Christmas Vacation

So far its been a pretty good Christmas. Christmas dinner with adopted family friends, a pot luck with new friends, and some time together for just us. Two Salmon King hockey games and now just Marla, the dog, the cat and me.
I like this just being together stuff.

Pain in the neck

Well it turns out that the trouble I was having wasn't really the trouble I was having. After walking for about 45 minutes my fingers and toes go numb. My doc sent me to see Dr. Pathak so that I could have my neurology checked. the doctor says the reason my numbness happens is because the C6, C7, and C8 nerves are getting irritated. And can you believe it, this all has to do with obesity and losing weight? So he is writing a not to Dr. Amson and we will see what happens. Likely nothing.
But I am not that discouraged because I am expecting very little too.

Christmas is a'coming

After a fairly wet weekend, we had lake Blake in the backyard with the Tributary of Marla leading off to the side. We basically cocooned all weekend and it was nice. It was so nice we continued it monday. On Monday we went out to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1. It was really good but strangely it felt like it wasn`t over at the end.

On Tuesday I went to watch and listen to Marla sing with her choir. It was a nice night. I was looking at the course in miracles. this time we are on lesson 32 -

a relatively rough friday

I was up early to get Marla to volunteering and then Precious out to the vet. It was a rough day for Precious too because today she got fixed. then I came home and tried to get us tickets for Elton John. the show was sold out 14, 000 seats in 7 minutes. ACK! So I didn't get them. Marla and I went out for lunch at Swiss Chalet - I don't think we will do that again very soon. she had a tummy ache and I had major upsets.

We did some shopping at Wal-Mart and then went out to get Precious from the vet. Poor puppy she was entirely zonk. I am sure she was listening to head music - Precious is into deep purple :) - she was very stoned. She slept all through the evening. we were supposed to go to the symphony but we decided to stay home and look after the sleepy puppy.

Another week almost done

I have been very busy catching up on a lot of projects before the new year. It's coming up fast, only two weeks away. the pain in my chest has subsided and I am feeling better. I think that is mostly due to exercise making me feel better. Still Gillian took a lot of precautions and did some blood work and an eeg. they all came out normal. So as Neil says "I'm normal".
I was thinking about Rory, it has been a year since we lost him. He was such a sweetie of a beardie. I really do miss him.
I am feeling really good. I am getting a little exercise each day, not enough but doing something.

A busy Saturday

Today was a busy day. Chris and I did a really nice walk but boy it was cold. Marla was going to come to the RJH meeting with me but opted to sleep instead. Likely a good thing, I think she would have been bored. I liked the meeting because Dr. A was there an talked with us for about an hour. It was really interesting. After the meeting we went out for lunch at John's place. Marla had her waffles and I went for Hueavoles Rancheros.
We came home in time for me to get ready to go to work. The Salmon Kings were playing Stockton again. For the 10th game they lost. Major suckage but it was a good game.

A month zoomed by

Gee it has been a month since I have written anything. I think the biggest story that I have has to deal with a pain I had been feeling in my side and around my throat for the past three months. Gillian finally decided to send me in for an Ultrasound about the lump that is in my chest. Whenever I think of the lump in my chest I think of it in a very romantic rather than literal. It is like the feeling you get when witnessing a beautiful sunset, or listen to marvellous music. But this was actually a 2.5 cm square located along my diaphram along the breast bone.

the Ultrasound got cancelled so I was mentioning it to Steve. Steve suggested that it could be a hernia. So I looked up the symptoms and found Hiatus Hernia and it matched my symptoms. Because the symptoms involved the stomach I called Ailsa at Dr. A's. She said "Blake, move away from the computer and stop reading medical thing on the internet". She was right because there are so many other things it can be.

In the meantime, I am left with a sore side and sharp occasional pains. I told Gillian and she said keep an eye on it. So here I am keeping an eye on it all.

