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This morning my weight is 328 lbs; that’s 80 lbs lost since I started this weight loss crusade.  Pretty good!  Yesterday I returned to work after 5 weeks of short term disability.  There was a week thrown in there where I worked from home, then I got sick and had to go in the hospital for a week.  Bummer days.

Well, all of that is behind me now.  I am feeling better every day.  It’s been weeks since I’ve been on the elliptical, but tomorrow I am going to start back up on it (maybe even tonight if I have the energy).  At my work, we have this one main hallway that is about 1000 feet long.  People walk up and down it during their breaks; I started this yesterday.  I walked for 15 minutes.  I am going to start doing that twice a day at work.

I am finding so many shirts in the back of my closet that I haven’t been able to wear for so long that I can now wear.  It’s almost like getting new clothes.  It’s very exciting and feels good.

This morning my weight is 340 lbs.  That’s 68 lbs. lost so far.

I am finding that, despite this terrific weight loss, most days I feel like I wish I had not had the surgery.  The complications I’ve had have been extremely discouraging.  I feel like I’ve been sick for the last 3 weeks and I still don’t really feel quite right.  I have no energy and have a lot of pain and discomfort in my abdomen.  I can’t help but think there is still something wrong.

Also, I am quickly losing faith in Dr. Wade Barker and his staff.  They just don’t really seem to care.  Any time I need to make an office visit, the wait is always at least 2 to 3 hours.  For example, last Thursday, I had an appointment scheduled at 11:30am to see Dr. Barker.  I was there at 11:15.  I sat in the waiting room until 2:05pm before they finally called me back.  When they did call me back, one of his assistants came to talk to me for a few minutes, then I had to sit there for another 15 minutes waiting for Dr. Barker to show up.  That day I was late picking up my daughter from pre-school; she cried because she was scared.  It made me feel so very angry at Dr. Barker and his staff.  They simply have absolutely no consideration for their patients at all, which I think speaks volumes about their practice overall.

If you are someone in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and you are considering bariatric bypass, I would strongly urge you to consider another practice beside Dr. Wade Barker.  His practice has clearly grown too quicly and beyond his capacity to manage.  I’ve read that he is a brilliant surgeon, and I don’t doubt it, but he’s simply spread too thin.  Another thing to think about…Dr. Barker didn’t even perform my surgery, one of his attending surgeons did, this kid named Bobby.  Sure, Dr. Barker was there, but just observed.  Whoever performed the surgery, the result was an abcess on my colon.  Then, the extremely poor care that I received at Pine Creek Medical Center resulted in that infection spreading to a secondary infection in my abdominal wall cavity.  These are all facts.

Speaking of Pine Creek Medical Center (in Dallas), it’s the worst hospital I have ever seen or visited.  Avoid it like the plague.  If you are a patient of Dr. Barker and he wants to perform your surgery their, ask him if there is any way it could be done somewhere else, for example Doctor’s Hospital, which is right next to his practice.  Pine Creek is utterly horrible, in my experience.

I am going to try to start writing regularly again.  This has been a very difficult experience and I just haven’t felt like writing about it.  Hopefully the fact that I am getting past that now is an indication that I am getting better…

This mornings weigh in:

354.2 lbs

This mornings weigh-in:

357.8 lbs.

That’s 50.2 lbs. lost since I began my pre-surgery diet!!  Next goal…100 lbs. lost.

Yesterday my wife and I took about a 3 mile walk during lunch…we walked for about an hour.  I wore the 1-lb. weights on my wrists.  I took a second walk after supper time…just a quick 20 minute walk, probably about a mile.

This morning my weight is:

363.6 lbs.

This morning my weight is 365.8 lbs.  I am very happy with that!  I have been working extremely hard to achieve that, though.  I’ve been exercising 3 to 4 times per day.  Yesterday, for example, I took two walks, once with 1-pound weights on my wrists, each walk about 1 mile/20 minutes.  I also rode the elliptical twice yesterday, once 2.2 miles in 20 minutes, and then the second time 2.4 miles in 20 minutes.  I have been very conscientious to make sure I am getting plenty of protein.

