Tmac's Journal - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

Tmac · 04-24-2009, 01:42 AM

Hi Friends,

It's been a while since I've posted and several of you have told me in PM's to get a Journal going, so here it is.

It's funny how fast life can get complicated. Work has been out of control and traveling has really zapped the life out of me. I'm writing to you from an airport lounge in Brussels, looking forward to getting home after a long 2 weeks on the road. I'm home to 2 days and then head to several US cities.

While in Brussels, I had the lovely experience of being mugged, losing my wallet, camera and passport in that ordeal. If you've ever had to get a special travel voucher from a US Embassy, you know how much fun I'm having right about now.

It seems like January was just yesterday and now I'm scheduling meetings for July.

My journey to WLS and my travel are rather connected. Unlike several other stories I've read, my weight problem really started as an adult. My job has always required me to travel and to entertain clients. Eating healthy on the road can be challenging and while I would sometimes do a good job, many times I succumbed to burger and fries hotel room service.

At home, I'm terrifically lucky as my wife cooks wonderful foods and I always get healthy meals when I'm home. Plenty of veggies, lots of fresh foods that are low fat, high protein, high nutrients.

About me: I'm 41, married and have two amazing little girls, who are 8 and 4 years old. I'm passionate about playing with my kids, playing my drums and getting away with my wife for a date night at least once per month.

I found this forum back in January and I read just about every personal story that's posted in here. I was amazed to find other people dealing with the same issues. But, more wonderfully, I found an environment where I knew that I wouldn't be judged.

I also have to admit that I enjoy the anonymity of the TT forum. You see, I don't plan to tell anyone about my surgery, aside from my wife. I've taken some grief from a few of you about that

I have my reasons for keeping it quiet. You can chalk it up to male ego if you want, but that's only a small part of it. I just see it as a personal decision and not something that I want to invite conversation about. I'm already tired of having too many conversations about my weight, so I don't want to invite more. The guys are work with are all fitness freaks who jog 5-10 miles a day, talk non-stop about their physical conquests and mountain climbs. They are far away from having the needed perspective to do anything but judge this decision.

My life is about to change...
The best news that I received on this trip was a call from my wife letting me know that I have my surgery date. June 1 is the big day. I can't wait.

About a month ago, I found a surgeon and discussed several options with him. I was convinced that I wanted to have a verticle sleeve gastrectomy. He agreed that it's a good surgery, but advised me to consider a band based on my BMI and age.

Interesting, my doctor had just had a band put in himself, so his perspective is quite good. His weight situation is similar to mine. Between his recommendation and my wife's comfort level, I've decided to go with the band.

Fears

- Now that the surgery is real, I'm fearful about being hungry post-op. I don't want to ruin the effect of the surgery by over-eating. I've seen lots of posts here on this topic and I have every reason to believe I'll be fine, but emotionally this feels huge. After all, as many of you say, the surgery is not on your head, so the brain takes a while to catch up.

- Complications. It doesn't happen much, but when it does, it can be a real nightmare. So, while I'm not nervous about the lap procedure, I do worry about ridiculous stuff like my doctor calling in sick and some hack doing my surgery instead.

- Life post-op is going to be a double challenge for me. The first challenge is simply re-learning how to eat. The second challenge, and the one I'm most worried about is life on the road. One thing that I've learned is that room service is just pure evil. You just have to avoid it. My new discipline is that I never eat in my hotel room. When I eat in public at a restaurant, I always make a better food choice. So, I have to tell myself that if I'm too tired to get out of my hotel room, then I'm too tired to be eating.

I have a lot to think about on my long flight. I'm excited and ready to get on with my new life.

Things I'm looking forward to:

- Getting rid of the seatbelt extender
- Being comfortable on an airplane
- Going back into my closet and putting on some nice suits that I outgrew years ago.
- watching my blood pressure and associated meds go down
- Playing more with my kids
- Being more active, like I used to be.
- Shedding my defensive attitude about my weight
- And many, many more things.

Take care friends,
Tmac

Aviator · 04-24-2009, 05:52 AM

You sound like a mirror image of me. Just a little younger. Starting BMI is close too.