Time Flies like an Arrow - Fruit Flies like a banana

Tuesday I went to see Neil Douglas-Tubbs. He is a very nice guy and very intuitive. He read me like a carnival huckster. Aside from all the personal stuff about me I bet he could have announced my height and weight. He was very good to talk to but the biggest issue I had was that I was invited to an event where I was the only one to show up. Kind of sucked but I am willing to give it a chance and follow up with the program.
Wednesday was a good day. The Salmon Kings played Idaho and won. It was a good game but not all that exciting. I liked watching some of the new guys play.
Thursday was the first meeting of the second group of My Large Friends Fitness. This time we had 11 people, up from the previous 8. I think it will be a good bunch. There is me and Marla, Chris, and Christopher and Marie, Gord from the Saturday WLS group, Pat, Mike from work, a new girl, and I was very happy.
Marla and I had a great lunch today. Marla had an operation to reduce her eye pressure so that was easily done. then we went to Little Thai on Cook Street. Yum.

Boo It's Halloween - Scary Huh

Yesterday was a nice day. I want to be a weatherman in my next life. I don't know where you can be so consistently wrong and still stayed employed. This weekend for example, it was supposed to rain and be windy. There was a pressure system coming through that would just make it rotten. So what happened? The sun came out; the clouds moved away and it was a great couple of days. On Saturday night I worked on a Salmon Kings game. It was a good but boring game. the Kings won 4-1 and the people are great. But my job was more or less restricted to popping up on a live band. Food on the other hand was really good.

Sunday morning was pretty relaxed. After a nice hot tub Marla and I went out to Costco to get some stuff for her and then to Jasmine's for breakfast. We came home and decorated the house for Halloween. We had about 35 kids drop by for halloween and it would have been a nice night for them to go door to door begging.

I like this time of year, the big down part of this weekend was watching the Saskatchewan Roughriders loose for the fourth week in a row. This sucks, or at least to say their playing sucks.

What a week

Well I started out this week on a major bummer. It turns out that the tiny opportunity, the little possibility of having my surgery, disappeared and it is back to the long wait for my WLS surgery. If anything I am practicing patience as a virtue. Somewhere and sometime I know this thing is going to happen it is just going to take longer. So as a result of me not being all that happy I have let my diet slip. Not too much, just the occasional treat or two. the bad part is that often when I treat myself it is usually something bad for me. And my body tells me about it. ick.

Tuesday I got to see Boots. He is a good doc and says that I am doing okay. Dispite my Ha1C has crept up to 7.5 That sucks a bit, but otherwise it is okay. Wednesday though was the best time this week because the Salmon Kings are back playing at home again. It was good to be on the Follow Spot again. I was back in my first spot and it was good for shooting across the ice. I feel a bit guilty because I picked out a friend a little too often but she was in the perfect spot for me to home on her and her hubby.


Thursday was a fun day. I got to shoot a video of a comedy show that will end up being a nice project. My chest is still very sore. I think it is something about muscle tenderness at my breast bone. T3 helps a lot with managing what is going on but it still hurts when I can't breath. Marla and I went in to get her leg shots today. They really hurt her and so I thought it was best if she and I stayed home and rested instead of exercising. I feel so crappy when I move around a lot I appreciated the break. Marla was game to go to the gym but she is pretty game to do anything with me as long as we hang out together. I like that.

Here is my best Blake story in a while:

This all started when I forgot to eat this morning. I was in a major rush today and for the last while just haven't been hungry. After a busy day at work I had to take my wife in for her shots. Every three or four months Marla has to get 16 to 20 needles in her legs. To help with the needles, we rub emla cream on them about half an hour before her session. The cream numbs the nerves and skin on her legs and makes getting all the needles a little easier. Well I was late so we quickly rubbed down her legs and took off to the doctor. When we got to the doctor's office, the receptionist had put out a pail of those dreaded chocolates for Halloween. Well my hungry gave in and I decided to have one.

