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

i found out about bariatric surgery from my mom who found the Obesityhelp.com website and my impressions of it were " heck yeah where do i sign up."

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

getting approval was realy very easy because i have Medicare. My advice for anyone looking in haveing the surgery is "do not wait "

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

My first visit with Dr.Hideacheck( thats how i spell it 'cause idon't really know how he spells it)was good. it was when i first went to the wls meeting and met him for the first time. Although i couldn't understand him, Dr.Hideacheck is a very sweet, nice and caring man. i don't know if any one can understand what i'm talking about

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I decided to have the surgery because i was sick and tired of being overweight and i did not want to die overweight like my dad

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

easy i didn't want an open proceedure and stay in the hospital a long time

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?

When i got scared about haveing the surgery i just prayed that my heavenly father would help me get over those feelings and thats what i think every one should do when their scared

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 family was all for it but my brother. Noone explianed to him what was going on so he refused to talk with me. my ex- boyfriend told me " if you go through with this surgery instead of working it off like you should then maybe you should die on that damn table then because i do not want to be friends with a lazy woman who can't do things for herself"i never talked to my ex since then . my friends and my family were very supportive afterwards

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

i was in the hospital for three days the nurses were very nice, and everyone brought me flowers which i thought was cool

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

um i don't think i had any complications from the surgery

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

oh when i got my surgery date i told everyone about it but they cancled my surgery 'cause the doctor would not be in that day

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

expect to be very very tired and hot. i kept complianing that it was soooo hot even with the air conditioning on full blast

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

i had to travel i think it was an hour and fifteen minutes or so. coming back home was a killer i felt every bump on the freeway and i was in pain when i got home

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.

hmmm things i can't eat anymore are: breads , pasta, crackers,shrimp, peanut butter, eggs, milk, cereal, sodas, juice, anything breaded, lettuce, tomatoes, pudding , ice cream,cookies,

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

very very low i layed around the house 'cause it hurt to move

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

b15, multi-vitamins,

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?

the hair loss was worse for me, it took about two or three weeks for my hair to start falling. to stop my hir from falling anymore i ate more protein

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

the worst part was being tense all the time that scared me worst then anything

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

i didn't have an aftercare support group/program. that is the most helpful and important thing ever

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

i have six little cuts and i thought they all would be bigger

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

i haven't had any plateau experiences since i had the surgery

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

not really, i haven't seen my friends since my birthday last year so i haven't had any experiance in that department. (well if you count some creepy old bald guy trying to flirt with me being treated differently then yes)