I am going under the KNIFE!

[Cal Blacksmith]

I guess I let the cat out of the bag in a few posts here

today so this is getting its own thread.

I am going in to have surgery.

. When you get over 100# to loose, you only have about a 2

to 5 % chance of loosing it and keeping it off.

I have 200# to loose and am going in for WL (weight loss)

surgery in 14 days, the 9^th of November. Yep I am going to have the

pipes rerouted to achieve my goal. This is a forever change and people who have

had the surgery have a successes rate of 60 to 75% of keeping the weight off

after 10 years. I have fought this all my life and now I need to do something

more drastic to get healthy.

A few here have commented on how much better they feel and

how much more energy they have after only a ~40# loss, think how I will feel

with loosing YOUR ENITRE BODY WEIGHT! I cant wait!

[Amy]

Brave decision, Cal.... I wish you the best of health. Keep us posted!

[colterphoto1]

Good health to you Cal! Brave decision.

Nov 9 is my birthday and I will be thinking of you.

I did get the PJ mounted, the bracket works and looks great (like invisible)

now to take it down for photos!

Michael

[PhilMays]

Hi Cal,

I sent you a PM.

Phil

[gonzp]

Good luck and many prayers from our family to yours Cal.

[dtel]

My neighbor / best friend done it about 2 years ago. He lost 175 lbs and said it was the best thing he had ever done.

The operation was very easy, he said , it did take him a while to get adjusted to eating less but more often. He also had to take vitamins every day which he slacked off after a few months only to find out he would feel very weak, he got back on the vitamins and have had no problems.

He is like a different person , he is 12 years older then me 61 and we work together on many things, and It takes everything I have to keep up with him.

Before the operation he had bad knee problems to the point he had to get an artificial knee joint and still had problems with it, not anymore you would never know.

Good luck and I hope it goes as well for you as it did for him.

[Fish]

Good luck Cal,hope all goes well for you.

[Tom Adams]

Yep - good luck Cal.

So are you having the bypass surgery or this new procedure where they use a "strap"??

Tom

[CECAA850]

Good luck and good health to you.

[PhilMays]

Hi Cal,

I sent you a PM.

Phil

[WMcD]

All best wishes,

Gil

[J.4knee]

Wayne best wishes for successful surgery and recovery, and most of all being able to meet and sustain your weightloss goals.

R/Jim

[Cal Blacksmith]

Thanks everyone,

I don't know about it being a

"brave" decision, the thought and reality of high blood pressure(which

I am starting to have), diabetes, joint problems (which I am starting to have)

or any of the other weight related medical problems not to mention quality of

life problems such as not fitting into restaurant booths, seat belts in cars

not being long enough, buying clothes at the tent makers shop, not being able

to walk at a good pace and talk at the same time, struggling to bend over to tie

my shoes, and all the 1000 other little things added up to one very big

thing, namely, I needed to loose this weight and it needed to be a permanent

fix.

The procedure I am having is called Roux-en-Y an explanation

of it is here.

http://obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/cmsID,9024/mode,content/a,cms/

I also post on the mens forum there under my name of Cal

Blacksmith. The layout of the forum is a little different but the people there

are great. I just posted a thread there and it can be found at:

http://obesityhelp.com/forums/men/postdetail/40817.html?vc=0

You can see my picture there (for whatever that is worth!)

I will keep everyone posted on how things are going and I

will be off the board for a few days after the surgery so I would hope to be

back posting by the 13^th of November if all goes well.

[Coytee]

Hope it all goes well for you. You're going to have to post a before and after picture (after say a year) so we can all brag about knowing you before you were a rock star!

[Cal Blacksmith]

Phil, PM back to you.

Everyone else, this is the bulk of the PM to Phil, There was some personal stuff but I thought everyone could read this and it would add to understanding of what is going to happen.

As to pics, yes there will be before pics but a year probably won't be needed as large changes happen quickly. Most MEN loose at nearly a pound a day for the first several months with many loosing 100# within the first 4 or 5 months!

Here is the PM:

I am going to a VERY conservative medical group. The routine hospital stay is 3

days and if you have sleep apnea (which I do) then you get treated to the first

24 hours in intensive care as a matter of course. Many other programs let you go home

sooner but here, they want to catch any problems you may have before they become big

ones. The minimum 3 day stay will greatly help to that end.

The diet is 3 weeks

of only liquids, then 3 weeks of baby food consistency foods both at the rate

of no more than 2 oz per meal and no faster than 1 oz in 5 minutes. The third

stage of eating is to introduce one food at a time to see how each person

reacts to each food. The mortality rate for this group is about 1 in 400 when

the rate industry wide is about 1 in 200 so I feel good about how things will

go.

I have also been to the support group meetings and that is

going well. There is an online support group It is Obeasityhelp.com. They are a world wide site

where the members range from just thinking about the surgery to people who

are many years out from surgery. There is a lot of information there to be had. They rate

hospitals, doctors, plastic surgeons. There are personal experiences related to

all aspects of ALL the weight loss surgeries.

I know this is a big step but I am ready for it. It is time

to change my life for the better!

[Timmikid]

All the best wishes, Cal! Stay in touch.

[Cal Blacksmith]

Oh BTW, one side benifit of loosing weight guys is that for every 35# you loose, your "tool" gets about 1/2" longer![]

That might motavate some here to loose a little of the "extra" weight[]

[Champagne taste beer budget]

Best of luck, Cal. I, too, have a friend that had the bypass surgery, he's lost over 100 lbs in two years and looks/acts/feels 20 years younger. I almost wonder how he can afford to keep buying new clothes, seems he's down a couple sizes every time I see him.

I'm sure everything will go great, just don't try and rush anything, follow the doctors orders and enjoy the new you!

[Me Loves Khorns]

What do you mean your tool?[]

Good luck on your surgery. I highly recommend it to my patients that need it. Of course, there is a percentage of complications with the surgery, but there are also complications with the weight. The surgery ultimately therefore becomes safer to do than not to do.

The group you are using must have a lot of experience with this type of surgery. The national outcomes of this surgery are essentially directly correlated with the experience of the surgeon. You want someone who does a ton of them. Not someone who is on their 10th such case and learned at some weekend course how to do them...

God Bless and good luck.

Paul

[Cal Blacksmith]

Paul;

I didn't know you were in the medical field!

Yes they have had LOTS of experence. The group is more than 20 years old they have done more than 1500 operations, over 95% in the last 5 years have been lap. My Doctor has over 500 of these operations and the Bio on the groups website says;

Mir

B. Ali, MD

Dr. Ali is a 1984 graduate of UCLA, later receiving his Medical Degree in

1990 at Hahnemann University. After receiving his Degree, he spent a year

interning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, then completing his residency

at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda,

Maryland.Dr. Ali has been decorated for outstanding service in the U.S.

Marine Corps. providing medical needs to over 1,000 U.S. Marines and many

countries as a solo Physician. Pursuing a career in private practice, Dr.

Ali left the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Commander.

In addition to his extensive naval background, Dr. Ali has served on various

hospital staff committees aimed at improving all aspects of patient care.

Dr. Ali joined the Lite Dimensions Surgical Team August 2000, and has flourished

his patient base immensely.

So I do think I am in good hands.