Dave In Houston

A question for JRT Mom: After your surgery, how long was it until you started singing, and how long until you felt that you were singing well? BTW, I'm planning to do voice lesson this morning using Skype. It will be my first lesson since I started self-quarantine. I'm lucky to have a vocal coach who is really focused on anatomy and vocal health, but I don't imagine she will see as much regarding anatomy issues as she would in a face-to-face lesson.

Thanks, Mom and ChubRub for the comments. My next big singing event in late August was just canceled due to Covid, and the one a week later is in doubt, too. Maybe I'll be done with surgery and back to drinking the right amount by the one in November, if that one's not cancelled. It's hard to imagine a more problematic event than 120 singers getting together for hours and hours of singing. I think I'll be able to manage the diet changes, even though sweets are my downfall. I imagine we just won't have any sweets in the house.

Hi, everybody... I found this site and decided to start a thread to introduce myself. I'm Dave. Age 66. Five feet, eleven inches and about 250 pounds. I'm in the Houston area. I'm an amateur singer, and I have an ENT doc who treats my voice. He has treated my reflux with proton pump meds for over 20 years. The last time I saw him, I mentioned that I would like to get off those meds. He told me that there is a surgery for reflux (Nissen fundoplication), but that at my weight (about 270 at that time), the surgeon would also want to do weight loss surgery. Then he asked me if I had ever considered weight loss surgery. To be honest, I had never considered it, because when I set my mind to it, I can always lose weight. But I decided to talk to a weight loss surgeon anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? My voice coach recommended a surgeon by the name of Patrick Reardon, who practices in the Houston Medical Center. When I called his office just before Christmas, they were closed, so I went to their web site to request an appointment. A couple days later, I got an email from them suggesting an appointment on the first of April. That seemed good to me. I could get past the annual season of gluttony and try to kick my weight loss program back into action. Due to the global pandemic, though, I didn't get in to see Dr. Reardon until last week. I was pretty satisfied that I had lost 20 pounds, and I honestly thought he would tell me to keep it up for another 6 or 8 months before we talk again. Well, Dr. Reardon wasn't impressed. He said, "How many times has your weight gone up and down, and how many more times do you want to do that?" He also said that the Roux-En-Y bypass, by its very nature, treats reflux, so no Nissen would be necessary. "So let's go," basically. Then he sent in his assistant, Carl, to talk about the logistics, which I'm sure you folks all know: psych consult, dietitian consult, meet with the anesthesia doc, etc. etc. Carl gave me his business card, a printout of the referral for the psych and dietitian appointments, and a 50 page booklet describing what they were going to do to me, and sent me on my way, telling me that if I hurried, we could be doing the surgery by the first week of June. The first half of the book was pretty interesting. I'm an engineer, so I enjoyed all the pretty pictures saying they would snip this way and staple that way, and in the end my innards would look like such and such. Then I got to page 22, where I saw the words "NO SWEETS!" Bold and in all caps, just the way I typed them here. I swear, if they had said "NO SWEETS" on page 2, they wouldn't be selling a lot of surgeries. I think pecan pie is my favorite thing to eat in the whole world, followed by ice cream. And especially pecan pie with ice cream. The brochure also said I would be eating three meals a day with NO SNACKS, and that a meal would fit in the palm of my hand. And, as I'm sure you all recall, it included some graphic details about how my body would rebel against me if I broke the new rules. In spite of all that, I'm seriously considering it. It would be nice not to feel so self-conscious, and to meet long-lost relatives and not have them say, "My... what a big boy you've become." One of my big concerns, though, is whether I would be able to drink enough water to stay properly hydrated for singing. These days, I drink a quart of water with every meal, and more in between. On a long singing day, I drink two gallons of water. I know I wouldn't be able to do that any more. The brochure tells me that 60 ounces per day is recommended, but sometimes people find that much very difficult. Sorry for running on so long, but I like words. Anyway, where I'm at right now is that I'm kind of assuming I will decide to proceed, but the psych folks haven't called me yet and I haven't made the effort to call them either. Any words of wisdom or encouragement would be most welcome. Best regards, Dave