[iwant2bethin]

Arnold sheds almost half his weight

Feb 2 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
FOOD-LOVING former policeman Arnold Baker used to look forward to meal times with relish. Now he has to be reminded to eat and drink after undergoing radical weight loss surgery to save his life.

Arnold, 57, will never feel hungry or thirsty again after a three and a half hour gastric bypass aimed at vastly reducing his food intake.
Now he has to remind himself – or be prompted by his wife Christine – to eat four small meals a day and take in plenty of fluids, because his body will no longer do it for him naturally through hunger pangs.
Arnold, who lives with Christine, 47, in Cresswell, Northumberland, has shed an amazing 10st in just over a year, going down from almost 25st to just 15.
The Castle Morpeth councillor has been given a new lease of life after undergoing the bariatric surgery at North Tyneside General Hospital last May, which involved severing a nerve to his stomach, and becoming a shadow of his former self.
After struggling with his weight for almost all his adult life – because of a combination of over-eating, lack of exercise and consequent depression and comfort eating – Arnold reached the crossroads late in 2006 when his heavy workload as deputy borough mayor at Castle Morpeth culminated in a series of angina attacks.
His GP warned him that his blood pressure was at a critical level, he had diabetes and his heart was struggling to cope, meaning he was in grave danger of dying from cardiac arrest or a stroke at any time.
Abandoning his plan to become borough mayor in 2007, because of the real risk that the demands of the role would kill him, he made the difficult decision to tackle his “super morbid obesity” by undergoing bariatric surgery.
Arnold, who has daughters Claire, 32, Katherine, 27, and Donna, 23, and five grandchildren, said: “Some people might think surgery was the easy option, but it really wasn’t. Bariatric surgery holds great risks and there was even the possibility that I might not survive it.
“I had to write a will and final letters to my wife and family, and that is a galling task to have to do. I had to demonstrate my commitment by losing weight before the operation and I managed to shed two stones from December 2006 to March last year.
“Since the operation I have lost 16 inches from my chest, 14 inches from my waist – dropping from size 56 to 40 – and three inches from my neck. Everybody tells me how much younger I look and I now swim 30 lengths of the pool at 7am two or three times a week before having my breakfast.
“As a result of the surgery I will never, ever feel hungry or thirsty again and I have to constantly remind myself to eat and drink, because I need a certain amount of calcium, carbohydrates, protein and vitamins every day.
“I am often invited out to dinners and meals and now when I see people return from a carvery with their plates piled high with food, it looks obscene to me. I still enjoy my food when I eat it, but the operation isn’t the total answer and I have to be more conscious about my diet than ever before.
“Not so long ago, I was looking into a black hole, which most people would commonly call a grave. Now my surgeon has told me he has probably given me another 20 years of life. The surgeons have done their best for me and the rest is up to me. I am deeply indebted to my GP, Dr Chris Waite of Widdrington, for his support and encouragement, and my excellent surgeon Sean Woodcock.”
Arnold, who served as a PC in the West End of Newcastle, in the marine unit and as licensing officer at Gosforth during his career with Northumbria Police, is now part of a support group for bariatric surgery patients based at Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington.
“I want to help and encourage people in a similar position to myself through the many and difficult challenges they face,” he said.
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Diet
BEFORE his lifesaving surgery Arnold’s typical daily diet consisted of a series of high-calorie and fatty meals which saw his weight balloon to 24st 12lbs.
He would start with a cooked full English breakfast of bacon, eggs and all the trimmings and go on to a lunch usually consisting of chips with a pie or sausages, and gravy.
A mid-afternoon visit to McDonald’s for a burger meal was commonplace and he would end the day with a large dinner, having a calorie-busting Chinese or Indian meal two or three times a week.
Now breakfast usually consists of a bowl of muesli or porridge, followed by a midday sandwich made from two slices of bread filled with meat, cheese or prawns.
Tea can be as little as a couple of low-calorie crackers topped with cheese and sliced tomato and he finishes off with a slice of toast in the evening.
He tries to ensure that he has five portions of fruit and vegetables during the course of the day.
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Surgery
ARNOLD underwent a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure, which is regarded by surgeons as the “gold standard” of weight loss surgery.
It involved splitting his stomach in two – creating one small, egg-sized stomach and a second, larger space which is effectively redundant, apart from continuing to produce gastric juices.
The new small stomach handles all food and drink, and the operation also involves connecting two pieces of his bowel to the twin stomachs to form a Y shape from which the procedure takes its name. Food passes through the stomach undigested into the bowel, which means it interacts with the gastric juices further down the digestive tract than in a normal body.
The result is that Arnold cannot eat nearly as much as he used to and only a small percentage of the calories in the food he swallows is fully absorbed, leading to significant weight loss.
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'Enough to eat' food may hit shelves
FAT-FIGHTING ready meals and snacks containing appetite suppressants could soon be appearing in supermarkets.
Scientists are already developing natural food additives that interfere with digestion to curb hunger.
In as little as two years, these could be finding their way into a variety of convenience foods.
The products’ selling point would be that they help prevent weight gain.
At the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, experts are experimenting with certain kinds of natural fatty molecules called lipids, found in plant leaves and cereals.
The molecules block the breakdown of fat in the gut, triggering a hormonal response which sends a message to the brain that the body has eaten enough.
Researchers hope the hunger-busting lipids will be incorporated into a wide range of foods including "moreish" products such as cakes and biscuits.
Manufacturers may have to be persuaded to make foods people want to eat less of, but could be convinced by the marketing potential of satisfying snacks that help slimming.
Dr Peter Wilde, one of the experts involved, said: "My feeling is that it will be a stealth thing. You’ve got to get the industry to buy into it and incorporate these ingredients into their foods. It’s going to be a tricky one to sell, but there are already certain health claims in this area being made for some products."
The lipids were difficult to obtain naturally from most diets, said Dr Wilde.
However, they could be found at relatively high levels in oats, possibly accounting for the "filling" reputation of traditional Scottish foods such as porridge, oatcakes and haggis.
One product that was said to affect the same satiety mechanism was Fabuless, a Dutch dairy supplement made from a combination of palm and oat oils.
Dr Wilde said his team was developing the principle further and applying it to many different foods.

He claims it saved his life ... I know EXACTLY what he means!!