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

When the wilson girl on tv had the surgery and lost alot of weight i watched a dateline special about it and i thought geez if i had the money i would do this, i never knew you could get your insurance to pay!!!!!DUH....also i thought if i could have a surgery to improve my life I would do it in a heart beat! Actually i have never had any negative feelings about the surgery, because i know how hard to lose weight.

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

I had unitedhealthcare and it was very easy to get appoval from them. I had it in a week.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

After my uncle died he had to have a special casket ordered to be buried in, and I thought to myself I will not do that to my children. So I went to the internet and typed in obiesety and got this website and read for days.

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

I was in the hospital for over 30 days.

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

Yes I had alot of complications, I had a leak, massive infection in my stomach cavity. I was very angry at first because of all the pain that I was in, plus I did not get to eat or drink for 2 months!

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 so excited, but also i was scared of dieing, I read the memorial page on the site and it scared me to death

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

We do not have a very good support group here in cheyenne, it does not meet enough

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

My scar is very big and long, I had to have it cut open 2 times

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I have had plateau's throughout this ordeal but when I am not losing weight I am losing inches.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes men hold the door open for me now,people act like I m a person now that i do not have all the extra baggage of weight on me.I have even been flirted with and I can't even beleive it is me they are flirting with