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

worked in med proffession 1978

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

check to see if covered

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

very informative, ask questions, how many, how long a dr.,stat on out come. Before and after care.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

Health Issues relatedto obesity

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

fast weight lost

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?

my fear is not the surgey, it's the inability to regaine better health if I don't have the surgery

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?

fine

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

retired

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

3 days

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?

Lots of unrelated to surgery pain, bed bound 8 weeks.Pain was diabetic related and body detoxing.

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

Weak in pain

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

70 miles

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.

meat, sweets, salt,fats, could not swollow water, only could drink hot green tea ,Iced water, chicken broth,tomatoe soup, vanilla pudding,jello,fruit popcicles .Nine months out I can eat chicken, fish, turkey.some green vegies,fruit,rice milk, rice pasta , about 4-5 teaspoons

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

bed ridden 8 weeks, stretch on the bed as much as the body pain would allow

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

mulit-vit,protien drink, calcuim D-3

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?

major hair loss, nausea 3mos after dumpin 3 times when I ate sweets, fat, even now.

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

Giving myself shots in my stomach everyday for 28 days.