NHCS Patient Stories http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/blogid/1 Follow NHCS patients through their treatments. 60 en-US SunBlogNuke RSS Generator Version 4.6.2.0 Thu, 17 May 2012 15:20:00 GMT Thu, 17 May 2012 15:20:00 GMT Dealing with stress Personal http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/20/dealing-with-stress Ed Merkel http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/20/dealing-with-stress#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/20/dealing-with-stress Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:47:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=20 Red is for Springtime - A time to blossom and bloom Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/19/red-is-for-springtime-a-time-to-blossom-and-bloom

Red is for Springtime – awhhhhhhh – by far my favorite season! On the way to work today, I was thinking about a favorite childhood memory.  I was about ten or eleven years old; it was springtime. I came home from school and my mother had all the windows open in the house.  There was an unforgettable aroma that I can almost smell as I write.  It was the fragrance of new life – freedom – the ability to just breathe.  Today coming to work, I realized that is how I feel, one year and six months post gastric bypass surgery - shedding one hundred and three pounds and counting. 

 

]]> Amy Miller http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/19/red-is-for-springtime-a-time-to-blossom-and-bloom#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/19/red-is-for-springtime-a-time-to-blossom-and-bloom Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:06:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=19 6 Feet Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/18/6-feet So I have now hit 6 months out. This morning, i weighed in at 279 pounds, which is 99 pounds from my top weight on Aug 1st. In my eyes, the changes on the tape measure are more substancial than that... here are those numbers.

]]> Ed Merkel http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/18/6-feet#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/18/6-feet Tue, 21 Feb 2012 00:12:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=18 New Year ... New ME! Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/16/new-year-new-me  2012 has started off with a BANG! Sorry it has been so long since I last blogged.. I have been busy living this new exciting life that has emerged. I feel like a Phoenix or better yet as my boyfriend likes to refer to me… a Butterfly.

]]> Amy Miller http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/16/new-year-new-me#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/16/new-year-new-me Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:07:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=16 5 Months Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/15/5-months Well, its been just a little over 5 months since i took back control of my life. What a 5 months it has been! While i am yet nowhere near a healthy weight yet, it is amazing how much of a marginalized life i was living. I found that for years, i kinda trimmed the edges off of life, and missed so much! I am able to do so much more now, and cannot wait to see what happens when i have my hands wrapped around this whole health thing. I CANNOT WAIT for this spring. Opening day, i will be at Kings Dominion Theme park. I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS, and i have not been able to fit on one since 2003.

]]> Ed Merkel http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/15/5-months#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/15/5-months Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:58:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=15 Cheerleaders! Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/14/cheerleaders So, one of the more frustrating things that I have experienced through this process is stalls! Where one month, you are dropping 5+ pounds a week, and all of a sudden, it turns off like someone flipped a light switch.... It never fails that no matter how many times it happens, and how many times you bust through, when it happens... you feel like it is the end of the world, and you will never lose another pound.

]]> Ed Merkel http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/14/cheerleaders#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/14/cheerleaders Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:37:00 GMT 2 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=14 Off With The Old! Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/13/off-with-the-old So my first Thanksgiving was not as bad as i had built it up to be in my head. Things are never the same when you can’t overindulge as you had for the last 30 years, but different did not necessarily mean bad... just different. The day became less about stuffing myself, and more about reflection on the last year, and being truly thankful for life and an overwhelming amount of blessings. While I HATE not being able to be with family during the holidays, it was nice to spend the day with good friends. I have really been blessed with lots of those... 

]]> Ed Merkel http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/13/off-with-the-old#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/13/off-with-the-old Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:25:00 GMT 1 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=13 Introducing Ed Merkel Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/11/introducing-ed-merkel I guess the first thing to do here, would be to introduce myself. My name is Ed Merkel, I am 30 and live in Roanoke Rapids, NC.  I have been married almost 4 years to Sarah.  I am originally from Carlsbad, NM. I found my way to the East coast through my job as a Youth Pastor at First Christian Church, which we have been at for 3 years now.  I am a Dallas Cowboys fanatic, and adore being outside hunting, fishing, or hiking..

]]> Reese Adams http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/11/introducing-ed-merkel#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/11/introducing-ed-merkel Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:23:00 GMT 1 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=11 One Year Later..... Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/10/one-year-later My, my ... how time does FLY when you are having FUN! It is hard to believe that just one year ago today I was having my gastric by-pass.

]]> Amy Miller http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/10/one-year-later#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/10/one-year-later Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:22:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=10 Learning how to embrace compliments.... Personal Surgical Weight Loss http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/9/learning-how-to-embrace-compliments Amy Deside TreeWhen I began this journey, I was aware that I was an emotional eater. It was my hope that bariatric surgery would prove to be the tool that would help physically stop me long enough for a spiritual solution to take hold and move me to a higher ground. This month that hope became a reality. I believe I am now ready to lay out in detail the events that lead to my NEED to emotionally eat and the victory that I am now experiencing as a result of not being able to physically do so.

]]> Amy Miller http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/9/learning-how-to-embrace-compliments#Comments http://www.nhcs.org/patient-blog/entryid/9/learning-how-to-embrace-compliments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:24:00 GMT 0 http://www.nhcs.org/DesktopModules/SunBlog/Views/Handlers/Trackback.aspx?id=9