IamA I am an Amputee. I have lost 500lbs post amputation. IamA 11/17/2017 4:30 p.m. AMA!

This question was posted and deleted. I am a good sport and want to show you my thoughts.

andydotnet via /r/IAmA sent 34 minutes ago

I have a few questions....

Do you count the weight of the amputated leg in the 500lbs?

If so what was the weight of the leg?

Isn't cutting off part of your body considered cheating in the weight loss world?

Obviously these questions are meant in good humor

When I did weighed 678lbs I did not have the leg. When I was 20, I had an accident playing goalie (The only position that I was capable of playing). I move one way my lower leg went the other way. I was too large to fit in an MRI machine. I weighed over 400lbs maybe 500lbs. At that time a scale was a bad word.

I tore all the ligiments in my knee. I severed the artery behind the knee. They put a cast on me unaware of issue with the artery.

2 weeks later, I was in awful pain. I went to the ER in throbbing pain. Didn't know what was going on. They put a dopler stethoscope (like a speaker for a heart beat) on my foot. The left foot was a normal pulse. The right foot there was no pulse.

I was shocked. They had to amputate it. They made me a prosthetic leg for my size. I can fit my entire body in it now. So I am the size of that thigh now.

There was leg to weigh.

But yeah if somebody else claims they lost 500lbs and part of that is amputation that is cheating. But lets be honest someone would have to be pretty desperate to add to their total weight loss by cutting off any part of your body that's necessary.

But that is an idea to consider. I may call my doctor tomorrow and ask him if insurance would cover removing my other leg so I can bump up my totals.

UH...Think not but thanks for playing.

I am not offended Andy. Thanks for the question

That is a question that I have never gotten before. But to further your answer your question, the lower leg would weigh 7% of your total body weight. So at 678 my if I had the the other leg it would probably be almost 50lbs. So should we bump the total up to say I lost 550lbs.

Man that's a lot of weight. It feels so peculiar talking about this situation like we are talking about someone else. To be honest, when I was losing weight I was losing weight. I wasn't thinking at all about how much I had lost because it was depressing if knew the number my mind would not be focused on how I much I had lost, I would be focusing on how much further I had to go. This was by far the most difficult thing that I have done in my life so far.

I was more focused on how much better I felt down to my bones. You have no idea what it feels like to carry 678lbs and thats just you. You get sore and worn out so easy.

It's not even stairs get you winded. Its getting up out of your chair took a great deal of effort. I still have problems from it. I have so much skin. I can't afford a surgery not covered by insurance.

If I get a prosthetic leg in my current condition it just won't work. It would be like walking on a bowl of jello.

Take a look at this short video that is just shows my skin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCBraLXPg3U

When you lose so much weight you feel like you should be able to do anything that you set you mind to. Now I am just a shell. Skin and bones literally. That's life. It's ok. I prefer living with extra skin than being this guy anymore

https://i.imgur.com/5qtmuYE.jpg

This is me from today.
https://i.imgur.com/pJcXB2p.jpg

I am holding a copy of the paper from my home town and I am on the front page. Before I lost the weight, the only time I thought that I would be in the paper is because I died. And I was very close to death. Too close at 39.

I was on television the other day. I have never felt this way. It feels wonderful.

Please don't take this the wrong way, and I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but how the hell did you end up at 400lbs at 20 years old?

I was always a large kid. I was 100lbs in Kindergarten when most kids were 30 or 40 pounds. My size just went up as I grew up. Um.. And Just That's the way it always was...Change is hard..Change is very hard.

Was your weight due to bad habit, or a medical condition ?

I am assuming your talking my heavy weight. There were varying levels of my obesity. When I was young I didn't know it was a bad habit. I never got tested. So I really don't know. After my hospitalization, I was told I had a thyroid problem. I am not sure when that happened.

But yeah you don't get to be that size by eating healthy proportional sized meals. You only get there by eating massive quantities and when you don't move your body thinks I should save that for later.

A moment on the lips forever on the hips and in my case, my thighs, my belly, my arms. There is not where that the body won't find a way to grow rounder.

At some point you stop growing vertically. You can't completely control it. You can stunt your growth but you really can't make much difference in how tall you will be.

