Kimberlin Katayama

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Obesity & Me

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

I used to pretend that I was happy with my weight. I fooled my best friend for years that I was so confident and happy. this is the same person who can sense I am having a bad day when i live 3000 miles away and calls me to see whats wrong! I always told myself if I could just get a magic surgery to take off all the weight I would maintain it. I just needed that extra help. Gastric bypass was that help I needed.

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

I started to notice people looking at my belly and turn away really quick as if I had a deformity. Not being able to breath when I walked from my car to the store. Not being able to have the energy or ability to play with my kids. The lack of confidence in myself even though I was able to put on a good front.

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

Having energy and spunk is what I enjoy the most. I love clothes shopping now. I dont dread going to places where I have to walk like the zoo or amusement parks. I have confidence now that I didnt have before and it shows in everything that I do. I managed to end a bad marriage because I now have confidence that I deserve better. I went back to school and got a college degree because I now have the confidence to know that I can achieve anything. I know myself now because I feel like myself and that enabled me to find happiness in life that I always wanted but didnt think I deserved. I enjoy being ME now; something that I didnt enjoy prior to weight loss surgery.

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

I knew of people who had it done. I thought it was unhealthy and unnatural and that surely those people would have problems as they got older

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

My experience was extremly easy. My advice is call the insurance find out what the requirements are first and what exactly they cover, how long does it take for authorizations... ask what the exact process is to make things go quicker. After my surgeons office submitted my paperwork I was approved in 2 days for the surgery.

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

The appt took all day to see the surgeon for one hour. He took the time to explain everything to me and listened to all my questions and answered completely

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I was tired of not fitting into nice clothes and I was beginning to have health problems

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

the amount of weight lost with the RNY and I didnt want to have to worry about having the band adjusted

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 had a lot of fears of dying, of becoming sick after the surgery, having health complications later in life. The chance of dying is extremely small, as long as you follow directions after the surgery there should be no complications

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 was somewhat supportive. I would have liked more but this was something I needed to do for myself.
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