22 Monday Apr 2024
Posted in bariatric-surgery, Cancer, Diabetic, diet, Weight Loss
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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.
Stay tuned for more updates.
16 Friday Feb 2024
Posted in Cancer, Diabetic, Disability, Weight Loss
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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.
22 Friday Dec 2023
Posted in Weight Loss
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I had to wait until I got paid this month before I was able to but I signed my wife and myself up to the required class for the bariatric surgery. I also called my primary doctor and I’ve set up the first of three appointments that are also a requirement for the surgery. These appointments are to monitor how well I’m doing to adjust to my new lifestyle. The doctor will have to fill out paperwork to be turned in to the surgen after the three months. I still have no clue as to what my cost will be.
I had a visit with my phuminologist the other day and the nurse that did my trioge mentioned to me that she had the surgery about a year ago and she had lost over sixty pounds. I would be extremely happy with sixty pounds. As just so happens, my daughter worked at the same school that she did so they know each other. My daughter told me she looked huge. She still has some weight to lose but she doesn’t look nothing like she did sixty pounds ago.
I suspect April or May if I’m approved. That’s my goal.
08 Friday Dec 2023
Posted in Photography, Weight Loss
Tags
astrology, balance, Doctor, healthandwellness, Moon, shrink, universal-energy, weight loss surgery
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,
18 Sunday Jun 2023
Posted in diet, Weight Loss
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That’s my daughter’s favorite saying. When it’s been a while since she’s done something she’ll say “It’s been a minute.” Well, it’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything. I’ll try to keep it brief so as not to bore you.
Nothing has really changed except my weight. I have lost quite a few pounds, over twenty pounds since January. I woke up one morning and decided to take control of my eating habits. Actually, it was a New Year’s resolution that started it all. No more sweets, nothing white, and no fast food restaurants. Basically, a low-carb diet. Sure, I have my cheat days but I try really hard to stay on top of it. Weekends are my worst as far as trying to stay on it.
Taken in 2011 during a family Disney cruse.
Taken with my wife just after a kayak trip to the river just a few days ago.
As you can see, there’s just a little bit of difference in the weight. 340 lbs in 2011 and 265 lbs in 2023. Also, I’ve gone from a size 48 to a size 38 as of today.
That’s it for now. There’s a ton more that’s happened but I’ll save that for another day. I promise I’ll start posting more regularly.
Peace to you
26 Friday Aug 2022
Posted in Weight Loss
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Drum Roll Please………. 15.6 pounds down since August 19th. No, that’s probably not healthy to lose this much in one week but consider this, it’s mostly fluid. I started taking a drug known as Metolazone which is a booster drug to Bumetanide. Bumetanide, or Bumax for short, is a drug to get the excess fluid off the body. When taken with Metolzone, it’s like Bumax on steroids. There is a certain way I have to take it in order for it to work. It doesn’t take but a week or two to get all the fluid out from inside the body. Now, if I have confirmed fluid in my lung cavity then I have to get rid of the fluid another way, Bumax won’t help there.
Not only did I take the booster drug this week, but I’ve also cut carbs, and salt and I’ve done a little bit of exercise. While on the drugs to help get rid of the fluid, I can lose upwards of 2 pounds a day. Once off the drug, I’ll be good to lose less than a pound a week.
I’m off the drug so we’ll see what happens next week.
20 Saturday Aug 2022
Posted in Cancer, Weight Loss
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.
19 Wednesday Aug 2020
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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.
Stay safe everyone!!
10 Sunday May 2020
Posted in Diabetic, diet, Gym, Photography, Twins, University of Alabama, Weight Loss
Tags
daughters, diet, Graduation, Mom, Weightloss, Weightloss goal
I hope you got a chance to visit your mother today or at least made or received a phone call. I got to visit mine for a few minutes. We practiced social distancing while visiting her on our porch. My mom is in her mid 80’s so she won’t be here with us too much longer so I want to spend as much time with her as possible, front porch or not.
My family spent the afternoon last Saturday taking pictures at the University of Alabama, where my two daughters graduated. I’m so proud of both of them. The one on the left will go into advertising while the other will be going into childhood education.
Off-topic…The person I’m seeing in the mirror in the mornings as I’m getting into the shower is beginning to disgust me once again. You and I both know what that means. My gym will be opening soon and then there is that treadmill downstairs. In the meantime. I’ll be watching what I eat and walking on the treadmill. I’ll need all the encouragement I can get. The goal…10 pounds in 10 weeks.
29 Sunday Mar 2020
Posted in Cycling, Diabetic, diet, Gym, Weight Loss
How is everyone doing during the quarantine? I’m doing fine I guess. I did something stupid the other day and I really hope that it doesn’t come back to bite me. I’m expecting a house painter to come early next week to start painting my house. In order to do the front, I had to get rid of my hedge bushes.
They’ve been there for years and have grown quite big and tall. I took a chain saw to them which made for quick work and after the front was exposed I noticed a large hole that went underneath my front stoop. I had to purchase some bags of dirt to fill it in before the painters showed up. The stupid part is when I went to Lowes to purchase the dirt. The place was packed. It looked like they were going to have some sort of give-away. I should have turned around then but I didn’t. When I went to check out the line was over twenty people long. With my health the way it is, I should’ve turned around but instead, I stood in line with all those other people. I won’t be doing that again.
The house looks bare now but at least they’re cut down now. The only thing I have to do now is pull up the stumps. I’ll do that later on. The grounds too wet to get in there with my truck and I don’t want to ruin my yard with ruts or worse get my truck stuck.
As of this morning, I’ve lost 9.2 pounds. I’ve got to get back on my treadmill so I can lose the other five pounds so I can get on my bicycle. Plus, with the virus going around and us being quarantined, I’m making more and more trips to the refrigerator which is not good. I’ve still got this nagging cough which when I get out of breath makes it hard for me to breathe and I have a coughing fit. I’ll either start back this evening or wait until Monday to start.
I have a doctor’s appointment come Wednesday. I’m sort of excited about going. I’ve been keeping up with my sugar and it’s down from 9.9 to 7.2. I’ve already seen the medical test report. So I’m pretty excited about that. My triglycerides are high and I need to do something to get it lower.
I’m near to 400 followers now. When I started this blog I never thought it would be this high. I’m about to go through and delete a few because some I have found are nothing but spam and sex promo sites. I have no idea how I got those followers. Anyway, thanks for following me.
Stay home and stay safe everyone!!
Grayfeathersblog 