You should be able to control your weight and how far your body expands out. Like a balloon once you blow it up then you let the air out it doesn't go shrink back to its original shape. I am disfigured. But alive.

I am still working out the reasons of how this happened. I need to know the reason to why I let my self go to nearly the end of the road so that I never go back there again.

The thing about this that confuses me is, I use to be dangerously skinny. As a result, my parents practically shoved food into my mouth which led to me being addicted to eating food. Now, almost at 27, I eat for an entire family, but I'm not obese. I'm just a bit confused how that works. Granted, I'm not skinny nor am I heavy, but I still eat a lot. To top it off, I'm only 4"9, so realistically, I probably should be quite heavy.

Good genes...Be careful....Habits are hard to break and one day metabolism and activity might slow down.

What was your daily exercising and dieting routine for the first 250 lbs that you lost without surgery?

A lot of the weight before surgery was excess fluid. At my highest weight when I was hospitalized and on my back for a month and a half, they gave me heavy diretics and and a cathetor draining a lot of fluid every day. In the first 50 days of hospitalization with no exercise I lost 120lbs. After that I was in hospital for 109 days. I weighed about 500lbs when I left the hospital. They told me to lose weight or die. From that point, I lost 70lbs over next year I had a handbike that I started pumping with. You probably have seen them in physical therapy. Put on three or four country music songs turned the speaker up and just worked the hand bike for as long I could. So yeah, it's hard to believe but I lost 70lbs with a hand bike and not much else.

I get the feeling that you struggle too sometimes. Anybody is capable of doing this...if you really want it. You will find a way to get to where you want to go once you reach that point where its at the your forced to decide. . I think of the Thoreau poem that says two roads met in a woods and I chose the one least traveled upon and it has made all the difference. Because usually the most traveled road is the easiest....It might not get you to where you really want to go.

Whatever your struggling with...I assume it is weight. You can do it. Just like me. You can be strong. Start slow and do only what you can. Each day you can do a little bit more. You need to focus on the here and now and live in the moment. Just worry about what you have to do this minute. This is what I am most proud of.

https://i.imgur.com/AO8B6n6.jpg

And This

https://i.imgur.com/Vu5OKgk.jpg

But I got there one moment at a time. This is not easy. I promise you that if you do it. If you really do it. You will not regret it.

If you are struggling in this area, please feel free to send me an email at [email protected]. I promise that I will respond and always encourage someone in need of encouragement. I hope that one day I am reading your AMA of some thing great you have done. You can do this I promise.

First of all way to go! You should be proud.

How do you feel your mental health lead to your predicament, and what changed in your mental state to turn your life in a positive direction?

All the best.

I have always had a positive attitude in life. Mentally I was good. But, When I got to my highest weight of 678lbs, I felt like I had the flu. Just run down for a few days. I thought I was just sick that I'd get better and I didn't. Then I was hospitalized and moved to three hospitals to long term facilities. Then one day a doctor looked at me very seriously and told me some difficult stuff. He said if you do not shed this weight very quickly and completely change your lifestyle. You will be dead before 40. My 40th birthday was three months to go. I go so scared and worried and did not want to die because I was too young to die. That conversation with that doctor literally saved my life. I am 42 now. I feel 20 years younger. Literally a huge weight is off my back and I get to do so many things that never dreamed I would be able to do. I am traveling now, I go to Anytime Fitness 5 days a week for a few hours each day. Life is good.

Way to go man. Sometimes all it takes is 1 honest conversation. All the best.

For me, it took hundreds of conversations until the one stuck. The reason I changed was due to circumstance. You gotta remember, I was dying. One foot in the grave..almost both. I did not have a choice. Well I had a choice to live in manner that was foreign and unwelcome to me or I could die. It was not an easy decision. Part of me expected to die very young. Death was a choice I didn't want to consider but it was the easy way out. But at that point, I was like enough. When I really thought about it, life is always the better choice. You have to understand I was so sad, miserable, tired, and worn out. It makes uncomfortable to put myself mentally in that hospital bed while I made this decision.