The problem was that when we raced out of the house I forgot to wash my hands. So as soon as I unwrapped the bar some of the cream went onto it. I noticed it tasted not like I remembered chocolate. I haven't had any in ages. But then within a few minutes my mouth felt wierd. In fact it felt like I was at the dentist and he had froze half my face. I was so embarassed because my lips, cheeks, and tongue were numb. My wife, however, thought it was a total hoot.

So my lesson was stay away from the chocolate…. and wash my hands.

catching up

Okay so a little catching up here, yesterday Friday, Oct 22, Marla and I went to see the Nylons play with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. We had a lot of trouble finding a parking spot but finally we ended up by Island Blue art supplies. This was cool because we could try Vietnamese Food at Saigon Nights on Fort Street. We shared some spring rolls and some rice vermicelli and pork. It was pretty good, very filling and not all that expensive especially because we share.

okay, so we already ate one of the spring rolls.

Really good pork and noodles.


The Nylons was a good show but it was like watching Beatlemania. With only one of the original Nylons, they guys I knew back in the 80's, it was like watching an incredible simulation. Something I like about standing ovations is you get a chance to stand up and stretch your legs.


On Saturday Morning Chris and went for our usual walk except we seem to be doing it faster. I swear if I want to cut my time below 45 min then I have to start running.

Precious really enjoys the romp, even though we didn't see many other dogs or walkers.

Marla and I then went out to have breakfast at Kitty's Hideaway. I had a corned beef on rye that nearly burnt my mouth off and a bowel of beef soup. Marla had French Toast and it was all pretty good.

After watching the Roughriders lose to Edmonton, Calvert is going to give me grief for that, Marla went to sing with the choir at the Salvation Army 150th Band anniversary. It was a good little concert. It was a pretty good day. That's Marla waaaay on the right.

Big, sweaty and smelly

What a workout tonight. Megan was stepping things up yet again. I feel so sore. Well a good sore. I feel very round when I do exercises. I think I am my own exercise ball. Today was a good day at work. It was meetings most of the day. Then a visit to the dentist. Lo-anne does a really good job on my teeth.

Back at work

Well after a rather restless night I went back to work today. It was an awesomely beautiful morning so rather than going to hit the email and process all the work I grabbed a camera and went out to shoot some photos for a couple of hours. Steve gave me the first aid phone and I filled in doing First Aid for the day. I totally lost my first patient of the day. After I found him things went well. The rest of the day went pretty well.
Chris and I did the golf course walk, he rushed us around the course in under 50 minutes. After I picked Marla up from singing and we came home. it was a pretty good day.

One more step closer

Today I went to see Dr. Mcdonald at the VGH. He is the internist who looks after and pre-screens all of Dr. Amson's patients. He also was on hand when I had my gallbladder out and stopped breathing. So I had all my information prepped and went into see him. He was a nice enough fellow and ran me through the proceedure. He was pretty thorough doing an exam, ekg, chest x-ray and took a whole bunch of blood. He did a test that even the lab tech's hadn't heard of. something called a d-cat number test.

By the time I got home the day was shot so I stayed home with Marla and hung out for the afternoon. It was a very nice afternoon.

Dealing with changes

My appointment with dr. a was pretty much as I expected... well not quite. First of all the wait wasn't as long as I planned. I got in within a hour and 15 minutes. Then I expected that I would need all my toys, computer, psp, cell phone to entertain myself and instead I ended up chatting with a couple of guys in the office. One guy was pleased because he lost 20 pounds in a couple of months of using the lapband. The other dropper 200 pounds in the last two years with his RNY. If I dropped 200 pounds I would be 108 and I think that would be a bit much.
The visit was interesting because dr. A was his usual self about not saying much. He tried to talk about loosing weight with exercise alone. That is not quite working for me. then he went on to talk about moving forward with the operation. there maybe an outside could be possible but don't get your hopes up about getting a cancellation spot in December. I don't think it is possible because I only know of one ever cancellation. But it is nice to dream.
I told his MOA that I am available on very short notice. She smiled and said she knew. then a few minutes later I got a call from her saying that I should be going to see an anesthesiologist so I can have my surgery. so she was going to call to organize an appointment for me with him before mid november.
Today I got a call from the urgent surgical office at the VHG to come in on monday and meet the doctor's gas passer. I met him once before but at that time I was unconscious and had stopped breathing. The fact that I stopped breathing while I had my gall bladder surgery kind of freaked marla. I hope this doctor doesn't hold this bit of information against me.

