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

I had 5 close friends have this surgery with in a year, I was doing weight watchers and I was doing really well and didn't think that the surgery was for me, then I started putting the weight back on and in the end I had added about 11 more pounds.

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

I have Tri-care prime (Navy), the first doctor that I talked to about it said that I should just stop eating bad food and gave me some depression meds. I guess he thought that because I was fat that I wasn't happy. I was just worried about my health and I was having a hard time with my legs, feet and back, that didn't mean that I hated life! Then I went to another doctor and got a referal and the rest is history, and the best thing for me.

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

I loved my surgen right from the start, he was very helpful. You have to ask lots of questions.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

My health!!

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

It's the only one that I really new about and like I said before, I had 5 friends that had it done with great results!

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 only fear was dying, but I had faith. My health over weighed the fear of pretty much everything.

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 supported me through this whole thing.

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

My employer is one of my closest friends and one of those 5 friends that already had this surgery. I was out of work for about 2 1/2 weeks.

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

Everyone was great in the hospital, I only had one nurse that didn't want to help out. I didn't bring anything with me, I slept most of the time.

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

NO

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 like my life was about to start and I couldn't wait, I waited for over a year to have this surgery, I was ready!

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

I was in little to no pain, the meds took care of that, I was tired, everyday I felt better.

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

a couple of towns over

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 I really don't have a problem with any food that I have tryed, the only thing that I haven't had is rice.

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

I was tired but tryed to walk around as much as possible

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

multi vitamin, calcium, 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?

I had nausea for about 3 to 4 weeks after surgery, when I would wake up in the morning. Now I have nausea if I eat to fast. I've started to loss hair, but not to much.

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

The fact that I had to have surgery to loss weight!!!! lol

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

I have six small scars. Yes, it's what I expected.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I've had a few, I won't lose any weight for 1 or 2 weeks at a time and then all of a sudden I start losing a pound or more a day for about a week. In 4 1/2 months I have lost 78lbs!!!!

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Not really, but they call me skinny....I have a long way to go before that. lol