@ Bibbyman's Request

[JoeyLowe]

Hi all!  

I ran into Bibbyman last night on the forum and he suggested that I post a couple of before/after pics of myself.  For those that don't know, I came to this forum a couple of years ago a green rookie wannabee sawyer.  Along the way, I ran into to some serious health problems that tried to put me under. A couple of surgeries later and a several months to heal and I'm back again and going full steam.  Well at the risk of embarassing myself here are the photos.  The first one is about a month prior to the first surgery.  I weighed in at a little over 500 lbs. (I'm 6' 7").  The second photo was taken back in the winter of this year.  There I weighed in at 248 lbs.  Today, I'm a little over 225 lbs. and still losing. ;D

By the way, Jeff, I've been lurking for sometime and I've been reading alot on the timber frame forum here.  You have really got yourself a wonderful asset in Jim Rogers.








Everyone have a great day!

[Buzz-sawyer]

Hey, lookin good ...I hope your not the smaller person in the second pic....thats reducing tooooooooooooooo  much when someone can pic ya up like that man
 ;) 8) 8)

[Pete J]

Boy, I thought when I dropped 12lbs I was a new man. Looks like I'll move to the back of the line. Congrats on the accomplishment!

[Bibbyman]

Thanks Joey...  It's hard to think... you lost more than I weigh!

That kid has grown some since Mary and I were past there. ;)

[Frank_Pender]

What a great success story! 8)   Thank you for sharing. ;D

[WoodChucker]

All I can say is "WOW".

Congrats on the big time weight loss!  Your one of the few people that can say they like being half the man you used to be, hey?  ;D

Nice job!

R.T.

[Bibbyman]

I often say, "I'm half the man I used to think I was." ;D

[Cedarman]

You know why the chicken crossed the road?  To show the possum it could be done.  Joey, you showed us possums it could be done!  Congratulations and thanks!

[Patty]

Well I must say I am impressed!  8)
You should be very proud of your accomplishment, and I bet you feel better, too.
Some of us can't even lose 30 pounds or even 10 pounds for that matter. I won't mention names, but hers starts with a P and ends in y.
Good job, Joey.  8)

[Bibbyman]

Here is a picture of Joey and new son Nash taken a couple of years back when we had a short visit.


Joey,  maybe many of the new members don't know what you went through.  Would you like to tell them?

[Kirk_Allen]

Congrats!  Way to go 8) 8)  

May God bless you, your health and your family!

Kirk

[JoeyLowe]

Thanks for all of the good words.  Bibbyman is right.  I should probably let you guys in on what happened to spur this along.  About 3 years ago, I bought a Woodmizer mill and came to the forum to learn what there was to learn about running a portable sawmill operation.  The information obtained here was invaluable  and I was able to grow my business into a sustainable operation.  I couldn't have done it without the knowledge that I gleaned from here and without the help of people like JeffB, Bibbyman and Tom.  These guys cut my learning curve down to next to nothing.  Anyway, in Sept./02, I started experiencing trouble breathing.  I mean I could not catch a breath and I felt like my lungs were caving in.  Off to the hospital I go after trying to beat it for a couple of weeks only to find out that I had a pulmonary embolis.  That is a blood clot that goes to the lungs and is usually fatal in about, oh, 98% of the cases.  I was very lucky and I ended up in the hospital for a few weeks and later on some pretty serious meds.  My weight was the culprit.   Needing to do something drastic, we considered gastric bypass surgery but I was told that I was not a candidate at the time because the meds I was taking would probably make me bleed out on the operating table and I needed to wait awhile to see if any more clots occurred.  Well, I waited and waited and then waited some more and along about  August of last year, i got the go ahead for the surgery.

What a comedy of events!! ;D  I had the surgery without any problems, but a few days later I told my wife that something wasn't right.  I mean I could feel things going on inside and I knew that problems were developing.  The doctor opted for some tests and here is where the comedy began.

The first test was with an xray machine.  They discovered a massive clot in my right leg and they were looking for a way to break it up when all of a sudden I developed a stricture of my stomach.  That is where the esphagus (spelling?) closes up.  They performed an upper GI to verify the stricture and in the process ripped open my surgical wound.  Of course, that hurt!

Not to be out done, they decided to rush me in for a  ballon procedure but someone failed to let the OR staff know that I had just drank some barium, so when the knock-out doctor gave me the gas, I aspirated on the barium.  Yup, that's right!  I threw up the barium and then breathed it in.  After this, everything became kind of a blur.  I woke up abut 30 days later in ICU.  Now when I say I woke up, what I mean to say is that I could hear things going on around me, but I could not open my eyes, nor could I move any muscles and I couldn't speak.  Seems that when I aspirated, they put me on a ventilator to assist me with my breathing.  They kept me in a medically-induced coma so that I wouldn't hurt myself.  I stayed that way for a total of 40 days.  During that time, I had two more surgeries to correct the problems.  I nearly died and if pressed, I think that I did have visits from the almighty while there.

A long story shortened, when I was finally able to get around, they sent me home with an open belly wound since they couldn't risk sewing me back up and causing internal bleeding.  It took close to 8 months for that wound to heal.  The doctors had told my wife that I had less than a 5% chance of surviving and that I probably had less than a 2% chance of making it through the first year.

Well, enough doom and gloom!   8)  Bottom line is that with the help of thoughtful friends and loving family and great doctors and of course, THE ALMIGHTY, I did survive and I'm feeling great.  I've lost a lot of weight and I feel 20 years younger.  I plan to be around when my youngest (that's the short one in the photo above), graduates school and gets married.

I hope this post didn't bore anyone and just to keep it on topic, I will say to all fledging sawyers, if you are looking for assistance in learning how to saw and how to make a living at it, you have come to the right place.

[Furby]

WOW!!!
You sure had a time of it, eh?
Sure are glad you are still with us!!!!

[Frickman]

Glad you're doing good Joey. I was kind of wondering where you'd been, after being in Timberline and everything. I guess you had good reason for not hanging around here much.

[Stump Jumper]

Isn't it wonderful how God works in our lives.  Glad to hear you are doing better. We will continue to keep you in our prayers. 8)

[isawlogs]

  I thought that when my shoulder was torn apart was hard to take , boy I would not like to have gone trough what you  had to....I'm happy to hear that you are doing well . Im sure that the young one will be one proud fellow to have you at his graduation .....

[Gilman]

Joey,
Thanks for sharing, I think you're an inspiration for all of us.  If not, you inspired me.  You folks on FF are great.  I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the coming years.

My friends ask me why I spent $34,000 on a sawmill.  I respond with, "It's not just a mill, it's also a $34,000 lifetime gym membership."

[Corley5]

WOW!!  What a rough go for a while.  Glad to hear you're back on track and looking good 8) 8) 8) 8)

[rebocardo]

Now that you have gone through all that, I bet it makes it all the sweeter to pick up your grandson and hold him  

[Percy]

Heya Joey,
What a run of events, you are one tuff guy to last thru all that. Glad your doing fine now.

This sure beats the heck outta my "Broken Toe" story ;D