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Surgeon: Dr. Robert Rabkin, San Francisco, CA Most recent update: January 8, 2004
by Al:
I listened to him because I was over 400 pounds and my health was going south pretty fast. The more I gained, the less active I was, which made it hard to even keep my weight stable. I couldn’t tie my shoes without turning red, and I was out of breath when I got out of bed in the morning. I had severe apnea and was able to fall asleep while talking to someone. Bob gave me Dr. Rabkin’s phone number and I thought to myself that I had nothing to lose at that point in my life. I have tried every diet possible and most pills. All worked for a while, but I would gain 110% when I stopped starving myself. Well my life did change. After talking to the staff at the doctor’s office and going to a support meeting, I made the decision to have the surgery. My life got better just thinking about it. Tuesday November 13, 2001. DS day. I was scared and anxious the morning I checked into the hospital. I had also gained another 18 pounds since I first went to the doctor’s office. My arms were so fat that it took 2 hours to find a vein for the I.V. I am glad it wasn’t an emergency, or I would have died before getting an I.V. When I awoke I was groggy and sore. I didn’t feel any thinner, but I definitely knew there was a change. Sipping on an ice cube felt like I swallowed gravel. The Jell-O and broth they brought was the only thing that was palatable. I was having second thoughts, but it was too late. Everyone assured me that it would get better, but like anyone in a similar position, I had doubts. Well they were right. In a week I could eat regular foods as long as they were soft, as in blended. I started drinking protein shakes in order to get enough nutrition. I left the hospital on Friday night, since I really wanted the comfort of my own bed. The pain from the surgery was almost gone except when I coughed. Somehow I gained a few pounds in the hospital, probably water retention. A week and a half after the surgery I was down 15 pounds. A few days before Christmas I went back to work. I had lost 60 pounds, and it was noticeable already. For the next several months I lost between 30 and 40 pounds a month. I held off buying new clothes as long as I could, but after I cut 3 inches off my belt for the third time, I knew I had to get some new slacks. By this time I had a new girlfriend who was very supportive, but one day even she suggested I needed smaller clothes. By August I had lost 200 pounds. It had been 9 months. Back in January I was worried that I might not lose enough in time for my daughter’s September wedding in Hawaii. I had nothing to worry about by then. In fact, I had gone from size 60 slacks to size 42. From 5XL shirts to just XL or even L. It is now November and I have lost another 20 pounds. My weight loss has slowed considerably, but now my body mass is moving around so that I went down another size in my slacks while I only lost 2 pounds. The greatest feeling is getting compliments everywhere I go. Some people who have not seen me in over a year don’t even recognize me until I re-introduce myself. Being able to shop in a normal store for clothes is a luxury I never had in forty years. My eating is not back to normal, nor do I ever want it to be what I used to call normal, but I can eat almost anything comfortably. I haven’t used my C-PAP (breathing machine for the apnea) since January. In May I was retested and the apnea is completely gone. My next step will be some tummy tucking as well as removing skin on my arms and thighs. When riding my motorcycle I feel the skin on my arms flapping like flags in the wind. I have been told I should expect to lose about 20 more pounds in the next six months. I already weigh less than when I was in high school, and the thought of losing another 20 is something I never could have dreamed of. My friend from the Moose lodge was right, my life has changed.
I had a tummy tuck in February, and I highly recommend it for those who are old enough to not have their skin shrink back. I lost 2" off my waist just in skin. It doesn't take care of the other excess skin problems, but it makes me feel and look better. Even old men have vanity. I can now eat normal amounts of food. Not like before when I ate two meals at a time, but I can go to a restaurant and eat a steak with no problem. I don't pay much attention to what I eat anymore, but I have trained myself to eat good foods. I will occasionally eat a sweet if I feel like it. I eat just a little of it and get the craving out of my system. I have become lactose intolerant. It started about a year after the DS. I have learned to control it for the most part, so it is not much of a problem. I only wish that some of the doctors who are so involved in the DS and other WLS procedures would take a more active position on available information. I had to do a lot of research on the Internet and I found a lot of contradicting information. That is the price you pay for doing Internet research. Not everything that is published is accurate or true. I did find some helpful general information though. Lactose is a milk sugar and the problem stems from the fact that the body needs lactase to digest it. Lactase is produced in the small intestine, and the DS has moved that out of the way, so that lactose doesn't get broken down. It just rots or ferments and produces large amounts of gas. When I say large amounts, I mean LARGE amounts, and passing gas is not enough to make it go away. The stomach (the whole digestive system really) gurgles so loud that it can be heard across a noisy room and it can make you feel like you want to explode. It happens quickly, usually within 20 minutes after eating, and can last 4 to 8 painful hours. I haven't found any way to get relief except time. Richer dairy foods have less lactose than low fat foods, so stay away from the low fat dairy products. Fresh cheeses have more lactose than aged cheese. I have no problem with Swiss, Gouda, Brie, or veined cheeses. Cream cheese and mozzarella are out. Yogurt is high in lactose, but the bacteria in the yogurt seem to counteract the lactose. Go for the regular, not low fat. Lactose free milk has lactase added to break down the lactose. It tends to be sweeter than normal milk, and 4 times as expensive. Lactase tablets are available, but read the label carefully. They seem to be the same strength, but some use one tablet as a normal dose and some require three tablets. They are not cheap, but well worth it for those times when you can't avoid dairy products. I keep some that come individually packaged in my pocket for those situations. I hope this help some people. Not having a medical background I can't separate fact from fiction on the Internet, so I have only explained my experience with lactose. I tried to make a list of lactose levels in various foods, but it got complicated when some foods are listed by weight and some by volume, some in US measures and some metric. Most of the lists were general. Maybe some doctor out there will pick up the ball and publish a better article or table on lactose. Not everyone has Internet access or knows how to do research and I suspect some find out they are lactose intolerant and assume that all dairy products are equal. There is no reason that a person should have to go through the agony of trial and error to find out either. |
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It started when I met a guy at the Moose lodge. He introduced himself to me and told me that he was going to tell me something that would change my life. He took me to the bulletin board and he showed me a picture of himself a year and a half earlier. He had been almost 500 pounds and was now down to 220.
It has now been 18 months since the D.S. I have lost 240# and my waist is down to size 38, maybe even 36. I just had my favorite ring resized for the second time, from originally a size 22 down to size 12 1/2. My energy levels have steadily risen. I have a well thought out exercise program, but unfortunately, all I have done is think about it. I think my progress would be much better if I did work out, but I am basically lazy.