myth03

  • BMI 26.2

Obesity & Me

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

I started gaining weight as a way to hide from everything else that was going on in my life. I just wanted to be left alone. By the time I had healed emotionally enough to deal with things, I was so far overweight that it was impossible to lose. I struggled for so many years after that with self esteem issues. It became so painful to think that I had done this to myself that I was in denial about how bad it really was until the health issues started appearing. First the lower back pain, then the foot pain, the high cholesterol, and finally the outrageously high blood pressure. I was told at 37 that I was going to have to take blood pressure medicine for the rest of my life or it would kill me. Talk about an eye opener. 97 pounds later, I feel great, my confidence has increased immeasurably, but I still have days where I am convinced that I am fat, even while I'm putting on my size 4 jeans. It's irrational, I know, but it happens. I tell everyone that it takes so much longer for the mind to catch up to what my body has accomplished. I usually really focus on my eating on those days, or I work out extra hard. It makes me feel better knowing that this time, I'm not going to ignore the problem, but I'm going to actively address it before it gets out of hand.

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

The worse thing about being overweight was how other people percieve you. It's very easy to convince yourself that people don't treat you differently because you are overweight, but now, looking back, people can be both rude and cruel. It took seeing how people react to me now to even pick up on the difference, but it's there. People go out of their way to hold doors for me, help me carry my groceries, etc. Sometimes it felt like they thought because I was heavy that I deserved to struggle, as if I wasn't struggling enough already. Oh, and of course, shopping.Shopping was a nightmare. There is nothing worse then shopping for a cute outfit, get it home, and then pick yourself apart about how fat you still look in it. Or how about how you always feel like an bystander, instead of a participator. I can't play volleyball on the beach with everyone else, because then they'll see me as a big, sweaty, out of breath mess. Shoot, I can't even go to the beach because that will mean I have to get into a swimsuit. Being overweight was so incredibly self limiting.

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 started tae kwon do class. I would never have been able to survive a class at my previous weight. I actually get out and play soccer or frisbee with my son. I have two bathing suits now. (not one, but two) I signed up to go skydiving. I get a thrill every time I can push myself physically. I used to feel like my body was the enemy. If there was something I wanted to do, I couldn't because of how I looked or felt. I justed needed to show myself a little TLC, and now I feel like I can accomplish anything. My goal is to reach black belt by the time I'm 45.

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

I work with my surgeon doing the band adjustments. I had the rare opportunity to see first hand the success of the band and also some of the complications that might arise. It helped make my decision to get the band easier.

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

I didn't have any trouble getting approval for my surgery.

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

I was only in the hospital for a couple of hours, I went home the same day.

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

I got pnuemonia from being intubated, and not using the inspirometer. I was constantly coughing, and every time I did it would pull on my still healing band. It was not a fun time, but I had already set a goal for myself, and nothing was going to stop that. I just worked through it, and focused on the end result. Also, about a year out, after an adjustment, my port site started acting up. It was painful and started to ooze. I went on and had to have the site opened and cleaned out several times. I had to pack the site with sterile gauze for almost two months. It was incredibly painful, but what upset me the most was how much it set me back with my weight loss. I was so used to working out at this point, that it was really depressing not to be able to anymore. Dr b and I decided to move the port to my right side to give the other site a chance to heal. I had the second surgery and haven't had any complications since.

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 miserable, but only because of the pnuemonia. I felt like I had been given this amazing second chance and I was detrmined not to blow it. I didn't experience any anxiety. I knew this was the right decisions for me, so I embraced all of the new changes willingly.

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

I'm not sure my recovery period was typical because of the pnuemonia I got from being intubated. I used the recovery period to my advantage. I bought a walk tape and whenever I was not sleeping, (because of the cough medicine with codeine for my pnuemonia) I started doing the tapes. It was easy enough, I didn't have to twist or turn or bend over, but I was still active, and the change in the scale became my motivation to continue.

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

I'm only about a twenty minute drive from both the hospital where the surgery was performed, and the dr's office.

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 only side effect that I had was the hair loss. Truthfully, it kind of freaked me out a bit in the beginning. It was clumps of hair, or even anything that you could visibly notice, just larger amounts of hair in the shower drain. It continued for several months, and then went back to normal once my diet started to become more regular.

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

The only scar that you can see without looking for it, is the first port site, and even that is faded to an off-white. It's about and inch long. Considering all that I have gotten from the band so far, I wouldn't mind if it ran all the way across my belly and it was neon blue.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

People definitely treat me different now. They hold doors open for me, they offer to help carry things, and they don't have that look of disdain in their eyes when the greet you. It used to bother me how people that never paid any attention to me before the surgery, would now rush to say hi or compliment me. It bothered me to thing that people were that shallow, I mean I was still the same person that I was 97 pounds heavier, but the sad truth is, the weight absolutely affects how people percieve you, or maybe it's the change in my own confidence level that I am more receptive to other people, but there is definielty a difference.
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