Beginning of March, 1997

This is me. At this point I weight around 124 kg. On March 4th, I'm going into Wakefield Hospital to have a Gastric Bypass performed by Richard Stubbs. I've been planning for this from the beginning of November 1996. At that point my weight was around 140 kg, my weight is beginning to cause real social and physical problems, and I was diagnosed with type II diabetes. I was finding it difficult to walk because of the weight on my joints. In January I also discovered that I had an umbilical hernia, and determined that it could be fixed at the same time as my bypass. At 3:45pm on Friday, February 21 I hear that the funding is arranged for my surgery. By 4:00pm I've arranged to have the surgery on March 4. I'm really fed up with the waiting period and anxious to have it over and done with. I spend the week until I have the surgery eating things I think I may not be able to have for some time.

My Hospital Stay

I go into hospital the afternoon before my operation. They do an ECG and a chest x-ray that afternoon, and a lab technician comes and takes a sample of blood. I have a visit from the surgeon and the anaesthetist. I'm given dinner that evening, and toast and coffee for breakfast in the morning. From then on it's a matter of waiting. Eventually they take me to surgery around 2:30pm. The anaesthetist inserts an epidural set into my back for pain relief after the operation, and the probe for the anaesthetic is put into my hand. From that point the next thing I remember is some-one saying to me, "Can you sit up? We have to do a chest x-ray." That was around 7:00 pm. They take me back to my room. I have an IV drip and an epidural, and an oxygen mask. They get me out of bed for the first time at 2:00am. I have oxygen for the next few days on and off, and the IV and the epidual stay in for about 4 days. At first I'm not allowed anything to eat or drink, but I'm gradually allowed water and ice. I have to be able to drink a reasonable quantity of water before the IV can be removed. After the IV is removed I'm put on a special diet. It's tiny quantities of soft or liquid food. By Monday I'm well enough to go home.

Middle of July, 1997

Here I am now. I'm down to just over 100 kilos. It's hard to know what to say about the last few months. To help me recover from my surgery I started the weight loss surgery email support list and it's taken a lot more of my time than I expected. It's also been very rewarding.

I guess though that I ought to be telling you about my weight loss. I've gone through several sets of clothes. In some ways it's rather frustrating having to get clothes, and knowing that they won't fit for long. I've got some old things that I can wear, and I've bought cheap ones that I can discard later.

I still get quite tired. Whether that's too much internet or not enough vitamins is difficult to say. I'm seeing the surgeon in a few days and I'll know more then. If I eat slowly and chew thouroughly I can eat quite a range of stuff. Often though, I can't be bothered, and I'd rather stick to generally safe foods like soup. Even then I'll occassionally throw it up. I haven't taken any medication for my diabetes since the surgery and my fasting blood glucose is good. I fancy that some of the peaks I have are still a bit on the high side though, but they're not very high. At any rate I've got lots of questions to ask the surgeon.

Late October, 1997

When I saw the surgeon in July my iron levels were a bit low, so he put me on iron pills. I've finished those now and my iron count has improved. I saw the surgeon again last week and all my blood tests are good. A random blood glucose was 5.5, that's lower than my fasting results used to be. My weight is now just under 90 kilos. I asked how much more I might lose, and he's not sure, because of the weight I lost before the surgery, but he's thinks maybe another 15 to 20 kilos. That would still make me overweight for my height, but quite acceptable when you think of what I started at. My energy seems much improved, and I can walk quite easily.

I had my hair cut a few weeks ago and people had trouble recognising me at work. I get a lot of comments there from people commenting on how good I look.

Mid May, 1998

Well I'm now just over 70 kgs. The good news is that I'm still losing weight, albeit quite slowly now. I'm now below the weight that I had set as the point where I would have considered the surgery successful. But when I look at myself naked, I'm aware that there is still a lot of weight on my stomach and legs. But I have collar bones that show now, and I quite like my shoulders. When I look in the mirror I sometimes think it's my grandmother looking back.

People often email me and ask me if I would do it agin, and the answer is certainly! But if I was doing one thing differently it would be to have much more counselling. There have been times when the change in conjunction with other things happening in my life has been hard, and it's important not to underplay that. Someone suggested that the amount of change involved is almost as big as that involved in a sex-change, and it's certainly not far short of that.

July, 1999 There's been no updates here for a long time, and I've had a few people ask me how I'm doing. Here I'm out for a walk in the New Zealand bush. This was described accurately as a wet foot track. A few minutes later more than my feet were wet. You can see that my legs are still quite fat, but nothing like they were once were. These pictures date from around April.

This one is right up to date, taken last week (mid July, 1999). I'm not exactly skinny, but I'm extremely happy with how I am.

January, 2001
There's been quite a few changes in my life, including more than one job change and a move to a new town. I wasn't surprised that I gained another few pounds. But I still can't really accept the other change that happened. About 6 months ago I had a really bad night vomitting blood with quite a bit of pain. I was quite new in town and didn't yet have a doctor. In the morning I felt better, and although I went to see a doctor perhaps I didn't explain clearly enough about the blood because he didn't record that in his notes. I had no significant symptons although I noticed that I could eat more, and I've gained quite a bit of weight rather quickly. Yesterday I had a stomach x-ray and an appointment with the surgeon. He has confirmed that I have a staple line disruption. His recommendation is an amendment to a transected bypass (Fobi pouch). I don't have insurance to cover this and right now I don't have the money. Maybe in a year or two maybe I can borrow the money...

March 27, 2001
Well I may not have the money, but a good friend has and is prepared to make me a generous loan. I saw the surgeon yesterday and had a gastroscope. We talked about a revision and I may be able to advise the details of that quite soon. Stay tuned.

April 3, 2001
I can tell you now that I have had a fixed price for the surgery, and it will go ahead on April 24. I'm having my staple line repaired and transected, and while we are about it will increase the amount of intestine bypassed.