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

heard on tv and in paper first impression that people must be real losers - no pun intended if they have to have that kind of surgery

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

Killing yourself is easier

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

The stay sucked - no bariatric equipment. Nurses tired and overworked and didn't listen tome when I told them about difficulty breathing and chest pain - one nurse told me he'd giv me some benedryl and that would take care of my pain - after i cussed him out i explained i was a nurse and benedryl is given to help patients sleep - he just wanted to shut me up. i demanded he call the resident and my doctor - i had a blood clot - what an idiot!

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

stopped breathing, hearrt tried to stop, pain, wound healing was poor dealt with them with (prescribed)drugs and depression, just had to wait it out

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

Elated - thought I was going to get my life back. That my life would start over. Not anxious over surgery at all. More tense over trying to get things ready before hand, work, home and dog. Worried about my dog should something happen to me.

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

i went to my surgeon's "support group" twice - more of an info session on surgery. They don't let you talk about issues or personal things - just general questions. His nurse and an aide run it and they don't usually seem like they want to be there in the evening. the one is like a drill sargent and gives the same 2 speeches. It is only once a month. I talk to my little sister (med school student) she "gets it". I haven't evn told most friends, no-co-workers and some family about it. I find it humiliating to have had to have this and I hate all the stars that are jumping on the weight surgery band wagon - they have a whole different support system, money, assistants, private chefs, coaches, etc. and act like it's nothing. Which to them maybe it is if you have all that support but it diminishes the extremely hard work and difficult time I and many others have had.

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

Hugh and still painful. Doctor's nurse is very flippant about it - he doesn't see pts unless there is a "real problem". I didn't expect it to still hurt or be so ugly and raised. i will probably never be intimate again with this and the hanging skin and rashes

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

slowed down but no real stalls or plateaus

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes. Still kind of makes me angry that they wouldn't have given a second thought or would have ridiculed me. Also the positive attention is uncomfortable. Get tired of people asking me how much have I lost. It's not about the weight. I tell them I don't weigh but my blood sugar is stable thank you for asking. Then I show them my bald spot and how my hair is coming out when I run my hand threw my hair. Then I say something like "somtimes the cure is worse than the disease, huh? Catches them off guard and they don't know what to say. Hope they think I have cancer. Maybe then they will leave me alone.