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

One day, I noticed my neighbor (who I didn't really know or talk to) was turning into the incredible shrinking woman. I just had to know what she was doing so I finally asked her. She told me about the surgery and gave me the name of her doctor, Dr. Adrian J. Heap in Richland, WA. I called right away to make an appointment with him and scheduled my surgery for Feb. 1995. I was so impressed with what I saw it do for my neighbor, it seemed like a dream come true for me. I was extremely impressed

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

I was very lucky at the time, I had really good insurance (Cigna) and they covered most of the surgery. I do not have any advide as for this.

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

My first meeting was good, I had tons of questions written down to ask him and he answered everything for me and made sure I understood everything, benefits, risks, etc. He was very open and honest and direct. I think people can get the most out of the first meeting by going in there with their list of questions and make sure they all get answered and write down the answers as well.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I wanted to live, I wanted to be a good mom to my daughter and hopefully have another baby before it was too late, I had already had 3 miscarriages (and I truely believe it was due to being overweight, even though I could not get my wonderful OB-GYN to say so) and I wanted to be a better wife and by that I mean a happier person to be around.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I really only knew about one at the time. The Open RNY - Gastric Bypass

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 totally mortified, I was scared spitless, I was terrified I was going to die in surgery. I even made cassette tapes for my family before I went into surgery in case I didn't come out alive. But I wanted to go through with it cause if I didn't I was afraid I was going to die anyway. I would tell people (and I did just tell a gal last week who was terrified and had her surgery yesterday) That I felt the same way and my reasons for feeling the way I did and that I would be there for them if they needed me.

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?

I did not tell my family because I didn't feel that they would be supportive, just my husband knew and a few of my friends. My friends were extremely supportive as was my hubby. No I wouldn't have done anything differently. After the surgery my family was very supportive. I guess the reason I didn't tell them was that I was doing this for me and me only, NOT to appease them.

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

I was not working at the time.

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

my hospital stay was pretty fuzzy to me, I don;t even remember the forst 2 days. When I was more alert, I was pretty sore. I don't recall bringing much.

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

No I did not have any complications.

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 was very excited but also scared to death at the same time. I was going to start a new life, be reborn if you will.

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

It was tough. Hard to get around. I slept in a recliner chair for quite a while, it was very hard to get up and down. When I finally started feeling a bit better, I switched to a day bed that had rails I could use to pull myself up with. People should try not to get to discouraged by not being able to do much. I am one who hates to be restricted from anything.

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

Only about 8 miles. Not a problem

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.

Couldn't eat much of anything. A tablespoon of food was more than enough. I had mostly soup broths, applesauce, cream of rice cereal, mashed potatoes, some baby food. Later down the road toast and I tried some other things, but it took a while before I could eat much. The foods that were off limits for quite a while and sometimes still are (after 8 years) were rice, baked chicken, beef cooked certain ways, ground up meat worked better for me. It is really hard to remember some of this as it has been so long ago. But I am definately now lactose intollerant! Milk does not settle with me at all it goes down and comes right back up almost instantly. Ice cream is pushing it, maybe a baby cone from Dairy Queen can be tolerated at times. Cheeses aren't too bad or sour cream, the worst thing I deal with after eating those is the "gas factor".

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

Quite low actually.

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

Hemogenics (Iron suppliments), multivitamins (I am now taking a prenatal vitamin), Amino acids (which I don't take much anymore) protein powder (very rarely used nowadays)

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 some dumping, food balls mostly from meats, some nausea/pain from eating certain foods, and of course vomiting (it was mostly like a reflux vomiting). Again I don't remember how long it lasted. One of the worst was hair loss! My hair was coming out in handfulls. It got so thin I wouldn't even go out in public, so I bought a wig, and no one could ever tell that it was one and I loved it. My hair finally grew back pretty good, especially when I got pregnant in 1996.

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

Finally getting up the courage to tell people about having it. I heard rumours from my neighbors that someone told them I had brain cancer, and people thinking I had been real sick, I just didn't want to tell them for fear of them thinking I was a failure because I had to have surgery to lose weight. I know much differently now!

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

Well I am so very glad that you asked this one!! I had no support system other than my doctor. So after years of thinking, gee it would have really been neat to have had someone to talk to that had been through this. I felt like I had to deal with this all alone. SO, I just recently started my own "Support Group" for my area. It is called: "The New You" Support Group. I have a wonderful web site out on: www.mytri-cities.com It is real new and I am trying to get the word out that it is there and have distributed flyers and business cards and posted messages. I have gotten some very positive response. I am so excited about this project and I hope I have already helped out some people. I feel it is very important to have a support system and that is why it just felt so right to do this.

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

It seemed huge, from my breast bone to my bellybutton (I had a hernia repair by my bellybutton done too. But with time it faded really well and I didn't even worry about it.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Yes, I have plateaued a few times, after I quit nursing my baby, I not only plateaued, I gained some weight back. The doctor had me try a few different methods of losing weight, none of which seemed to work very well.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Very much so, I get a lot friendlier service.