Even when he was a little boy, Big Dad’s lad wasn’t little.

Gary “Big Dad” Rasmussen’s mom, who served dessert with every meal, was 6 foot 2. Big Dad himself was 6 foot 3 and about 380 pounds, so size has long been a Rasmussen trait. Rick Rasmussen has merely followed in those extra-large footsteps.

“Everybody I’ve always talked to has called me Big Rick, Big Boy,” he says. “There’s something big in everything I do.”

By the time Rick was a star offensive lineman at Coeur d’Alene High School — his Viks won the state championship in 1982 — he was more than man sized.

“They had me in the program at 255 but I weighed 330,” he says. “Our high school offensive line was bigger than the Idaho Vandals’ starting offensive line.”

Today, Big Dad’s little guy is 6 feet 6 inches tall. He weighs 420 pounds. But he won’t for much longer.

This Thursday, Rick Rasmussen is going to change his life. Because he wants to live longer and better, Big Dad’s boy is going to get lighter.

Dr. John Pennings, founder and director of Surgical Bariatrics Northwest, will operate on Rick at Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls, where Rasmussen serves as chief financial officer. Pennings will perform a sleeve gastrectomy, in which more than 90 percent of the lateral portion of the stomach is removed. The procedure leaves a cylindrical pouch that restricts food volume.

According to Dr. Pennings, despite a low complication rate, many insurers including Medicare don’t offer coverage for the procedure — which costs $9,999 at Northwest Specialty — because it’s still considered “experimental.” But not in Rick Rasmussen’s assessment.

“I’m not one to just jump into things,” he says, noting that he just purchased his first smartphone. “It’s been almost two years that I’ve been researching this. I even did a spreadsheet with pluses and minuses.”

Rasmussen, 48, considers himself an atypical patient in many ways. Problems often associated with weight gain aren’t his. He’s got a good job, a great family life and is depressed only when a team he cares about loses. But that’s fleeting. What doesn’t dissipate are all those extra pounds.

“In my family, it was all about food,” he says. “My mom has the home ec degree but my dad was a phenomenal cook. It was always Clean Plate Club — ‘Yeah, you gotta finish up. Clean Plate Club! You can’t leave anything. Everybody, Clean Plate Club!’”

And in more recent years, even though he’s always been big, his workaday world left little room for weight loss.

“Working late, coaching, eating late,” he explains, are the habits that even dieting and exercise haven’t overcome.

“Research shows almost 2 to 1 men who are obese compared to women, but women outnumber men in bariatric surgery,” he says. “This isn’t for everybody. This is an end of the line type of thing. They’ll [doctors] only talk to you if you’re over a certain BMI (Body Mass Index).”

The turning point for Rasmussen goes back to 7:30 a.m. on July 9, 2012, when his beloved father died.

“I remember at his funeral, 1,500 people at Coeur d’Alene High School, looking out there and saying, ‘Man, I don’t want my friends and family to go through this because I didn’t try everything I could to be around longer.

“I want to be there when my daughter walks down the aisle. I want to be there when I have grandchildren.

“After all my research, I’m 110 percent certain. Knowing the success rate Dr. Pennings has and the research I’ve done, he’s one of very few bariatric surgeons of excellence who get accredited. I have not lost one bit of sleep over it. I’ve got the best doctor and the best hospital to do this with the lowest infection rate in all of Idaho.”

At the request of The Press, Rasmussen agreed to share his story with readers, and to contribute to that story by writing occasional columns for the newspaper, updating his progress. That motivation fit him just fine.

“I’m not doing this for publicity,” he says. “I’m not doing it for the hospital. My whole thing is, if there’s one other person who thinks about this or has been on the fence and they see this bald headed ex-jock who lives in his community do this, I’ll feel like I’ve done something good. I’ll know it was worthwhile.”

And while he readily admits he’s doing it mostly for himself and his family, Rick acknowledges that he’s also doing it for Big Dad.

“He would be thumbs up saying, ‘Big Boy, go get this done.’”

The Shrinking Man

- Follow Rick Rasmussen's story in The Press.

* Today: Preparing for surgery

* This summer and fall: The Press will publish occasional Sunday columns written by Rick, documenting his progress.

* Holiday season: Putting a ribbon on Rick's quest