Weight Loss Surgery Update 12/16/08

Today when I got into work I had an e-mail from Chicago… it was them sending me copies of the letters they sent my Family Doctor and Insurance company… it was a little odd because I was reading this paper where they were talking about me to someone else… just really impersonal ( I felt like a lab rat)… anyway here is there reasons that they gave for me having the surgery….

“The patient's current medical co-morbidities associated with morbid obesity (ICD-9 code 278.01) include diabetes mellitus (250.40), hypertension (401.1), hyperlipidemia (272.4), and possible sleep apnea (780.51).”

Its really weird, cause I know that the doctor has me on like four different medications and two of them I take twice a day… but until I read about me from a third party stand point I don’t think it really ever sunk in… something else… the one they are requesting is the “laparoscopic duodenal switch” which is the one where they actually go in and remove (not staple) part of your stomach… it is the most extreme, but it gives the most “permanent” results. According to the letter the hospital stay will be 2-3 days.. and then there will be 6 follow up visits… that’s all I know for now.

Christmas Carols

Sorry I haven’t been on here in a while... there is just a lot of stuff going on my my mind right now and I can’t really talk about it... but I will soon enough. Last night we went caroling… I really like to sing (even if it hurts the ears of others) so it was fun. We caroled at someone’s house that we knew… but it got me to thinking it would be fun to be able to just go caroling… walking around singing Christmas songs… but in today’s society I don’t think it would work… what I picture is a group of carolers singing in front of someone’s house and then the police coming and getting them for solicitation of God or something… beating them down with there sticks… dragging them away… oh wait a minute… I think I just went into the videos you see of people fighting for there freedom. But then aren’t we? It’s a sad state this country is in when someone is made to feel like they should be ashamed because they choose to live the way God asked them to!!!! That’s not the way it should be at all… in fact the people that choose not to live for God are the ones who should be ashamed… Now they even go so far as taking CHRISTmas, the celebration of HIS birth, and take HIM out of it… its ridiculous!!! X-mas... seriously? What a joke… it’s HIS Holiday… we are His creation… HIS not ours… if you are alive today it’s because HE gave you the breath of life…. Not because some gorillas got frisky a long time ago. How much is God really on anyone’s mind right now… seriously? How many people will truly celebrate God and the sacrifice he made? How many people will think about the fact that about 2000 years ago a baby was born in a stable… not a hospital not a house, but a stable… because no one had any room for him, and that baby was God almighty… the living God… no body had room for him then and nobody seems to have room for him now… sad. I might sound over the top to you, and if I do that’s fine. Some people like to show there patriotism… to show respect to the men giving there life so we can have our freedom. I choose to Respect the fact that my God came down from his thrown and became flesh so he could give his life so I could have my salvation.

Little Star

The other day I got to hear a beautiful sound… it was my son playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Did he mess up? A couple times. Did he keep tempo? Not really. Was it still Awesome to see my son be able to play a song, not by memory but by reading the music? Yes!!!!! And the look on his face when he finished said it all, He was smiling from ear to ear glowing… And all he said when he was done was “I did it all the way through”… I still think it’s awesome!!!! You know it shows me something (I know “here he goes”) It wasn’t easy for Corbyn to do, but it got easier… he didn’t do it completely perfect… but he did it…. You know how he did it? He followed the Book that showed him what to do and he listened to what his Teacher had told him… two key factors… if we would apply that to our walk with God I think it would make things a lot easier… yeah we might mess up once in a while… but the great thing is that, just like Corbyn’s piano Book, the word doesn’t change… we can go back and do it right!!!! But the only way to master it is to not give up… to keep our eyes on the mark and one day we will realize… Hey “I did it all the way through “!!!!

