The beginning of a Journey

It's been a long time in coming, but finally on June 23rd I had my weight loss surgery. I chose a restrictive banding procedure using the RealizeBand and performed by Dr Simper at St Marks Hospital.

For those who don't exactly understand what I've done it's quite simple. An adjustable band was placed around the top of my stomach creating a new smaller stomach. This new stomach can hold about two ounces of food. But with the restriction at the top of the stoma it tricks the body into thinking that it is full with just a few ounces of food. This then forces the body to being feeding on it's own reserves and thus increasing weight loss. The band is adjustable and can be inflated and deflated as necessary to increase or decrease the amount of food I can take.

As you can see from my picture the band placement was done lap rather than open. This really speeds recovery time. In fact I went into the hospital at 6 AM monday morning and was walking around the floor by 1 and went up and visited grandpa by 3. And I was home by 6. The overal pain has been very minimal, the worst part of it is they inflate your abdomen with gas during the surgery, well that gas has to eventually come out and there is a little pain involved with burping as it comes out.

A say this is the beginning of a journey because that's exactly what it is. The band is simply a tool, a tool to help me lose weight. I still have to eat right, exercise, and watch my diet. The difference is that if I cheat the band will let me know it in some very unpleasant ways. But I have all the support I need to be able to do this and do it right. My parents who have supported me every step of the way, my children who say that although they will miss my squishy tummy when they give me hugs they want to see me healthy as well, and of course my wife. Who through this has been scared, angry, and nervous, but none of that mattered when they wheeled me around the corner taking to my room and there she was waiting for me. And finally of course, Bob. He was my biggest advocate to get this surgery done and made sure every time he saw me that I knew it. I just wish he could have been there in person Monday, but I know he was there and I know he was glad to finally see it happen.