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

Someone I knew and it seemed a little scarey

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

the only thing that took so long was waitng for all the appointments

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

very friendly and also matter of fact

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?

blood clots are the thing that scares me, get up and move around is what they say helps that

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?

very positive before and after

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

okay, they were just worried for me,11 days

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

My stay at the hospital was ok, not a lot of rest but I shouldn't have thought that there would be cause you need to get up and move

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

no

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 only had 6 days in between the call and the surgery so there wasn't a lot of time to think.

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

The first week was very sore, don't let anyone kid you to believe that it is not painful because it was, once you start the protien though you get better so fast

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

4 1/2 hours and I would do it all over again

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.

just watching things high in sugar and high in fat

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

good the only problem was I was tender at the incision site which made getting up and down a litttle tough

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

flintstones complete 2 times a day

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?

none so far

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

?????????

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

my familys support and also this website has been vey important to me

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

very thin line, its better than expected

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

i had my first plateau at around six weeks, and then i've had several slow periods, maybe not the typical plateau but to me they were plateaus and they were frustrating but thankfully they didn't last to long

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

i treat myself differently so of course other people do to