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

I heard about Carnie Wilson and her weight loss story and I began a year long process of educating myself about it. I had been offered the chance to have Weight loss surgery years before, but I was in no way ready to hear about it much less let anyone cut me open! This point in my life, something was different and I was ready to hear all about it.

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

My insurance company is Tricare Prime (military insurance) I had no problem getting my doctor to write a referral for the surgery but I was denied at first. At the time, I had a BMI of 65, weighed 420lbs, had sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism, one very bad knee, and lymphedema in both legs. I appealed with letters from my dietician whom I worked with for over a year, my massage therapist (who worked on my legs), my PCP, and a close family friend who also had this procedure years ago and was very successful. I won after 4 months of appeals and phone calls. My advice is to be very very persistant, write everything down about who you talk with and when. I kept a notebook full of paperwork so that I would have documentation of EVERYTHING.

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

Emotionally I was numb during my first visit with my surgeon. I had no questions, just nodded my head yes or no to all his questions. Thankfully I had brought along my husband who asked lots of questions for me! I would suggest keeping a list of questions for him so that you don't experience what I did!

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I was newly married and should have been extrememly happy but I wasn't. I recognized that old familiar sadness and depression coming on strong and I knew that if I gave up again on myself, the end of my life would be shortcoming. This was my last attempt to save myself, like grabbing at the life preserver as I was drowing.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I originally wanted to have the Duodenal Switch procedure and began my testing for that. It has the highest success rate of all the surgeries out there with very little late gain reported. I had heard too many stories about the complications following the RNY and wanted no part of that. My surgeon however, would not perform the entire procedure (DS) on me all at once due to my high BMI and very high morbidity rate while under anestesia. What he did do was the first part of the surgery which removed 85% of my stomach which left me with about a 4oz fully functioning stomach.

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 had no fears at all once I had made up my mind to have this done. I cried tears of joy while I was in the pre-operative room waiting for my surgeon to come in! This was it - my LAST CHANCE and I was so happy to have it!

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?

Very very supportive. Not one person said "don't do it"! To this day, everyone is very happy about the successes I've had and continue to cheer me on.

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

I acutally quit working about 4 months before my surgery. I had just taken a new job and had been there for about 3 mos. when I realized that learning about this surgery, getting my approval and heading into the new life that I was, was going to be a full time job. I gave my notice and I actually got more support that I'd ever dreamed of. My supervisior told me that anytime that you take to better yourself over your lifetime that you are going to win and come out ahead of yourself. She was very very positive about the choice I had made and I left feeling very very good about myself. Cheers to her!

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

I was only in the hospital for two days. It might have been only one but my blood pressure was fluctuating and they wanted to keep me one more night for safekeeping. The nurses there were very very good and I had only one shift nurse that was having a bad night and had a not so good attitude when I asked repeatedly for them to come and check my IV that had blown up in my arm. The best thing I brought with me was my own PJ's. Nothing else really mattered since I slept most of the time and had no energy to do much of anything.

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

None!

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 slept away the first week and don't remember much about that time. After that first week, I did experience some post traumatic anxiety which I believe was due to my out of control feelings of helplessness during my hosptial stay. It subsided a few days later, and I was a much more pleasant person to be around.

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

Slept away the first week, and experienced very little pain. I slept upright for about 3 weeks until I could comfortably lie down in my bed again. I could have cared less about eating either. Very strange feelings to be having for a food addict! I was never hungry and would even have to be reminded to eat! This period of time was important for my new tummy to heal and to really start listening to what signals my body was trying to give me - was it head hunger or true hunger? Lots and lots to relearn upstairs.

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

My surgeon was local.

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.

During the first week I had only full liquids and then was able to progress onto soft foods. I ate cheese, refried beans, and jello. I tried to eat tuna salad but I got sick. I realized I could not eat mayonaise based foods and didn't try again for months. My tastes changed weekly - one minute I'd love something and the next I hated it and it would not agree with me. I could not tolerate any dairy procucts. They blew up in my stomach and made me very uncomfortale. After about 3 months my stomach was fully healed, there wasn't much I couldn't eat except for spicy foods. I am now 15 mos out and can anything at all with an occasional exception to pork products.

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

Not much. I was limited to no stairs for the first week and living in a 3 level townhome meant I had to stay on one floor the entire time. I did try to walk around my L/R about 4 times a day for a minute or so - that was all I was able to do! (I had little or no energy)

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

A one a day maximum vitamin, and lots of soy protein supplements.

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?

I began losing my hair around 3 months out and it contiuned until I was about 9 mos out. I knew that it was going to happen so i didn't freak out too much but seeing all that hair on the bathroom floor day after day was pretty scary for awhile. I did have one episode of vomiting (my first and very memorable). I ate some pork ribs for lunch and immediately felt that very very uncomfortable feeling of overfullness. I tried to walk around, and even lay down for a bit but it wouldn't go away. I had an appt. so I headed out to my car and drove about a mile away from home when I felt the nausea come on strong. I was sitting at a red light not far from my home when it just came up and out all over myself! There was a truck stopped next to me and I'm sure he got an eyeful of something he wished he'd never seen! Thankfully I was wearing two shirts that day and as soon as the light turned green, I pulled into a shopping center and took that shirt off and vommited some more! I ended up going home and spending the rest of the day cleaning out my car and doing laundry! The good part was that the pressure and pain dissapeared as soon as I did purge!

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

Getting insurance approval. They put me through hell and back because somewhere in their system they had 2 open referrals going at the same time. One would say yes, your approved and the other would say NOT. I went through this for 4 months before finally BEGGING the person in charge of insurance at my surgeon's office to call and get it straight once and for all. I was literally at my wit's end!

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

My surgeon has a group support meeting once a month and there are several smaller groups scattered around our area that we can attend weekly. I myself hold one twice a month and find it very rewarding. I also belong to several yahoo support group board as well as Obesity help and Spotlighthealth.com. I think keeping my new lifestyle on the "front page" of my daily life is key to my success. I live, eat and breathe my new lifestyle with a vengence.

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

I have 4 very tiny little laproscopic scars that are now white and can barely be seen! More than awesome!

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

The longest plateau I've had to date lasted 4 weeks. I also keep a daily journal of my inches and my daily exercise so I could see that even though I wasn't loosing pounds, I lost over 7" that month!

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes, especially men. Before I was invisible and now I have doors held for me and am spoken to even by strangers. I also treat myself differently because I have a new found confidence that I will remain thin and never have to worry about being morbidly obese again! I have what you call H-O-P-E.