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Just to let you know that i am typing and posting without proof reading so looking back at my blogs the spelling and grammer are terrible, this is from thinking faster than i can type and backspacing and making corrections without re-reading.  So please forgive me, but I think you will get the "jist" of the blog.

hey, its to late to back out now, its done.....     my surgery was on the morning of Thursday the 22nd of April.  At the time of surgery, I was down 48lbs. from my high weight of 302, the weight loss was due to Cigna insurance requirements of meeting with a dietician for 6 months prior to surgery and the week before surgery of being on a clear liquid diet to make more room for the surgeon.   the surgeon said this made his job soooo much easier for him and that it will make my reocovery alot faster and easier too.  I can tell you it has been.  I only used pain medicine for the day of surgery, and did not use it any longer.  the only pain i am experiencing is the gas pain that is still in my body that is bubbling up and down but not out, when I do pass some, it feels so good.  I was sent home on the day after surgery after they gave me water and i was able to drink it with no  problem.  Once home i walked walked and then walked some more, the next morning i walked 6 blocks in my neighborhood and then went to walmart with the wife and did some shopping.  This makes the gas move and the gas pains not so bad.

The things I experienced:
No Cathera insertion or removal while I was awake
No drain tubes
the first thing i had to drink was 3 shots of clear bitter liquid for xray to see if i had leaks, this was the morning after surgery, it was ok.
goal for first few days is 80g protien and at least 48 oz. of liquid to stay hydrated, this is tough to do with out feeling you are forcing down drinks all day.  I constantantly feel full doing this.
hard to get the protien drinks down, due to no hunger or thirst.
Gas discomfort, not really pain
sleep may be difficult due to not being able to turn during sleep due to incisions and soreness of surgery.
tough taking vitamins and calcium since there is not hunger, its like force feeding.
good news, doc took me off of my blood pressure medicine the morning after surgery.  no longer needed.

The biggest thing....

               having to keep your cool, when everyone gives you and advice and telling you how they are going to lose weight without the surgery, and that you shouldn't have done it.    first of all, how can someone who is morbidly obese give someone else advice on weight loss?  If they knew so much, then why are they so fat? and if they are gonna lose weight what are they waiting for? I guess they love being on high blood pressure medicine.   people are already telling me that you are going to look sick when you lose weight,  you are gonna gain it back, cause its not fool proof,  its all ok though,  cause i know i will be off of blood pressure medicine and hopefully resolve obstructive sleep apnea.  so how i look to them?  i dont care.  I will be more healthy and moving forward with my life leaving alot of weight and medical conditions behind me with them while they continue to give advice to others on how they should live thier lives.    oh well enough for now,  i wish you all who are about to do this much luck and know that I did have second thoughts the last few days prior to surgery and the day of surgery especially since i lost 48 lbs leading up  to suregery, I was thinking now that its off, if i just maintain a good diet and exercise i should be able to keep this off and lose more, but after speaking to my doctor, who said the choice is all mine and mine alone, that the last 18lbs lost was due to starving myself on the clear liquid diet and that once I start eating again without the diet, history has shown that this would fall into the category of the yo-yo effect on dieting.  And I dont think that I am so special that I am different that anyone else and be able to keep it off.  If that was the case I wouldnt have yo0yo'd in the past. ok now is enough.

today is the day b4 my surgery, i had my consult yesterday, all went well.  Today I am at 265 down from 302 when i started. so hopefully with this amount of weight loss coupled with the cardio of 30/45 minutes six days a week and lifting weights 3 days a week there will be no complications.  the exercise has decreased my total body fat and increased my muscle mass.  It has also lowered my resting heart rate from 80 to 60 beats per minute.  My blood pressure has been tracking very good too, well within the normal range. 

I am a little anxious about tomorrow,  but i am going through with it, i will ask for a kick ass seditive as soon as i get there to start calming me down.

today is the third day of my pre-op liquid diet,  today was so much easier,  I had to drink my protien shakes just to get my protien even though i was not hungry.  To get a change of pace from the chicken broth i boiled some pinto beans with onions and garlic and drank the broth, it was very delicious and hopefully i got some of the protien from the beans.  For those of you just starting the pre op liquid diet, stick in there, it does get easier just like I read in other blogs. 

I send you my best wishes and support you in your life transformation.

I am supposed to start my week long liquid diet on April 15th, but I started on the 12th, 3 days early to make a little extra room for the surgeon to work and to decrease chances of complications.  I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and as I write this blog at 5:51 p.m. it was not that hard.  I had several protien shakes and 3 bowls of broth during the day and drank water all day long.  I exercised for 40 minutes on my road bike locked into its training stand, and went to the gym and did my weight lifting routine to maintain lean muscle mass during this pre-op diet stage.   Hope the remaining days leading up to my surgery on the 22nd are like this one by being not so difficult.

I have gotten approval for r-n-y , surgery is scheduled for april 22nd,  i have to start a liquid diet on april 15th.  I joined a fitness club on December 28, 2009 along with my wife and daughter.  I have been very faithful in my cardio and weight training since that time, even during traveling.  When I started on my journey of transforming my body my high weight point was at 302 lbs.  Now i am floating around 285 lbs.  my body fat measurments (using callipers)  dropped from 36% to 21%. 
Results from weight training have increased my upper arm bicep/triceps by 3 inches and the same for my upper thigh/hamstrings.  No measurements were taken on my chest but it has become tight and increased in size as well.  i am very happy with these results.  the only disappoinment has been my waist size , it has not dropped at all, it still remains at 47 inches.  When I started my journey i started eating more healthy, and in the beginning of March I cleaned up my diet even more, but choosing only leaner protiens like turkey and chicken  breast, I now eat more fish, and drink a protien shake or two daily especially post workout.  Only on rare occasions will i eat things that are not good, just to spike my metabolisim. 

My wife is on the road to transforming her body as well choosing not to go the surgery route, but doing it on her own, she to is doing great, I am so proud of her.  My daughter swims competively for 2 hrs a day.  she is a true athelete, I am so proud of her for this and academically as well.