Dave Keller Down, Hopefully Not Out…
Matt Mitchell, Jim Terry and I went to see Dave Keller at Glendale Memorial Hospital yesterday. He is in there with complications due to his morbid obesity. According to Dave’s significant other, Deanna Bayless, the doctors are a little stumped so he is under observation. What we do know is that, barring a miracle, there will be some kind of surgical procedure performed.
I could regale you with stories of Matt, Jim and I getting together with Deanna and reminiscing about Dave. We did have a good time, but I am not one to wax poetic about such things. I make jokes, I kid, I have a kind of detached air. I have trouble getting my mind around it.
We could also sit here and wag our fingers and say, “Well, in the end, it’s all Dave’s fault.” Yesterday, I made the observation that when I met Dave, he was a curmudgeon, and has now become grizzled. He is more set in his ways than anybody I have ever known. That is why Dave must drive everywhere instead of someone else doing it, and Dave has to have extra croutons on his salad and… I could go on. Dave loves life, Dave is opinionated and he lives everyday. Good on him. All of this comes at a price, however.
Ill health, infirmity, and death.
We live in a society where obesity is rampant, Type 2 diabetes is the norm, and gastric bypass surgery is on the rise. Let’s not forget, Type 2 diabetes is what may have caused Michael Mason’s diabetic coma (adult onset of Type 2 diabetes, IMHO). I hope Dave gets religion on this matter soon, because the grizzled person that I know is currently swimming in denial. Example; he suffers from sleep apnea, one of the most debilitating and misunderstood maladies a person can have. Treatment for sleep apnea is using a respirator that invokes CPAP or Constant Positive Airway Pressure. It forces air down your trachea, so that the obstructions that cause you to stop breathing are arrested.
How do I know so much? I have sleep apnea, I use a respirator, and I am now (as much as any SF/computer nerd can be) a functional member of society again.The upshot is, Dave can’t stand wearing the respirator, and I feel if this is part of his out-patient treatment, he will not do it. There are lots of reasons to not like the respirator; it’s hard to sleep in, you have to keep it clean, you get dry mouth, etc. On the other hand, it’s better than daytime sleepiness, insomnia, and driving one’s car off the side of the road or into oncoming traffic.
It all makes me think about my own condition. I am now, at this moment, 330 pounds. I have sleep apnea, but I am treating it. I have constant neck pain. My back is a shambles. My knees are weak and also, in constant pain. My feet always hurt. I have to pee every 5 minutes. I itch in places I didn’t even know I had. OK, that’s too much information. You get the idea, I’m sure.
Some people know exactly how they want to die. Let me be perfectly clear, I don’t want to die, ever, but if I have to go, I certainly don’t want to break free form this mortal coil with the angels (if they exist) singing, “Fatty, fatty, two-by-eight, can’t get through The Pearly Gate…” In other words, class, Ah’m not dyin’ thata way…
So, I am making all of you a promise. Sometime in the next 2-4 weeks I am getting my shit together and shedding the cow. There will be no more excuses, and I hope to see all of you at Loscon in my new skin. Dave, get better, I wanna see you there too.
Technorati Tags: dave keller, fat, obesity, weight loss
Filed under: Me, Rants, Weight Loss
For me it’s the other way around; my weight is causing my sleep apnea. So, if I can get the weight under control, I can kill several birds with one stone.
Apnea is a rather destructive condition. You can’t breathe so you wake up to breathe, then fall asleep, stop breathing, wake up. On my sleep study, which I had to go through to get my respirator prescription, I had over 150 obstructive episodes in the 2 or so hours without the respirator. Once they tested me with the respirator, I slept 4 hours straight through.
As far as Kaiser, I hate to say it, but it’s all I got. The actual gastric bypass procedure would not occur for another year at least if I started today. They go though a rather grueling series of counseling sessions, preliminary seminars and Dr. visits (they only do it in San Francisco; more mom visits!). As I stated before, I have trouble absorbing nutrients anyway, and since that is curtailed in GBS, I think that it is not what I will eventually do. Besides the fact that I can’t miss that much work.