I am thankful someone made sense for once. Given me the kick in the pants that sent to me to where I needed to go. I am thankful everyday that they were there to help and that they didn't let me make the wrong choice.

Those doctors and nurses saved my life and I am eternally grateful.

When the doctors told you you were going to die if you didnt lose some of the weight, even though you lost it will it still have an effect on how long you are going to live?

It will to a point....The human body is an amazing thing. But considering that they told me that I would not live to 40 and I am 42. It's like extra innings.

I don't know the future. I am glad to be alive. I am really bummed that I have lost all of this weight, I have accomplished so much and yet I am still stuck in a wheel chair. It sucks.

The laws aren't up to date. There should some standards for people that have been through this to be able to get the necessary skin removed. If your skin hangs so much that it affects your weight a lot...some loose skin is fine but in extreme cases like mine. It just doesn't make any sense. It's a problem that you would expect to happen when you lose so much weight. My goal is that I am able to help others who come after me to possibly change the laws that govern insurance to help people in this situation.

You know it's like you win the lottery but your your not able to enjoy the money because I cannot afford to pay the procedure.

But, I am alive. And whatever time I have I will be able to live a fuller happier life. There is no reason that I cannot live until I am 80 or 90. Life is a gift and each day you just never know.

I will make the most of the time I have regardless of how much time that I have.

Read your story. Amazing! Do you have a date set for your surgery? And will they address the rest of your excess skin at the same time? Congratulations

I don't have a date for the surgery yet. I am raising money to get it done. The first surgery is close to the area that needs to be paid for. I will still have the second surgery and paying for the leg.

As far as the date I have a goal of next June for the first surgery. To be honest, I was planning the summer. But all the sudden it seems like I the money I need sooner. If I have it sooner, that I will walk sooner. All plans go out the window as soon as I have the money. There no reason for me to wait. My goal is to walk.

They have to have some time to heal in between. I don't even know the timeline in between. But with my mobility issues as they are and the amount of skin I need removed and tightened. I don't know.

I really believe that once I start down this road, and the possibility to leave wheelchair behind, I will be beyond eager to do this in as short of timeline as I can. I am 42. I am not 20 anymore. Time flies in the blink of an eye. I want to walk. I want to live life to its fullest. To suck out the marrow of life (Dead Poets Society) It's kinda corny but it is my life my dream, my right to be corny. So Carpe Diem

So what changed for you to be able to start being good to yourself?

You wrote the doctor said you'd be dead before you were 40. But i imagine that thought must have been present before 678lbs?

That is a very tough question. Uh..I didn't think I really had any problem. I realized I was big. Most of the time I was feeling fine. Now I realize that I was in complete and total denial. When you feel helpless and trapped its hard to admit what that what is happening is actually happening.

I feel as if I lived my life alone. When I was happy I shared that with myself. I was isolated from the world. I felt as if the world was outside and I was not welcome. or to put a sports analogy, I was in the cheap seats when I should have been a player. Every day was a struggle.

Even now, I get it. I understand why from the outside it's completely crazy to let dig a hole so deep that you see even a glimmer of any light.

I can't explain it at all. There is nothing about the past I can change. But when I started working out my trainer saw the person inside of that I am today when I was morbidly obese.

He helped to believe in myself and hope for a great future. I am still learning everyday how I should live. I not on the sidelines anymore. I might be on the bench now. But I am a player in the game of life.

It is what happened. It's what it is.

Your transformation is amazing. How do you make sure that you keep the weight off?

One day at a time. Stick to the guidelines that the bariatric people gave me. I cheat every once and a while. Which I know is bad and dangerous. A little cheat once and a while is ok for me because if I crave it and force myself not to have it my will gets week and the cravings get stronger.

If anyone who reads this notices that I am putting on a lot of weight again, confront me and remind me that this is not what I want. So I don't actually think that I can always say that I can do it forever on my own. But what I have realized is that I have many friends that have my back and are ready to kick it at a moments notice.

So all my friends, be blunt, be forceful, be bold, and tell me the truth if you see me ever turning back into that guy.

