Tony's Journey: Volume Two

Today continues Tony's journey to the gastric sleeve bypass surgery this coming Monday, February 21st. If you missed the beginning, go ahead and backtrack here to catch up.

And yes, I wouldn't be me if I didn't sift through old pictures to see what I might find. That's just part of the fun.

And why is it that practically all moms take pictures of their kids asleep? I know I've got mine own to share, but I would face a possible rebellion if I posted them now (gotta wait till they pass these fragile teenage years).

Anyway, back to Tony and his words from this past week:

February 11, 2011

Well, this is what 1.4 oz of cheese, 2.6 oz of roast beef, and 1 oz of raw carrots look like. This is pretty much what I get to eat for the next 7 days. Man this is a far cry from the monster porterhouse steaks I am use to.

 I practiced tonight on chewing my food 30 times before I swallowed it. If you think HMMMMM that is no big deal. I challenge you to try it. And this is with every bite. But the hardest thing I have to learn to stop doing is. When I drink I can't gulp, I have to sip. If I gulp it will create air in my stomach which will cause gas. And Gas is a bad thing for the new stomach. So I have a lot of practicing to do on chewing and drinking. Oh and one more thing, I can't drink 30 minutes before eat and I have to wait 30 minutes to drink after I eat.  I have to pretty much give up sugar, if I don't and I try and eat something sweet, they say I will have what is called "DUMPING SYNDROME". Now I'll let ya all think about that for a minute, and if you can't figure it out I will tell you, but I'm sure you all will get the idea.

February 13, 2011

Well the not eating very much food is starting to take its toll on me. I think most of it is mental, but my BIG belly keeps making noise and saying "hey what did I ever do to deserve this" Oh before I forget on the morning of the 11th I had said I weighed in at 385.0. Well this morning, the 13^th, I weighed in at 377.8

I have to be honest, this is becoming harder than what I thought it was going to be. I keep telling myself that if I can make it to the surgery I will be able to do it. Like I told my mom today, once I have my surgery it is a done deal and I won't be able to eat as much as I want to anyways

Sis,  my will power was tested today. I went to Gore, OK.  By myself, it was a 3 hour drive one way. I did good until I stopped for gas at Love's and the sweet smell of Godfathers pizza hit my nose as I opened the door. I just wanted to stand there and smell the pizza's all day. But I got me 2 bottles of water and headed out the door. I left the windows rolled up, because the pizza smell was in my shirt. After I got off that pizza smelling High, I was good to go. LOL

February 15, 2011

Well as my 5th day starts off on this 10 day diet before the big day, I got on the scales and it said "get off your breaking my back" LOL. No really it said 375.0 so that is a total of 10 pounds in 5 days. Last night was the hardest night I had, as far as staying honest with myself and not cheating. But yet somehow I pulled through it. I go see the doctor tomorrow for the final consultation. More to come as always.

I want to thank Blue Bell for making sugar free popsicles that is the only way I got through last night. LOL. I felt like I ate half a box. You know when your starving I think a dog (poo) would taste good. But I haven't got that desperate, just can't get past the smell. LOL  Sometimes I crack myself up, as I know I am probably the only one that see's any humor in that. I have eatin' a lot of things, dogs, cats, rats, camels, horse, and other stuff the third world countries wouldn't tell me what it was. But no (poo) for me. LOL

(Note from Angela: Okay, this was not the curse word for poo that you might be thinking of, it’s the poo that rhymes with word or bird. I’ve got some standards, and my daughter will never let me live it down if I use Uncle Tony’s word).

You all have a good day. Mine is going pretty good.

February 16, 2011

Well today didn't start off too good, I think I am getting dehydrated. I noticed yesterday everything was getting blurry on me and my urine is really brown and my legs are really cramping up. So I get out my book that the doctors gave me, and see where it said it was a sign of dehydration. So I stayed home today to try and get some fluids in me. I have to see the doc today so I reckon we will talk about this.

Oh and on the weight loss note, I am now down to 373. That is 12 pounds in 6 days and I am following their rules to the tee. Well, except for the drinking 64 oz of water a day.

I have drunk 3 big big glasses of water so far this morning.  Yep I am feeling better, I went to the doctor today for my final meeting before the big day. They answered all the question I had, so I am kind of worried, but not so much. I doubt that makes any sense but it is still going to happen on the 21st.

While I sat in the waiting room there was 10 women ranging from mid 30's to mostly 50's and 60's  and they all have had their surgeries. One lady was in her 60's she was 10 days fresh from her surgery. I asked her if she regretted it and she said no, I need to get healthy because my days are numbered. I told her I thought that was a good way to look at it. But 3 others were talking about how to beat the system and still eat. Now mind you all 3 of these lady would dress out at least 350 pounds plus. They were all 2 years into their new life. All had lost 100 plus pounds, BUT put back on everything plus more. They were there to get ready to have the surgery redone to make their pouch back to the size it was suppose to be before they stretched it out. NOW WHY WOULD YOU GO THROUGH THIS JUST TO TRY AND BEAT IT AND THEN WANT TO GO THROUGH IT AGAIN. This is why I am doing what I am doing. I am going BIG OR TAKING A DIRT NAP. It is my way of saying "HEY I DON'T WANT TO BEAT THE SYSTEM". There is a lot more to be said about this but I will stop because I could go on and on.

Let me clear up the going big or taking a dirt nap. With the Sleeve they take your stomach out and pretty much throw it in the trash. (And yes that is the doctor’s words) it is non reversible. The y that everyone has can be reversed. So if I... don't follow the rules I will blow out what is left of my stomach and it won't be pretty. They said my stomach will be the diameter of a dime and hopefully in 4-5 years it will be the diameter of a quarter. And that is pretty much its limit.

Ok I'll shut up now. LOL

(Note from Angela: I asked Tony what he meant by the “y”).

Sis, the Ruin Y is where they cut your intestines into, and route one end to your upper part of your stomach, they make a pouch that is your new stomach. Your old stomach is still there, just no food passes through it anymore. Look it up you will see what I mean. You can actually see all the surgeries on you tube. They are pretty interesting.

A normal person stomach holds 4 cups of food NORMALLY unless it is really stretched out like mine. LOL. The diameter of a dime it will hold 1/2 cup food, and hopefully grow to the size of a quarter then it will hold a cup of food.

February 18, 2011

Well,  today I have started my 3 day liquid diet part. Only things I can have is my protein shakes, protein drink mix. And some broth. No food at all. I was 373 this morning. I am interested to see what this 3 days of liquid is going to do to my weight. Today I find out what time my surgery is on. Don't really have much to add, everything has been pretty much the same all week. Though it will be hard not eating anything for a while.



And so that has been his week. You all keep in prayer through this weekend, and then especially on Monday. We'll see what the next week brings.