kittykatnamedgem

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Obesity & Me

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

I am not originally from the U.S. Coming from a country where fast food doesn't exist, I lived on very healthy foods. All of a sudden I was aware of these new and yummy foods. I went wild. I was very thin as a child but as soon as I hit the states, around age 5, It took less than a year to start packing on lbs. I am now 19 and I have been trying to lose weight since I was about 10. I was getting heavier and my family tried to limit what I ate. Candy can be bought for less than a dollar and so it didn't work that way. After years of struggle, trying new diets, excercising til I couldn't walk. Years of just not getting any results and still gaining more weight, I reached 305 lbs in summer of 04' and started doing research on weight loss when I came across gastric bypass surgery. I was very sceptical in the beginning, thinking it too drastic but as i did more research, I realized this was exactly what I needed. At this time I was starting to have some serious health problems, bad circulation, heart problems, diabeties, that no 19 year old should be worrying about. So the next month I went to see the surgeon.

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

The worst thing about overweight is when you're bigger than everyone, you don't quite fit in, they are so small and you always seem to stand out. Always measuring yourself against others. Watching how thin their thighs are, or how flat their tummy is. It's an awareness that keeps us back in so many ways, makes us less easy to laugh, more eager to be upset. I hated not being able to shop at certain places, I hated the looks I got when I would go into these stores to shop for my sister, a size 6 and the mean glares when I took them up to the register. I was set apart because of my weight, not who I really was.

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

I enjoy walking without feeling like my legs are going to fall off, my heart is going to beat out of my chest and my mouth is dry as a desert. I enjoy being able to just get up and go, having energy that I didn't really know I could have. Everything is easier, it's sometimes not conscious. I walked 6 miles at work with heels on the other day. I would never have done that before. I wear a little speedometer thing that tracks how far I walk... so its very amusing

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

I found out about bariatric surgery when I started doing research on new ways to lose weight through web md. I had made it somehow to 305 lbs and I was desperate. I did lots of research and finally felt comfortable with knowing what I did but my first impression was, "you've got to be kidding me!, this sounds like that thing they used to do several years back, wiring people's mouths shut so they can't eat" I did however give it a chance and what I learned enabled me to realize that it doesn't hinder the way that jaw wiring does. its not trendy, its a lifestyle and healthy change. Basically taking our stomach's back to the healthy days.

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

The first week home is very strange. You're still very out of everything. I started having a harsh pain in my left side to the side of my belly button from where they had cut through muscle to reach my stomach. Thats normal. Everything was slow and measured. Walking around helped a lot but sometimes I would over exert myself and have to lay down for a while. There were days when I would hardly get out of bed and others I would be sitting up watching tv and very lively. I felt immediatly better after the first week.

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

My surgeon and hospital was about an hour away, not that far, I would have traveled however far I needed to, in retrospect to have this done.

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 month or so, I could only eat puree foods. Lots of soup. Jello. Lots of mashed potatoes and egg crushed up. I ate so much egg I now don't eat a lot of it. 2 months out I was eating normal things but I would throw up when eating a spoon full of rice which I never try any more. I would throw up eating meatloaf or any heavy meat. I would spend an hour trying to get down food just to be able to eat enough protein. Now at almost 3 months I can eat almost anything, i stay away from anything with too much sugar in it and the only thing high in sugar that I allow myself is orange juice. I don't want to throw up and so that keeps me away from things I would otherwise try. I have no inclination to eat other foods I would have before surgery but its nice to know i could taste it if i wanted.

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

The first days after surgery was very hard because I couldn't really move around a lot. I would try to move around as much as I could, going to the bathroom, to the kitchen but it was very hard to stand up for long periods of time because it takes stomach muscles to stand upright. I was hunched over most of the time. It got better as the weeks went on though there was a pain to the left of my belly button from where they had cut through the muscle to get to my stomach which is normal but it hurt horribly. That too went away in about 2 weeks.

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

I take a centrum chewable vitamin as often as I can. but sometimes I do forget ! (laughs) It's very important to get in nutrients because you can no longer eat food to get enough. Protein shakes and bars help me keep up the amount of protein I need to eat per day because otherwise I wouldn't be able to get enough on what I eat.

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?

The worst effect was the gas that became trapped in my chest but that didn't last very long. Throwing up was not nice either although I learned to get used to it, telling myself that it was my body's way of letting me know that it was rejecting a bad food choice. I don't try to push my throwing up abilities to show me what is right and wrong to eat. It is much more easier to say no to things because I have no inclination to eat it. Otherwise I have to stay away from sugars. The pain in my chest stayed about 2 weeks and throwing up is whenever I make a bad food choice, eat too fast, or too much.

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

I didn't know about Obesityhelp.com or anything like it before surgery so I never had a support system. I'm very young and had to do things alone because I didn't get support from my family either. I was dealing with doctors and the insurance company. Setting up appointments and everything. I didn't have an angel or someone to ask if all of this was normal. The worst part was being alone in this, I hope no one else has to. The pain was horrible in the beginning for me as well but in retrospect, we can forget physical pain, its the emotional things that remain longer.

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

About 2 months post op, I found out about obesityhelp.com and thats been my main support group. I am about to go to my first support group meeting at my surgeons office today and plan to keep it up. I realize now more than ever that it is a constant struggle and therefore constant support is needed.

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

I didn't expect 6 small incisions. It's like a deep cut that you get with a knife, thats raised and pink. Nothing that neosporin and a tan can't hide nicely. I am very conscious of my scars because they are battle scars somewhat.. Its a constant reminder that I went through the surgery. I sometimes see them and think "I actually did it?!". Its both unnerving and prideful.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I am at a plateau right now. Weight loss, any way you do it, has plateau's. It's very scary for me because I wonder if I won't ever lose any more weight after this. But I know from others that I talk to, that this too shall pass

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

I have been asked out more in the last 2 weeks than I have in my entire life. I get compliments all the time and people who are still big while I lose weight are starting to treat me as if I am going to forget them or think I'm better than them. I have to restrain myself from getting overexcited about losing weight or being able to do certain things again or for the first time. Its very sad.
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