Marla and I went out to the Japanese Village today for lunch. I was very hungry and ate far too much. It wasn't bad food for me, except for the rice. It was just the volume was too much. I like the Japanese Village. It has many fond memories for me and Marla.

Just a nice day

So this was my first real vacation day of my Thanksgiving Vacation. I started off by going down to the Pearkes Arena and squaring away My Large Friends for next year. We are going to expand the sessions to 10 weeks and that should help the promotions too. Also a name change is in order since My Large Friends doesn't really describe what the group does so now it will be My Large Friends Fitness. I dropped a birthday card off for a friend and got a real nice reception in her office.

Marla and I went down for lunch at J&J Wonton, it is one of our favourite places and now they know us a regulars. We don't even have to tell them what we want, they just smile and say "the usual". Our usual is TanTan and Sesame Chicken. Its treat food.

Chris and I walked the Cedar Hill Golf Course in the dark - 50min - and then it was off to get Marla from singing. All in all a pretty good day.

Canadian Thanksgiving

Normally this would have been one of those days on the annual "Gee I am glad that mom didn't come on this trip trip". But instead we stayed home and had a Canadian Thanksgiving. It was the typical holiday where we watched a couple of football games, mowed the lawn and had a wonderful Thanksgiving supper with friends. Dick and Leslie are really nice people and Linda is a good friend. It was nice to be together. It is also nice just to hang out with Marla and as usual I was happy to go home.

It was a good food day. Especially not going nuts at the supper. I limited myself to one serving of all that was there and it was quite enjoyable.

A long day and a long walk

I was up this morning at 5:30am to get ready to go down to the Goodlife Marathon 8K. I got down at about 6:30 which was enough time to stretch, check my stuff, and get ready for the 7:15am start. I even dressed well for the race - a long sleeve t-shirt, my racing shirt, shorts, and a pair of sweatpants. I was comfortable through the entire race. I was glad I didn't wear my raincoat. So I was already to start and I turned about to find Silken Lauman the Olympic rower standing beside me. then I saw from folks from Camosun. Finally I turned on my ipod and the playlist I made just for the race. It was 90 minutes long, my goal for race today.

The race started out good enough, I ran the first couple hundred of meters and then got into my walking pace. My ankles ankles and feet were very sore. Marla was right; I should have got the new shoes. After about two kms my feet got to feeling fine and all was good. It was a little cold between 4 and 5 km because the wind came up from the ocean. It was interesting to see all the WLS'ers on the race course. Good on 'em all.

I finished the race in under 88 minutes. faster than I had estimated. It was a very good walk, sometimes I even broke into a lumber. I can't image what it would be like to do this 150 pounds lighter. I would sure like to try it though.

The rest of the day was sleepy and sore. I came home, had a hot tub, and Marla and I went out for brunch. Then when we came home I had planned to mow the lawn but frankly I was so sleepy I had a nap for two hours. I don't usually nap or sleep during the day but this was a day of getting up far too early and doing much more exercise than I am used to. I am really glad that I practiced my walks by doing the 5k walks that we do two or three times per week.

Strange day for eating, Marla and I were in Walmart and looked at the Halloween treats. Strangly enough, I didn't want any. We bought a bag of Tootsie roll minis and I only tried a few of those, in the old days I would have eaten the whole bag. this is a good sign.

a wet lazy day

I went out this morning and jumped into the hot tub. Summer is still trying to hang on at least it did until the clouds came in and the rain started to fall. It was a full day of rain but it was kind of nice since Marla and I just stayed home and watched the Roughriders lose to Toronto. I am not sure why they lost, aside from two interceptions.

