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

I have been reserching it for a long time. Especially when I saw that Carnie Wilson had it done and did well. I know a few people that have done it as well and I just watched and asked questions and came to a conclusion that if I wanted to live I needed to do this for myself and my son.

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

I was blessed to have it easy not one complication at all. I was approved one week after the equest was put in.

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

It was very nerve-racking for me but that was because I was afraid of not knowing certain things. I bought every peice of information that I had looked up and read and had important things to me highlighted and underlined, According to that I asked questions and got answers that had me at ease.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

When I found out that I Servere Obstructive Sleep Apnea I decided to do this.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I looked at the results and each procedure and read the pro's and con's of each.

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?

None I truly believe that God has a plan for us all and it's the way it's to be.

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?

I had alot of support as well as non-support and even choose not to tell certain people.

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

They were shock but very supportive.

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

It was wonderful and peaceful. I walked walked walked.

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

No complications so far.

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

Very anxious but very scared the day of surgery and I just prayed.

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

1st week was kinda hard but I did it. 3 weeks out I was back to work.

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

1 town over. But I would have gone 2 hours if I had to.

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.

I was on all liquid for the 1 3weeks and now I on mushy and crispy ( 6 weeks).

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

Up, up, up

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

Flinstones Complete and Pepcid chewables 2 times a day. Usually once when I woke up and before bed but I found that if I took the second dose at around 2-3pm my energy level was better.

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?

None so far.

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

The pain which subsided after 4 days or so.

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

The support that I have or go to is 1) God ( I pray to get peace of mind and serenity) 2) Dr. Cooperstone have 2 support groups 1 a month for both Pre-Ops and Post-Ops I attend to both. 3) I have and my support group chat on my AOL AIM. 4)I have the obestiyhelp.com support I usually go to the photos cause there are new one's posted everyday and I also go into the chat room and I have met 2 people and added them to my everyday AOL AIM Buddy List.

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

My scar looks like if you have ever gotten a cut from a knife and it scabed and then the scab falls off and it leaves a pink line. It's not even 12 inches long and it's almost 1 inch wide. I am a multi-cultural and do have skin of color. I thought that I would need skin fade creams and or injections but much to my surprise it looks great. At first one of the stiches was to tight in one spot and my skin was actually bumping up I just put some moisturizing ointment (Aquaphor) and a bandaid for pressure and by the end of the week it inverted back into my skin and it's a perfect line. The ointment also kept me from scratching and helped the extremly dry skin.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I have a "DIVA" attitude now because I'm moving up to bigger and better things and I will never feel the way I felt again.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes people do treat me different. Where as to when I was 32lbs heavier some people wouldn't say things to me: and believe it or not people do speak and even smile now. I guess it's because I glow if you will and always have a smile on.