October 15, 2009

Don't it always seem to go,

That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
Nope!
I don't miss one pound of weight that I've lost!

October 12, 2009

God don't make no junk!

Remember that poster of the little boy making that statement?

He says "I know I'm some body, because God don't make no junk!"

Let's expand this statement a bit and see if it fits anywhere else.....

  • Oil is bad
  • Food is bad. Eating too much or too little is bad.
  • Walking on the grass is bad
  • Smoking grass is really bad
  • All drugs are bad
  • Mass transit is bad
  • Cars are bad
  • Trucks are bad
  • Trains are bad
  • SUVs are bad
  • Carbon Dioxide is bad
  • The air is bad
  • Dogs are bad
  • Cats are bad (in this case, I agree! I hate my cat!)
  • Coal is bad
  • Wind generators are bad
  • All animals are bad
  • People need to be controlled because they are bad
  • Sugar is bad
  • Salt is bad
  • Starch in your underwear is bad (I agree)
  • Corn is bad
  • Alcohol is bad
  • Soda is bad
  • Chlorine is bad
  • Asbestos is bad
  • Artificial sweeteners are bad
  • Independence is bad
  • Slavery is bad
So, what's good?
Well, if we listen to the little boy, God don't make no junk.
So, who made all this stuff bad?
We did!
If you start listening at what the powers that be tell you is bad, you will go crazy.
You need to open your eyes, and ears, and listen to your heart.
Turn off the TV.
Stop reading the newspaper.
Stop listening to the new miracle cure advertisement on the radio. It just ain't so.
The online computer can give you both sides of the story. It does throw lots of junk at you, but it also teaches you how to filter out the junk and see that...

God don't make no junk!

Man does.

When my wife was 19, she found a lump in her neck and got a sore throat. They diagnosed her with Hodgkin's disease (lymph node cancer, type IIa) which was and still is fairly curable. They gave her radiation treatment, and did exploratory surgery. They removed her spleen, and the bad lymph nodes, then sent her on her way.
At that time, a 5 year survival rate was the norm.
She is 56 now.
She now has another problem with another type of cancer. When she was 19, her chance of surviving Breast cancer was far less than it is now. They are now saying that she has a 95% chance of full recovery, even with all her previous problems.
They have learned from their work over the years, and improved where they could. I think they can go much further, and they do too, but all in all, my wife is here because of what they learned. Radiation therapy is bad? Chemotherapy is bad?
If they didn't do the surgery and therapy back then, she would never have had two great kids, 5 grand kids, and me. She would not have gotten her degree in marketing, or bought her own house. She would not have moved back into the home she grew up in. We would not be here today.

God don't make no junk.

If you listen to the morons tell you that they know of someone who had the Bariatric surgery, and gained all the weight back, then you will gain it back too.
If you try to find ways to cheat on your diet, or your exercise program, and never try to adapt to the new you, you will gain the weight back again.
God gave you a brain to think with, and...

God don't make no junk!

It's a good thing to educate yourself so you know why they tell you something. They continue to learn, and so should you. It's not a good thing if you are looking for an easy way to cheat yourself. You aren't cheating them. They won't get fat because of you. You will get fat because of you.
But, God gave you a brain to think with, and...

God don't make no junk!

If coal was so bad, why is there enough of it to fuel our electrical plants for the next 300 years? We just need to know how to use it, that's all. And, we will learn how to use it.
The same goes for oil. We already have improved our vehicle fuel mileage since I was a kid. We used our brains to learn how to do it better.

God don't make no junk!

Our bodies are housing our souls. We can't abuse them without expecting to pay for it down the road.
Do you really know what's good for you and what isn't?
We can't do anything about the way our bodies were made. We all have problems we can't fix. We can fix do some of it. We have a brain to think with. We can learn and change, and...

God don't make no junk!

Get over it.

October 11, 2009

How lucky I am!

My surgery was done by one of the pioneers of laproscopic surgery. He was there when they first started doing it, and has perfected the craft nicely. I have a few slightly red marks on my belly, but if you aren't a surgeon, you would just think they were typical discoloration of natural skin tone.
My surgeon treats obesity as an illness. He stated that at the meeting we had this month. Because of this, he reacts differently than someone trying to make a living doing this. He will tell people when they don't need the surgery, or if they aren't ready. He has no problems with that, and as such, he has an excellent record of success.
He also knows that in order to lose weight properly, and keep it off for life, you need a team effort.
He went through an exhausting process to pick the right people to man his team.

Right now, he is looking for another surgeon who shares his vision. He won't just hire someone who has the talent to do the work. He wants someone with compassion and people skills.

His dietitian is now in charge of the monthly support group meetings, and is doing a bang up job of running things.

He added a second dietitian a few weeks ago, as well as a second physiologist. So now, he has two of each. They are both young and really motivated to help their patients.
I go to the gym when I can, but have been working on the yard and other things for the past 3 weeks. I will go back soon.

So, we have a dietitian that we see every 6 months, but can email her anytime and she responds quickly. She also sends us advice about new products just coming to the market.

We have an exercise physiologist to help us when we need it.
There are nurses available for non surgical questions about our situation.

And, we see Dr. Brader every 6 months for life.

There are upcoming events for the support group, such as going to Hershey Park for the Christmas lights, and planning another picnic. We also have clothing exchanges for formerly fat folks giving their clothing to soon to be thinner folks. We donate most of it to Goodwill. I took a car load over a few months ago. We plan to do the exchange times a year.

We have a resident counselor speak a few times a year to our support group. She is a post patient herself, so she knows what we are going through.

We will hear from another plastic surgeon soon as well.

We have a professional kitchen at the Center, and they plan on using it quite a bit to show people how to prepare food, and new recipe ideas.

So, I would say that I'm very lucky to have a team like this to help me along the way. Not everyone has this type of team approach. I had thought it was standard, but now I'm hearing from folks that don't have it. I hope they can benefit from the information here on my blog, or maybe they can connect to a support network through me.
I wish them luck.