For some reason I have no appetite at all. I tried to have a salad for supper but that didn't work at all. Tomorrow is the GoodLife Marathon and I am doing the road race. I might be a little nervous because the race is longer than I am used to and it is going to pee down rain. As long as the wind stays down everything should be fine. My big problem is that I feel all fitnessy but I am sure I look like a balloon with legs.


So the clothes are all put out. Dry clothes are in the plastic bag. Music is on the walkman, and I am ready to get up in the early am. Here I go.

TGIF -flexday

Today was a flex day - I didn't have to work - but I did have to go to school. It was another class for the TTW program. I enjoy the class and it is quite interesting. After the class Marla and I went out for lunch at the Macaroni Grill. It was the usual but it was actually a little hard to eat. It gave me a bit of a stomach ache.
Then we went and updated the insurance on the car, the problem was that we already had insured the truck, but we thought it was the car that needed insurance until we gave the paperwork for the truck to the agent. We totally confused ourselves.

After that we went down to pick up my runner's package for the Goodlife Victoria Marathon. I am doing the 8k. So we went down to the get the runners package but at 4:30 there was a line up about half a block long to get into the place. We came home relaxed and went back at 7pm and just walked right in. Back home to watch Burn Notice and a nice night at home.

The Aboriginal Pit Cook

On Friday I photographed an Aboriginal Camus Pit Cook at the College. It was very interesting and rather tasty too. the process is basically heat up rocks in a fire pit, then line the pit with leaves and branches. Add root veggies and the camus bulbs then cover and add water. It cooks in the steam for hours and hours and then served. It was a little mushy but really good.

Saturday Morning Christopher and I had a good but early walk. Then I went for a small group meeting. Marla and I watched the Riders beat Toronto then we went into the backyard and cut branches and trees and basically cleaned up the yard.

My food was pretty good today with lots of exercise.

My office is whereever I am.

so here it is Thursday and it was a weird day. I didn't get into my office until the morning was nearly over and then after that I was in and out and barely got a chance to land. Once I got home it was a quick supper (Mac Cheese and Peas Please). Then off to exercise. It was the fourth of our eight week sessions. Megan tried to push a bite more. She is a pretty good trainer.
The surprize of the day was that after yesterday's Dr. Gillian app't I complained that I hadn't got my skin dr. appointment. Low and behold, Louise called today with an appointment for next monday. Cool.

Monday morning new stuff

Started the day checking out the new first aid room which is about the size of a phone booth. Although nobody remembers phone booths any more anyways. Today I filled in for Anton for the day. Actually it was nice to actually take some time and shoot some photographs. Came home and made steak and baked potato for supper. It was pretty good.
I was happy to weigh myself this morning and according to the wii I am down to 307. At least I am going in the right direction. Not much to write but basically a happy camper. There is one thing that is ticking me off a little. I have this chest pain dead center of my chest and extending up through my throat. I feel like I am choking myself. I am sure it has something to do with my wieght but it sure is an annoyance.

wonderful weekends

The weatherman said this weekend was going to suck. we could expect rain and wind of monster proportions. Saturday morning came and there was clear blue skies and temperatures that remind me of the summer we were supposed to have. It was nice when Chris and I did our usual Saturday walk. Precious enjoyed romping out and about the park as she usually does.
I came home and mowed the lawn on such a beautiful day. It was so nice and I was in such good spirits that I also mowed our neighbours boulevard. The little old east Indian lady who I always wave out gave me a Sunny Delight as a thanks. It was cute because I don't speak Pakistani and she doesn't speak English.
Then I went in and watched the Roughriders Play against Hamilton. The Riders one in the last second so it was a good game. I think the CFL should be in the East. In the afternoon Marla and I went to see The Tresspasser by Morris Pynach at the Belfry. It was a pretty good play.
Sunday night Dexter returned . I like Dexter even if he is a little creepy.
I had a great weekend. Eating was excellent.