As Im sure you know, I first thought I wanted the band, but opted for VSG. 4 months out, Im down 60 lbs now and still dropping a pound or two per week.

Tough break about the mugging. I've had a lot of weird crap happen to me on the road, but never that. Probably because I dont do much sightseeing if I'm working.

One day I arrived in Bombay, India during the monsoon, and was shocked when Reception at the Taj Mahal Hotel gave me the key to room 666. On the top floor. I gulped hard, and looked at the "number of the beast" on the key as I trudged upstairs. Putting the key in the door, I heard a noise inside. Fully creeped out, I opened the door, and a torrent of water was gushing through a large hole in the ceiling. I quietly closed the door and headed back downstairs for a new room assignment. ::whew::

And about the secrecy, ::makes zipping motion across lips :: mum's the word. I totally understand, and did the same thing.

Have a great flight back from Belgium. Just returned from Aberdeen Scotland on Wednesday, myself.

Safe Paths...

Tmac · 04-24-2009, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator

You sound like a mirror image of me. Just a little younger. Starting BMI is close too.

As Im sure you know, I first thought I wanted the band, but opted for VSG. 4 months out, Im down 60 lbs now and still dropping a pound or two per week.

Tough break about the mugging. I've had a lot of weird crap happen to me on the road, but never that. Probably because I dont do much sightseeing if I'm working.

One day I arrived in Bombay, India during the monsoon, and was shocked when Reception at the Taj Mahal Hotel gave me the key to room 666. On the top floor. I gulped hard, and looked at the "number of the beast" on the key as I trudged upstairs. Putting the key in the door, I heard a noise inside. Fully creeped out, I opened the door, and a torrent of water was gushing through a large hole in the ceiling. I quietly closed the door and headed back downstairs for a new room assignment. ::whew::

And about the secrecy, ::makes zipping motion across lips :: mum's the word. I totally understand, and did the same thing.

Have a great flight back from Belgium. Just returned from Aberdeen Scotland on Wednesday, myself.

Safe Paths...

60 lbs! That's awesome Aviator. You must be at the point where people are really taking notice.

I'm curious to know what that's going to be like. What do you tell people when they ask about it?

I remember a few years ago, I dropped 40 lbs, working out like a maniac, preparing for a racquetball tournament. I felt great and everyone noticed the change in my face and stomach.

How do you feel? You must have a ton of energy back.

As for the switch on the VSG, I still have mixed emotions. I also still have time to change my mind, because I'm self pay. Hmmmm.

The flight home was uneventful and I was thrilled to get a business class seat. As for your hotel, that's quite a story. I've never been to India, but I think that would have freaked my out more than my mugging. My mugging was couple of teenages with knives and me in the wrong alley late at night walking back to my hotel.

60 lbs. That's an inspiration. Keep up the great work.

Tmac

noholes · 04-24-2009, 07:35 PM

Tmac,

You are to be commended for your research and decisions about surgery. I went in with all intentions to not tell anyone about my surgery- didn't happen in my case. but, if I could have kept it to myself, I would have. I am not embarassed by my decision, its just, as you said, was "my" decision.
I can also relate to your eating due to work situations. Although trained as an educator, after marriage I "inherited" 3 convenience stores when my husband decided to open a different business."Lucky Me"

How much "healthy" food do you find in a "Stop and Shop?" Although overweight most of my life, being on a 24 hour call basis and never home at regular hours, I started picking and grabbing my meals. I am the cook, and do cook healthy- I just was never home " to " cook.
You sound like you have your priorities in order and your questions and concerns about issues in the future are valid. Getting over "head" hunger and realizing the difference between "it" and "real" hunger is a long battle, but is something that is do- able. You work on it every day and start to realize different ways to indentify which is which.
I will say that healthy food taste better to me now than "junk". It takes a little more planning to keep snacks with you, but, it is worth it to make a solid and full effort towards surgery success. Sorry about the mugging and the travel hassles- no fun, I am sure.

Best of luck to you..

Amy H

Aviator · 04-24-2009, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tmac

60 lbs! That's awesome Aviator. You must be at the point where people are really taking notice.

