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

My husband was weighing 390pds and was 5'4" and was on herbal life diet plan, when he developed GERD, which is a severe case of heartburn, and its the acid in your stomach basically eating away at your insides. So he went to a stomach dr and he said, man you really need to get a gastric bypass to lose this weight. So we called our ins. co and they said no we dont cover that, so I came online and found obesityhelp.com and found how you get the ins. co to pay for it. and my husband had his, then a month later I had mine. My impression of it was I wanted to do it from the word jump. I needed the lifelong commitment to be forced upon me because I couldnt do it myself. I needed to get sick if I ate the wrong thing so maybe I could get it in my head that I dont want it, I dont need it, its not good for my body.

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

My experience with getting insurance approval for surgery was pretty much none. From reading up on excellent websites like obesityhelp.com you will find that you just need to do one step which is contact a bariatric surgeon and schedule an appt. to see them and the dr and his assistants take it from there. They get approvals day in and day out so they know what to write and what to say to get the approvals...

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

The first visit it the hardest because you want this so bad, and you are very nervous about no really knowing if you can get approved and you have all these questions in your head and probally have done some research but not an expert so its pretty much overwhelming but the second, then the third and so on gets alot eaiser because your esteem and excitment is building and you know your closer to a life changing event for the better.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

What made me decide to have surgery was and I tell everyone this..I reached a point where I could not go back and could not go foward like I was anymore. I was literaly at the end of my rope.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I had researched them all but I felt the ds procedure was too new and I didnt like the idea of permentaly removing something. Plus my insurance would only cover the open rny. I would have been fine with the lap rny but insurance said no..

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?

My fear about having complications was I had never had surgery before so all this would be new to me. I didnt know what to expect. You have to acknowledge all of the things that could go wrong even if it was one in a million, you still need to know about it.

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 friends at first were not encouraging because my family all of them are small so they didnt understand how hard it was being obese so they would discourage it because they were scared for me. I told my family that this is what I was doing so I cant be here longer, and fighting my obesity the only way I know it would work, and I put my faith in the lord. My friends were all big so they were like "you are perfect the way you are, why do you want to be thin, I wouldnt do it and so on and so on.. After the surgery my family rave about how good I look and will tell anyone who would listen about my story of weight loss. My friends are still not supportive, they call me names like bony,tell me I need to go get a sandwich or something,say I look funny being small,I've lost my glow that I had when I was big,

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

I told my immediate supervisor and she has been so supportive, she would always comment on my weight loss and always been positive.I was out of work for 4 weeks, and I probally could have gone back to work sooner but the nurse thought my jobs required something that would cause me to get injured but I explained to her then she signed me to go back.

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

The hospital stay was pretty good given your circumstances, but as you know as soon as you go to sleep and the pain goes away and you can relax, the nurses come in an wake you up for tests or someting.But you have to push youself to walk, for you to recover better and quicker. I was in the hospital for 2 days. All the things that they tell you to bring with you or that you will need is pointless because you wont need any of them besides something comfortble for going home in and you could wear that going in. I packed toothbrush,tootpaste (the hospital provides you with those,plus you are in alot of pain, your lucky if you brush them the first day out..lol) A book, or puzzle to work on..(you are so groggy in there and so uncomfortable and people visiting you that you dont even get to them) the hospital provides you with socks with skids on the bottom so no slippers needed. No tongs to wipe with,the nurses would rather they do it so you dont injur yourself. Basically everything you need it already at the hospital.

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

I fortunatly didnt have any complications from the surgery

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 found out I was approved in August and because the dr was booked I didnt get my surgery date until December. That I think was the hardest for me. I felt like it was so long away, I was depressed even more because I wanted it and I wanted now, frustrated because I know I needed winter clothes because I had gained weight and couldnt really fit in my winter clothes from last year and didnt want to waste the money to buy new clothes when I knew I wouldnt be able to wear them anymore after surgery. All in all it was really hard.

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

The first week was pretty hard, I took one pain pill the first night out and didnt take anymore after that. The hardest thing is not really the pain but the fact that no matter what you do..you cannot get comfortable...not laying down, not sitting up..nothing! Getting up from a sitting position or laying position was painful, it felt like someone was ripping your stomach open because the staples were pinching. I didnt expect to have so much trouble and pain just wiping myself after urinating. For you to try to reach that little way is so painful on your incison area. The second week was better,but still kinda hard. Your body is recovering but your brain remembers last week the pain you were in so your are really cautious with every movement you do..The third week you are feeling alot better, but still feeling tired and run down and have more energy the next and getting cabin fever and want to go out.

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

I only travled about 7miles for my pre-op and post-op visits and about 25miles to the hospital to have the surgery.

