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

I like alot of people thought that you could die if you had it. I told my doctor to not give me any odds. I am not goods with odds. I talked to my husbands friend of the family and he lost 165 pounds in a year. I just saw him Sunday 4/18/04 and I could not believe it. I had talked to him for quite awhile and my best friend and she said, you will die if you do not get the weight off of your bladder. You will never be able to get your back fixed. She had some rough complications and I thought of them. She still says that she would do it again. She has lost 153 pounds and needs to lose 20 more pounds and goes in for a hernia and a tummy tuck. So I say go girl. When I saw her, I said I want to do something about this. I was leary because I was with her when she could not eat at first. I watched her cry during the holiday. She had a blood clot and stayed 6 more days. She is still here and has been a wonderfull support for me. My husbands friend has been another support friend. Im blessed! The wls site has been so full of information that I just was ready! The pictures of the before and after were unbelievable! I saw no snobs on the site. Some that I would scratch my head about, but did not sway my decision to have the bariatric surgery and live the rest of my life, healthy, happy, and have a smile on my face instead of a frown!

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

Well I can say get all of your ducks in a row. I had been to alot of diet places and was a life time member for years at nutri system and jenny craig and had reciepts of the diets that I ordered on the net or over the phone and was a weight watcher member for quite sometime. I had the sleep apnea machaine and I had to have a stress test and the a cornea angigram. I had all of my back and bladder surgery papers with me and made a folder if I was asked for anything with the doctors names and numbers and all of the hospitals that I had been too so they could get any information that they needed from them. I was prepared and wanted everything to go just fine. I would say start a folder and have everything there, names, numbers all of them. I had a fax machaine so I would not be messed up. I got alot of lost paper work. One place would say they sent it and then the other place would say they did not recieve it so I just had it sent to me and I faxed it and called to see if they got it and if they said yes I would date it and make sure that who ever is screwing up did not do it again because that would stop my process or slow it down.

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

My first visit was great. I got to see my surgeon and talk to him and ask him anything I wanted. I had a sheet of paper with all of my questions. I bought my husband with me also. I got to meet the dietician, all of the head people and see the hospital and was told what to take to the hospital and what not to take. I got to talk to 8 different people that day. I was very impressed and was well imformed.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I was at work and I had got to the point where I could not lift my body up. I do alot of bending all of the time and alot of walking and alot of 5# lifting. I had a bad bladder with 4 surgeries and a bad back with 3 surgeries and alot of medical problems and was scheduled for gerd because of the acid reflex and I said enough is enough. I had searched and searched the web and talked to people and said, I need help. I need to get my life back.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I wanted them to be able to get in there and see everything at once. I knew that I had a stent for my bladder and that I had a plug with angagram so I did not want any surprizes. I felt that this was the fastest way and the easiest way for the doctor to see what was going on with me. No regrets!!!

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 was scared about blood clots because my best friend had one and it had went to her lungs and if she had not went to the emergency she would have died. I was afraid of losing my hair. Just research and do what you got to do. I have not got to the stage where you lose your hair but I will take vitimins and what ever it takes to avoid 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 my close friends were great! Any negative people I did not talk to. No one could have changed my mind. I talked to my husband and he was my main concern as to me getting help. I did the surgery for myself. I wanted my life back. I wanted to be able to do what I have not been able to do for at least 12 years.

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

I am still out of work. This is my 4th week and I am not mentally ready and I just had bladder surgery. My decision was made to be able to do my job better at work. When you work in a factory it is tough. I do not care how the people reacted because they were not feeling my pain.

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

My stay in the hospital was just fine as far as the staff and the surroundings. They had big recliners and they had footies, and a ditty bag full of goodies like shampoo, cream rinse, toothpaste, tooth brush, brush and comb, mouth wash, body lotion and a big set of tongs to wipe your butt with. I had to laugh at that one at first! They handed me those and I said what is these, and the nurse said you will have a best friend with these. When you have your surgery you will not be able to reach very far and boy was she right. She said and remember if you see something that looks like this at a garage sale, dont buy them. The beds were comfy. The food, what you got and could eat was ok. The pain meds were the greatest! I did not have to lay around in pain all of the time. Visiting was good! Parking was great! The hospital was very accomadating.

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

No, I was very fortunate!My wls surgery went very well. It is a healing process. The worst part for me is the mental part about chewing your food, getting in your protien and water intake and trying out different foods and not throwing up all of the time. I had a stent in for my bladder and my urologist left it in so I could have my wls surgery. I went and had it taken out and another one put in. My bladder has caused me undo pain after pain after pain and stress after stress.

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

When I got my surgery date I was so excited! I called my sister who also has a weight problem and told her and the phone went dead! I said sis are you there? She said yes Im here. I am happy for you but sad for me. Her insurance will not pay for wls surgery. So she went with optifast plan. It is drinking several shakes a day. I told her that I would have to do shakes too. So she said well we will see how each of us do on a different diet plan. My co workers some were ok with it and others were so so. Hey I have been in that factory for 27 years and they know what I have been thru, so this was a blessing for me. A last resort to get alot of health issues resolved. My friends that are my friends know this, the rest pooffffffffffff! When I got the call, I had such a lift go off my back and pressure of waiting and waiting for the call. I am glad they called.

