Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Ever since kindergarten, Keaau resident James Arquitola has been a big guy.
By the time he was in his late 20s he weighed 500 pounds, and his lifestyle had begun to suffer.
“I couldn’t do the things I wanted to do,” he said. “I couldn’t always go fishing with my friends. I couldn’t go hiking very often or play basketball.”
Whenever he flew, he said, he had to pay for two seats for himself. And he began to experience other related illnesses, such as high blood pressure, poor blood circulation in his legs and sleep apnea, which required him to wear an oxygen mask when he slept. All things considered, it was a difficult and limiting way to live, he said.
That all began to change about a year and half ago, however, when he decided to undergo bariatric surgery. Known as “sleeve gastrectomy” surgery, the procedure reduces the size of the stomach to help a person feel full after eating smaller amounts of food, thereby facilitating often dramatic weight loss.
The results have been nothing short of remarkable, Arquitola said Monday, as the 30-year-old Easter Seals employee spent the afternoon fishing with friends off a pier at Liliuokalani Park and Gardens.
“I’m at about 265 or 270 now,” he said. “I’m still not at the goal I want to be — 230 pounds — but I’m working at it.”
Arquitola said he only needs one seat on a plane now, and he can enjoy all the activities he missed out on before while still having enough energy to keep up with the four children he shares with his wife, Jennifer.
While he credits the surgery with giving him a much-needed headstart, Arquitola says that he has also had to make significant changes to his lifestyle. He’s changed the way he eats, how much exercise he gets, and he’s quit smoking.
“I have to eat little meals about six times a day,” he said. “And I have to exercise. I try to walk every day.”
In preparation for his surgery at The Queen’s Medical Center, he had to fly to Oahu on multiple occasions for both pre-surgery and post-surgery consultations with the team at the Comprehensive Weight Management Program. He received instruction on what to eat, how to live a healthier life and how to motivate himself to stick with the changes to his life. It hasn’t been easy to do, he said, but he’d do it all over again if he had to.
In fact, he said, his experience has convinced some friends and family to consider the bariatric procedure. And now that the program will be more accessible to Hawaii Island residents, he believes they will be more willing to make the effort.
“I have one friend, he wanted to do it, but I think all the flying was too much,” Arquitola said. “He didn’t want to fly back and forth. It was too hard. But I’ll bet he’d be interested in doing it now.”
As for Arquitola, he said he is committed to continuing his weight loss and keeping healthy.
“I’m even thinking about trying out for the police force, if I’m fit enough,” he said. “It isn’t something I would have even considered before.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.