3 Months Since Surgery

Two days ago, October 6, was the 3 month anniversary of my gastric by pass surgery. It's been a quick 3 months with a lot of changes and a lot of rewards. There's a long list of exciting things that have happened in my life as I've lost 80 pounds. My daily activities are different in that I am more active and ambitious than I was before surgery.

Spiritually, God has pulled back the initial layers of my sin of gluttony to reveal other sins I need to repent from and, with the Holy Spirit's help, exile from my life permanently. He also has changed my attitude regarding my degree of selfishness. I have started to consider others before myself a lot more than I used to. I'm doing my best to change toward having the heart of a servant as God commands in His word. Now that change isn't anywhere near complete (following the example of Jesus) but I'm growing in that aspect of my life.

There are subtle things that are better in my life now too. Being able to exercise my dogs by walking them has had improved their health as well as mine. Other things that I couldn't do like fitting into "normal" chairs, walking up stairs instead of having to pull myself up with my arms using the handrails are part of my life once again. There's so much more but I'm not going to take the time to list them all here.

To celebrate my 3 month surgery anniversary last night at our weight loss surgery support group I sang my tribute to my experience with gastric by pass. I wrote words to the tune of the Beatles song, "Yesterday". Here's the first verse of the song. It's called "Roux-en-Y" (pronounced "roo-in-why") which is the medical name for the procedure I had done.

Roux-En-Y
words by Ron Havens
Roux-en-Y
It was something I just had to try
Now the things in life don't pass me by
Yes, I thank God for Roux-en-Y

I hope to someday have a video of me singing the entire song posted on the Internet some day in the near future. Until then you'll have to be "lucky" enough to hear me sing it in person.

So now that I've passed the 3 month mark, next week I go for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Houston, my surgeon. I'll get my blood levels checked to see how I am physically.

For now I look toward my next goal which 100 pounds lost. Previously I had set that as my goal for Christmas. Now I believe I can reach that goal by Thanksgiving. By the end of the year I'd like to be halfway to my goal weight. If God is willing to continue blessing me with successful weight loss I'll reach that goal and more.