One thing I didn’t address in my last remark is that I am angry that there is so little known or research about sleep apnea, although it is more widespread than is generally thought. Most people suffer from lack of sleep and, until lately, it was not even given much thought, except to make the sufferers feel badly about not getting enough sleep (as though it were their fault).
. Part of that is because I am naturally a night person, and this is pretty much a daytime world. I rely on drugs like Ambien or Ambien CR and, while this helps me sleep, it opens up another world of problems. There is no easy answer to anything.
I have trouble getting to sleep. Even as a child, I would lie awake for one or two hours before I could doze off
You know I do not believe in gastric bypass, except for some situations. I think it is asking for more trouble and that what you need is a solution to your sleep apnea. There is now enough research that even the medical community admits that lack of sleep leads to multiple health problems. It is a sad comment that it had to come down to money; lack of quality sleep is costing the nation big bucks.
Watch out for Kaiser. Any health care organization that is sued for causing the death of babies by denying them care in a timely manner . . .just sad. As it has been said of them, “oh, Kaiser — they will either kill or cure you, not much inbetween”. And, if you find a good doctor in their system, it is very likely that you will not see them again — they have a tendency to disappear to the next decent offer because the Kaiser system has badly offended them and they (Kaiser) rarely are able to hold on to the best. Sorry, you probably are quite aware of all that. I just worry.
Do you have any pictures of Dave? I don’t recognize him by name, but I am sure that I would if I saw his picture.
Thanks for your comment, Pam. Yes, death always wins, but I’m gonna go kicking and screaming.
I was thinking about my dad and how he let his health degenerate. Everything that he did to help himself was too little too late. He died from an unforeseen complication while having a heart shunt put in. Since there’s a history of heart disease in my family, I am going for an assessment at Kaiser first, then I’m going to see the nutritionist.
I have seriously considered getting gastric bypass, but I have a problem absorbing nutrients in the first place, and since it changes that in radical ways, it may not be an option for me. I am going to seriously explore it. I know it’s not a ticket to instant weight loss but I need to get back to normal (whatever that is) because I want my life back.
I am very saddened to hear of Dave Keller’s condition. Yes, the easiest thing, upon hearing news like this, is to disassociate myself and to say that it couldn’t happen to ME because (fill in the blank).
).
And yet, it could happen to any of us. I certainly have gained weight. I did pretty well for most of my life, only to watch myself go up four sizes in the last two years. Its a combination of things: age, menopause, bad health, arthritis. It is amazing how fast everything just starts to go.
The human body is a study in delicate balance. One thing gets out of kilter, then another, adjustment here, loss there, gain. I suddenly realize that, not only do the compensation mechanisms that worked for me in the past no longer work, I have no clue as to how to compensate any more. Just when I think I am beginning to make a few positive changes and believe there may be some light, something else happens to throw me back. You know what I mean. It is very humbling and downright demeaning.
The only thing that keeps me going is knowing there are others out there who feel the same terrifying force, that nasty fear. It is death and it always wins. I know there is no way to trick it, only myself. Self deception gets more and more difficult. Energy is at a minimum. Showering has become an aerobic activity. Positive forces seem to diminish like free fries at a chili convention (thought I’d lighten up the dark metaphors there
Steve, it sure doesn’t help that you live in place that is next to ground zero for shallowness, where surface looks are everything. It makes things all the more difficult. I joke that I become younger and better looking the further I get from L.A., but its true. Distance lends perspective.
Good luck to you, Steve. I know I will think of Dave the next time I am shopping and will, I hope, reach for the salad greens instead of the frozen pizza, walk a little further, and go easy on the dressing.
I could not agree more with this blog. Seeing a once vibrant Dave Keller helpless as a large beached whale is sad to watch. This is not the way I want see my friends, like Michael Mason, as an example. I have been making subtle hints for years about things. I am glad he is still as feisty as ever but that is about it. I of course wish him a recovery. I also want him out of the scooter and actually walking. I am dreaming I know, but I still wish only the best for my friend.