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

A friend of mine had the surgery and then she told me after the fact. She didn't want to tell me about it at first because she thought I'd tell her" she was taking the easy way out." I don't understand why she'd think this , could I begrudge her for taking control of her life and changing things for the better. After reading and reading about the surgery , I decided that this was the only way that I would ever hope to lose the weight. I didn't come to this decision lightly. After years of being sold the idea of weight loss by the diet industry and doctors who just didn't get it , I said "enough"and decided this was for me.

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

At this stage my insurance hasn't approved me but I won't let that stop me. I have taken the optomistic outlook and have started looking for a doctor.11/20/02 Today after about 4 weeks I got mu approval. I was so happy that I couldn't sleep( I got the email at 11:45 p.m). The day that I have been living for ,for the past six months has finally been approved ! Now do you want to know the strange thing about it, I'm kind of scared now . This makes absolutely no sense because this is something that I've wanted for so long but now having the approval kind of makes it all seem real now. I think when I was just going through the initial stages I half way doubted that they would approve me ( people had been telling me that I wasn't big enough ) so when I got the "ok" today it went from a dream to reality . I feel like there's finally a light at the end of this dark tunnel !

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

Dr Noel Williams was the first surgeon that I met. He seemed very busy and didn't spend alot of time explaining things but I could tell by his air of confidence that he was good at what he does. I was a little put off at first because they wanted me to see some more of his colleagues (this wouldn't be covered by my insurance ,so I had them done locally under my coverage but they didn't want to accept this). Then I met with Dr Matthew Kirkland who I really liked because he sat down and talked to us one on one and answered any and all of our questions. He must've spent 45 mins with our group and made me feel comfortable with his expertise. He explained so much to me that when I left his office I was no longer in doubt about doing this.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

The main reason that I decided to have the surgery came from the fact that I could feel my own body starting to shut down. My knees ached , my back pain was severe , the high blood pressure , acid reflux and possibilty of facing the future in a wheelchair made me realize it was time to do something. I could either stay this way or roll the dice and risk the surgery . I'm willing to roll the dice for a healthier life .

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I looked at the several different types of surgery and chose the one that would give me the most restrictions. In doing this I knew that if my body couldn't tolerate certain things then I would have a better chance of this being successful. The Roux-en-y was the most restrictive of them all and this is what made me decide on 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?

Right now after learning that I was approved, I became frightend but I'm not quite sure of what . I'm no stranger to surgery but I think hearing the "your approved" made it seem real , where as before it was only a dream. So as far as the risks of complications, the risks of staying obese are even greater. The fear of dying thing , I conquered along time ago. When I go into surgery I silently say a prayer and ask God to be with me whatever the out come may be and in doing that I know no matter what happens I'll be alright. I have made my peace with this decision a long time ago and won't turn back now.

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 husband seemed ok with it because he see's the pain that I'm in because of the obesity. My oldest son doesn't like it because he's afraid that I could die so he's not taking it well, my younger children also seem concerned but they see how much this means to me and have taken a sit back and wait approach. My sister isn't for it either because she like so many others has heard of the several deaths from this surgery but I have assured her that I understand the risks and that I'm going into this with my eyes wide open.

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

n/a - not working due to disability.

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

My hospital stay was excellent. The nurses were so attentive as well as caring . They didn't even mind when I got confused and kept ringing their call bell instead of the morphine drip button . My stay was 3 days one of which I slept through and the other two were fine . I didn't take much to the hospital because I knew you'd sleep alot. I had a book that I had been wanting to read and a magazine (neither of which I looked at ). I slept alot and when I woke up more I started walking to prevent blood clots from forming.

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

The only one that I had was my hair in the top of my head all fell out from the anesthsia. I was heartbroken but bought 2 nice wigs until it grows back. Then after talking to the Dr about this , he said the hair loss usually doesn't happen for 3-4 months so as soon as my hair grows back it'll fall out again. More wigs I guess, they have some real nice ones out there too !

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

This is a good question because it let me see what happened to me upon hearing "your approved ". That was it , I felt anxiety ! Why I could never explain because this is something that I want to do . The anxiety I believe is coming from knowing that I'm about to let someone preform surgery on me without being sick. All of my previous surgeries have been life saving procedures but this is a selective surgery.So now that I have a name to put on the face of my fear, I can face it now. I know this will help me live a better life and in that alone I feel comfort. As they "nothing ventured ,nothing gained " and I'm willing to roll the on dice on the chance that I'll be healthier.