I have worked so hard. When I started I lost 70lbs by only using a hand bike. That was hard. I went through bariatric surgery. That was painful but worth it. I lost a total of 500lbs that is a quarter ton of weight. My body cannot sustain that sort of stress anymore.

Once I get the surgery to get fitted to walk, to run, to do anything really, If I start putting on weight again, the leg will stop fitting, back in a wheel chair. Isolation, depression back to one foot in the grave again.

I beg you if you know me personally, if you see me do this again, you have my permission to do whatever it takes to stop me from killing myself by my choice in lifestyle.

Stanley is a fan of Rushville High School Basketball. He just left for the game but he will return about 9:00 p.m. Give or Take.
So please ask a few more questions we will do another session once he returns.

Amazing! Inspiring!! How can we help donate to Your cause (surgery)!!??

reddit is a stickiler for self promotion, but you can read my story in my local paper

http://www.rushvillerepublican.com/news/local_news/fear-and-desire-motivate-hollar/article_88a61d11-c5b5-511f-9c03-3d45ec5a0ee4.html

or see it from our local NBC station

https://www.wthr.com/article/dramatic-weight-loss-creates-dramatic-crisis-for-local-teacher

to find more info about it.

Hey, I'm sorry that I'm a little late, but I'm just really interested in your story. I saw your post on Progress Pics and had to come check out your AMA. Congratulations, what amazing progress. You look fantastic!

I have a few questions; 1: How was your social life when you were at your highest weight? How did you spend your days? 2: Did you have other friends and family members at a similar weight? 3: Do you miss the things you used to eat? 4: Have you got any plans to get rid of the excess skin? 5: Would you classify yourself as having had a binge/emotional eating disorder in the past? 6: What's your #1 tip for people trying to lose weight?

First of all thanks for your interest in my story, Lets see how I can answer your question sssss?

1st Social life at my Huge size, well let me start with this I have always been outgoing and friendly guy, I enjoy going to my old High School basketball and football games. I was literally their biggest fan. I go to movies. But for the most part it was a solitude life. I cheer loudly from the sidelines at games but at times feel like I am watching them on a tiny black and white in a cabin a thousand miles from anyone. I spent most my days sitting around doing nothing much watching tv, I was a couch potato.

But now I am working my way back out of this rabbit hole, I am enjoying life again. I still have struggles but now have energy and vigor to change it. Life is looking better everyday.

2nd A lot of my family struggled to one extinct or another with weight, but I was the extreme. my mom and 2 brothers have also had Gastric bypass and improved their lives as well. But I facing my unique challenge alone weighting 678 lbs with 1 leg. I came a long way fast, but still have a long way to go. I am thankful that my friends and family are there for support when I need it most. They are awesome.

3rd Most of the crap I ate back then I now realize was that crap and have really absolute to go back to eating. As a friend at my bariatric support group says I once lived to eat, now I eat to live. that is eating healthy small portions that your body needs not what I can stuff my face with at any one moment.

4th Plans is a hard word. the Goal is to get the 2 surgeries to get the skin removed and tighten. Dates are not set yet, I got a idea on the timing in my head, through friends want me to hurry thru things. My hope is to get the 1st surgery in June next year. I want to finish school year, since i am a Substitute teacher. I'll have the summer to heal up. 2nd surgery the next summer?? Fitting for the leg by Christmas time 2019, walking in 2020, running soon after? That is subject to change one way or the other.

5th I admit I did drastically over eat at times in the past, but I really would not ever state as a disorder. I ate too much all the time then. But I am learning now one, quality not quantity. stick to a plan, and eat to live not live to eat.

6th the #1 tip, well each person is different so I will list a couple top 1's that the dietitian and others say are the best. Then you can pick what works for you. okay here we go and do not kill the messenger (me). 1 Caffeine and carbonated drinks, yep no more. WATER WATER WATER. 15 years ago I gave up Pepsi (drank liters of it a day) a year later lost over 100 lbs with that. when I started drinking it again the pounds came back. It is sugar and a lot of empty calories. I was never a drinker of coffee but the caffeine the dietitians say does things to your hunger. so that a big one.

