Guest Blogger: Transmissions from the BHE

hello from the BHE! my former-PA-student-and-current-practically-a-doctor wife has asked me to share about my experiences leading up to what is a very exciting day tomorrow.

i am having abdominoplasty surgery to remove excess skin from my midsection (which she mentioned in her previous blog, "to cut or not to cut"). in fact, i just received a call that i was rescheduled from 9:30am to 7:30am. i have to be to MBH at 6am.

for as much as i've been really excited about results, i'm also a little nervous. i have no relevant experience upon which to base my expectations.

i grew up fat. i was a fat little kid, i was a fat high-schooler, i was fat in college, and i was fat as a young man living his own life. for brief moments, a couple times, i had lost enough weight that people noticed. but i could never sustain the weight loss, and i've always been fat. at my peak i weighed 285 pounds. and then i got married fat. with her help and encouragement i was able to work all that weight off and reach a minimum of 199 pounds. and since then i've put on 20 pounds of muscle. i'm at the peak of my health. i've run a marathon, two half marathons, two 25k races, three sprint triathlons, and an olympic triathlon. i've kept the weight off for four years. i'm ready for the operation. but i've always been fat, so i don't know what it will look like not to be.

the process of elective surgery has been very interesting. there are a lot of procedures and precautions that have to be taken beforehand, and there are a lot of preconditions that need to be met in order to undergo what is very major surgery. surprisingly, because i'm spending a night in the hospital, i'm eligible for FMLA leave, and short term disability insurance, which means i'll be getting paid for about half the time i'm out. it seems a little wrong, but after paying for the surgery in cash, we really could use the money.

i think it will be most fruitful to compare the information i've received and the process i've gone through to this point after the procedure. but i can't help but be impressed with the amount of information that both my doctor and the hospital have been able to convey to me in a very approachable way. but we shall see if the two align tomorrow.