Lost 166 pounds with Gastric Sleeve Surgery

I must say that it has been my intention for months to sit and write a testimonial about my experiences with Dr. Bass (Tiffany) and the life changing Sleeve Gastrectomy I had in April 2008.  I can’t think of to many things that has changed my life the way this surgery has.  As a matter of fact I’ve had many things happen in my life that changed me forever and this surgery definitely ranks right up there with them.  I would have to say the marriage to my wonderful wife is one.  The birth of my daughter would have to be two and next believe it or not comes my Sleeve.  What joy it’s brought to my life.

I will have to take you back to last April and visiting the doctor to allow you a glimpse of where I have been and come from.  I do believe around March of last year I went to the doctor for a kidney stone.  It was at this time that I hit the lowest point in my life.  I have to admit, I’m not one who lacks self-confidence in the least even with the weight I was still able to be the happy go lucky jovial guy I had always been.  However, on this day, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel and knew I had to do something.  On that visit, as normal procedure they had to weigh me.  Never, and I do mean never had a weigh in session ever stuck with me the way this one had.  Not only did they put me on one scale only for me not to get a reading I had to go to another scale and it failed me to.  Needless to say I did not have a pronounced weight for that day.  I was told or given the option of going to a feed store and weigh and call them back with the number.  Not knowing that the reason for the feed store was because they had large scales that assisted them with weighing feed and animals.  WOW, I HAVE TO BE WEIGHED AT A FEED STORE.  By the way I was 477 pounds at that time.  I could only cry as the one thing that could always keep me going, my personality and smile suddenly did not feel so safe to me anymore as I felt as if I were going to kill myself if I continued along this destructive path.

Amazingly that weekend I ran across a flyer about gastric bypass seminars here in the Cape and I made up in my mind I was going.  I did and I loved what I heard but I was not ready to do this because the risks were too high in my opinion.  I know really, me talking about risk being too high and I’m walking around everyday at 477 pounds.  This is too funny now that I am able to look back on this day.

I attended the seminar, actually I attended two seminars and I saw all of the people that had gone through with their surgeries and I always said to myself that would be nice to have, or wow look at the difference in that man or woman.  I then caught myself again worrying about the risk and being pessimistic that it could really happen to me.   I continued to keep my eye on the seminars and Dr. Bass.  My final seminar was in Bonita when I first heard of the Sleeve and listened to an older lady speak about the new found energy she has found and the control she has regained in her life.  That was it for me I went in and had my consultation, only to back out because I was afraid of the surgery but in reality I was afraid to regain my life and have the opportunity to live again.  I spoke with Dr. Bass and he shared with me more success stories and my lovely wife kindly put things in perspective and gave me that little tidbit I needed to move forward with one of the best days of my life.  She and I were talking about the surgery and my fears and she simply said that any surgery can cause you not to wake up.  I’ve had a number of surgeries and I came out just fine and their were odds that I would not make it out of surgery as well but I went on and did what I had to do to make it better for all of us.  I have to put in a plug for my wife here.  My wife and friend of fifteen years has been the greatest person one could ever know.  I mean not once did she ever treat me differently because of my weight, she stood with me and encouraged me through all of my yo-yo dieting and weight gain and never ever, ever turn her back on me, she was my backbone and still is as I have the chance to be a different person.  She’s the greatest!!!

Last June my wife and I were sitting around watching television and saw the ad for the Wii Fit and decided this would be great to have in the house because it would be helpful to me because I had just had my Sleeve and we know how important it is to get active and participate in physical activity.  Who in the heck thought of putting a weight limit on a game that is supposed to assist you with losing weight?  What a set back but I was well on my way to decline from 477 pounds.  Needless to say this game has a strict 300 pound weight limit on the game and I can remember getting on the game and it telling me I exceed the maximum weight limit for the game.  So I just logged in under my wife’s name and competed in the games that did not require me to be on the board.  Not exactly the way to use the game but I had to do what I had to do.  I finally gave in and gave up because I was a long way from being on this game; I even tried to fool myself that if I got less than 400 pounds I would be able to get on it.  Uh, did not happen.

I will share with you that on May 9, 2009 while in Publix looking for protein bars I passed the dreaded Publix scale that is in all Publix stores.  I knew I had been really ripping and running around in spring football practice so I decided to weigh.  Not to mention that this scale has that dreaded 300 pound weight limit as that stinking Wii.  I almost did not go through with it as a man was standing right there at the soda machine and the last thing I wanted to happen was for him to see me get on that scale and the hand go way past 300 and me again not be able to get a reading.  But, I said what the heck, I use to be 477 how bad could it be?  I got on the scale and low and behold I was 292!!!!!!!!  I wished you could have seen my face and the body language that immediately overcame my body, me Dwayne Donnell under 300 pounds.  That seems to be almost unbelievable to be 292 pounds.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that I went straight home told my wife and pulled out that stinking Wii and began my body test and Voila!  It says to me confirmation complete and welcomed me to the system.  OH WHAT A JOY THAT DAY WAS.  NEEDLESS TO SAY, I HAVE BEEN ON THAT STINKING WII EVERYDAY SINCE THEN.

This is a brief glimpse of my journey to the new me and I hope and pray that this will be the inspiration that someone needs to make up their mind to have this procedure.  I have to thank Dr. Bass and Tiffany for being there for me throughout this entire process as I could have not done it without them and their kind words and professionalism.  Tiffany for being my foundation and support and Dr. Bass for giving the hard news and tough answers in a way only he can but being honest at the same time.  I owe them my life and I will do whatever and anything they need me to do to allow someone to feel the way I feel today, ENERGETIC, HAPPY AND ALMOST SLIM; WORDS THAT HAD COMPLETELY VACATED MY VOCABULARY ONLY ONE YEAR AGO.