Still the Fat Archaeologist

When I started this blog, and started trying to lose weight and get into cycling, I weighed 208.6 lbs. After a good 6-8 months, I dropped to about 180 lbs. I've stayed at that weight until this summer. Surprisingly, a few weeks of constant fevers and sleeping and a week in the hospital all combine to make a pretty effective weight loss strategy...not pleasant, but effective. When I came home from the hospital, I weighed just over 170lbs and as of this morning I weigh 171.7 lbs.

Now when I weighed 208lbs my body mass index (BMI) was 31.9. Anything over 30 qualifies as being obese...so I wasn't the fat archaeologist, I was the obese archaeologist. When I dropped down to 180 lbs my BMI went down to 27.6. Anything above 24.9 ranks as overweight, so I was still fat. Now that I've lost another 10lbs, guess what? My BMI is 26.3...and I am overweight. That means I can still call myself the Fat Archaeologist! To lose the right to call myself the fat archaeologist, I need to lose another 10 lbs. I am not sure I even want to do that.

I may have lost more weight, but I also lost any semblence of physical fitness I had back in April. That is one of the consequences of the fever-bed ridden diet plan...if you were in any kind of shape before you started it, you'll lose it. Since I declared myself well a few days ago, I have been trying to return to a normal routine...and really increase my activity some so I can get back a little fitness before I go in for surgery. The idea is that I will be better able to handle surgery and recovery, and I won't have as far to go to get back into some kind of shape. Really, I'll only be off my feet for a few days after surgery...not really enough time to lose a lot of what I had before surgery...assuming I had any real strength and stamina before surgery.

I found out today just what I've got...or lost. Yesterday I put in a full day of some work, running kids hither and yon, and household chores all followed after dinner by a trip to the Carolina Children's garden for a nature walk with my kids and friends--a program organized by our homeschool group. We might have walked a mile over the course of an hour or so. I felt a little tired when we got back and crashed pretty early. Today, I was fine in the morning but an afternoon nap became an imperitive. I haven't done a nap in days. And since dinner I've been pretty tired, again. I even had a half cup of cofee after dinner and I'm already ready for bed. So, its pretty clear that I don't have a ton of stamina and I will need a rest day after any even remotely strenuous stuff. My work is cut out for me if I want to get even a little bit better before surgery.

Of course, if my cardiologist has his way I'll have a good 6 or 7 weeks to build that stamina back up...and although my impulse is to resist that timeline, I understand why he wants it that way. If I get my way, I'll cut that wait to about a month. I see my cardiologist after the long weekend and I'll pepper him with questions and pitch my version of the timeline. I keep telling myself to be smart and listen to what seems like sound advice, so we'll see whose timeline will prevail.

The timing of surgery is important, but the more I look into what is ahead of me the more I realize I have much bigger things to worry about. Is my hospital and my surgeon the best one for my circumstances or do I need to look elsewhere? Should I choose an artificial heart valve and a lifetime to taking anticoagulants (and increased risk of bleeding and eventually stroke) or a tissue valve with the guarantee of the need for a new valve in 7-15 years (and increased risk of complications or death associated with second surgeries). The more I ponder those questions, the less I worry about WHEN I get the surgery.

Experiences, thoughts, advice welcome from all quarters.

Oh, and I see a bike ride (slow, with my kids) in the very near future.