Another tip is to get up and move. Start small build for there. If you cannot stand, get small weights (soup cans) do arm curls or lift them over your head. Do a little more each day and you might be surprised how it works for you. that why the saying a trip of a thousand miles starts with a single step. one step at a time and you will get where you are going and keep looking forward to your goal.

I hope these answers help you out. and thanks for your interest in my story.

Jeez, mad props on the journey sir.

You said you lost the first 250 before the bagels gastric bypass. What methods did you use for that? That's the hardest part to lose for most disabled folk.

I ask that because I'm having trouble maintaining my weight since everything on my body went nuts, so seeing someone that made it is really encouraging.

Did somebody say Bagels?

Um...First it helps that I was on dieretic water pill every day which forces fluid through your system. And one easy way to lose weight which I have tried in the past is to cut out sugary drinks. Fifteen years ago, I cut out pop cold turkey. A year later I was a hundred pounds lighter. The bariatric surgeon and dietition also cut out caffine because that deals with hunger which means no morning joe. I was never a coffee drinker but others are. The same thing before the surgery. Doctors have all patients stop smoking. I didn't smoke either but again the nicotine hurts the healing process.

If I could give you a piece of advice of how can do this. SMALL. Baby steps. And you have to start. At some point you have to say this is my life, this is where I am at, and every day that you go forward your you are not where you once were. I believe that if you believe then you can and that is all that it takes.

A trip of a thousand miles starts with taking a step and not being afraid of times you tried and failed. The past is the past. You must look forward and you look in the mirror look for what you want to be and not where you are.

I hope my comments are helpful for you and hope you find a way. Where there is a will there is always a way.

I have no idea how in the heck autocorrect put that in there. Either that or I shouldn't Reddit right after pain meds lol.

You know I used to be 678lbs. The word bagel rolls off the screen. Um Are you mailing the Bagels? I know a few food pantries that would like to have them. I gave them up. I haven't really had any bread except before the last bariatric surgery.

It made me laugh when I saw your comment. I appreciate a good laugh from time to time.

I sort of think you may have done that intentionally.

Shame Shame Shame on you..lol :)

Ok...Here we go. Stanley is here. Let the fun begin. :)

With the difficulties associated with your amputation and prosthetic leg, might want to check with insurance to cover the skin removal. I don't think all plastic surgery is cosmetic. Have you checked with your insurance company?

All of the plastic surgeons who I have talked to about the surgery being covered by medicare basically told me that it is Red Tape Hell and its not worth their time. If I wanted to try to go through this hell, it will take years and too much time. I am not willing to waste my time. Time is too precious. I am taking matters into my own hands and trying to raise the money myself and pay for the darn things. To hell with the insurance company. Yeah I am angry...I am beyond frustrated. I have come so far I really feel like this is something I can accomplish far quicker than to fight the insurance company because they don't want to pay.

You can't fight the government and you can't force a physician to do the procedure even if you will change your life. The system is flawed. It works for most. But in some cases like mine that are by far the most extreme...It doesn't work. I get left behind to fend for myself.

I find myself in the unusual situation that I am not used to. People for the first time in my life are standing up for me...supporting me....encouraging me...and hoping the best for me. Right now, I feel like this.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/30/1412083753344_Image_galleryImage_King_jpg.JPG

King of the World.

It is easier to bet on myself right now than to bet the system will work for me. I am sorta stuck to do this on my own or be in a losing legal battle.

Is the skin removal for the arms and legs and belly? Is it possible to localize the removal if the 25K goal is not met?

First of all, it's just for the legs and the belly. I am not worried about the arms. Basically I am trying to get the skin on my legs that look like MC Hammer pants to look normal pulled tight to be able to fit the prosthetic. For me it is a quality of life issue. It's not cosmetic.

Remember you're asking this question to someone who has lost 500lbs. I will find a way to get the money because if I can't pay for it or at least find a surgeon who would do it with what I have, I will be stuck in a wheelchair. I have been in a wheel chair for over half of my life. I am so tired of it. It's time to make the lame walk again or as we call it a miracle. I am a miracle to even be answering this question. I should be dead. But I am not. I don't know why God spared me. I believe that when something happens like this that it is has divine intervention. Maybe I am still here because he has something for me to do. I believe that I cannot do that unless I am walking again.

had doctors discussed SSRIs or any drugs to help curb food cravings?