I'm curious to know what that's going to be like. What do you tell people when they ask about it?

I remember a few years ago, I dropped 40 lbs, working out like a maniac, preparing for a racquetball tournament. I felt great and everyone noticed the change in my face and stomach.

How do you feel? You must have a ton of energy back.

As for the switch on the VSG, I still have mixed emotions. I also still have time to change my mind, because I'm self pay. Hmmmm.

The flight home was uneventful and I was thrilled to get a business class seat. As for your hotel, that's quite a story. I've never been to India, but I think that would have freaked my out more than my mugging. My mugging was couple of teenages with knives and me in the wrong alley late at night walking back to my hotel.

60 lbs. That's an inspiration. Keep up the great work.

Tmac

OK since you are still open to the question of which procedure let me tell you the story of why I went with VGS.

At first, I was all about the band. Read and read about it. I looked at the the post-op regimen and it looked like it required a lot of discipline. And because I travel so much, I began to figure that maybe I shoud opt for RnY.
About that time a well known doctor here in The Woodlands died about 3 wks after having been banded...of sepsis. This was like Aug 2008. Overwhelming infection WHILE TRAVELING! I mean there is a foreign body in your body, right? Bones, my physician wife knew the lady, and the event really caused a ripple in the medical community here.

So at the appointment for the first surgical evaluation, I told the doc my travel challenges and my desire for RnY. He asked me to reconsider - and think about VSG. At my BMI - which was 39, if you look at statistics, the difference between RnY and VSG was about 15 lbs - in terms of the difference in excess weight I could expect to lose.

And the risk of complications is much higher with RnY. And suppose I was in Balikpapan, Indonesia and got a stricture? Might kill me. And I know the band is "reversible" but who wants to go back to being fat after all this.

The other real disadvantage to the band are the fills. If your doc retires or you move away, it is highly unlikely to find someone to do the fills for you. Why? Because they dont want to risk a malpractice suit if you have complications, for a lousy $350 fill. There is a thread here somewhere on TT about a lady who experienced that.

The VSG surgery is a snap. I had the surgery on a Wednesday and I was back at work the following Tuesday. Low risk, quick recovery, low complication rate and highly effective.

And yes, I feel great now, and have no clothes that fit. Have a look at Aviator's Log, for the whole tale. I think you'll be amazed at how similar our stories are.

foxyfuzz · 04-25-2009, 01:44 PM

Hello and welcome Tmac.

Glad to hear you arrived safe at home. Sorry to hear about your troubles while out and about.

I had the RNY and haven't looked back since. My date was 12/18/08 and I am down about 76 lbs.

I also thought about the band, but was sorta freaked out about a foreign thing being sewen into my body and then having to have the fill. It is upto your of course, but with your travel schedule I would go another route. What AV said about the other issues that could arrise while traveling makes me so happy I chose what I did.

I agree with your thought process on eating while traveling. Go to the restrauant rather than eating by room service. Many more choices that way.

You will find tons of support and information here, and I am counting down the days for you my friend.

Enjoy being home at least for a little while.

Crimson Kittie · 04-25-2009, 01:54 PM

Congratulations on your surgery date!!

sorry to hear about the mugging though ... I hope everything turns out ok

((hugs))

milwmarc · 04-26-2009, 02:28 PM

Glad to see another man join the sight.. I'm excited to hear of your progess.

I TOO was going to have lap band as I thought:

#1. They MAY come up with an magic pill say 10 years from now that would not require such a drastic surgery as WLS and then they could take out the band...Look at the huge improvements in drugs it will be here some day.

#2. Band seemed easier

#3. I could tighten the tummy more if I was eating too much.

But then I read Aviators and Many other peoples stories.

I don't travel all that much for the business I own or my consulting job (Yes I have 2 full time job's I"m nuts)

However I do A LOT of public speaking engagements and am constantly on the go and I thought...hmmm band could be troublesome.

I know of a person who has had band and Doctor left the area and they can't get someone to do the fills

My sister had Band and she lost only 50% of her excess weight and can't get it anymore then that.

So. I determined I'd go the route of RNY.

