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Obesity & Me

Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

There is this feeling of hopelessness. That losing the weight is simply an impossible task, so why try? When I was a teenager and I weighed 150lbs at 5'8" tall people treated me like I was fat. Now I am 365lbs and people treat me like I am fat. When I look at thse pictures from the 150lb days I think, wow, what I wouldn't give to look like that instead of how I look now. I fluctuated between 160 & 180lbs for many years in my younger days, I'd diet, lose 20lbs and it was like now people would think well of me. What's that about? I am still the same person. I'd gain the weight back and then more until losing 20lbs really didn't make much difference. That's when the hoeplessnes set in. I hovered at 220-250lbs for many years. I had a more physical job as a nurse aid and then staff nurse in a hospital then. Then when I started a sedentery desk type job I gradually reached the weight I am now. funny thing is I have never lost more than 20lbs on any diet, no matter how long I stayed on it. I have 5 pages of a diet history for the surgeon that shows I've tried just about every diet out there. I never did the Optifast liquid diet, because I watched so many girls I know do that and as soon as they stopped it, they'd gain all the weight and more back. It was a sad thing to see. I am a watcher and if I see something work I try it. I can't put 5 whole pages here, so I will leave it at this. I've watched several people go through the bariatric surgery and have seen excellent results and happy results. I have decided I am not to old to be happy, so I am going to try it too! Wish me luck and determination.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

Being looked at with disgust. Being in pain everyday. Feeling hopeless. Taking medicine. Not fitting in chairs. pain pain pain

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

Personal hygiene is easier.

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

Saw other people who had it done. Seemed very impressive. They all would do it again if given the choice to go back and do it again.

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

I have Wausau insurance and was approved easily.

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

I took my list of 12 questions with me and he was very thorough in answering all of them. You must write the questions down or you will forget.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I don't want to be 50-60 years old and be an invalid. I was in severe pain every day already. I was on blood pressure pills, diabetes pill and arthritis pills.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

The surgeon will only do open RNY for my BMI. it was 57.

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?

i was more afraid of pain post-op as I had never had a major surgery. I didn't really worry about dying. My 15 year old son worried about me dying though. The post op pain was minimal for me.

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?

Everyone was so supportive. i was kind of amazed by it all.

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

Supportive.

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

I brought all kinds of stuff to keep busy, books, hand held card games, crossword books. I used none of it. i was too tired to do anything but rest and get my walks in. Bring a bathrobe. Wear the hospital gowns & slippers. They give you toiletries.

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

After the surgery I had a lot of nausea and vomiting and I was tired and weak. Then I developed redness and pain on the skin around my belly button but below the incision site. The incision healed beautifully. The surgeon put me on oral antibiotics and did a CT scan of the abdomen that showed a ventral hernia and cellulitis. (Cellulitis is an infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue) He said he would wait about a year to fix the hernia since it looked okay and kept me on the antibiotics and I was to call him if the cellulitis didn't improve in a few days. This was Monday 1/12/04. I called and got in to see the surgeon again on the 15th because there really was no improvement. The cellulitis was painful too. I did get some lortab elixir on the 12th. He admitted me to the hospital on the 15th for IV antibiotics (I knew he would :-() Then on 12/17/03 - Saturday when I got out of the shower I heard a gas sound coming from my belly button. I knew this was a bad thing and pulled the nurse light. By the time she got there I was leaking colon drainage from my belly button. It wasn't pretty and I was horrified. She grabbed a doctor from the hallway to look at it and he confirmed my fears. 3 hours later I was in surgery for a colon resection (they had to remove about 2 inches) and fistula and hernia repiar. They called it a ventral hernia with a colon fistula. The surgeon used the same incision as the RNY even to the point of putting the staples in the same place. It's amazing I only have one incision scar! I went home 12 days after admission with a one inch sized open wound to do dressing changes on twice a day and a drain. It is now 2/21/04 and the wound is healed pretty much completely and I have to go back to work 3/1/04 (yuch).I felt much better as soon as I started on the IV antibiotics. Immediatly post-op I had the nausea and dry heaves which is much better now. About 6 days after each surgery I had a bought of diarrhea that lasted about 1 1/2 days and was awful. None since though. The surgeon thought I was leaking the drainage from one of the RNY incision sites but it was not that at all. The RNY stuff was fine, this was a totally unrelated hernia and problem. I had previously had my gallbladder removed and the hernia was at one of the incision sites from that. After the second surgery I was on IV TPN for nutrition for healing and I did not lose any weight at all. But as of today I have lost 59lbs siince I first saw the surgeon, 54 since the RNY.

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 did not have a lot of anxiety, but when i did I reminded myself of the benefits of the weight loss. I got excited and had hope for the first time in years that I could actually lose the weight.

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

I went to my first support group meeting this week, 2 months after surgery, at the hospital where I had the surgery. The surgeon's nurses and a dietician were there. they gave good nutrition information. I will go again, but I don't know how long I will keep going, we'll see.

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

The scar is better than I expected. It is narrow and pink at 2 months post op with the staple marks giving it a kind of Frankenstein look. They say it will fade. i had 2 big surgeries, and luckily only have one scar.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

When I increased my activity I didn't lose for a few days. I increased my protein and decreased my carbs and am losing again.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

not yet, i am still pretty fat at 2 months post-op.
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