Roger's Story part4

[LINDA RN]

Even my best friend from high school didn't recognize me. When I arranged to meet him at a California hotel, my wife, my parents, and I arrived early and sat where we could see everyone coming in, but they could not see us. When my pal arrived, I got up and walked toward him. We looked at each other, and he continued walking right past me. I turned around and followed him.

He was obviously looking for me in the lobby, but when he didn't see the "old" me, he proceeded to a pay phone to make a call. I stood a few feet away and stared. He dropped his eyes to avoid my gaze and placed his call. When he looked up and saw that I was still staring at him, he said, "Is there something I can help you with, sir?" I said, "Well, you could help me find my best high-school buddy."

After what I said registered, his expression changed to shock, and he dropped the phone. He was speechless as he threw his arms around me. We joined my wife and my parents and talked and talked and talked. Several times during the conversation, he stopped just to stare at me. I felt as if I had won the lottery.

Blood relatives, too, didn't recognize me. While between flights at the Cleveland airport, I heard a voice I recognized. I said, "Shelly?" The woman looked at me, arid when she didn't recognize me, she somewhat reluctantly said, "Yes." I just stared at her, and she stared back. "Do I know you?" she finally asked.

I said, "Well, you should-I've been your cousin since you were born." She stared at me for the longest time and finally said, "Roger Troy?" I said, "Yes," and she threw her arms around me and screamed. Several times during the conversation that followed, she looked at me and lost her train of thought. I had to pry myself away in order to catch my plane. When I reached the gate, I turned around and there she was. She had followed me and just stood there in a daze.
Later, I found out she called family members across the country to tell them I
looked like a movie star! Boy, were my buttons popping when I heard about that.

Imagine how I felt the first time I attended my high-school class reunion sporting a svelte body-especially since I had been progressively heavier at each of the previous ones. As Anita and I planned, I walked into the room alone. People were looking at me, wondering who I was. Finally, one classmate came over and asked if I was the guest speaker. Absolutely no one had an inkling as to my identity. What a commotion I caused! And what an absolutely marvelous time I had showing off my thinness and dancing with my old girlfriends. I was the talk of the town.

By now you have probably wondered if any problems resulted from my incredible weight loss. There was only one: I had an apron of skin hanging from my tummy. Even though I could have lived with it the rest of my life, I chose to have a tummy tuck. I interviewed several plastic surgeons and selected Dr. William Carter of Edina Plastic Surgery, in Edina, Minnesota. I must admit I was a bit surprised when he told me how much skin he was going to remove.

In addition to removing the excess skin, Dr. Carter also tightened all the muscles in my stomach. Upon viewing his masterpiece, he looked at his nurse and said, "Look at that-he looks like a twenty-five-year-old!" I have absolutely never, ever been so happy about anything in my life! To have a board for a tummy, after living with a five-foot waist, is the most triumphant feeling you can imagine.

The Best News of All Wasn't Related to My Looks
The best part of being thin, of course, was not in the compliments or "surprises" related to my appearance. It came in another form. Prior to my tummy tuck, I needed a medical examination to ensure that I was physically able to have surgery. My friend, Dr. Neil Hoffman of Minneapolis, Minnesota, performed the pre-op exam.

A few days after surgery, I received the following letter from Dr. Hoffman:

Dear Roger:
I hope the surgery went well. I just wanted to let you know that your blood count was normal, your urinalysis looked good, and your cholesterol is 158. Tell Anita the bad news is this means you 1 re going to live a long time. All your blood fats look good. Your blood sugar, liver, kidney, and bone function studies are normal. So just a quick note to let you know that all of your laboratory studies including your coagulation studies, thyroid, blood fats all look normal and that I hope things went well. I look forward to seeing you again.

Most sincerely,

Neil R. Hoffman, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Nothing can beat the good news of a great health report!