an academic day

This was a pretty good day. It started off with me sort of sleeping in sort of, so Marla and I were late dashing off to her volunteer work. then i raced up to interuruban to participate in the Signature Learning Experience forum for the college. It was very interesting. then I slipped over to portable A for my TTW course. It was a circle of learning with some nice people - most from the college. It is a pretty slowly paced course giving time to everyone to speak and there was a lot of sharing. After that I returned to Lansdowne to present an award with Marla to Laura ??? who won the Blake and Marla Handley Education Award through the foundation. It felt really nice for us to give.
It wasn't a bad food day either. I skipped breakfast because I knew I would be having muffins at the SLE. then Corrine brought bagels and cream cheese for the TTW course and after the awards ceremony we had dainty hors' deurves. And for supper I made pork chops, mashed potatoes and corn.
Not much exercise but otherwise a good day.

things are looking up

I am feeling much better today. I am back into the swing of things. My highlight of the day was exercising with Marla and the group. There was only five of us tonight but that was okay because Megan could concentrate on us a bit more. My favourite exercise was a jump up and down from an 12" step. 325 pounds banging on the floor was something else. Although now I sure am stiff I am not sure what tomorrow will be like but "oww" in advance.

Something is not right here

I had a really good day at work. I taught a good class and then spent the day catching up on paperwork. It was my weekly shot day. I am a bit worried about L in the office. She is having heart complications - funny, since I have known her longer she has become a pretty cool lady. M was off singing tonight so I had the place to myself. Good time to catch up on some house cleaning. Only problem was that when I was in the doctor's office I weighed myself and found that I have gone up another kilogram. Crap. so now I am back to nearly the same place where I started this journey. It is really depressing to me. So now I feel I am square one. I am just not a happy camper. Everything in my world is going good except for my weight. Phooey.

Why is growth stressful

Every now and then I try to be the responsible one. Like what happened at work. We were having an issue and it had to be dealt with. But doing something that hopefully will improve the situation for everyone involved sure makes me feel uncomfortable.
On the otherhand, I keep thinking about the possibilities of my wls surgery. It is, I think, an outside possibility. It is good that it is a possible but there still is a thought that it may be years away instead of months. I am looking forward to the time it is weeks or days away.
It will be nice to just to get this stuff behind me.
It is actually getting to me physically. I need to talk to my doctor about these recurring chest pains and the feeling that my throat is choking me.
This isn't a fun post today. I hope I feel better sooner than later, but I am tired of feeling and being big.

Monday Monday

Normally I like Mondays. Monday's are actually my favourite day of the week. It is like starting all over again and kind of a do-over. This Monday kind of sucked because of my seven staff three of them were sick and off work. So there was a lot of covering going on. And then there were other staffing issues that were on my mind all weekend. So I dealt with that as soon as possible and moved on to doing my actual work.
Tonight is a night where Marla and I can just have fun together. It is the start of the fall 2010 tv season so we tivo-ed and watched Mike and Molly ****, Hawaii 5-0 ***1/2, and Dancing With the Stars **1/2.
Supper was a total treat and departure from the diet. Actually I had much less than I would have had a year ago. Tonight in the spirit of folkfest I made pyrogies with great onions, sour cream, and real bacon bits. Yum.
tomorrow - Salad.

Checking in or back - basically its been a while

Okay, for some reason I thought I should get back to my blog. Since February which was my last entry, I have had a pretty good summer. The highlight for me was our summer trip to Oregon. It was a great car ride, filled with adventure, mishaps, casinos, and a numb bum from lots of driving. My attitudes towards food have changed over the past few months. I get physically sick when I go by places like McDonalds or KFC. And for the most part, little Marla eats more than big old me.
Still I am not getting any smaller.
I got my last test before my RNY from Dr. Amson in September. It was one of those times when I came in at 9am for my appointment at the VGH only to wait for 2.5 hours. Then Dr. A comes out and says I have a choice. I can wait a few more weeks and have the test done again or he could do the test without anesthetic, just a spray to numb the back of my throat. I chose the latter because there was no way I was waiting.
Dr. A says not to worry. It would be just a thin piece like spaghetti that he would insert down my throat to look at my stomach. Tell a foodie about spaghetti to go down the throat and the thought of thin vermicelli comes to mind. Angel hair pasta would be nice. Nope, this was thick linguine and worst of all it wasn't a sloppy wet noodle but a hard dry stick. It was groady and awful to go in, but once it turned and went down my throat, I got the most interesting view of my stomach, from the inside. Soon it was all over and I was ready to go home. As Dr. A pointed out it was a good way to do the check because I was not impaired.
My next step was to wait for my October appointment. But then I got a call from Dr. A's MOA who moved my appointment ahead one week.
So things are still moving forward, albeit very slowly. Still I am optimistic.