I've only been one month and a day out....but the main reason I chose the RNY. In watching BIG Medicine on tv..(not on that often) and in talking to my doctor LAP band only on average helps you lose 50% of excess weight whereas other types of surgery on average help you lose 80% of weight.

Just like you state I too am an active dad of 3 little ones 9, 6 & 5. I want to do all I can with them, I want to get back to being MUCH more physicall as I love to swim and Bike and used to do Sprint Triathlons..even at my larger size of 6'2 260...my knees started to give out and I had to give up Tri's..then the weight came back on... So I chose RNY to lead a healthier lifestyle. I know some day they may come up with a magic pill...but it came down to one decision for me. As one of my best friends who is a doctor told me.

"Marc, With surgery you are altering your body. But with LAP, you are putting a Foreign object in your body that is a DEVICE, and Marc as a doctor I know the average foreign object put into a body lasts on average 10 years before that foreign object fails. " I didn't want to take that chance.

I too have told almost no one other then my doctor friend, my wife and her best friend..other then that....I too, because I own a company, consult for a bank and work with too many people and too many reason's too name have not told anyone.

My cover for surgery. I had a hernia surgery and they also ended up removing part of my intestine so I can't eat a lot right now. That way when I'm out to eat and clients/ employees etc. see me eating 2 oz's of protein and nothing more I have a logical explanation. I ADHORE lying..but it's kinda true. Same basic timeline to recover so that they leave the subject alone.

Best of luck in your decision. I did it for my kids, my wife and for me and although it has been a hard first month mentally to get over PIZZA, its forcing me good habits.

It's a good life.

Marc M.

carotgirl · 04-26-2009, 04:09 PM

WOW! Sorry to hear about your experience in Brussels. That's terrible!!! I'm glad you made it home safely though.

CONGRATULATIONS on the surgery date. I think you already know my feelings about the band vs anything else, but you know YOU best.

Good luck!

Tmac · 05-19-2009, 01:35 AM

I've been away for a while, so first I want to thank everyone who replied to my post. I can't believe how fast time is flying and I apologize for the couple week absence form the forum.

You guys have been a great source of inspiration and information. You've given me a lot of tips, help, encouragement and good information. For that, I want to say thank you to everyone.

Since I've been gone, a few things have happened....

1) I've made up my mind to go with the band. It's been a tough decision to come to and all of you make excellent points. For what it's worth, the good advice here helped me to seek out additional information and make sure that I'm really prepared for what lies ahead. I'm not too concerned about the foreign object in my body as I've had metal rods in my back for 20 years and I actually have a friend who works at Endo Ethicon, the company that makes the Realize band. He's been great about giving me information and addressing some of my fears. I've come to believe that while I might not lose the weight as fast as I would like, the band is going to offer me the kind of controlled reminder that I'm looking for. At this point, I'm a bit on information overload and regardless of the procedure, I'm ready to start changing my life.

2) I've started my liquid diet in preparation for the surgery. I've done Optifast in the past and actually didn't mind the flavors. This time, it's Medifast and there is only two words to describe it: It SUCKS! LOL. Well, I don't like it, but I'm doing it and I'm already losing weight.

I started the liquid diet the day before another trip. I'm currently in Munich and traveling with several plastic bags with my daily portions of powered food measured out.

I successfully denied myself German beer, brats, etc. Although, I've absolutely salivated at my colleagues as they've partaken in such delights. I just keep telling myself that I'm going to have surgery in 2 weeks and that keeps me going. If I've done the Kilos to Pounds conversion correctly, the hotel scale says that I'm already down 4.5 lbs. My goal is to drop about 15 lbs prior to surgery which I think is completely do-able. (You see, I think I've been on a "tour of foods I'll miss" for the 2 weeks prior to starting this diet.) I realize how bad that sounds, but given my stress level at work I found a way to rationalize it.

Well, I'm off on a day trip to go see the concentration camp at Dachau. I'm told it's a very sad and sobering experience. I'm sure that it will add some perspective to my week and remind me that there are bigger issues in the world.

Take care everyone and thanks for the kind words.

Tmac