dartymaria

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Obesity & Me

Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

My struggled with being over weight begin when I became a born again christian. At that time I stopped smoking, drinking, and other things but I started eating much more. Everytime I looked around there was something to celebrate and it always included eating. I weight 125 in 1983 and over 23 years I gained 130 pounds. I have tried Weight Watchers, Weight Loss Clinic, Atkins Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, etc.... but never kept the weight off.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

FEELING UNATTRACTIVE.

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

Cross my legs, wear high hils, have better sex, tie my shoes, scratch my own back, wear a necklace, wear my shirt inside and my cell phone on my waist.

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

The bariatric Clinic is less then 3 miles from my house. I heard horror storys about the gastric bypass and was not aware that there was another surgery called the Lap Band.

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

I was approved for my surgery the first time. I had Sleep apnea very bad. After taking the sleep test my doctor recommended that I have the surgery. My advice to others is be patient, do what is required to get approve, and if not approved don't give up.

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

I really suggest that if someone is seriously thinking about having the surgery that they sign up as a member of Obsityhelp.com it is a excellent source of information both before and after surgery. When I went in for my first visit I had was a memeber of the obesityhelp website for almost 6 months. I followed 2 great people from the time they were waiting for the insurance company to approval their surgery up until today. I prayed for the success of their sugery, and followed their two week liquid diet after surgery, introduction to regular food, 6 week appointment after surgery and their first fill experience, including slimming, PB's and the best thing of all, their weight loss. I seen how their confident was lifted as they lost weight. So when I went to the doctor I knew a lot about what to expect. So i recommend that newbies visit obesityhelp sight and follow someone who is waiting to have surgery. Read the postings for questions and answers and feel free to ask questions of their own. It is a world of information out there regarding this procedure.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

A friend of mine had the surgery and I watched her lose 90 pounds. I was able to ask her questions and she was very informtive.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

My friend had the Lap Band and I knew that is what I wanted to have.

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?

There are more people that die from obess complications that die from having this surgery.

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?

Very supportive once the seen that I was not worried about what they thought

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

I did not share my surgery decision with my employer because I am off all summer and by the time I went back to work I was 3 weeks post op.

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

Was a very plesant overnight stay. You really don't have to bring anything because the Hospital supplied everything tooth brush, paste, sock slippers, gown, disposable panties, lotion, wipes, mouth wash, comb, all of this came in a complimentry package. I wish that I had brought a book to read.

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

4 weeks after surgery my main incision got infected. It was Iritated by the waist band of my jeans that were to tight.

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 felt good and most of my anxiety came from people telling me what I could and could'nt do. So I prayed a lot and stayed on the obesityhelp sight asking questions.

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

This is a healing time so people should take it real easy even though they may feel great you still need to heal. Expect friends and family to watch every thing you do and to make comments. Try really hard to follow the diet that is given. Yes it's hard but when you get on the scale and see the weight loss it is well worth it. Practice putting smaller amounts in your mouth and remembering to chew chew chew, and drink the water.

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

I traveled 3 miles

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 4 week are the hardest because you are limited to what you can eat but also you are lossing weight. When you go in for your first appointment and the scale shows a good weight loss it just motivates you more to do the right thing. After your first fill my eating habit really changed as far as what I could eat and the amounts. I started paying more attention to the filling of full because when I passed that feeling and ate anyway I would vomit and this is not good. So you start paying attention to what you eat when is the best time to eat, how much you eat and how much you put in your mouth each times.

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

I would walk up and down my hall in the house for 10mins at a time until I did 30 min. After 3 weeks of that I started walking outside 1 mile a day. Then after the Doctor released me to work out I went back to curves. Curves has helped me not only to loss weight and inches but to firm up all the way around.

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

I take two children multiple vitimans a day plus calcium chews.

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

My support group is here on obesityhelp

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

All have healed very well except the main incision because it was infected so it is dark but getting better every day.
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