It has been a year since my last post, and to say it has been a roller coaster ride is the understatement of the year. So to get you all caught up, the camp turned out to be an utter failure, although through no fault of its own. I pinched a nerve falling down playing basketball, and that essentially ended my effective time at the camp. So instead of staying the full two months, I left after 1 month, although I had dropped about 20 lbs while I was there.
After I got home I became pretty depressed and history repeated itself and I gained back not only all the weight I lost but then some. To this point in my life the heaviest I had ever been was around 310 lbs. By the end of May 2010, I ballooned all the way up to an unmanageable 357 lbs. I was having all kinds of issues from just walking around, to even showering without being out of breath. It was the scariest time of my life.
It was one night in early June that I had a conversation with my wife that I truly believed I would not be around much longer. At best I thought I would have another couple of agonizing years left. I even went as far as having a living will drafted just in case.
It was at this point that I realized I needed to do something drastic that I really had been opposed to. I made an appointment with a Bariatric surgeon for the middle of June. When I met with Dr. Milton at his office in Orange, CA. he made me feel right at home. I weighed in that day at a whopping 348 lbs. We (my wife, Dr. Milton, and I) decided that the right surgery for me was the VSG or Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. We scheduled the procedure for the 19th of July.
2 weeks prior to surgery I had to go onto a all liquid diet to help shrink my liver to cut down on possible surgical complications. It was 2 weeks of hell, but when all said and done come surgery day I was 326 lbs. I had the surgery on a Friday afternoon, and spent 2 nights in the hospital before being released to go home. It was a painful couple of first days and an adjustment to say the least.
The surgery has greatly reduced the amount of food I can consume. On a typical day I will have 64 ounces of fluids, as well as 500-600 calories, most of which are protein. I exercise anywhere from 3 to 5 days a week. Lots of cardio with light weight lifting once the incisions healed.
Overall I am feeling terrific. I am a little over 9 weeks past my surgery date and I am down to 272 lbs and well on my way to meeting my overall goal of 200 lbs. I am hoping with hard work and staying consistent I can achieve my goal by April or May 2011. If I can that would be a total weight loss of 148 lbs in 10-11 months. It would be nothing short of amazing,
I will try my hardest to keep you all up to date on my progress going forward. I will shoot for at least a once a month weigh in and update at the very least. Talk to you all soon.
Sincerely,
Chris
