Several years ago, I applied, and was hired, at the local fire department. It's a small department, with only a few full-time fire fighters, and the rest are paid volunteers. Working for the fire department was something I had wanted to do since I was a teenager. While getting my employment physical, the doctor detected a heart murmur. This lead to further testing, and the discovery of a heart abnormality that I was born with, and never detected until now. The deformation was severe enough, that I had to resign from the fire department.
This new development caused me to start thinking about the direction that my health was headed. My parents had been urging me for a few years to get checked for sleep apnea, and my wife thought it was a good idea too. I'd snored for years, and had even been told that I stopped breathing in my sleep for short periods of time. Deciding that it was time to get checked out, I participated in a sleep study. The results of that study were clear: I had sleep apnea. I came from from that test with a c-pap machine. A c-pap means Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, which means that the owner wears a mask to sleep, and the mask is attached to the c-pap with a flexible air tube. Humidified air is pushed from the machine through the tube and mask and into the mouth and/or nose. It sounds horrible, but it actually looks and sounds worse than it is. The machine is actually extremely quiet, and as long as the owner chooses a mask that is comfortable, it's quite tolerable. My initial downfall was that the mask I chose wasn't as comfortable as I thought it would be, and it caused my nose to break out. I actually had painful sores just below my nose. Because of my discomfort, I stopped wearing my mask.
Here, I must apologize. I cannot remember why, but about six months later, I decided to give the c-pap another chance. This time, I chose a different mask, and it was great. I've used it every night since. However, although the c-pap allowed me to get a restful night's sleep, and put less stress on my heart, my increasing weight made up the difference.
About a year and half ago, I began talking to my boss and my dispatcher about the success they had had with weight loss. They both had had bariatric surgery through the same doctor, and between the two of them, they lost well over 200 pounds. They began telling me about their experience with the surgery, and how much their lives had changed for the better after the surgery. They had nothing bad to say about it, and strongly encouraged me to go to one of the doctor's seminars, and learn more about the different bariatric procedures.
I wasn't ready to go to a seminar yet, but I asked my boss and dispatcher everything I could think of: What are the procedures, and how are they different? How much weight can you lose with each procedure? How safe are the procedures? What is the doctor's track record? What is the surgery like? What can I eat after the surgery? How much can I eat after the surgery? How long would I be off work? Can I put weight back on? What kind of food can't I have after surgery?
They were extremely patient with my questions, and answered everything. But no matter how much they told me, I just couldn't see myself getting surgery. I knew I was a big guy, but was I really so big that I needed surgery? I'd seen people much larger than me, and they weren't getting surgery. So did I really need it? And was I even big enough to qualify for the surgery?
Thinking about surgery brought another internal struggle. Is this even something that I want to do? What will people think of me? Will my family support me? Can I do this? These were all things that I began to think about.
After thinking about it for several months, I picked up the phone and called the doctor's office.
This new development caused me to start thinking about the direction that my health was headed. My parents had been urging me for a few years to get checked for sleep apnea, and my wife thought it was a good idea too. I'd snored for years, and had even been told that I stopped breathing in my sleep for short periods of time. Deciding that it was time to get checked out, I participated in a sleep study. The results of that study were clear: I had sleep apnea. I came from from that test with a c-pap machine. A c-pap means Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, which means that the owner wears a mask to sleep, and the mask is attached to the c-pap with a flexible air tube. Humidified air is pushed from the machine through the tube and mask and into the mouth and/or nose. It sounds horrible, but it actually looks and sounds worse than it is. The machine is actually extremely quiet, and as long as the owner chooses a mask that is comfortable, it's quite tolerable. My initial downfall was that the mask I chose wasn't as comfortable as I thought it would be, and it caused my nose to break out. I actually had painful sores just below my nose. Because of my discomfort, I stopped wearing my mask.
Here, I must apologize. I cannot remember why, but about six months later, I decided to give the c-pap another chance. This time, I chose a different mask, and it was great. I've used it every night since. However, although the c-pap allowed me to get a restful night's sleep, and put less stress on my heart, my increasing weight made up the difference.
About a year and half ago, I began talking to my boss and my dispatcher about the success they had had with weight loss. They both had had bariatric surgery through the same doctor, and between the two of them, they lost well over 200 pounds. They began telling me about their experience with the surgery, and how much their lives had changed for the better after the surgery. They had nothing bad to say about it, and strongly encouraged me to go to one of the doctor's seminars, and learn more about the different bariatric procedures.
I wasn't ready to go to a seminar yet, but I asked my boss and dispatcher everything I could think of: What are the procedures, and how are they different? How much weight can you lose with each procedure? How safe are the procedures? What is the doctor's track record? What is the surgery like? What can I eat after the surgery? How much can I eat after the surgery? How long would I be off work? Can I put weight back on? What kind of food can't I have after surgery?
They were extremely patient with my questions, and answered everything. But no matter how much they told me, I just couldn't see myself getting surgery. I knew I was a big guy, but was I really so big that I needed surgery? I'd seen people much larger than me, and they weren't getting surgery. So did I really need it? And was I even big enough to qualify for the surgery?
Thinking about surgery brought another internal struggle. Is this even something that I want to do? What will people think of me? Will my family support me? Can I do this? These were all things that I began to think about.
After thinking about it for several months, I picked up the phone and called the doctor's office.
I love your blog. It's candid, yet graceful. I will be following your blog. May God bless you and Holly in your pursuit of your weight loss goals. If you ever need some encouragement, please email me @ Schott.Enterprises@Gmail.com and I will give you my cell phone number. May God also bless you and Holly as you wait for the new life that will be celebrated in January...
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