EKG = Green!

Went to my appointment at Thorasic Cardio Institute today. They did an EKG and gave the greenlight for the surgery. Also did fasting blood work and chest xray. Been a busy day today. Next week I have 3 appointments. Tell you more then.

Quiting Chew Sucks!

Part of the requirements for Bariatric surgery is no nicotine. Since I quit smoking 9 years ago quiting chew should be a piece of cake right? Man, was I wrong. I think it's worse than smoking. But its something I gotta quit and part of a whole overall life change that will improve my health.
I just want to share a site I ran across the other day called Kill the Can.
Its looking to be a valuable resource for me and I hope that it could be one for you as well.
I should also mention that there article
100 benefits to quitting chew is something that I giggled and nearly cried at. Because I can relate to nearly everything on that list.
My second appointment is tomorrow so I'll let you know what it was about soon.

Finally Getting This Party Started!

Holy Crap this took awhile!

Its been a little over 5 months since I made the decision to start this journey. I ended up having to wait until I could switch insurances because my previous insurance wouldnt cover it. I'm now on Sparrow PHP and its looking pretty good. I had my first appointment and have all my appointments set up into May 2016. I have posted my Google Calender on its own page mainly for myself but if you want to peruse it you may. You can find it in the nav bar above. 

The PHP isn't that bad but it does have a rather high deductible to meet before they cover anything. Just hoping I can come up with that pretty soon. If not maybe I can start a go fund me, lol. 

The surgery date looks like it will be sometime late April or early May and I am both nervous as hell but excited at the same time. I'm anxious to get this done and behind me. I really cant afford to switch careers and really want to buy my own truck again. Thats where the real money in trucking is. Owners and brokers. They have all the cash, lol. 

I digress,

I'll be posting after each appointment about each one was about. I will also be very active on Twitter and MyFitnessPal so if you want to follow me there then by all means do. On Twitter I will be using my original account @unklebonehead. I may make a couple of videos and post to youtube but they will be here as well.
I think I have all these accounts tied together so if I post on one it hits them all. So if you dont want to see my updates on my progress then dont follow me. Again I'm doing this for me not you so I wont be upset if you dont want to see my posts and block or unfollow me.

A couple of things that are going to be extremely hard for me is quitting chewing tobacco and caffeine. Those are the two things that keep me going through the day and I pity the people who cross my path without them. Lol, hopefully I can get over the hump before I have to actually talk to people.

Thats it for now. I'll post more later this week.

And So It Begins

Good Morning!

Hi. I'm Ryan Ridenour and I'm 45 yrs old, married with 2 kids and a life long truck driver in the United States. I've always been a "large" guy for my frame. I suppose that's the nice way of saying I've always been a fatty. While I wasn't always considered fat my doctors have always put obese on the forms. At one point in my life I was doing a diet/exercise routine and lost 40+ lbs and went from a size 52 waist down to 40 all in 2 months. That was before driving.
I was still young and a strong testosterone producing machine. Those days are long gone but I am still here and in desperate need of change. I've been seeing the same set of doctors regularly since 2005 when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. I've tried diet after diet, walking, biking and gym memberships. Most recently I've been doing nutrisystem for the last year. Nothing has worked fast enough. While I weighed in at 305 back in 2005 and I am currently 270 as of 8/25/2015. I can never seem to break lower than 260. And my A1c has been fluctuating between 9-11.7-10.3 over the last 9 months. My doctor has stated that my numbers are directly effected by my weight. So she has told me we are in my final stages of treatment before I get put on insulin. Which for me, a truck driver, means I will have to switch careers. And at 45 with no education for anything else it is a life ending direction to travel.

She suggested bariatric surgery because of my situation and has given me a referral to one of the best doctors in mid Michigan. I'm currently waiting for them to call and schedule the consultation. So I figured I would start this blog with the hope that I've made the right choice and I want to share my story with the world to help you make the choice for bariatric surgery or not. I will share everything about the process, the good and the bad, the pain, the triumphs and pitfalls that I will experience along the way. Ill post pictures so you know that this is really me and not some dork sitting in a hut in India trying to get you to buy some products. But be warned I will be posting affiliate links that if you click and buy something I will make some small amount of money to help defer the costs of this site. Currently there are no costs for this site but if all of this journey pans out like it should then I will be looking at costs in the future for this site. 

I'll talk with you more after I get the appointment for my consultation set up. Till then. Be awesome!