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

I saw Carnie Wilson on the Oprah show after her surgery and I was inspired but still scared to go thru with it. It took me over a year to come to terms with the fact that I needed to have something so drastic done.

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

it was horrible. i had contacted the surgeons office and thought they were taking care of getting my approval but after waiting 6 months and not getting an approval, i finally contacted my insurance company myself to be told that they were never contacted by anyone. i pursed this and had to finally have my insurance company call the surgeons office for the info. the utilization review nurse for my insurance said that they wouldn't aprove me until i followed a year long doctor supervised diet, but she offered to send my info to the medical director anyway. she had advised me to write a letter of petition to the board of directors immediately so i would get it in in time for their next meeting. i humbly wrote a humiliating letter to them describing some of my most embarrassing moments in my life and mailed it off, approximately 3 weeks later. ironically the next day, i received my letter of approval from them, they never needed the letter after all. my advice is to contact your insurance company yourself otherwise this can be dragged out forever.

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

very frustrating because it was a group meeting and i had a person with psychiatric problems that kept interrupting his lecture and i got frustrated. ask for a one to one meeting of your answer and question session so you will have his undivided attention.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

the humiliation of being short of breath with minimal exertion at work, and also finding out that a coworker had had the surgery with great success. i never knew she was even over weight.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

the open rny procedure was the safest.

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?

like everyone, i was afraid of complications but i knew the complications of obesity would be worse down the line.my mother and i have a philosophy in life, if it's my time god will take me no matter what, if it's not it was meant to be. i will not live my life in fear, it wastes too much time.

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?

they did not want me to have the surgery but i told them this was my decision and they would have to support me. i gave them all of the information i had so that they could understand my choice. they finally were very supportive.

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

my supervisor was upset, of course she was not thrilled to loose an employee for 2 months but it was not her decision to make.

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

It was great in the ICU the first night but it went down hill from there. Bring a family memeber who can help you get in and out of bed to go to the bathroom and help you walk up and down the hallways. Make sure if they set you up to bathe in a chair that they leave your call light and pca pump button in reach.I was left in a low sitting rocking chair for over 1 hour and eventually had to fotrce myself out of the chair painfully. I began crying and then when I called the technician she had the nerve to tell me I had no reason to cry. She was not the one stuck butt naked in a chair for the respiratory therapist to walk in on, as well as others.

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

A urinary tract infection from the foley catheter, I went on antibiotics and it went away. A small local skin infection from my g-tube that antibiotics also cured.

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

Initally I was frustrated because of the need for pain mediaction but the pain lessened daily and before I knew it I didn't need any anymore.It was worth it to have the elation of knowing you are losing weight-permanently, as long as you do what you are told.

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

I improved daily. It was hard to make myself eat because of how uncomfortable it felt, but by following the guidelines the dietician gave me I did fine. I found I slept alot, but this was nessesary for proper healing. We put our bodies through alot with surgery. Rest as much as you can, before you know it you will be feeling better.

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

25 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.

Initially I could not tolerate eggs. They felt like a rock sitting in my stomach. After a few months I tried them again, I can tolerate them now without any problems. I had a very low tolerance for food with sugar initially, even foods with natural sugar(like juice,carrots,pasta), I would get a blood sugar reaction called hypoglycemia and would feel irritable, sweaty, nervous, faint and nauseous. My tolerance has improved lately but I am very cautious not to overeat sweets,carbohydrates, or too many natural sugars in one meal. I also found out that stress caused me to have these reactions also and by learning to deal with my stress, I could improve my health. I have fewer and fewer of these reactions as I get further out from surgery. I have recently found that fatty foods cause me to have gas and that I can't eat a bowl of cereal with milk anymore or I will have bad diarrhea the next day.

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

I initially forced myself to walk around my house just to keep the blood following and keep my lungs expanded. My energy levels improved daily and by week 3 I was out shopping for short periods of time and found myself bored sitting at home. Within 2 months I was talking 1mile hiking trips with my husband at the local park(uphill) and even though I would need to take frequent breaks, it was invigorating to know I could.

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

I take a trinsicam supplement prescribed by my surgeon, it is a multivitamin with iron in it. I take 2 tums a day, for my calcium supplement, which is cheaper than buying the actual supplement and has the same amount of calcium in it, not to mention it helps keep my heartburn under control. P.S. don't take iron supplements and calcium at the same time or they will bind together and you will not get the benefit of the iron.I also take 1 vitamin b-12 supplement sublingually,under my tongue,daily, this helps me with my energy levels but you should at least have 1/2 hour of sun exposure daily to convert the b-12 to zinc or you will be easting your money.When i go to the sugeons office he gives me a vitamin b-12 injection also.

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?

Nausea was bad initially. I just took very small sips of my clear liquids at a time to prevent this and I watered down my juice, the dietician recommended this, and it helped. Dumping has been a problem since the beginning when I take anything with too much sugar. Watering down my juice helped not only my nausea but helped me avoid dumping from it. I am 7 months out and still dump if I don't watch my sweets, carbohydrates or natural sugars, but this has improved dramatically since the beginning. I had some hair loss but was not too concerned about it because I always eat my protein first at meals and after the 6th month my hair started growning back in. It is thinner than it was but only I notice it, not even my hair dresser noticed. I vomit only if I continue to eat after I am full or if I drink with my meals. Sometimes I do this if I am distracted with conversation at meal times, but I don't do this frequently, and usually I only have to throw up a couple of bites of food and I feel much better.

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

Waking up form surgery initially. I knew it would hurt but still I was shocked at how I felt. The PCA was a God send, and time of course helped. Each day got better and if I remembered that I was able to tolerate it much better.

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

We have a support group weekly at the hospital I had sugery at and thay have a psychologist run it. I find this very helpful because we are able to help each other thru the tough times and give each other pointers.People ask me why I still go to the meetimgs now that I have met my goal weight but I look forward to going to them. Not only do I get to help others in my group but they help me deal with my problems. Just because I lost the weight does not mean that the ghosts in my closets aren't still there. We all ate to cope with some type of difficulty in our lives and we need to learn how to deal with them, otherwise we can sabbotage our own success and return to that horrible place where we started.

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

It is from beneath my breasts to below my belly button, but I expected this.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

About three months out I hit a plateau but it was short lived, then again at 5 months out. I realized that when I went on vacation to visit my mother I ate more becuase she has structure meal times and when I came back from 1 weeks vacation I had lost 7 lbs.What had happened was that I was not eating enough food and had put my body into starvation mode. I had been eating only once a day when I felt super hungery and so my body was trying to save my fat for an energy source and therefore slowed down my metabolism. When I started eating 6 small meals a day, I began to lose weight quicker.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Not initally. Everyone is excited for me. They now call me skinny where ever I go, it has become my nickname at work. Many people have stopped me and asked me how I lost the weight and I am comfortable telling them how. Sometimes I get tried of people telling me they are jealous of me because I am skinny or of the question "Do you feel better now" I just want to say Duh????? Wouldn't you feel better if you didn't have 104 pounds of extra fat to carry around? But then I realize they are just curious as well as excited for me, so I just politely answer them and tell them of my latest exercise accomplishment.