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

Family member had it.

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

Find out as much as you can about your insurance coverage and do not get discouraged if it is a lengthy process.

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

Very positive seminar.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

Quality of life was getting worse due to excess weight.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

Researched all the pros and cons and decided the one best for my situation.

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?

Minor fear of complications, mainly going under.

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?

Almost all were positive, some family questioned the decision but were supportive.

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

No problem due to the quick recovery time for my type of procedure, very little time missed at work.

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

Day surgical procedure

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

No major complications

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

N/A

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

Adjustment in diet and reaction of people when you start losing weight, some will be positive and some negative.

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

Local

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.

Off limits - Bread, carbonated beverages, beef. Still adjusting to change in diet.

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

Slow to get start but my activity level has really increased.

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

Daily multi-vitamin

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?

Coping with vomiting caused by not chewing food properly and sometimes overeating.

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

Felt like I had been a train wreck for a couple days after the procedure.

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

Not currently in a formal program.

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

Not exactly what I expected but managble.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Just reaching one...was getting used to the weight coming off but is slowing up a bit now.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Some good others not so good.