On the Bariatric Road

Sept. 11, 2008 -- The seventh anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. How life has changed for us since then!
This is Day Three and all is going well. I feel very good today and I am sure I will make my goal of six fewer pounds by Sept. 16. On Monday, Sept. 15, I am scheduled for the EGD.
I had the five Optifast shakes yesterday and a real meal.

Solid Food

Felt good to chew something. Sylvia fixed four ounces of steak, fresh green beans with a cucumber and tomato salad. A juicy peach served as dessert. I awoke this morning feeling refreshed and energized.

Hurricane Awareness

Our prayers today are for those in the path of Hurricane Ike. My sister and my mother live just south of Houston. Mom, who is 94, lives in League City, Texas, while my sister and her husband live a bit further south in La Marque. They will be evacuating although I don't know yet where they will go.

Similar Storms

Ike is very similar to Hurricane Carla, which hit South Texas on Sept. 11, 1961. Both Dan Rather of CBS-TV fame and I got our big breaks during that storm. Rather was assigned to the Galveston weather bureau by his TV station in Houston and made dramatic, live reports as the water rose around him. He was in the weather bureau because he could show radar images of the storm -- a novelty then -- and because the bureau had back-up electrical power. I was on the night desk in the AP bureau in Houston and got the first eye-witness views of the flooding and devastation by renting a plane and flying over the area at first light. The plane had to be towed from the hangar into take-off position because the wind was strong enough to turn it over if the pilot tried to taxi. We took off into the wind in what seemed like about 100 feet. That little plane was tossed around like a leaf. Fortunately we had put a waste basket aboard because even the pilot got air sick. After landing and filing my story I drove as far into the damage as I could get for more first-hand reporting.
We both got promotions. So I guess we are responsible for the silly way TV reporters stand outside in hurricanes now.
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Day Two on the Bariatric Road

Sept. 10, 2008 -- The meeting of the pre-surgery diet group yesterday was a good orientation. I must lose six pounds by next Tuesday, Sept. 16. That should be a piece of cake. Except I can't eat cake.
I am starting out with the Optifast diet. This means drinking five of the Optifast shakes a day and eating one small meal -- a diet of about 1,500 calories a day. I may switch to drinking Muscle Milk Light because it is a little cheaper at $1.25 a serving while Optifast costs $3.50 a serving if I buy it already mixed. Mixing it myself reduces the cost a little. I think these kind of diets are not very successful over the long run because I have always gained back most of what I lost when I stopped the diet. But I will only be on it for four weeks and then -- on to the surgery.
I start the day with a drink, followed by another every three hours until dinner time around 6 p.m. or so when I can have four ounces of protein and some veggies. I finish the day with a final drink about 9 p.m. I must drink lots of water, which is easy because the Optifast seems to make me thirsty.

An Assist from the Wife

Sylvia is helping me in the diet phase. She joined Bariatic Solutions' non-surgical weight loss program. That is true togetherness!
This will work better for me if I don't look ahead toward how much total weight I have to lose in these four weeks but rather focus on how much I should weigh at my next diet class. That makes the "bites" smaller and easier to digest if I look forward to next Tuesday rather than to Oct. 4.
So far I notice little change in how I feel. Except I seem hungry a lot. Water helps ease that. I find I look at my watch a lot, trying to speed up the clock to the next drink.

A New Me

My daughter said she didn't like the picture I posted on Monday. I picked it to show how bad I look but here is another one. The dog is Grace, our new Corgi mix, who pals around with Buddy, another Corgi mix. Both are rescue dogs.
Lacey at Bariatric Solutions asked if they can put a link to this blog on their web page, so welcome to anyone who wandered in from over there.

Weird News

Back in the days when I slogged around the world as a foreign correspondent I was always on the outlook for the foibles and humor in life. Now I use the Internet instead. Here is a story from Britain about a young lady who found a bat in the bra she was wearing. And my contribution to political commentary can be summed up by "all things Sarah" by the BBC.

Ready for the Next Phase

The date has been set and I am ready. My Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is scheduled for Oct. 6 after a long and interesting wait. I will try to log the coming days here, mainly so family members can keep up with what is going on -- if they are interested. Nothing makes a person's eyes glaze faster than listening to someone talk about their surgery. So this way those who want to know can keep up while others won't be bored.
September is going to be full of appointments, starting Tuesday Sept. 9 and at least one a week after that until Oct. 6. I start a closely supervised diet Tuesday to lose 10 percent of my excess body weight or about 15 pounds before surgery. I weighed 341 this morning.

Two Goals

This diet has a dual purpose -- to show that I am serious about this and to reduce the fat around the intestines while reducing the size of the liver to make the surgery easier.
I decided to start this journey in January 2008 and the following month enrolled in the pre-surgery program at Bariatric Solutions in Greenville, SC. This is a part of the University Medical Group in Greenville and a Center of Excellence whose methods are in compliance with the standards set by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
My reason for the surgery is not cosmetic -- although a slimmer me will be a great side benefit -- but rather to alleviate some of the medical problems I have. I expect the surgery to help my fight with Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. All three usually improve with weight loss and one study shows diabetes often disappears immediately with gastric bypass surgery.
Dr. Eric Bour is the surgeon at Bariatric Solutions. He does four to five gastric bypass surgeries a week and is booked several months in advance. I had to wait eight months. If I kiss off the diet or miss any of my upcoming appointments my surgery date will be canceled and I will be back on the waiting list again.

Here are my appointments:

1. Sept. 9, 16, 23, and 30 -- Pre-surgical Diet classes
2. Sept. 15 -- Upper GI Endoscopy so Dr. Bour can take a look at things
2. Sept. 25 -- Pre-surgery group (those four scheduled for surgery on Oct. 6)
3. Oct. 1 -- Anesthesia pre-assessment and advising surgery day arrival time
4. Oct. 5 -- Start fasting
5. Oct. 6 -- Surgery
6. Oct. 16 -- First post-op appointment followed by 15 other follow-up appointments into 2009. Dates and times for these are already set, including the dates for lab work.
So far I have attended 23 pre-surgery support group meetings and will have a support group meeting after each of the diet classes. Post-surgery support group meetings start the first week after surgery. Along the way I have met with and been cleared by the staff psychologist, the surgeon, his scheduling assistant and the two staff dietitians. I have talked with at least a dozen people who had this surgery or the lap band surgery at this center so I think I have a pretty clear idea of what to expect.
The surgery itself will be at the Hillcrest Hospital, part of the Greenville Hospital System.
If you want to see a video of bypass surgery you can click here but be prepared -- it is kinda gross.