I've been a little lacking on the updates here of late, due to traveling and such.  On January 11th, I suddenly came down with a bit of a fever.  This is very abnormal for me, as I'm usually the most healthy person in the room all year long. Along with the fever I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach.  Needless to say, I went to bed early that night.  

I lay down in the bed, shaking all over and trying to get warm.  Eventually, I feel asleep and all was "good" or so I thought.  I woke the next morning feeling extremely drained and dehydrated.   First thing I did was start drinking water to see if this might help.  The dehydration continued throughout the day and my appetite was nearly non-existent.  In the evening I had a chicken breast, which did not agree with me at all, but I wasn't feverish, as far as I could tell.  Slept through the night again and felt a little better the next morning.

My wife decided that I needed to have a little something, so she made me have a protein shake.  Boy did that set everything back into motion.  While out running errands, I began to feel horrible and my stomach was quite upset.  I was asked if I needed to go to the hospital, to which my reply was, "I don't know."  For me, that's pretty much a yes.

So, off to the hospital we went.  Thinking to go to a location that would potentially be less busy, we were headed away from town, as I might get seen more quickly.  As we were backing out of the driveway, I asked if we could go somewhere closer.  This is another indication that I was feeling quite bad by this time.

After getting through the ER triage process, I was sent back without waiting.  From here begins all the run stuff:

Blood work to start off with
Ultrasound on my abdomen

Once we got the tests back, my bilirubin readings were at 140 when I arrived in the ER.  This is nearly 8 times the normal value. The diagnosis, pancreatitis and gallstones in my bile duct, which actually caused the pancreatitis.  While uncomfortable, this can be taken care of in people with unaltered anatomy fairly easily (scope through the mouth).  For me, having had the Roux en Y Gastric Bypass, everything had to be done surgically, since my digestive tract was "obstructed".

Since they were going to already have to do a surgical procedure, there was a decision taken to remove the gallbladder as well, seeing as this could happen again, if it wasn't removed.  I sure didn't want to live through this again.  I spend a total of nearly 7 days in the hospital getting this health issue taken care of.  I strongly advise against having a similar experience.

But hey, I'm in Canada, so I got to have surgery and all, without going broke.

As of today, I'm still in recovery mode.

Tomorrow will mark the 18 year since I spent time in a bed of this size/magnitude. 

As stated in my blog post yesterday, I had surgery, again, a short time ago for a gallbladder related issue.  In 2001, getting on the surgical table was next to impossible.  This time, I was able to put myself on the table without difficulty.

During my time in the hospital, I was visited by the head of bariatric surgery and we discussed many things regarding the whole process of having the surgery, what happens after and long-term outcomes of most gastric bypass surgeries.

1. Relationships are tested to their limit and sometimes there is irreparable damage done

• At the time I had the surgery, the statistics were that 50% of marriages / relationships end post-op. This is something that I experienced.

2. Post-op depression

• I also experienced this.
• I also spent time having issues with other destructive behaviors.  This may not be everyone's experience.

3. Post-op regain

• This absolutely happens in nearly every case. Those folks that have true success after the surgery are the exception in my experience.
• The only way to be successful post-op is to accomplish getting whatever is "broken" in our minds addressed.

In spite of all of this, I am a success story.  Most people, when successful achieve a 30% body mass reduction.  As if this week, I am at 50% body mass reduction and I'm on a trajectory path to get closer to 60%, depending on the path I choose to take.  It's been suggested to me at this point, by a friend that is a medical professional, that I should start going down the path of muscle building, rather than concentrating on weight reduction so much, as this too will help with breaking down and removing the excess body fat.  Something that comes along with this, is consultations with plastic surgeons, in order to see what their take is on my progress and how much further I need to take the fat reduction.