Speaking of protein, I am really starting to dislike the protein supplements I am taking.  I have been using the Nectar protein products.  At first they weren’t so bad, but I’ve slowly developed a strong distaste for them.  Right now I have been using primarily the cappuccino and twisted cherry flavors.  Before my surgery I was mixing them with large quantities of water (about 32oz).  Post-surgery, I simply cannot take down that much water at once, so I’ve been mixing with 8 to 12 oz of water.  It’s sickeningly sweet and leaves a horrible after taste.  I have some Lemon Tea flavor that I haven’t been using; I think I will try it today.  I may have to consider an alternative product.

I am feeling very motivated and good overall.  My body continues to recover very well.  This morning I changed the water tank on the water cooler and had absolutely no pain or discomfort at all lifting that much weight.  I think my exercise regimine in conjunction with the large amounts of protein I’ve been consuming has really helped to speed my recovery along.

On Monday the 14th I will be returning to work, but I will be working from home the first week.  It’s been very easy and convenient to exercise while I’ve been off work, but now I am going to have to start focusing on adhering to a schedule to accomodate my work day.  Shouldn’t be a big issue.

That’s about it for now.

This morning’s weigh in:

369.0 lbs

It seems that exercise plus eating small meals throughout the day is getting my metabolism going!!  This morning I am going to do at least 20 mins on the elliptical.

This morning my weight was 372 lbs.  I am already more than half way to my first major milestone, 50 lbs. lost.  Physically I am feeling alot better…not quite 100% yet, but getting there.  I have been very good about exercising every day and that makes me feel good about myself.  I’ve been walking 2 to 3 times per day and getting in about 60 minutes of brisk walking every day.  This is more exercise than I’ve had in a long, long time and I have to admit, it feels good.  Tomorrow I think I will try getting back on the elliptical.

Today the doctor told me that I had to wait 6 weeks until I could swim again, which is a drag becuase summer is coming and we have a pool in our backyard.  Hopefully that 6 weeks will go by quickly; I think it will.

My attitude the past several days has been really down.  I’ve been very grumpy and irritable.  Not only have I not been eating but I’ve also stopped drinking alcohol and smoking.  Today my wife pointed out that I have been very distant.  That was a bit of a reality check for me and I appreciated it.  I will work on my attitude in the coming days.  I must stay positive and focused.

It’s been extremely difficult, but I am doing it and every day is a little easier.  It’s definitely nice not to have to worry about work.  Speaking of work, I will be back in action starting this coming Monday but working from home.  Hopefully I will be able to ease into things and there won’t be a maelstrom of work waiting for me…

As far as diet goes, up until yesterday I’ve been purely on water, vitamin supplements, protein supplements and the occasional canned chicken or beef broth.  Yesterday I had about 4 oz of chicken cream soup and a couple water crackers.  Today I tried 4 oz of yogurt, 4 oz of chicken cream soup and for dinner I had some scrambled egges made from egg beaters and a couple very small pieces of mexican cheese.  I am tolerating this food very well.  It will be interesting to see how my weight loss is affected.  The whey protein supplement that I add to water is becoming extremely distasteful to me.  It has a very unpleasant after taste, but it’s very important that I get at least 60 grams of protein every day, so I will keep drinking it.

Current weight:

374.8 lbs.

Weight last time I was at the doctor: 408 lbs.

Weight lost so far: 33.2 lbs.

This morning when I stepped on the scale I was 379.0 lbs…I’ve lost another 6 and a half pounds.

This has been a rough week.  I’ve never been so acutely aware of all of the food commercials we are inundated with…on TV, on the radio, on billboards…even on the internet!  It’s like torture!  However, I am proud to say that I have not had anything to eat since Monday.  I’ve been sticking to the plan, just having water, my protein supplements, my vitamin supplements and the occasional light cranberry juice mixed with water.  On Thursday I had some beef broth for lunch and chicken broth for dinner.  It was such an incredible treat, but the next morning I had the worst diarrhea.  I’m not sure if it was worth it…

Anyway, just about 48 hours until my surgery and I am feeling pretty good.  I will be off work for the next two weeks, and despite the circumstances, I am pretty happy about that.