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RAIN Temp: 46 °F Wind: ESE at 3 mph Friday, December 13, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 28, 2002 Hunter sheds the weight of the world Outdoor Journal By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Tom DeLong will have the smallest Thanksgiving meal of his life today, and it will be the most satisfying. Last year, the Gold Hill man grazed through plate after plate of turkey and stuffing, yet his 500-pound body never felt full. DeLong was so large that his passion, elk hunting, was out of the question. Just putting his shoes on wore him out. "I was so big and worn out all the time that I couldn’t do anything," says DeLong, 43. But today, with help from the Rogue Valley sporting community, DeLong is almost half the man he used to be. He’s lost more than 40 percent of his body weight since March, when doctors cut away all but a fist-sized chunk of his stomach in a radical weight-loss maneuver paid for, in part, by raffle tickets bought and sold by fellow hunters and anglers. The surgery has helped DeLong shed more than 200 pounds and replace it with a renewed taste for life. So he’ll have more thanks than bites before pushing away his plate today. "A little sliver of this, a tablespoon of that, and that’s about all I’ll have for Thanksgiving," DeLong says. "I’ll eat six or seven ounces, then I’ll be satisfied. "And I can’t tell you how wonderful that is." The wonder comes courtesy of friends like Ron Sherva, who helped organize a fund-raising raffle of hunting and fishing equipment that netted more than $17,000 toward DeLong’s $28,500 hospital bill not covered by health insurance. Sherva knew DeLong needed to reverse his lifetime of weight gain or die, and the results so far are staggering. "An extra 200 pounds is like carrying another man on your shoulders," says Sherva, of Shady Cove. "I think now he has a more positive outlook on life. "Everything used to be negative. ... He couldn’t do anything. It’s opened up a whole new world." DeLong’s former world was one where the simplest of tasks were daunting. At 500 pounds, he had trouble reaching his pant zipper. He had to crawl to pick up a piece of paper. Bending over to tie his shoes put so much pressure on his diaphragm that he couldn’t breathe. "I had no energy," he says. "I had to take a break after taking a shower and getting dressed. After work, all I could do was get my shoes off and fall asleep." Diets actually shocked his body into storing more fat. As his weight rose, his world shrank. On an elk-hunting trip last November, a fellow hunter found DeLong so weak and winded that he was crawling on the forest floor. The man used a four-wheeler to carry DeLong to his pickup. "I thought that was it," DeLong recalls. "I’d never get to go elk hunting again." DeLong decided to get a surgical procedure in which most of the stomach is cut away, leaving only a small pouch the size of a sandwich. Friends he had met through seven years as a sporting-goods clerk in Medford arranged a raffle, selling $5 tickets for chances at everything from rifles and fly rods to taxidermy mounts and clothing. Since his March surgery, DeLong has seen changes much more radical than simply what he sees in the mirror. He plays soccer and rides a bike with his 7-year-old daughter. He gets up early in the morning to do chores outside before heading to work. He can tie his shoes quickly, while breathing. "I was exhausted all the time," DeLong says. "Now, it’s like I’m hyper all the time." And, for the first time in years, DeLong has a hunting story of his own. While chasing elk near John Day earlier this month, DeLong spied a large bull in the distance. He chased the bull over rises and draws for seven miles, actually gaining on the bull as they trudged through snow. "I was so close to him at one time, that as the trees he was pushing through were swinging back, snow was flying in my face," he says. "That bull didn’t quit, so why should I?" The bull did escape. Then, while standing on a short knoll, he sensed a future as a normal man. "After chasing that elk all those miles, my knees were like rubber," DeLong says. "Then it dawned on me that I wasn’t breathing hard. I was taking normal breaths like a normal person." DeLong still has 50 pounds to shed before reaching his goal of 250 pounds. He has parted ways with his former employer, the Black Bird Shopping Center, and hopes to take some basic computer classes at Rogue Community College this winter. He will gladly eat his tiny Thanksgiving meal today, and hopes other people carrying the weight of another man on their shoulders will see him as an inspiration. "Anyone having weight problems and thinking about giving up needs to hear what I say: Get this surgery," DeLong says. "You don’t have to give up." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S