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

Have heard about it for years but my dearest friend had the surgery 7 weeks before me and thats all I needed to go through with it. I guess I thought it wasn't for me. I did not realize how large I was. Thought that it was just for certian people.

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

As well as it could go. The things you had to wear on your legs were not comfy. I was in a huge amount of pain but the staff was so great. My advice on what to bring is a pillow from home, good smelling lotions, and someone to help you wash and walk.:)

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

The surgery could not come fast enough. The approval came on Monday, the surgery was the next Friday!

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

I stayed off work only 2 weeks with the open RNY. I was very sore and drained of any energy. Don't plan on any serious activity until at least 3-4 weeks.

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.

The first 2-4 weeks all I could drink was Milos sweet tea, yes I said sweet tea. I thought I was the biggest freak cause anything else made me so sick. What was so frustrating was that one day I could tolerate something(mashed potatos) and the next day it would come right back up, or not go down at all. Now at 6 months (and 1 dilation later) I'm sharing an appetizer tray from Applebees with my other gastrically challenged frinds. I have just begin to eat chiken again, and I am so happy for that cause i month ago I couldn't even say the word without the bile rising in my throat! My snack is peanut butter crackers and for more than a month I ate watermelon like a fool. Things are going great!

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

HAIR LOSS!!!!!

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

My 2 friends and I who have had this surgery are basically self-supporting. We discuss the changes and our feelings about those changes till we are blue in the face. Nothing other than this.

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

The scar runs from the bottom of my breast bone to the belly button. I could care less about it as I already had one from the removal of a 36lb ovarian cyst that was the exact same.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Plateaus come and go. I may be at the same weight for 2 weeks and then drop 7 pounds in 2 days. They are so frustating but they do pass.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

I do notice that people (one in general )are all about me now where as before they were apparently quite disgusted with my appearance. I had a very distasteful experience with a particular person in my workplace that left me very wounded and he is now very enthusiastic about the outstanding amount of weight I have lost..Was I so frightening before?!?