Frank S.

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It’s been a little slow lately at Frank’s Place. I guess everyone’s at the beach or on vacation with their families.  So here I am, waiting for someone to drop in, when my good friend Kenny Chesney walks in the door.

 We sat at a table and started chatting about life….you know family, friends, good times and I start thinking about Kenny’s song “Don’t Blink”.

One line from the chorus “Trust me friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think….So Don’t Blink”, really hit home.

Next weekend, we’re going to have a big party for my daughter Liz who just graduated from college. She’s my second child who has graduated from college and my youngest will be starting his 2^nd year in September.

Where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday when I asked my wife if she wanted to “go out to see a movie”. Dating…proms…engagement…wedding…children…high school…college…..yes Kenny, you’re absolutely correct…Don’t Blink!

How many hours do we miss with our families because we have to “get ahead”? How many baseball games? How many school concerts? How many dance recitals? I have one question….is it worth it?

Yes I know we have to provide for our families, but we need to strike a balance between making a “living” and “having a life”. We need to strive to be the best we can be, but this includes being the best spouse, best parent, best sibling and best friend. We can’t spend all of our time teaching an employee how to handle challenges at work, but forget to teach our kids how to hit a curveball. We’ll talk to an employee for hours about their problems and concerns, but don’t have 10 minutes to ask our spouse how their day was. We need to remember that class trips are just as important as that “Big” meeting with a client.

Some of the best moments of my life have been watching my kids achieve great things and then seeing the smile on their faces when they look over and see that I‘m there cheering them on.

So as the summer days continue to dwindle, remember to slow down and stop making a “living” and start making a “life”. Take your family to the beach…. go for a bike ride…. have a catch with your son….sit down and “talk” with your daughter. Give someone you love a HUG just for the hell of it. Tell the people who are important in your life that you love them. Take a second to sit by yourself and enjoy the beauty of nature…”listen” to the rain…pet your dog…watch the flight of a butterfly.

 Remember what my good friend Kenny said….”life goes faster than you think….so don’t blink”.

I’m glad it’s been slow at Frank’s Place lately….maybe people are finally enjoying life…I hope so.

\”Don\’t Blink….Kenny Chesney\”

The other day, a dear friend of mine e-mailed me asking if WLS patients can take a certain drug. After sharing the answer with my friend, I started thinking about WLS and medications. You can take this but you can’t take that. This formulation works better than that formulation.Quick-acting vs. delayed release. There are just so many questions.

So I’m hanging out at Frank’s Place and in comes my good friend Huey Lewis (he was without the News). We started chatting and before you know it we were talking about one of my favorite songs…”I Want a New Drug”. This got me thinking. Wouldn’t be great if we could develop a new drug just for Weight Loss Surgery patients, a drug that would take care of all our problems, struggles, concerns and challenges. So the pharmacist in me started thinking and I came up with a brand new drug….just for us.

It’s called……. Solvital

Here’s the drug insert for our new drug.

Solvital®

Solveitallcillin tablets, USP

DESCRIPTION

Solvital oral tablets contain 50 mg or 100 mg of the problem solving chemical Solveitallcillin ( 17-solve-7α-it-3♥-all-cillin).

ACTIONS / CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY

Mechanism of action: Solvital acts primarily through competitive binding of the “No problem” receptors in the body. Solvital causes increased amounts of problems and worries to be excreted, while good times and health are retained.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Solvital (Solveitallcillin) is indicated for a healthy and enjoyable post op life. If taken daily, Solvital will allow you to do the following:

1) Make correct food choices

2) Exercise daily

3) Eliminate grazing and binge eating

4) Eliminates the need to drink while you eat

5) Always chew your food and eat slowly

6) Never eat anything that will make you dump

7) Always, always, always remember to take your vitamins

8) Go to a support group meeting at least once a month

9) Stay positive and motivated

10) Work on relationships and friendships

11) Enjoy a long and healthy life

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Solvital is contraindicated for patients who just don’t want to live life to the fullest.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The following adverse reactions have been associated with the use of Solvital:

1) Excessive smiling

2) Uncontrollable laughing

3) Singing for no reason at all

OVERDOSAGE

In clinical trials, patients taking massive doses of Solvital were so happy and enjoying life so much that people always wanted to hang out with them.

