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

Womens expo

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

For me that was the easy part.do exactly what they say to do

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

informative, write your questions down(and take them with you0 I forgot mine.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

health problems

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

Just don't like the idea of the band.

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?

not a big concern

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?

They were suportative, I got no negitave feed back

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

don't have one

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

3 days ,I dehydrated, because I was afraid to use the Ice chips, not good, some morphene and a couple ov I-v bags later, I was fine. nurses were wonderful.

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

not from the surgery, just from my foolishness.

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 fine. glad I did it, still am.

Describe your first few weeks home from the hospital. What should people expect from this period?

I had some discomfort, getting out of bed was a challenge, but I did great. water is so important, sip,sip,sip,sip.

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

35 miles not at all

Please describe in detail what things you could and couldn't eat in the weeks and months following surgery. What foods have been off limits? Please explain how your dietary tolerance changed week-by-week, and then month-by-month since surgery.

once I was off liquids, I could tolerate any thing I tried.

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

by week three, I was back to full activety, just limited lifiing.

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

baiitric multy, calcium, iron,B-complex

What side effects (nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbace, dumping, hair loss etc.) were worse for you? For how long after surgery did they persist? How did you cope with them?

only thing I had was hair loss.

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

???????

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

memorial weightloss and bariatric surgery center. not real important.

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

six tiny scars,less than I expected.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I've had 2 and I caused them by eating too many carbs. back off on carbs start to lose again.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

yes