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

Back when Carnie Wilson had hers done. My initial opinion was "oh my gosh, how drastic!!!"

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

I have Kaiser Permanente and they have been great. I advise that you be persistant, especially since this surgery has proven to be successful over time.

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

It was great. Write down all your questions. Keep a note pad handy to jot them down or you might forget.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I had had enough of continually losing no more than 40 lbs then gaining it back.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

My surgeon helped me decide.

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 am still pre-op and my surgery is coming up in 11 days. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't afraid. I am VERY afraid yet I have no doubt this is the right thing for me to do, right now. I am not afraid of the pain and overall, I am not afraid of dying.....I just don't want to die now. Like most people, I want to die of old age.

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?

Everyone has been wonderful!!!....I am truly blessed.

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

My boss and employer has been great. I have been very honest about this proceedure from the day that I received my approval letter from my insurance company several months ago.

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

Wonderful. 3 full days. Your own pillow, slippers, your own robe, toothbrush.

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

None.

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

Elated!! I wasn't anxious at all. Actually, I was gratefull that it was finally going to happen.

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

Ooooooo..... This is a tough one and discovered not many post op people talked much about the first few weeks after surgery. Now that time has passed, I can see why. Once you really feel better, you easily forget the bad. I had terrible gas pains for the first two weeks (which is totally normal) and had a lot of difficulty with "head hunger" and getting enough water each day (again, totally normal).

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

About 60 miles. It didn't affect my aftercare at all.

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.

week 1 - SF jello and pudding, clear broth, crystal light week 2 - same thing but slowly started adding pureed cream based soups week 3 - same thing but experimented with pintos and cheese from taco bell week 4 - same thing plus cheese sticks and some loosely cooked ground beef week 5 - same thing and discovered I couldn't tolerate eggs at all (really upset the stomach) week 6 - started adding more softly cooked proteins and seafood I will never eat fried or fatty fast food ever again.

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

Lots of walking.

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

Daily - Mega Multi Vitamin, Calcium, Biotin, Iron, B-12

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?

Sleep disturbances were bad, especially if I had to go to the bathroom. This laste for about 4 weeks. My husband helped me around a lot.

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

The "head hunger" after I got home from the hospital.

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

I have attended two different support groups on and off and have found neither one to be very helpful so I rely on this website as my main support.

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

Wow, much better than I expected. I had a RNY done laproscopically. I ended up with 5 very small (less than an inch in length) incisions and they are healing wonderfully. You have to look really closely at 4 of them to tell anything is there. The 5th one is still kind of dark and easy to see but I imagine it will fade more with time as well.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I haven't had any of any great length so it hasn't been an issue. I am still steadily losing.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Ha! Very differently - - as sad as it is, much better!! I don't think I really realized the amount of discrimination there is to large people until now and it is very disturbing to me.