Jeff Keeping It Real!

Just realized I did not post my weight for Tuesday it was 173.8.  That means I keep hovering at about 172 – 175 I am pleased with that result. 

This morning in the Record Searchlight there was an article about weight loss surgery (WLS) called ‘Study ties stomach surgery, longer life spans for obese‘.  It says ” Obese people are significantly less likely to die if they undergo stomach surgery to lose weight, according to two large new studies that offer the first convincing evidence that the health gains of losing weight translate into living longer.”  Please be sure to read more about ‘Study ties stomach surgery, longer life spans for obese‘.

At one point the article says “I would hate to see these studies being used to justify the argument that we should be doing weight-loss surgery to save lives,” said Paul Campos of the University of Colorado, author of “The Obesity Myth.” “The claim that we have to give people weight-loss surgery to keep them from dying imminently is greatly exaggerated. At best, it’s a very, very modest effect.”

I guess I could argue the issue that WLS does not save lives due to my past two years.  You can read part of my argument that WLS does not save lives at a post I did August 7, 2005 WLS and Update.  This would have been before weight loss surgery and the WLS category you can read my post about my journey before WLS to current day progress.  I suppose some doctors or skeptics would argue that I am only 2 years out but I would have to argue that I am 2 years out and did not have a heart transplant.  That to me is a huge success story for WLS.

 I would not go as far as saying everyone that is obese needs to have surgery.  However, I would say if you are having medical conditions (my medical conditions before WLS) and your obese that would be a good reason to talk to a specialist.  If you do not have one in mind I can recommend talking to PacLap as a good starting point.  No matter what specialist your thinking about make sure you do your homework.  Do some searching on the Internet and go to some newsgroups and forums and talk to others that have had surgery.  They might be able to answer some of your questions and concerns.  I had so many and as time drew closer I still had questions and concerns but people were more than happy to talk about there experiences and that was what I wanted.  I did not want people that were not experts trying to act like one.

Here are a couple of newsgroups/forums that I visit/visited often.

Pacific Laparoscopy Yahoo Newsgroup - For existing patients, or anyone interested learning about the program at Pacific Laparoscopy in San Francisco, CA, with Dr. John Rabkin. For support and discussion of issues specific to the Distal Gastric Bypass/Duodenal Switch, and Vertical Gastrectomy surgery performed at California Pacific Medical Center and at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco, CA.

Obesity Help Forum - Welcome to the Vertical Sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) forum. This forum is dedicated to educating patients about advancements and opportunities pertaining to the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, a surgical procedure under active development. If you have knowledge or questions about this topic, please participate by posting to our message-board and introducing yourself. We are actively recruiting patient and clinical advisors to our forum to help share news, experience, support and insight.

Sleeve Gastractomy Forum- This group is for people who are interested in learning about the “Sleeve Gastrectomy” weight loss surgery procedure. This surgery is unique and is being done by a limited number of surgeons throughout the world. This is a safe place to share experiences – ranging from choice of procedure, surgical, post-operative adjustments with food, weight loss, medical problems, etc. This procedure is quite different from other types of WLS. This list provides a place to address the issues sleeve gastrectomy patients deal with specifically. If you are researching this surgery or are a support person to someone who is a sleeve gastrectomy patient you are also welcome to join!

Of course anytime you want to ask me questions offline about my experiences shoot me an email Jeff @ fam5.com (purposely spaced out).  I am one that will talk about my experiences until your sick of asking. 

Have a great day and read you online.

JB

Ok, I just had to post about an experiment that Sprint recently conducted.  They asked seven emplyees to give up there cell phones for a week (7 days).  No cell phone, no handheld, no walkie-talkie, and no broadband cards.  They were asked to blog daily about there experiences on Sprint’s Speed Blog. 

This prompted me to think about the question “Could I give up my wireless lifestyle for a week?”  After reading a few of the blog entries I would say yes I could give up my wireless lifestyle for a week.  The main reason is that like the participants I would still have access to the internet.  So I would either use the internet at home or at work.  I could get my contacts from Outlook and print them out if needed.  I am not saying I would enjoy giving up my Cingular/AT&T 8525 PDA Phone for a week however I guess with access to other means of broadband I could do it.

What do you think, could you give up your wireless lifestyle for a week and why?

I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions on this subject.

Thanks and have a great wireless week.
JB

Went to Shasta Lake over the weekend to fish, swim, and relax.  Even though Shasta Lake is at an all time low it was still a very nice relaxing time.  Went out with the family and my brother Ryan.  Here is a picture of Uncle Ryan with our 2 1/2 year old Adriana.

As you can see from the picture it was a good time had by all.  To give you an example of how far down the lake is in the picture below you will see a lot of dirt. 

Yes the water is normally up to the trees.  This lake feeds the Sacramento River which in turn feeds the central valley for agriculture and drinking water.  The fishing is not all that hot right now due to how low the lake is. 

Here is my Dad trying to catch a fish which we have been skunked for about a week.  We are thinking the fish are deep for cooler water so we will try to go deep and see what happens.  If you have never been to Shasta Lake you should come out to Northern California and give it try.  Ask my friend Rich how much fun it can be?  A little inside joke that I could not do justice trying to explain.  Just imagine high speeds and a body rolling across the lake.

Take care everyone.

JB

Last week one of the local Barista at Dutch Bros (that is bros not brothers) on North Market Street in Redding,  left for England as part of a Missionary work program.  Whitney will be sorely missed she always gave us a smile in the morning as we started our day.  Here is Whitney on her last day.

Whitney was always smiling and singing as I drove up and she would great me with a big smile and saying good morning Jeff.  Whitney new that I was going to have my protein drink so she already had the drink started as I drove up I would just hand her my protein powder and Dutch Bros mug. 

Good luck Whitney.

JB