How did you first find out about bariatric surgery and what were your initial impressions of it?

A friend of mine told me she was looking into the surgery and asked if I wanted to go to a meeting with her and now I'm closer to getting the surgery done than she is.

Describe your experience with getting insurance approval for surgery. What advice, if any, do you have for other people in this stage?

The hardest thing about getting the insurance approval was staying on my primary physicians case to get the paper work done and sent to the surgeon. It took less than two weeks during the busy holiday season for my approval to come back. Make sure you do everything that the surgeon waants you to get done and fill out any questionaires fully.

What was your first visit with your surgeon like? How can people get the most out of this meeting?

THE FIRST MEETING WITH MY SURGEON WAS SOMEWHAT NERVE RACKING, BUT AFTER I spoke with Dr.DiBenedetto I had a big sense of relief. You can get the most out of your first appointment by going in with a list of questions that you want and need answered even if they seem stupid at the time.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

There is a lot of information out there and you have to know what your doing and what you will get out of it .After I asked all the questions and knew as much as I could, then Ifelt comfortable with going through the process of the surgery.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

The doctor that I'm going to said that the open Rouxen-Y procedure would be the best,because of my size it would be the quickest and have the least complications.

What fears did you have about having complications or even dying from from the surgery, and what would you tell other people having the same fears now?

There is risk to everything you do in your life. But the amount of weight on me was causing a lot of problems and eventually would cause a lot more.

How did your family and friends react to your decision? Would you have communicated anything differently if you could now? How supportive were they after your surgery?

At first everyone was nervous and had a lot of questions, but after I told them everything that the doctor and the info on the websites they completely support me.

How did your employer/supervisor react to your decision? What did you tell him/her? How long were you out of work?

Not currently employed.

What was your stay in the hospital like? How long where you there? What things are most important to bring?

My stay was ok. I was in the hospital for four days. The most important things to bring, are housecoat, slippers, shampoo, soap, comfotable clothes to wear home, phone numbers, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Did you have any complications from the surgery? If so, how did you deal with them?

I only had one problem and that was an allergic reaction to the morphine or the heprin, they gave me two doses of benedryl and I am just fine.

In the weeks after you got your surgery date, how did you feel? How did you cope with any anxiety you might have felt?

I was extremely nervous, but after a few weeks of talking to different people that had it done, I became more relaxed and started to get really excited about it. I am right now exactlt 2 weeks from my surgery date, I am relaxed for the most part and getting anxious to get it done and to start losing the weight.

How far did you travel to have your surgery? (If far, how did this affect your aftercare?)

I was only one county away, approximately a 20 minute drive from my home. I didn't even know that there were any surgeons in our area that did the surgery, until I started researching.

What was your actvity level in the days and weeks after surgery?

Resting and do plenty of walking to keep the blood clots away, plus it gets you motivated to keep getting exercise.

What vitamins and/or dietary supplements have you taken since your surgery?

flintstones complete chewable.

What was the worst part about the entire bariatric surgery process?

So far the waiting for the surgery to take place.

What aftercare support group/program do you have? How helpful/important is this?

My surgeon has a group run by his wife that I go to when I can and they have been very helpful with any questions that I have had.

What is your scar like? Is this what you expected?

I have 6 small scars from the laproscopic surgery, they are small and not a problem for me. It is pretty much what I thought it would be like.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I have had a few small plateaus but they did not last long and as long as you keep trying it will start going down again. Sometimes you have to change your activity level and reevaluate what you are eating.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes, but I think it is because I show that I have more confidence in myself and I put myself out there more.