Events from the weekend

Stephanie and I went to that Brandon Heath Concert on Saturday… It was pretty good… I like his voice but I have to admit my favorite songs of his are the ones they play on the radio… but that’s o.k.… it was still fun. There was a guy sitting right in front of us that proposed to his Girlfriend… it was pretty cool, if I was the “sensitive type” I would go into more detail on this but I won’t sorry J and then on the way home there was the snow… oh so much snow… and the only thing I dislike more than driving in snow is riding with someone else driving in snow so I decided to go ahead and drive…. Not a shining moment in my life!!!! I also found out that the brother of a childhood friend of mine passed away… I will be going to his viewing today over lunch… he was only 32… its really weird in the last couple weeks I have known two people under 35 pass away. It just goes to show that we are not guaranteed tomorrow to “make things right “. Last night was my night to preach/teach/whatever it is I do, and that came up a little bit, so I’m not going to go on and on about it… but I will say this… look at your life… really look at your life and what you’ve chosen to do with it… if you were to die today would you be o.k.… would you really be o.k.? its something I ask myself all the time, am I doing what I should… there is this assumption that just being a good person will get you to heaven… the bible says “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1peter 4:18)… it also says “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leaded unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Mathew 7:14)… one other thought and then I am done… have you ever thought about the fact that in the popular Story about Noah and the ark that God only saved 8 people out of the whole world… (Noah, his wife, his three sons and there wives) He saved those that listened to his voice…

Weight Loss Surgery Update

To those who are wondering about the “Bariatric Surgery” with me… I talked to June (my coordinator) and she said that I have been accepted into the program…. They are now going to submit to the Insurance (which can take 30 to 90 days) and I have some things I have to do before hand… those things being my family Dr. has to send them some more of my history and I have to have a sleep study (check me for sleep apnea). And before I have surgery I need to meet with Dr. Alverti (the surgeon) at this point, if the insurance agrees I’m looking at March time frame for the surgery… It just keeps getting more and more real… o.k. that’s that!

Choices

I feel like my mind is all jumbled full of things right now… and trying to pull one of the ideas to put on paper is like trying to choose what to have for supper in a food court!!!! So I figure I’m just going to start righting and see what happens… so I apologize in advance if today’s post is “confusing”. During this time of year I am full of appreciation that God was willing to give his life for me… I know most people think of it at Easter… but this is the celebration of his birth… to think our god come down to earth, to grow up and be loved by his parents to go through a normal life… and to think of his family… a Jewish family… they would have known what the future held for this child… Isaiah had written about it… Only a parent knows the joy that runs through you the first time you hold your baby… knowing that God has given you this gift… how bittersweet it must have been for her to look down and know that God had entrusted her with a gift for the whole world… and to know that the little baby she held in her arms, she nursed, she cared for… would one day be the lamb of God… I can’t imagine… and what do we do with that gift? Does God think that the price he paid is truly understood by those he paid if for? Wednesday night when we got home I was exhausted… and had already told my pastor that I didn’t know if I would be there because I didn’t know when I would get home… so he wasn’t expecting me. Anyway I took a nap and when it came time to get up and get ready for church the thought passed my mind… “They aren’t expecting you, just stay home and get rest, you’re drained, God will understand”. And then my perspective changed… I pictured my god beaten beyond recognition… and still having to walk up Calvary… he kept going… he loved me enough to push through the agony and continue his journey. I went to church that night… but I went ashamed that I had ever even considered not going an option. Some might read this and think “nothing would have happened if you would have just stayed home and got rest”… I’ll be praying for you… because my biggest fear is what might not happen if I don’t give serving God my all. A saint of God used to say that we have a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun, I think that happens one decision at a time.

Grandpa Ray

Yesterday morning I found out that my Great Grandfather past away… so I will be going to his viewing/funeral tomorrow and Wednesday… its really odd because on Saturday when we were at my Wife’s extended families Christmas her grandfather was talking about everything happening for a reason in our life… and I am a firm believer in this… I feel like we have been surrounded by death recently… but to everything there is a season… and you know things die out in the fall… but the spring brings new life… and that is what I keep telling myself… new life is on the way!!!!! There is an old song and I’m not sure what the name is but it says

Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on to the light:
When my way grows drear,
Precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall:
Refrain
When the darkness appears
And the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,

I won't lie, I feel worn thin... but I know that the Lord will never put more on me than I can bare... and I know that I am not going through this alone... I know that God is my strong tower... and I know that he is my strength... I can look back at the bible... and those stories in there... those people went through some serious situations... but God was with them... and I know he's with me too.