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Surgeon: Dr. Richard Oakley, Bowling Green, Ohio
by John: Recently was my official 3-month anniversary. Since having my surgery it has been quite a ride, but it all has been worth it. I have been overweight all 27 years of my life. I remember being in 4th grade, which would have made me like 9 or 10 and weighing 150lbs. I remember the school nurse pulling me out into the hall and embarrassing me about my weight. As time went on the pounds continued to find their way to my body. I was trying anything and everything to loose weight in my Jr. High and High School days. My self-esteem was and has always been low. I have always felt like less of a person due to my size. After high school I found myself in college, I hated it I always felt so out of place because of weight issues. I hated the little seats and tight desks, I hated being in the middle of "The Meat Market" and having all the inspector turning their noses up at me. I had friends and I had some girlfriends here and there, but nothing makes you feel worse than seeing people talk about you as walked down the halls or simply turn their heads and giggle. About the time college was happening in my life I started volunteering for the local fire department and ambulance service. I ran into a few issues initially with my weight, but soon all embraced me as an equal and I found mycomfort zone. I started taking fire related courses initially then turned my sights to emergency medicine. I got my EMT then moved on to the Intermediate or Advanced EMT levels of training. After getting my different levels of EMT training I decided to go for my Paramedic. This was where my size really seemed to become a problem. I had instructors asking me during my entrance interview things in front of my peers about my size and weight, this was humiliating, they tried to keep me from taking the class because of my size. Luckily, I had people standup for me and get me into the class. The best part of class was passing and passing national exams in Georgia and New Hampshire and proving those who doubted me for my size that I could do it. I have always wanted to be a "Firefighter/Paramedic" in a larger city. I knew that I needed to loose weight if I were ever going to get one of those jobs I wanted so badly. I started looking at WLS as the answer to helping me achieve my lifelong goal. I first went to Indianapolis, Indiana and spoke with a surgeon there getting an old fashion RNY. I tried, tried and tried some more to get this procedure, but my insurance with the county government I worked for would not pay for it. I was told when talking to one of the insurance reps on the phone that I would never get this surgery as long as I had their insurance. Knowing I would never get WLS with insurance provided to me as a Paramedic, I started looking for jobs. The quest for a job with a local major employer was now on. I wanted WLS and felt this was the only way I would ever get it. I filled out an application almost weekly and then one day it paid off, I got a job. Once employed I had every piece of insurance that company would give me. I had to wait a year from employment to get sick time though, so I knew that surgery was a year away from my hire date which was 10/30/00. Now with new insurance I started looking harder and harder at WLS. I then went to a physician in Nashville, Tennessee. This physician was initially going to do a fobi-pouch and then called me down for a 2nd visit to talk about BPD/DS. I had never heard of this procedure before and was scared that I had gotten the old bait and hook. I went down and talked to him though. Listening to him talk about the procedure I really liked what I was hearing. I told him that I wanted to have the surgery at the end of October when I got my sick days and he agreed to contact me. The insurance approved my procedure, but I never got a call from this doctor's office. This made me uncomfortable so I started shopping again for another surgeon and found Dr. Douglas Hess in Bowling Green, Ohio. On Sept. 24, 2001, I made my first trip to Bowling Green, Ohio. I met Dr. Hess told him that I was wanting to do this in late October or early November and he seemed to act like it was no problem. I left his office feeling so much more at ease than I had felt previously, so I knew that I was going to be in Ohio when I finally got my procedure performed even if I was 7 hours from home. A little over a week and I had approval from my insurance company to have Dr. Hess perform my procedure. I was so, so, so excited. I felt as if God had looked down and smiled saying "It is time." After a couple of calendar movements I had a date, November 5, 2001. This was the day it all was going to change. And it did!!! I walked into Wood County Hospital after eating a huge breakfast at a Big Boy's ready to go. At registration I got my armband and it said "Dr. Richard Oakley". I was then escorted to my room. Once in my room I asked the nurse why I had Dr. Oakley instead of Dr. Hess on my armband??? This is when I learnt that Dr. Hess was out of town and some guy named Oakley was going to cut on me the next morning. I