The Latest - My Mind is in the CRAPPER!

If you go back to the beginning of my blog I think you will see major changes in so many areas of my life.

I was 452lbs and now I am 250lbs. I had never done a single triathlon and now I have done nearly 70 triathlons including my IRONMAN last November in Florida.

In November 2008 I had an upper body lift. That surgery alone took about 14lbs of loose skin off and re-shaped (no pun intended) how my life would move forward.

On January 5^th this year, I had the second of the two surgeries and it was my lower body lift, mainly focusing on my upper legs in the inner thigh area.

The last few years, since loosing a great deal of weight has been brutal on my inner thigh area (THE CROTCH). This may be TMI, too graphic, more than you want to know, but it’s the facts. I had a great deal of skin that floated around and just kind of hung there. As you can imagine, running and cycling puts a great deal of stress on that area and more than that the friction in that area is immense. For a normal person a little save, body glide, etc will handle the issue fine, but when you have a “little extra” down there – No amount of lubricant will help.

I had a choice – stop training so hard and lay low and not do so much damage there and continue to lose weight and eventually have it removed via surgery or keep on keeping on and train my butt off knowing the damage would continue.

After a short training session I would have no real issues. A 5 mile run or a 30 mile bike was not a really big deal. There would be discomfort and a little heat in the area, but nothing a little Boudreaux’s Butt Paste wouldn’t handle.

It was the long training rides and the longer races such as Olympic distances or longer, that caused the larger issues. As my Ironman training ramped up I would have significant bleeding and abrasions in my inner thigh, crotch area and I went through Neosporin like it was water for the last couple years. But, I wouldn’t go back and do it any differently. Not one thing. OK . . . I wouldn’t have put on the weight in the first place – but, my choices afterwards to rectify the situation – I wouldn’t change.

The recovery from the upper body lift was incredible. My Dr. (In my opinion the best in the BIZ, Dr. Lior Heller) cut me all the way around to remove the loose skin. My joke was that I looked like a magic trick (saw a person in half) GONE BAD!! It took a couple months before I could get on the trainer in my workout room and more to hit the pavement running.

When it came to this surgery – I thought there was no way the recovery for my lower body lift would be as intense as the upper body lift . . .

The jury is still out on that – But what I can say is – It is a completely different type of recovery an the pain is as intense.

I am experiencing a bit of a set back.

My Dr is the best as I stated above and I would recommend him to ANYONE considering this type of work.

My left leg is not healing as we wish it would be. It is setting me back a great deal and I am in the mental turn can right now. I am a unique case. Most people having these types of surgery are not very active. I am VERY active and I put a lot of stress in the area that was being cut and reattached and it was a very difficult surgery as a result of my training. Ironic.

I expected to be out of training for 2 to 3 months. We are looking at 4-5 months now and I am a broken man at this moment because of that.

Now – I have been in the bed and on the couch since Jan 5^th and I have this week left with that and next week I will be in the office. That is the beauty of my business that I can do everything of necessity from home although I really enjoy being in front of my clients and I am looking forward to getting back into that groove.

But the not being able to train is beating me up. I have begun focusing on several outlets to get my mind in the right place, but it’s difficult when I can’t stand for very long and the three times a day I have to clean my wounds and I see some of the issues I am having. On the positive side – If I tend to the area properly and keep the wound infection free – I will not need a second surgery.

Good thing is . . . I have a great wife and an UNBELIEVABLE Daughter and both of them do a great job pulling me out of the depression hole. I am a lucky dude.

I will keep everyone posted on how things are going, but I will say this again. If I could go back and do things differently – I wouldn’t. I would do it all the same.