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

The one thing that I can't stress enough for people is "get a hospital bed and commode !" Getting up from a lying down position was almost impossible and because you use your stomach muscles for so much pulling up makes them so sore. A hospital bed at least puts you into a sitting up position and then you can work from there but without it it's painful !!! My husband is a big guy and he had trouble pulling me up but Godbless him he didn't give up on me and he kept at it until I managed to get me up. He even got a cane for me because when I did get up my balance was messed up and the cane did help support me. My husband has been the best thing that's ever happened to me and after this is all over , he will continue to be the love of my life. He has stayed with me through "thick and thin " as the saying goes and I can never repay him. I love you Bob ,more than life itself !

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

I went 60 miles away to a metropolitan hospital because this surgery was to important to trust with someone who just does this occasionally. I wanted a medical center who does this so often that they knew just what to look for to prevent complications or address them before they get out of hand. The Hospital of The University Of Pennsylvania was the place for me !

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 few days was hard because I wasn't given anything until the 3rd day and then it was just clear liquids. (I never knew clear liquids could be so good .lol)Then I figured out ways to eat pureed food with some spices or seasonings and before long I didn't feel like I was missing too much!.I'm still only 2 weeks out so I don't know what the future will bring .

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

2 days after I got home I wanted to get around but I couldn't get up. But as soon as I learned how to get up , I was walking around the hallway , the bathroom then downstairs, outside, on the bus and downtown now.I'm not the kind of person who wants to lie down long and because of months of back pain I became like an invalid but now I'm back . No back pain since surgery and I'm ready to go. The truth is though as soon as I've done to much my body will let me know and I have to have a nap.

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

I have been taking Vitamin C, Childrens Vitamins, Viactiv Calcium chews (3 a day),Iron 18 mgs daily , a 1 A DAY Active formula which contains ginseng for extra energy (which I need after the surgery because I'm always tired without it). But the biggest and best Vitamin I'm using is Vitamin E. This is an oil that I massage my scars with twice a day and it softens them as well as lessening their appearence.

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?

Right after my surgery , I lost my hair in about a 5 inch square patch at the top of my head from the anesthesia. This was devastating because we women love our hair. I cried for days because of this but finally , I picked myself up and bought several different wigs. I loved them, my family loved the new look and I love the weightloss ! Probably 3 weeks post-op I had trouble with nausea an some vomiting and I had to call my dr and he gave me Compesazine. This drug really helped me to eat and keep food down.This lasted about 2 weeks and still comes and goes.What I finally had to do to keep food down again was to start with soft pureed foods for about 3-4 days and then things seemed to go back to normal. Now as for dumping , it's happened 4 times,yuck ! I ate a little piece of pizza crust that still had sauce on it and it let me know it,then I had fruit juice that said "no sugar added 100% fruit" and it did have sugar in it ,then there was the tuna salad in the mall with the reg mayo that had sugar in it and finally I had a of a Whopper at BK and let me tell you about dumping. Each time I could tell what was going on , my stomach would cramp, my body would feel weak ,I would feel tired , like I had to lay down or fall down and twice I had to vomit it up . Then you lay down for about an hour and you start to feel better. But you learn sooner or later what to eat and what to avoid .

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

The worst part for me at first was losing my hair. Then not being able to eat or drink enough at first was hard too but that only lasted about 4 weeks. Also taking pills was hard because alot of my meds are big pills so I tried crushing them (yuckkkkkyy!!), slicing them into pieces(just as bad)and finally I just soak them in warm water with flavored tea and go for it as slowly as my new tummy will stand.Sometimes taking 5 pills can take up to an hour. I use to be able to guzzle 5-6 pills at one time but now they get stuck in my throat and I have to wait until they move before sending another one dwon.

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

As a Black woman I have keloid scarring but that was to be expected because we scar differently. I have been using Vitamin E oil on them and this seems to have smoothed them out so nicely. Even though they are still visible, they're not as bad as the originally looked. Each week they actually get less noticeable.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

At week 7 post-op , I have been on my first plateau and it's not fun. I expected to keep dropping weight for a while before I hit one. My angel tells me this happens and not to worry about it as long as I'm getting my protein , water and food in then I'll start to lose again.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

People have started noticing that I've lost weight(40 lbs) and they will come up to me and say things like "you look good" or "your face is getting smaller". Now this bothers me because I feel like they're saying "God you were so big before the surgery !" I haven't learned to see this as a compliment yet.