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 could eat pretty much anything so I will list the things I cant eat or the things that cause me discomfort. When I first came home for a few weeks I couldnt eat foods together,(like meat,veggies and starch) I dont know why they would make me sick. I had to eat one at a time so for breakfast I would have mashed potatos,for lunch I would have green beans, for dinner I would have chicken. That worked best for me for a few weeks after the surgery. I had a problem with constipation when I first came home (I hear that happens to most) and it was painful,so my husband asked me what makes you go to the bathroom, I said choclate or icecream. so I ate an entire snickers ice cream bar,and ended up feeling better because it did make me go,but just gotten home less than 12 hours and how could I eat all that plus with all that sugar? I felt awful mentally, almost ashamed of myself. I was a big soday freak before the surgery and did try it when I came home but you will see that nothing tastes the same or even tastes good after the surgery,so the sodas tasted nasty and that was all I needed to kick the habit on that.I am not happy with myself but I got to keep it real with ya, I went on a chip bindge for a while there,because it was one of the only things that didnt sit funny after I ate it. But like alot of things that I loved and found comfort in before I didnt have to urge to eat alot of and over time didnt even want anymore..not even fast food. Its weired but you can taste the grease in fried foods where you couldnt taste before and its so nasty. I am 1 year out and the only thing that makes me sick and gets "hung" in my chest is bread. I do miss it sometimes but not as much as I thought I would. I can tolerate toast alittle bit but not buiscuits or like sandwiches or subs or pizza with pan crust. I make my sandwichs with tortillas now and they are really good..I cannot tollerate milk,it gives me a bad upset stomach. I cannot tolerate noodles,not even angel hair.I think when you eat them you think you chewed them and actually you havent then you swallow and then you feel it. I went through a month right after getting out where I felt sad or depressed because I couldnt have what everyone else was having and I didnt realize the highlight of my weekend and what was the most fun for us was hanging out with our friends by deciding what resturant we were going to and gorging out on food. Another frustrating thing is the fact that you cant even drink normally for awhile after, you have to sip until you almost lose you mind. The sipping really doesnt quinch your thirst. One time I got so mad that I couldnt swallow a drink faster that I said forget this and I took 5 big gulps of water and felt so good for about 10 seconds then the next 15 were complete hell,it was so painful..that it didnt bother me to sip after that. All you need to do it do what you know your not suppose to do one or two times and feel that discomfort or pain and its amazing thats all you need to have the self control and really not want to do it or not want it..All in all my tolerance has not changed much, what I could and couldnt eat hasnt changed much in this past year but what I want and dont want to eat has changed so much for the better, and again eating better is by choice,it tastes better..

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

The activity level is one thing I didnt get at the beginning,I would read how peoples energy level went through to roof and I could barely have the energy to get out of bed for the first couple of months out but now a year out,I have the endurance to exercise on an eliptical machine for 60 mins. a day for at least 5 days a week. Pre op I couldnt even be on there for a full 60 seconds, so the energy level for me wasnt immediatly but a progression day by day and so on. Then it would hit me all of a sudden like..I havent wanted to take a nap during the day for like a week now, or I do have more energy throughout the day if I exercise.

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?

The side effects that were worse for me was the hair loss. I have full natural curly hair so in my mind I think I thought that I wont have to worry about that, so about 3 months out I started losing hair and didnt pay much mind to it, I figured it would stop and it eventually did, I didnt have any bald patches or anything but my hair up in the front (bang area) was the thinnest and the sides around my face. and 1 year out hasnt grown back yet, its still thin. but its doesnt bother me anymore. The sleep disturbance was awful when I first came home but subsided about 3 to 4 weeks out. Not alot of nausia. I have only vomited I think three times and one was because I ate too fast,the other was I ate too big of a bite, and the third was I ate too much(overate) and once you do it you know what your mistake was and can try to make sure it doesnt happen again. The same with dumping, actually I like dumping, I know it sounds weird but when I dumped,I never forgot how I felt for those 15-20 mins and gave me the willpower not to want to do it again.

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

The worst parts about the surgery was the first couple of weeks out,physcally and mentally was the worst. The later worse is with the loose skin, and seeing all the damage you have done to your body and for what...and on a more selfish note, is all the quick weight you lose in that first year and then SCREACH..it all seems to come to a halt all of a sudden and you have to work hard to lose the remaining weight.

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

my scar is about 3 inches, it is smaller than I expected and it goes very well with all my strech marks..ha..ha so that really never bothered me much before or after because I would not go out with my stomach showing and I knew this going in..

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

The only plateau in the 1 year I have had is now, I maintained about a 5-7 pound weight loss per week and I am still losing around 1-3 pounds a week but just recently (within the past 2 months) around my period time I tend to gain a pound or two and that really bothers me but I have been going to the gym faithfully 5 days a week, but slacking off my water and protein and not watching or measuring my food so I think that is the problem so I am back on schedule with that because I have 20 more pounds until goal and if I have lost so much so far I refuse to stop when I only have a measly 20 more to go..so I am driven to do the right thing for myself..

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

I only notice a couple of things, when I would go out to eat for example I was too concerned with eating and looking at my food as opposed to look and see if someone was watching me, and when I hear people laugh, I dont think they are laughing at me anymore, whether they were or not before, that is how I always felt. I notice that when I go out with one of my friends who are still obese I notice strangers looking at them and watching what they are eating and how much. which I never paid much attention to before..