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Surgeon: Dr. Hazem Elariny, Arlington, VA
by Ford:
I was unable to sleep...I'd wake up after a couple of hours every night feeling that I was suffocating. I'd get up and go and sleep in my car, where I could sit up and get at least some sleep. I was unemployed and unable to work. Stairs were my mortal enemy. I had recently been through a messy divorce and had lost everything. But I had found an incredible woman who, even with all of my problems, wanted me in her life. She supported me through all of this, and I give her credit for saving my life. I was at a loss as to what to do, I started researching the internet as to what sorts of risks heart surgery would pose with my weight. I found information about bariatric surgery. I knew that that was what I needed. I found a web site that listed Bariatric Surgeons in the DC area, and the next day, I called two. The first couldn't see me for a couple of months...the other, Dr. Elariny, could see me a week later. I went in to see him, and he confirmed that he would be able to help me. There was a lot of talk about the risk that surgery posed to me...my chances of living through it was 50/50. Dr E was reluctant (understandably) to go ahead with the surgery given those odds. I asked him what my chances were to live another year. He said "About 50/50". I pointed out that, if I was still alive at that point, I would be a far worse candidate for surgery. I had nothing to lose. I was so uncomfortable that death was a better option that sitting there, getting more ill every day, and just...waiting to die a very unpleasant death. He agreed to do the surgery. Another complication was lack of insurance....no one would touch me with health insurance, of course, and I had to do it self pay. Dr E was aware that if I didn't live, he didn't get paid. He never mentioned it. He brushed the whole subject off, and we forged ahead. Dr Economides, my Cardiologist at the VA where I had been getting treatment, worked very closely with Dr E, and between them they moved the heavens and the Earth to get me in there and the surgery under way. I owe my life to those two men. I wasn't too worried about paying for the surgery either. I figured that if I owed someone some money, that was GOOD news, since it meant I had lived. I would figure out some way to do it if it was an issue. The last strange thing was that I was scheduled to have the RnY done. On my second consult with Dr E, he told me about the DS. He was going to a conference in New Orleans to learn more about it. He had done a huge number of abdominal procedures before, including several forms of WLS. He didn't press me to have the DS...he left it up to me. But, my lord...how could you NOT choose it? I never gave any thought to the fact that he hadn't done it before...I had complete confidence in the man after my contact with him. I was convinced that he knew what he was doing, and put my faith in him. So much for research. <laugh> It turned out that I was his second DS...he did another person two days before me (I had mine done on July 5, 2000), but she was done open. I was his first lap DS. Well, I lived. I was in surgery for 10 1/2 hours, including 3 1/2 for "the Gall Bladder from Hell". My wife says that Dr E looked like he had been drug through a knothole...covered in sweat and obviously exhausted. He was guardedly optimistic. I had some complications during surgery. First of all, I am a big guy, not even counting my weight. I'm 6-3 and big boned...I used to play football and have always been very active. Dr E's surgical instruments were just not long enough to be able to do what they needed to do, so I ended up with several extra holes in my belly so he could get access where he needed it. I "deflated" in there somewhere. In a lap procedure, of course, the abdomen is inflated to give the surgeon room to work. Well into the surgery, I blew a leak, and the space collapsed. He was at a point that he HAD to keep I was a wreck afterwards. I was out for two days in intensive care, and after I woke, I was another day in Intensive Care. Then they moved me to the ward where they watch people closely...I was being monitored for my heart condition, too. I was really out of it, and don't remember any pain...just extreme discomfort. They let me go home 5 days after the surgery. I had a wheelchair, which helped. I stayed in bed for a week, using a bedpan. Have I mentioned my wife is a Saint? She and my son did bedpan duty for that entire time. I was just able to struggle to the bathroom a couple of weeks after the surgery, and used a urinal in the bed when I could. Two weeks after surgery, I went in to see Dr E. We weighed me, and I was 488 (!!) pounds! I had GAINED 22 pounds. I was very upset....we finally figured that it was because I had not been taking my diuretic for the CHF, and it was mostly water weight, which, it turns out, is what it was. Three weeks after the surgery, one morning, we found a great deal of blood in my stool. I was hustled to the VA hospital in DC, fearing the worst. It turned out that the dosage for the blood thinner I was on for my congestive heart failure was now too high....I used to be on 7 mg a day, and ended up on 3, where I am now. The blood was so thin it was just leaking through the sewn seams in my guts. Massive doses of Vitamin K got it under control quickly. The best part is that while in the hospital, I got no help from anyone using a bedpan, and the stupid cardboard things they gave me just crushed under me, so...I had to walk to the bathroom. I found I could. I never used a bedpan again. I went home in four days. Finances: The surgery cost $54,000, plus Dr E's fee, which was $9,000. I went to Fairfax county and applied for Medicaid, which they gave me, since I had no income and was unemployed, and disabled. They covered the bill for me, bless them. I paid Dr E myself...it took a while, but I did it, and counted it cheap. I had the usual progression of weight loss and plateaus, but the ultimate story is that after a year, I had lost 180 pounds. I was a new man...I could walk, breathe, was no longer diabetic, no longer had high blood pressure, no longer had sleep apnea, all my meds for the mitral regurgitation and CHF were cut in half or less. I went to the cardiologist 6 months ago or so...they did a stress test on my heart, and determined that surgery was just not indicated at this time. Hard to believe. As the weight went away, we noticed a mass in what had been the fatty tissues of my belly. We had CAT scans and MRIs and X-Rays, but were not sure what it was. It might be a tumor...it was unlikely that it was malignant, but you never can tell. We decided it had to come out. While doing that, we decided that I needed to have a tummy tuck, too. It turned out that both procedures would be covered by insurance (I now have real insurance, now that I'm married and working again). So, in March of 2002 I had my tummy tucked. Dr E assisted Dr Matini, and they removed 45 pounds of fat and other tissue. The "tumor" turned out to be a calcified fat deposit....no big deal. So, with other weight loss and recovery, I now weight 232 pounds, more or less...it changes day by day, but that's the neighborhood for the last couple of months. I'm married, happy, and loving the fact that I got this new chance. I get a bit giddy about it all sometimes, but I have a GREAT deal of fun, and....hell, I'm just happy to be here. If I never lost another pound, I'd be happy. A friend of my wife, seeing me for the first time in a LONG time, said, "Ford! Wow.....you look...wow...you're DONE!" Indeed I am. My Stats: Height: 6-3 I eat what I want, when I want, as much as I want, and don't regain weight, so far. If ever I get to 240 again, I'll worry about it. I have bloodwork done every month for my PT level (has to do with the "thinness" of my blood for the CHF), and have all my labs done then, too...and so far, everything is fine. |
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I was dying, you see. I was 51, 465 pounds (down from a high of 502, but I had regained 40 or so pounds the year before), and sick. I have congestive heart failure, mitral regurgitation (leaky heart valve), arthritis, and had diabetes, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea. I couldn't stand without great pain, and I couldn't walk across a room without panting for breath. My Cardiologist wanted to get me into a nursing home to get the weight off of me...he was convinced that I wouldn't live another year without open heart surgery, and he was unwilling to do that, given my extreme weight.