journy.

Morning weight: 280.4

Goal weight: 275

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Today, I took my first step.

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.