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

family members and obesity.com

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

2 companies told me no, my husband had other insurance carrier from his work and hey approved me for surgery after I got added to his insurance instead. Keep asking

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

very informative, very supportive ask lots of questions

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

family encouragement and obesity.com stories I read

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

family and doctor recommended it

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?

did not have that many fears, talked with family members alot about their complications, 2 sister had similar surgery, they had open and I had laproscopic. I feel I recovered alot quicker and had less 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?

very supportive, 2 sisters had it done before me and 1 friend

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

off work about 2 weeks with no heavy lifting for 6-8 weeks, lied to employer until after surgery was completed, I did not feel it was their business of what I was choosing to do

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

about 5 days if I recall, did not really bring anything special along with me that I can recall

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

little bit of throwing up after overindulging or eating the wrong thing, sugar does still have some bad side effects even 6 years later, still have to watch high sugar items

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 felt sore the first couple of weeks, it was an adjustment with the meats for me, but you learn to deal with it

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

you learn what you can and cannot eat fairly quickly, take head of what your body tells you, stay away from the soda pop

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

60 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.

biggest thing was meat, still after 6 years can't eat much red meat only about 5-6 piesces still, have to stay aaway from straight sugar items can eat some but have to stop myself or I get severe sugar rush and feel sick if I eat too much

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

slow at first but energy picked up dramatically after about 2 months or so

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

childrens multi vitamin - gummy bears - 2 every day

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?

some vomiting if I over eat, no sleep loss, only slight hair loss, the change in the odor of my # 2 was definately something to get used to, more gassy and greasy, but it does pass eventually, about a year and it goes back to semi normal, coping with it "close the door"

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

waiting to loose the weight

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

family and friend support only did check back with obesity.com fairly often and read differant stories from people

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

only 5 small incisions, in my laproscopic method, my 2 sisters have very noticeable scars from the open method, only one of my scars remain 6 years later and it is about 1/2" long, better method I feel is the laproscopic, but that's me

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

in my experience I went down to 145 at the lowest, put back on and stabilized at 165 to 175 over the last 2 years, need to get back to 165 working on that or maybe 155 would be better

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

big differance, in everyone, co workers, customers, husband and children, everyone in your life will treat you differantly, try ot to let it go to your head