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION

The usual dose is 50 mg given once daily in the morning. The dose can be increased to 100 mg if needed.

HOW SUPPLIED

Solvital comes in 50 mg or 100 mg tablets

Yes I truly believe we need a drug like Solvital. I’m heading to Orlando this week for the ASMBS convention. I think I’m going to see if I can convince a pharmaceutical company to start developing Solvital. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to settle for Huey Lewis’s words of wisdom….thanks Huey!!!

I Want A New Drug….Huey Lewis & The News
 

I love the lyrics of the Bon Jovi song…  I’ll SLEEP WHEN I’M DEAD…..

Gonna live while I’m alive
I’ll sleep when I’m dead
Till they roll me over
And lay my bones to rest
Gonna live while I’m alive
I’ll sleep when I’m dead

Gonna live while I’m alive…what a great concept. Before my surgery, I was alive but I wasn’t living. In fact at best I was just a spectator in life, watching everyone enjoy all life had to offer while I sat on the sidelines.

Gonna live while I’m alive…how much did I miss? How many years of fun with my wife and kids? Ride the roller coaster at the amusement park…I didn’t fit in the car. Play baseball with my boys and the other fathers…I couldn’t run or stand too long. Go sledding on a beautiful winter day….are you kidding me?

Walk the boardwalk with my wife on a lovely summer evening….only if the boardwalk was one block long. Anything longer than that and I needed to sit and rest for awhile.

 Gonna live while I’m alive… all I wanted to do was live. All I wanted to do was enjoy life. All I wanted to do was be NORMAL!  All I wanted to do was live while I was alive!

Gonna live while I’m alive…these 5 words have a totally different meaning for me now. Three and a half years after my gastric bypass and 170 pounds lighter, I’m living my life and I’m living it to the fullest, every second of every minute of every hour of every day! Since my rebirth, I’ve run six 5K races. I’ve completed a 30 mile bike race around Long Island. I’ve rode every ride (twice) at Disney and Universal Studios. I’ve zip lined with my kids in the Dominican Republic.

 Gonna live while I’m alive…I’ve taken dance lessons and enjoyed long and relaxing walks on the beach with my wife. I enjoy going shopping because now I can buy clothes off the rack without going to the “fat-man” shop.

 Gonna live while I’m alive…because that’s what life’s all about…LIVING IT! ENJOYING IT! LOVING IT!

I’ll sleep when I’m dead….before my surgery, that’s all I wanted to do…sleep. I could wake up after sleeping for 10-12 hours and after a few hours, I would need a nap. I felt great when I was lying down, my knees didn’t hurt. My back didn’t spasm. I wasn’t gasping for breath.

I’ll sleep when I’m dead….since my surgery, I lay down, close my eyes and after a few hours I’m up and ready to go again. I’ve heard so many post op’s say the same thing…they call it insomnia. I call it my body’s way of making up for lost time. All those years of sitting on the sidelines, watching while I wanted to be doing….my body is saying “Hey Frank, Let’s live while we’re alive and sleep when we’re dead.

Yes, I love the lyrics to this Bon Jovi song…..Thanks Jon for stopping in at Frank’s Place… I couldn’t have said it better!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi5jjrpptP4

 A cheeseburger. Nothing beats a juicy barbecued cheeseburger on a summer afternoon. Of course, there’s only one way to make a cheeseburger, right? American cheese, ketchup, tomatoes, and maybe a slice or two of bacon. There’s no other way to prepare a cheeseburger is there?

What do you mean some people like Munster cheese on their burger? Sliced onions…no way!!! Mustard…you put mustard on your cheeseburger? Are you kidding me?

Yes, there can be many different ways to make a cheeseburger. Is one way better than another? No, but I would never eat a burger with onions. But that’s just me…and that’s the point…it’s all about choices.

 We have choices in everything we do in life. Buying a new car? Some people like Fords while others like Toyota’s. Some people like a house on the beach while others love living in the city.

