September 2016 - Bug Hunter Sam

33 days BS (before surgery)

I’ve done all of my pre surgery appointments; I’ve had my blood tests, nutritionist appointment and doctors appointment. I’ve decided to test out the pre surgery diet starting today. I don’t need to start the pre surgery diet until 2 weeks before surgery but I’d thought I’d test it out a little early. I’m currently 126kg with a BMI of 47.

this pre surgery diet involves having optifast for 3 meals a day, snacking on low carb vegies, drinking plenty of water and avoiding all sugary drinks. I’m aloud to drink black coffee and tea. Here’s an example of what I’ve been consuming today:

I’m 2 meals into my first day and my verdict is it’s not completely horrible. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Sure I’ve been hungry and food is everywhere but the 2 shakes so far haven’t tasted horrible and I’ve been able to explore the coffee scene in Perth. I’ve basically been exploring Perth via lane ways and espresso. Perth has a good coffee culture and I haven’t struggled finding good coffee.

Just before lunch, I did feel a little lite headed. I was doing research yesterday on loose skin after surgery and I’m a little concerned that I’ll have loose skin around my thighs which could make exercising difficult but it’s the price I might pay for trying to become a healthier me.

Here’s some more photos from today:

Those words remind me of “Repo! The Genetic opera” and this catchy song:

Repo! is a musical set in some future time where people are addicted to surgery/body modifications. And if you can’t pay the repayments the repo man will come and take back what was modified; leaving people dead, disabled or otherwise incapacitated. It’s an interesting reflection on our consumerist society.

Anyway, I digress. The reason I’m thinking about surgery is because I’ve booked myself in for weight loss surgery for mid October. This will be my first ever operation. I feel like this is a sensitive topic. By now it seems that a sensitive topic = time for me to write a blog post about it. I feel like this is a extreme procedure but I obviously have an issue with my weight and I haven’t been able to fix it completely on my own. I currently weigh 126 kg and it puts my BMI at 47 which is in the, “Morbidly Obese” category. I’m going for the sleeve option where they remove 4/5ths of the stomach and staple it up. There’s around a 1 to 4 week recovery time.

I would like to take a risk based approach to this surgery. Being obese increases my risks of developing type 2 diabetes, poor mobility, poor mental health, reduced life span and reduced quality of life. Most people think life is a priceless thing that should be protected/preserved no matter what. By doing an extreme thing like weight loss surgery, I will greatly increase my chances of having a longer, more fulfilling life. My goal is to get my waistline below 80cm, I don’t actually care about the weight itself that much. My weight does impact my mental health and my mental health has been something shocking recently.

Would you consider almost any options to get a few more quality years later on in life?