The Reason why I decided for WLS

I got to thinking about the clues that I needed WLS - this list is a workshop list =
Diets didn't work - No way a diet would help. I would try and after a few months it was just impossible due to motivation, time, and lifestyle. And in its own way - one would be recommended by a health professional, and another would disagree with it.
Diets I have tried out - Low carb, high carb, Atkins, SouthBeach, WeightWatchers.

Exercise wasn't working - I swam five times a week for an hour each day for five years. Nothing happened. But then who ever heard of a thin seal?

I practiced Aikido for four years. Almost constantly. It is one of those things in my life that I really miss doing and it is all because of my size.

My pants stopped fitting. This one I could live with. my girth isn't in my waist, but in my tummy and that hangs over the belt. Very attractive

My shirts stopped fitting. This was alot worse. How could I have an 18 1/2 inch neck and still pop the buttons on my tummy.

My shirts stopped fitting part II. The distance between my shirt bottom and pants top separated. A flash on a sweet little thing looks great; on a 50 year old pregnant looking guy is just not pretty.

I stopped fitting in roller coaster rides in Disneyland. That sucked big time.

I stopped fitting into booths in restaurants. Not that I didn't fit, it was just a very tight squeeze.

Visiting the hospital is alot scary when its family

After a rather bland day at home, not much was happening for a sunday. then a little before supper Marla was not feeling well and began to have some nervous issues in her arms and slurring of her speech. No questions we were off to the hospital. She is okay now but she scared the bejeepers out of me.

One very odd thing about this event was it demonstrated our love for each other. In the for better or worse part, this could be the worse. And still she is my life and love.

Getting used to blogging

The true trick to blogging is to remember to do it. The last few weeks has been mostly recovery time and getting better. On Jan 13 I had my gallbladder removed. I think the worst part about the surgery was having all the gasses release after the surgery. The surgery was a matter of Dr. Amson puffing me up with a whole bunch of air like a balloon, which gives me a great mental image of the operating room, and then slipping out the organ.

Yesterday was a scary day because M had to go to the hospital. We were worried that she was having a stroke. Which scares the hell out of both of us. Fortunately she is well. Thanks to the powers that oversee us.

Today is my last monday off before returning to work next week. I just want to savour each day. I really like my work but I have also enjoyed this recovery period.

A little background

I have been waiting for my RNY Surgery since November 2008. At least that was when it was first suggested that I could be an RNY candidate. I was not always overweight. I was pretty much a skinny guy until I turned 30. then I blossomed. at my heaviest I was 335 pounds and over the last couple of years I have dropped down to 303. My goal is to be healthy but I would also like to be small enough to go horseback riding and not need a clydesdale.
In March of 2009 I had my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon, Dr. Amson in Victoria, and was told it will take about a year for things to start happening. Things happened a little sooner because I developed Gallstones and Dr. Amson had to remove them. He plucked out my Gallbladder in January of 2009. So I have to fully recover from that before we can move on to the RNY.
In the meantime, I have been instructed to exercise, exercise and more exercise. My eating is nicely undercontrol, mostly because since I developed the gallstones I have had no appitite. That's me for now.

Getting started again

I am starting this, yet again, as a way to track what I am doing and why. I am one the waiting list for an RNY weightloss surgery and in the meantime I am preparing myself with diet and exercise. So this is my story.