Lose Weight or Die... AGAIN

It has been a couple of years since the failed bootcamp scenario, I have to say again the failure was really on my part for not maintaining the weight loss. I regained weight when I returned to my normal stressful life scenario of working, eating, and not moving. Since my bariatric surgery was cancelled during the COVID lockdown I basically went into neutral and did nothing to address my weight issues and by January 1st, 2022, I was once again knocking at the door for 400 pounders. So, what have I done so far? I could have rescheduled bariatric surgery; I was ready to self-pay back in 2019 so why not just do it in 2022? The short story is I got “cold feet” since two friends who previously had bariatric surgery 3 or more years ago were either having complications or gained most of the weight back. So, I am basically back to square one, trying everything that is current in the weight loss industry. Here is a quick list of what I have done so far: Rejoined Weight Watchers in Februa

As of Friday, 3/6/2020 my third and FINAL appeal to my employer provided health insurance company to pay for bariatric surgery was filed. The only reason why I am filing again is because of a change in the payment policy clause that went into affect January 1st, 2020. The bariatric surgeons office suggested I submit for procedure approval again just to make 100% sure if the change in surgical procedure approval policy does in fact overrule a previous denial. I am not very optimistic of the outcome so to avoid even the slightest delay in scheduling my Gastric Sleeve procedure in late April 2020 I also provided the surgeons office with the EIGHT checks. I had to write multiple checks for required disbursement to separate facilities / services for the self-pay option. The checks were for the following: Hospital stay (2 nights) Hospital administrative fee Surgical Procedure Fee Anesthesiologist Fee Complication Insurance Pre / Post Surgical tests  Physiologists Fee 

It has been a while since I provided an update on my weight loss adventure so  here is an extended timeline that outlines my progress or lack there of over the last 14 months: January 1st 2019 just a tad under 400 pounds @ 398 lbs. February 2019 my primary care physician recommended weight loss surgery March 2019 started to research alternatives and decided on a weight loss boot camp  (See the Introduction page)   May 5th, 2019  I started the boot camp at 375 lbs. After 6 weeks of attendance, on June 23rd 2019 I was down to the lowest weight I have been in 2 years @ 319 lbs. At the end of week 7, on June 30th 2019, I had gained back 5 pounds, up to 324 lbs. July 2019 through August 2019 was roller-coaster time as previously mentioned, I went back and fourth between a gain of 16 pounds, back up to 340 lbs. and then a re-loss of 6 lbs. Starting September 1, 2019 I was at 334 lbs. From September 2019 forward, it has been a disaster. All the weight I had lost n 2019 I simply re

Monday - 7 /22/2019 Final week. Today is the start of week 12, my last week of FMLA leave. I have 2 remaining doctor appointments this week, one with the doctor that is reviewing my DVT's and my final appointment with my PCP this Friday 7/26. I expect my PCP to provide the required release document from Cigna so that I can return to work on Monday 7/29. As I review the last 11 weeks I have to admit that I was hoping for a much larger amount of weight loss. The numbers looked promising weeks 1 through 6, but starting with week 7 I fell flat on my ass. I could blame the DVT issues in my right calf that prevented me from working out the last 2 weeks at the boot camp or the weeks at home after I left. I could put some blame on the weight gain due to the stress from new health issues (DVT's) and the passing of my mom.... however I can only blame myself, I simply slipped back into comfort eating during times of stress.  There was some progress over the past 11 weeks: May 5

Tuesday - 7 /16/2019 Rest in peace... My mom passed away over the weekend, Sunday the fluids in her lungs made it very difficult for her to breath, she slipped into a semi coma, whatever that is (was) and was provided 100% oxygen via a mask but provided no breathing assistance via a machine as per her last wishes and the health POA. She was also provided a morphine drip to keep her pain free and comfortable so she basically died in her sleep, I guess when one has to go.. that's the most comfortable, going to sleep and never waking up? My sister and brother who both live in Ft Myers, FL will be taking care of my mom's final arrangements while I deal with my own immediate health issues. Blood pressure  reading as of 6:00am CST Tuesday morning, again slightly elevated from last week,  139 / 84.  I expect these readings to reduce and get back to the lower numbers I saw at the end of the weight loss boot camp during week 7 as the anxiety and stress of an elderly parent's d

Friday - 7 /12/2019 Bad news on the home front As some of you know already, with everything else on my plate I have also been dealing with my siblings and mom in Ft. Myers, FL. My mom has been in the hospital for the last several weeks and as of this morning I received an update from my brother and sister that she has taken another turn for the worse.  Both siblings are telling me that if I want to say goodbye, I better plan to travel down ASAP, my mom is not expected to make it through the weekend. This the second time she has been in a near-death situation in the last several weeks. Her health has been up and down since being admitted to the hospital, however there is now a "change" in how the doctors will be handling her. My brother who has power of attorney over my moms health and financial maters has decided, in addition to no resuscitation, he has instructed the doctors to withhold any attempt to continue any new life-support procedures including feeding tubes and

Tuesday - 7 /09/2019 Finally received a call from my PCP's office at 9:00am with the results from the additional  Duplex Ultrasound scans completed on Friday 7/5 at Thomas Hospital.  Bad news and Good news The two areas of concern identified during the initial scans of Wednesday morning 7/3 have been confirmed with the latest scans as active blood clots, aka DVT's. Sounds like bad news and it could have been real bad news, however the size and location of the two clots are actually good news. According to the latest information, I was told that calf vein thromboses are less likely to break free and travel to the lung or “embolize”, the real bad stuff. My right calf vein thrombosis will be treated as a "superficial thrombophlebitis".  A "Direct Oral Anticoagulant" will be prescribed by my PCP, daily dosage to be determined. Because a DVT in a calf vein can lead to a larger, more proximal DVT that can break off and migrate to the lung, additional ultras