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

My sister bugged me about it and then a good friend did also.

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

I had no problem

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

It went okay but I suggest that you make a list of questions you want answered. You forget them when you are in front of them.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

The insurance approval.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

What the insurance would pay for.

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?

Chances are, odds are, you will come through fine with no complications. The surgeon, or at least mine, knew what he was doing.

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?

I have many mixed and a couple said not to do it. I just let them have their opinions and I have mine.

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

My hospital stay was okay. None of the nurses seemed to be able to help me control my post-op pain or sleep well the first couple of nights. Some of the nurses were bad, some good.

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

Yes, several but not immediately. First was upper, left pain, under ribs, above the waist. I also got a fever, low grade about 2 months out. Hospitalized at 3 months out with pain, fever of no known origin and elevated liver function tests. Pumped full of antibiotics in IV and finally found out many months later I had gall stones even though my gall bladder was removed. I was given prevacid in the hospital and continued for a month or so after release then stopped since surgeon said it "shouldn't help but I can take it if I want to..." Several weeks after stopping, got extreme pain, same place, bounce back pain. Saw many doctors and finally, restarted the prevacid on my own. Helped 1000% and finally out of pain. Have been on it for 6 months now and finally diagnosed with an ulcer in unattached stomach. I find it hard to work with doctors. Constantly being told "nothing is wrong" and then, after months and months of frustration and tests and all, finally getting answers and that there really IS something wrong. Tired of feeling like I am climbing a mountain still in medical care.

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 felt fine more of the time. Sore but okay. After several weeks, I got a lot of gas when I eat. Would go out to my car at work, lay down for 15-30 minutes each time I ate anything. This went away after 4-6 weeks.

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

My family, although there, would leave me alone for long periods of time and take hours and hours to pick up something I needed from the store. They sort of forced me to do it all myself which probably was not a good idea. Mainly, I was tired a lot and had little energy. I am sure it was from the medications and anestsia.

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

I got it rather local. Maybe 10 miles or 15 miles away.

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.

I found food rather tasteless for a long time after surgery, like 6-8 months. I rarely have eggs although I used to love them before surgery. My choices have changed. I hate light and lively cottage cheese which was the only kind I liked before surgery and I love breakstone now. I go in and out of things I can eat and things I can not. It is always changing. I find I do not like much garlic on food which I used to love.

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

I just did what I could. Some days more, some days less. It varies all of the time.

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

Multivitamins, 2 times a day, extra C, extra calcium. I also take iron and take it away from the others so I get better absorbtion.

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?

Hair loss and not being able to color my hair. I found biotin supplements work better than anything else like nioxin.

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

Waking up after surgery, the first couple of days. Lots of pain, not enough medication.

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

Lots and lots. We have support groups twice a month. Okay but not if you want to work out issues. They have 4 different therapy groups, one for relatives of patients, one for eating and emotions issues, one for relationship issues, and one for addiction and recovery issues. There are nutritional classes before and at various times post-op. There are classes on restaurant dining every month and tours of local supermarkets to help bring variety. There is a weekly accountability class and a monthly one to help you get back on track. There will be other ones also. I believe they have one for the young patients (18-25) and for children who are going down the road to obesity. New ones in the works all of the time. They are also sponsoring a cruise and social events for patients.

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

Good, I used Maderma to keep it looking good and I like it. Very faint at one year post-op

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I get them all of the time, even on protein only. Very frustrating and I hate them. It is hard not to compare yourself to others or to not look at the scale. I hate it that I hit them every couple of weeks and they last for weeks and months.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes, Guys are not disgusted when I stare at them and people at work tell me daily how good I look.