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

I first found out about wls in 1997. I don't remember how i heard about it, but did some research online. My first impressions of it, well, I was very interested in finding out more about it. I thought it was something that could help me, and I did talk to my PCP about the surgery. My life changed and the surgery was put on the back burner for a while. My brother-in-law had the surgery done in March, '98 and has lost about 160# so far. In April, 99 I started thinking about it, and got the ball rolling, and June 25, 1999 I had my surgery

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

I didn't have a problem with getting approval...

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

Dr. Colberg is a very good man, willing to listen to any questions you have and answer them fully. Make sure you go in for your first visit with a list of questions for your surgeon, cause i know if i didn't take my list, i would've forgotten everything.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

Seeing the results on friends and family

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

What the surgeon did

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?

I was so afraid of dying...I even wrote goodbye letters to my family, 'just in case'....

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?

My husband was fine with it all because his brother had just had the surgery a year before...my sister was very supportive, but a little scared for me because it is major surgery...friends were supportive but did have many many questions..they wanted to make sure i knew what i was doing...

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

I didn't tell them until after the surgery was finished...I was out of work for 4 weeks

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

I brought CHAPSTICK, deoderant, sanitary pads and the clothes i was going to wear home to the hospital. I didn't want to have too much to bring home. I was in the hospital for 5 days. 5 LONG DAYS!!!!!! The hospital I was in I hope i never have to go to again. Most of the nursing staff had horrible bedside manner. I think of all the nurses, 2 were nice..the rest shouldn't have been nurses. The night of surgery, i was sweating so bad, and continually asked the nurses for a fan. Finally, after hours of almost begging, one of the 'nice' nurses brought in a fan that was sitting right outside my room door... The main problem i had with the nurses was their attitude. I'd ask for something and they'd either ignore me, put me off, or treat me like i was a hassle. There were also some nurses that didn't do their job properly: pretending to take my blood pressure. On my day of discharge, the resident and the student doctors were doing rounds and came in at 8am to let me know that i was doing well enough that I could go home that day. They didn't even come in to check on me, just told me while they were passing by my room. Later I asked one of the 'nice' nurses that i needed to know what time cause my hubby had a 2 hour drive to get to the hosp. She told me 12pm. I was all showered and just about ready to go at 12 when hubby and kids came in. Still no discharge papers. I rang the nurse and asked her if the papers were filled out. Not yet, but she'd page the doc and get them to come and discharge me. 1pm - still not discharged, rang the nurse, she said she'd paged the docs a few times, plus while they were on the floor during the hour, she asked them to fill out the papers so i could leave...they said they'd do them, then walk away without doing it. 1:10pm, i was tired and took a nap. 2pm - i told hubby to get my stuff together, i was signing myself out of the hospital, we had to leave, hubby had to be at work at 7p. I rang the nurse again, she said she'd paged them at least 6 times and talked to them a few times while they were on the floor, but the never filled out the papers....when i told her i was checking myself out, she gave me my doc's number to see if he could get the docs in the hospital to do anything. I was all ready to leave the hospital and up comes my surgeon (who took time away from seeing pts in his office) to discharge me. He's such a great doc!!!! In my opinion, Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa is one hospital I do not want to have to visit again!!!!!!

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

The only real complications I had from the surgery weren't major complications really. I had deferred shoulder pain from the Jackson Pratt drain they had in my abdomen, it was touching my diaphragm. When I was put into a geri-chair on day 2, the morphine went down into my legs, esp my left leg. It was completely numb. I couldn't lift it at all. I had to get nurses to come in and lift me back into my bed. Made sure to get as many as they could to help cause i didn't want to hurt any of them. My first IV infiltrated, so they switched to the IV in my right hand that they put in while in surgery. Well, they hadn't been flushing it like they should, so that infiltrated too. I was stuck about 10 times by all different people, but no one could start another IV, so i ended up having a subclavicular central line put in...what a joy!!!

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

Well, I'm now a little over 4 weeks post op now, and just a few days ago, i finally stopped feeling really queasy. Week 2 was really bad for me. I was depressed...not bad, but it was there, i think because i was tired of the MUSH. I mourned food...it really bothered me. I was feeling run down, and closed in the house cause i wasn't able to drive. It was just a bad week for me. The depression went away, but I still don't like the MUSH!!!! Trying to drink enough water is not easy for me, but i'm trying.

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

expect to be very tired and i know i got depressed because i mourned the loss of food....well...being able to eat what i wanted and when i wanted...couldn't do that anymore, so i got a bit depressed...but it subsided and i'm fine now

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

i travelled about 100 miles one way...the only way it effects my after care is that it's a pain to have to travel to see my doc for a 5 minute checkup

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.

when i went home i was on a pureed diet and i gradually went to soft foods then to solids....

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

I belong to a support group that has meeting the first Wed of the month. I also belong to online support groups on MIRC and ICQ and onelist.com.

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

My scar is vertical about 8inches long and healed up very well. I had my staples in for 19 days because I couldn't get to my surgeon's office the Wed after I got home from the hospital, so i think that has allowed for my scar to be very thin, but on either side of the scar there are red dots where the staples were. The only part of my scar that I have a problem with is the very top inch. It's about 1/4" wide, but not open, but occassionally i do have a tiny hole in it that some drainage comes out of. The scar I expected from this surgery was worse than the actual scar.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

i've only had slight plateaus, the longest lasting about 2 weeks... they bother me, but not really because i know that i've lost so much weight in so little time, i just figure my body needs to do some major catching up, so it needs to take the breaks in wt loss.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

people are commenting on how good i look and are very interested in how i've lost all the weight. and i do notice i'm getting more looks now that i'm thinner..and people have been nicer to me...