In the bariatric community we also have choices. We choose our surgeon, our procedure, and our hospital. Need a protein drink…there are choices. Have to take a vitamin…there are choices. There are choices in the foods we eat, and the exercises we do. Is one choice better than another? In a word, no.  If something works for you, then it’s the right choice for you. Sometimes we make the wrong choice or our choice isn’t right for us anymore. So we change, make a better choice and move on.

We need to remember one thing. A person’s decision to pick one procedure, surgeon or hospital over another doesn’t mean their choice is right or wrong. It’s just their CHOICE. One vitamin or protein drink over another isn’t right or wrong…it’s a choice. Everyone’s choices need to be respected and honored. Onions on my cheeseburger isn’t right for me, but it may be perfect for you. One protein drink may be right for me, but won’t work for you. That’s why I love choices. It’s choices that allow us to be individuals. Choices make the world go round.

So have a seat at the table and enjoy…at Frank’s Place we’re serving the cheeseburgers anyway you like! The choice is yours.

 Thanks Jimmy Buffet……watch?v=z8SocTjQi_g&feature=related

Welcome to Frank’s Place! So what is Frank’s Place? Do you have that favorite restaurant or club or pub…anywhere where you can hangout with your friends and just RELAX? Well that’s Frank’s Place.

I want Frank’s Place to have the feel of your favorite “hangout”…somewhere to chill with friends…talking about “stuff”…. all kinds of positive, fun and motivational stuff.

Had a rough day? Your boss driving you crazy? The kids have you running around in circles? Well leave that all behind for a little while and have a seat at Frank’s Place and let the stress melt away.

So come on in, pull up a seat, kick off your shoes and chat with friends, both old and new and let the stress and negativity of your life be replaced with fun, motivation and friendship.

I’m Frank and this is my Place….I hope you’ll make it yours.

www.franksplaceblog.com

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.

The day finally arrived….My first 5K race. It seemed like only yesterday when I said I would run this race with my friends from my support group, Long Island Post Ops (LIPO). Did I train enough, am I ready…will I finish ? All of these questions were “running” around in my head the night before the race. But let’s start at the beginning...

Only 2 years ago, I would have laughed at you if you asked me to run a 5K race. I was 165 pounds heavier than I am today and was as healthy as road kill. Then I had a gastric bypass and my life changed forever. Now 2 years post surgery, I’m healthy and ready to live life to the fullest. I started working out with my friends at the gym (gym..that was a foreign word to me 2 years ago) and decided to run the 5K with them. Could I do this? I wasn’t sure but I was gonna give it a try. And to make matters worse, I work nights as a pharmacist at a local hospital and was scheduled to work the night before the race. So let’s recap, I’m going to try to run my first 5K race after working 10 ½ hours overnight before the race….What the hell was I thinking!!!

My shift ended the day of the race and I quickly changed from my work clothes to my running clothes. As I was driving to the race site, I started to play “pump-up” music in my car. And a funny thing happened. Instead of being exhausted from working all night, I was getting excited and pumped up. I arrived at the race, checked in and started to hang out with my friends and the other runners. I didn’t expect what happened next. Being around the other runners, my competitive juices started to flow and I couldn’t wait to compete. Now, I didn’t just want to finish…I wanted to WIN !!! I knew this was unrealistic, but that’s how I felt. The race started and off we went. Some of my friends decided to walk the race and some decided to run. I’m so proud of all of them for completing the race! As my music was playing in my headphones, I was looking at all the runners and the spectators and I felt like I was 16 years old again. I wasn’t a 50 year old man trying to run his first 5K but a 16 year old getting ready to compete with the best the town had to offer..and I was gonna win !!! So I ran and run and ran and I finished the race. As I approach the finish line, I looked up to see two of my dear friends Dan & Maryellen cheering me on! Boy were they a sight for sore eyes !!  Did I win….YES !!! I didn’t come in first, in fact I finished 131 out of 161 with a time of 36:43. I finished 12^th for my age group. Not bad for my first race. But as far as I was concerned, I won ! I did something that 2 years ago would have been impossible, so yes I won this race !

What’s next…maybe a 27 mile bike race with some friends. Wow 27 miles, that’s far and I never did that before. All I want to do is finish...or maybe...we’ll see !!!  

Frank

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

Robert Collier