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

My first few weeks I stayed at my moms where my two sisters could visit and I would see my brothers. My husband works days and they are late days and he stayed with me at the hospital for the 4 days and took me to my moms. I knew if I was to stay at home I would have no one there and I would probably lay around alot. At my moms there was alot of action and I was so scared of blood clots, leaks, getting use to the food, the incisions. I did alot of crying! I had not found the right protien shake and I would throw up alot! I kept saying I was going to die because I was not eating my shakes and my hair would fall out because of not enough protien. I would crush up my pills and everything was so new. So if you cry, go ahead and cry! Big deal! You have went thru alot! Your body is just as scared as you are! Everyday gets better but I still have alot of problems with the chewing and getting all of my food chewed up. I feel I have had alot of loss of sleep. I just cant get a whole 8 hours sleep in and it makes me crazy. I cat nap and do not sleep straigt thru. I am trying new things all of the time but it can get expensive also! So order samples of protien! I had to return alot of my shakes because I could not drink them and they cost too much to just forget about! It diffently takes alot of time to get use too.

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

I traveled 2 hours and 55 min. It seemed like 5 hours with the traffic. I needed to get out and stretch my legs because I was worried about getting a clot laying down for so long. I was glad to get out of the car. I know alot of people flew in and came alot longer, but when you are cut like that, I dont care who you are, it is not since in trying to be tough, because when you are hurting you are hurting and if you got to get out of the car do so.

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.

Well the first week I had the sf puddings and the sf jello, at that time I could not find a shake that I did not throw up. I have had a problem with chicken. Still cannot get it to go down. So I would call chicken one of my off limits. Bummer cause I love chicken! I love wendys chilli! I cannot eat scrambled eggs, yet I can eat deviled eggs or eggs over easy. I am going on my 5 week and I still have a problem with that chicken. I can eat protien bars now and have found a protien shake that I really like. It is pina colata. It is mixed with water instead of milk. I have always had a problem with milk. I eat the flintstone chewable vitimins. I am still learning and therefore doing alot of getting rid of excess food that gets caught in my belly that just wont go in.

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

My first 3 weeks of surgery was very low. I had ups and downs.I could never get a full nights sleep. I was always roaming the halls at the hospital or in the house. I do not know why this has happened. I was fighting my food survey and it was rough. I had a drainage that was causing me grief. Then when my 4th week came the pain began to be tolorable and then the pain from my stent in my bladder became ungodly awful! It was constant burning after burning. So I went and got that stent taken out and another one put in and will get it out hopefully next week and the burning will stop. I sure hope so! So there has not been alot of activity except alot of walking and pacing.

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

I am taking bugs bunny one a day complete no sugar added. I take them 2 times a day and will wait till I go back to my dietacian to see what she wants me to take next. I have had alot of loss of sleep do to the life style change. I just cannot sleep straight thru. I do worry about hair loss and skin sagging. So whatever they want me to do I will do. I bought enought bugs bunny vitimins for 4 months. I took the pills famotidine 20 mg for I think heart burn. Just 84 pills. I still take my zolof.

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?

I have not been able to sleep straight thru since I have had the surgery. My mom said I need a sleeping pill or something. I will talk to the doctor about that. It might be a mental thing because you worry about different things but I use to sleep good. I do not sleep straigt thru. I have vomited alot due to not chewing my food good enough. I work in a factory and I guess I have always ate fast and then tried to think of what I had for lunch later on. Thats terrible! I worry alot about hair loss. I hear it is usually around the 3rd month to the 8 month. I hope it is not bad. There have been alot of post on the board that I will go to the health store and check it out to see if their is a vitimin that I can take. I had my first dump at Mcdonalds on the way to my first doctors appt. I thought I was going to die. I went in and it was such a long drive and I had scrambled eggs and I got hot flashes, sweaty, a headache and headed for the bathroom. Well Mcdonalds had only 2 stalls and one of them had my name on it for sure. Then I had to rest before I could go to see the doctor. I felt drained!

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

The worst part to me was the waiting and the getting all the history and all of the test to get approved. Then the day of the surgery was somewhat scarry, yet you wanted it done to have your life back. I would say the waiting for the final answer (your approved!)

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

I go to the hospital where I live. They have a support group that meets once a month. It is very important to me. I have a best friend that has had the surgery and she is a wonderfull help to me. I have the wls message board that has been the best information I could ask for. I am on it every day to check out what is happening. It has been a learning experience and the people and just great. I do not do alot of talking I just read and learn.Thankyou obesityhelp.com

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

My scar is long, but looks better than the old scars and my girlfriend had a wide scar. My doctor used glue. It is a nice thin scar. I do not know what the drain will look like as it is still infected and is trying to heal.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I will have to come back to this question at a later date.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

I will have to come back to this at a later date. I have not saw anyone but my family as I am still healing.