After the RY, the was really no food cravings. Some sneak in every once in a while. I miss the texture of certain foods. Like the crunch of foods. Because of the procedure I usually don't use that stuff. I say the word food because food was a drug. I was an addict and I will always be an addict. But the change in what I surround myself in my life goes to the same...went from...um..live to eat...to...eat to live. When you think of it it is the complete oposite sort of mental state. I compare to a smoker who quits. There are still times when you struggle or think you want it but once you get past the craving. Your over. It's all mental now.

When did you have the RNY surgery? How are you dealing with loose skin?

I had my surgery on March 23, 2016 at St. Vincent Bariatric Center in Carmel Indiana. The morning of the surgery I was 429lbs.

This is me morning of the surgery https://i.imgur.com/PhRDteB.jpg

I was a little scared, a little excited. I just wanted to get my new life started.

For the most part, it's just normal right now. Some exercise at the gym I do it flops around or is uncomfortable in some positions like doing decline situps where the knee bends and I have to actually move it out of the way to sit properly.

I want to get it fixed and tightened. The insurance companies say plastic surgery is cosmetic. It's not like a nose job or even something that I just don't like to look at. It is an annoyance every day.

I started training to raise money. Lots of my friends are helping me. I just don't have the money. But I won't quit until I can get it taken care of.

First off, the excess skin is a big problem. I'm going to post a video for you from youtube that shows the problem and give you more information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCBraLXPg3U

Is everyone in your family fat like you were?

Did your parents not know they were overfeeding you?

Most of my immediate family is a little bit overweight. My dad passed away in 2001 at the age of 71. So he never saw this new me. He was probably 350lbs.

I am the youngest of nine kids. Three have passed away at the age of 50. But they passed away from various diseases. But I look back at a picture of myself at Niagra Falls.

https://i.imgur.com/MsgGTRn.jpg

This was in 2010 and I look like my sister who passed away a few years ago.

All of my family members have struggled with their weight. It is a family curse. It is not just my immediate family. I have cousins who still suffer from this.

https://i.imgur.com/kbzZ0NZ.jpg

At some point one of us was bound to break the cycle. I hope that I inspire them to see that life doesn't have to be this way. I really don't want to be the youngest of nine and be the sole survivor for reason that they were overweight and extremely unhealthy. It's so sad.

It's very upsetting to really think that is my family history. It doesn't have to be my story anymore. I can rewrite the book. This is not the last chapter of my life. There are many characters who I have not yet met. I plan to change their lives by how I changed my own. I plan to talk to as many people who will listen to me. Especially if they struggle with weight. You don't get to my max weight of 678lbs overnight. If only someone like the me of today would have told the me of yesterday that you don't have to live this way....You can hope and dream and live a long healthy life...Then I wouldn't have spent my life alone eating.

How many hogs have you had in your mouth?

Come on man, don't be a jerk. I have done so much hard work to get to where I am at. Take a look man. http://i.imgur.com/nRBlb5D.png

Was the gastric bypass the only solution for you?

Was that a final step or a first step or something in the middle?

The amount of weight needed to be lost required extreme measures. Gastic Bipasse is not an end to a means it is a tool. If you use the tool correctly it gets the job done right. This was the only option to death. The doctors said you have to do this or you will die. This is the beginning of my new life but without it I would probably be 300 to 400 lbs. I probably would have given up by now and went back to my old ways.

So yes there are other options only if you are strong enough mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The type of my addiction left me very empty inside. I just couldn't or wouldn't do it on my own no matter what that meant.

It forced me to eat less...it gave me control...it drove me to move around which normally I didn't do a whole lot of because even the smallest movement was very difficult and at one point was impossible.

Flash two years, I walked a 5k in a wheelchair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf0tW_e7Qfg

I finished it in 1 hour and 10 minutes on one leg putting my stump in the wheelchair and skateboarding the entire way. When I finished, it felt amazing. If you take a look everyone is rooting for me. When I was over weight, even I didn't root for my self.

So I needed the bypass. It was my only way to break free from the life I used to know.