was terrified!!! The nursing staff recognized my discomfort with the situation and called Dr. Oakley at home. Dr. Oakley came in on a Sunday afternoon and spoke with my family and I for about 2 hours. I was almost in tears! First there is the stress knowing that surgery is tomorrow and this is the real deal now. Then the business with the doctor mix-up I was an emotional basket case. It turned out that it was a miscommunication between the doctor's office and me that caused the doctor mix-up. Sitting on my hospital bed 7 hours for home I decided to go for it even if Dr. Hess was not the surgeon. This turned out to be the best decision of my life. Dr. Oakley was awesome, I love him to death. My procedure lasted 4 1/2 hours. I got a 100 cm common channel and woke up in recovery without a vent. I was brought back to the room I had left that morning and started my recovery. I was in the hospital for 8 days then released. The next day I returned vomiting blood and scared that I had a leak. I stayed one more night and got some more IV fluid's and another upper GI which came back good (no leaks). I was then released again. I then stayed in a local motel until released to return to my home in Southern Indiana. My recovery has been pretty uneventful complications wise. Once I got home I have had no problems, except the occasionally vomiting associated with over eating. I still do this sometimes. Before my surgery my feet hurt every morning when I got out of bed. Now they do not. I used to be able to hear my knees grinding on bone going up steps, now I don't. Before my surgery I was on Norvasc for high blood pressure, now I am not. The list goes on and on.......... I started my surgery at 435 lbs standing 5' 9" tall. I had a 64 BMI, I was not a small boy. On my 3-month anniversary (2/05/02) I weighed in at 333 lbs giving me a new BMI of 49. I have went from wearing a 4X or 5X shirt to wearing 2X and 3X shirts. I have went from wearing 62 inch pants to wearing 50 inch pants today. I know that I still have a long way to go, but the last 3 months have been worth the ride that I am on now. I never returned to work at the employer whom gave me the great insurance to get this surgery. I got laid off basically while on medical leave. This was not all bad I have started back on the same ambulance that I left before my surgery. I feel like I am starting a whole new life doing what I love. One year update: October 2002 One year down and I am thankful for the surgery I had and the surgeons that performed it everyday of this my new life. Since my last update I have lost a "little" more weight. I now have lost a total of 238 lbs. and weigh in at 197 lbs. I now wear 33 inch jeans and a Medium in basically every shirt and jacket I run across. My current BMI is 29! The last year has passed so quickly, I can hardly believe that my anniversary is approaching. I have had very few problems with the surgery and I can eat anything that I really want these days. I have people all the time tell me "No you don't" when I tell them that I still need/want to loose 30 pounds. 170 pounds was what I was told by my surgeon a year ago that I would get to. I did not believe it was possible when he told me this last year, but now I feel as if I can not get there quick enough. I know I still have several months of loosing left and believe 28 more pounds is a definite possibility. I have actually grown accustom to having people not recognize me. Believe it or not, I am starting to get tired of hearing compliments too. The one thing that I hate to hear from anybody is the question "Are you going to do a Subway commercial?" The references to Jared makes my skin crawl. The other comment that makes me want to scream every time I hear it is "He is half the man he used to be". Excuse me? The last time I check I am still the same person just a lot healthier. I think everyone who has had this surgery probably feels the same way about those comments. Most of my lab values are normal, there are a few that are flagged as low, albumin being one of them. I am trying to get my protein intake up each day to take care of this problem. I have been so lucky; my family has been so supportive through the past year. I have also been luck to have a few really good friends that keep tabs on me too. I believe these two factors also affect your outcome from this surgery. Without the support I have had I do not think my surgery could have been as smooth and successful as it has been. I have been to the University of Iowa and currently waiting to see what my insurance is going to cover when it comes to reconstructive surgery. Excess skin is probably my biggest problem. As I have progressed in the past year I have learnt little tricks that help me every day deal with the excess skin issues. Life is absolutely wonderful though. I have zero regrets having this procedure performed and would do it again just to loose those that last 30 pounds. This surgery has far exceeded the expectations I had for it. This surgery is still surprising me from time to time when it comes to the amount of food I can eat and still loose weight. |
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