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

I found out about bariatric surgery several years ago and my first impression was that I was still young enough to improve my weight with diet and exercise. I have always been afraid of surgery because of relatives who died in surgery. I felt like surgery should be a last resort and at the time I felt like I was one of the healthiest obese people around.

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

I am currently going through the process and the only thing I can tell someone else is to have patience. There is a lot of waiting involved and you will need to be meticulous about keeping up with all your appointments, correspondence between doctors and your insurance company. Anything that is sent to your doctor/surgeon or insurance company, make sure you get a copy for yourself and keep all that information together. Before you get the final okay one little thing missing could be the difference between approval and denial of your request for surgery approval.

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

In my first visit I was in a class setting. A doctor talked with us about the surgery, we were weighed and seen individually by the doctor. The doctor went over what information we would need to have before they would consider doing the surgery, (medical clearance, pulmonologist clearance, etc).

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I was sure I wanted to have the surgery, but I did get frightened once and consider backing out and trying to lose the weight on my own. I started having a lot of shortness of breath that was related to my size and I ended up on an albuterol inhaler. That was the final straw for me. I knew something had to be done and soon.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I wanted the RNY from the beginning because you get better long-term results from that procedure. I need to lose a substantial amount of weight and the more help I can get the better.

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 have been afraid that I will be that 0.17% who dies or has substantial complications, but I have persisted in my efforts because I will never know what I can achieve if I don't try. I am doing everything the doctor says to do so that I can go into the surgery as healthy as possible. If you follow your doctors instructions to the letter you greatly decrease your possibility of complications.

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?

My family and significant other are still not sure that they want me to have the surgery. I have a few friends that are very supportive and that helps a lot. I don't think I would have changed anything about communicating my decision to others. I wanted my family to have a chance to accept my decision for what it was and be there for me as much as possible.

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

n/a

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

My stay at the hospital was okay. My daytime nurse was okay. The communication between the doctor and nurses could have been a lot better. I left without having my dressings changed on some of my stitches that Dr Rashid said needed to be changed. The Dr said that I would receive certain things before I was discharged and I had to ask for them. My i.v. slipped out and it took 4 nurses 10 sticks and lots of digging around with no anesthetic to find and thread a vein. I was so happy to be on the losing side that I was willing to go through anything.

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

I have not had any complications as of 6 days post op.

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 was happy, anxious and excited. My anxiety was a lot less severe because I had a surgery buddy. I met a friend in the nutrition class and we asked for the same surgery date so we were there together.

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

Expect some mild discomfort, a lot of gas pain and you gotta keep moving. I think walking around helped me a lot.

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

I traveled about 1 1/2 hours from home.