Solid State

So it's been a while since I updated the blog (duh), but life is slowly returning to normal.

My peanut butter experiment didn't go so well, though. I was a little nauseated afterward, and I didn't sleep well. So I haven't really had a taste for it since then. I know why (it's called conditioned taste aversion), but I hope it doesn't last, 'cause I really love peanut butter.

But at least I'm eating solid food now, even though I'm supposed to purée everything. Well, my food has to be the consistency of cottage cheese. So if it's already like that (refried beans, eggs, etc.), then I'm cool. Otherwise, I'm supposed to Cuisinart the food to death. As long as it looks sorta like it tastes...

I Couldn't Wait

Okay, this is technically supposed to happen tomorrow morning, but I couldn't wait...

...I'm having peanut butter.

Creamy peanut butter is on my list of allowed foods for Phase II, and I'm sick of protein shakes, chicken bullion, and cream of tomato soup (all special diet varieties, of course).

So I'm having' my peanut butter (3 tbsp). Oh, and a glass of skim milk (4 oz).

I'll let you know how it goes.

[crosses fingers]

So, I Discovered Something

I am not ready to get out and about.

After more than a week of recuperating at home, I decided that I felt pretty good. So I planned a day out on Monday to run a bunch of errands that had been accumulating on my To Do list.

Mistake.

I didn't think so at the time, but I wore myself out. Oh, sure, I was tired when I got home after 4 hours running errands, but I wasn't ready to collapse.

Then Tuesday hit. I was completely wasted all day. Even today, I still haven't recovered completely.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part III

Okay, so I had my surgery scheduled, and I figured that would be the end of it except for the waiting part.

Unfortunately, I am very naive.

Before surgery, I had to attend a 4-hour pre-op diet class. So, once again, I got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Knoxville. I was running my usual 15 minutes late when I got stuck in morning traffic behind an accident at my exit. Joy.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part II

After the surgeon's consult, I still had a bunch more hoops to jump through.

First, they wanted a letter from my primary care physician stating that I was healthy enough for surgery. (Also, it lets the surgeon's office know that I have a regular doctor and that I actually see him more than once every ten years. But I digress...)

The surgeon's office has someone responsible for helping run down all this stuff, and she contacted my regular doctor. This is a good thing, because my doc's office had evidently ignored my request when I'd called to ask the same thing the week before. He came through with a letter of approval, though, pending a cardiologist's evaluation.

That's a Lot of Hoops, Part I

Okay, so now you know why I had surgery, but getting here was a lot more work than you'd think.

Back in January or February I started thinking about it seriously. I talked to Marie and we decided to look into it. I'd already mentioned it to my primary care doctor, and he said I was a textbook candidate for surgery. So... where to begin?

I called the surgeon's office and tried to schedule a consultation. But it turns out, you can't even schedule a consult until you attend their once-monthy informational seminar. Okay, when can I do that? The next evening, as it turned out, so Marie and I braved the pouring rain to go to the meeting. That was back in early March.

Begin at the Beginning

Most of you know that I've been a big guy all my life. As a HS wrestler at my fittest, I weighed 220 lbs. I've been up and down many times, but mostly up.

Fortunately, I'm in pretty good shape for a guy my size. I mean, I don't have heart problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. I can hike around campus with a 20-lb backpack and do it while having a conversation with my 20-something classmates. I can grind out 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical without feeling like I'm going to die.

But I just can't lose weight and keep it off. And believe me, I've tried. I did Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem back in the 80s. More recently, I did Atkins, South Beach, and even a medically supervised diet a couple of years ago. Everything worked... for a while.

Reinvented

Well, I finally did it.

After years of dealing with my weight (or not) with diet and exercise, I finally broke down and decided to have gastric bypass surgery.

Why? Well, losing weight is hard. Keeping weight off is even harder, and I've never been able to do it. Oh, I can diet and exercise and lose it in the first place, but it always comes back.

So I decided to have bypass surgery to help. Now, before I go on, there's something you need to understand: weight loss surgery is no magic bullet. This isn't some easy-way-out solution that will just melt pounds away without consequences.

Instead, I'll have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life. I'll have to take special vitamins for the rest of my life. I'll have to take Prilosec and worry about ulcers for the rest of my life. I'll have to avoid NSAIDs (ibuprofin, aspirin, etc.) for the rest of my life. And there are other things I'll have to give up, like carbonated beverages, drinking straws, and maybe even some foods that I used to enjoy that simply won't agree with my new digestive tract.

So no, this isn't some magic bullet. It's a tool to help me lose weight and keep it off. And yes, it makes it a lot easier, but it makes my life a lot harder in many other ways. Is it a fair trade? I think so, or I wouldn't have done it. But there's no such thing as a free lunch.

I started this blog so I can keep in touch with family and friends about my life, the surgery, how it's going, etc. Instead of having to say the same things over and over, I can write them here and you all can post comments, encouragement, or whatever. Or you can just read and enjoy—no feedback needed.

So stay tuned, I have more to come. I'll explain a bit about the surgery and my new innards, and what kind of changes I'm going through at the moment.

Hopefully, it'll be interesting. If not, then at least it gives me something to do. Right?