ScoutCR

Hello, I am currently 56 years old. I started this journey to Bariatric Surgery 1 yr ago when I was told that I had Chronic Kidney Disease. I never thought of myself as a big guy, but people all the time said to me that I was a big guy. When I was told that I had CKD my kidney GFR was only 28. The Dr told me that I would be on dialysis within 5 years. That's when I started taking my health seriously. I looked into my options and found that Bariatric Surgery had a lot of health benefits besides weight loss. I also have diabetes, high blood pressure, in addition to the kidney disease. I had also had a stroke when I was 50 years old and was determined to resolve my health issues so I applied to the Bariatric surgery program at UPMC in Pittsburgh. UPMC is 2 hours away from my home in MD, but it is so highly rated that it was worth the effort to have my surgery there. I received pre approval from my insurance to get the surgery but I had to do 6 months of supervised diet and take every test that you can imagine (I know that people who have done this surgery know what I am talking about) after doing an endoscopy the Dr told me that I also had Barrett's Esophagus which was another health problem that the gastric bypass should help to resolve. I did my 6 months and my Dr submitted my paperwork to the insurance but a question came up because during the 6 month diet I had lost slightly too much weight my BMI was a point to low, so the approval took 2 months, but they did approve the surgery on that first submittal letter. My Kidney DR had helped my cause by also submitting a letter saying that this surgery was medically necessary. I got the call that my surgery had been scheduled for the end of March 2018, but I had to postpone because of my work schedule. The surgery was rescheduled for April 26, but the surgery schedule slipped and I had the surgery on April 27. The surgical team at UPMC is first rate and everything went smooth and trouble free. They said I would be in surgery at 7:30 AM and I was there at 7:30 AM, they said I would be in recovery at 12:30 and I woke up at 12:35. I think that is amazing! I was to my room at 5:30 and was up walking at 11:00 PM. My surgery was on Friday and I was released on Sunday at noon. Everything went like clockwork. Now I will say I was in pain. When they first gave me Water I panicked because it would not go down but the nurses said that it was normal and I had to keep trying and eventually water would go down. My recovery I think is going extremely well. I had a blood test 4 days after my surgery and my GFR was 63. My kidney Dr says I can live the rest of my life with a GFR between 45 and 48 so I already consider the operation a success. I only wish that my diabetes and blood pressure had been resolved, but I am still on some of my medicine. My surgeon says to give it time and it should resolve in time. I can say that my health is already better and I am looking forward to the future after all it has only been 3 weeks after surgery and I am still eating puree as of May 21, 2018.
Update: On 7/9/18 I had my follow up with my kidney, family, and pulmonary DR's. and I am happy to report that my kidney's are now at 87 GFR and my DR said that he considers me out of kidney disease range and it would be my choice to have a 1 yr follow up (which I did schedule), my primary care DR said he now considers my diabetes in remission (5.2 A1C), my high blood pressure is now normal ( BP 116/66), my pulmonary DR gave me the option to stop wearing my CPAP based on my last month of data which shows a low incidence of sleep apnea. I did say that I would continue to wear it as my bariatric surgeon suggested 6 months to stop the CPAP. The DR agreed with the 6 months and said we would do a home sleep study at the end of the 6 months just to cover the insurance requirements. All of this good news is giving me a wonderful day today! I cannot express how much relief I feel from the benefits of this surgery. I am not saying that everything is perfect but the health benefits make it all worthwhile. I am still presently in a weight stall, but I will be happy if I stay at my present weight. On Friday 7/13/18 I will be 11 weeks post op.
BTW, I am in technical sales. I love my wife who has supported me all the way, my motorcycle, and traveling. My motto is keep on going the best is yet to come!