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

I FOUND OUT ABOUT WEIGHTLOSS SURGERY IN 2004 AFTER I HAD MY SON I WENT TO A SEMINAR AND I MADE MY APPOINTMENTS BUT AFTER I HAD DONE EVERYTHING TO GET THE SURGERY DONE I BACKED OFF BECAUSE SOMETHING CAME OVER ME AND TELL ME NOT TO DO IT. IT WAS PROBLY THAT I WASNT MY TIME YET. BUT IN 2007 AFTER I HAD MY DAUGHTER AND THE COMPLICATIONS I WENT THROUGH WITH MY PREGNANCY I SAID TO MYSELF YOU KNOW WHAT ITS TIME TO DO IT AND I ACTUALLY WENT THRU IT I HAD SURGERY DONE IN OCTOBER 2008!!!!!

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

I REALLY CANT COMMENT TO MUCH ON THIS CAUSE MY MEDICAL INSURANCE APPROVED MY SURGERY BECAUSE OF HIGH RISK HEALTH ISSUES I ALMOST DIED WHEN I WENT IN TO LABOR WITH MY DAUGHTER WE WERE BOTH IN DANGER AND IT WAS BECAUSE F MY OBESITY MY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE WAS SKY HIGH I DEVELOPED PRE-CLAMPIA AND I HAD TO GET AN EMERGENCY CESAREAN SECTION AT 8 MONTHS BECAUSE THERE WAS A HIGH RISK THAT MY DAUGHTER COULD OF DIED

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

I WAS NERVOUS IN THE BEGGINING AND I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS SO EMBARRASSED HERE I WAS A YOUNG 24 YR OLD MOTHER OF TWO AT THE MAXIMUM OF 340LBS. I COULDNT EVEN LOOK AT THE DOCTOR IN HIS EYES I FELT SO DOWN I THINK I WAS GONNA CRY BUT DOCTOR RAFTAPOULOS WAS SO AMAZING HE IS SUCH A NICE DOCTOR AND A BIG MOTIVATOR AFTER TALKING TO HIM FOR 5 MINUTES HE MADE ME FEEL COMFORTABLE AND PROMISED ME THAT THIS WAS A LIFE LONG JOURNEY AND THAT HE WILL BE THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

MY MAXIMUM WEIGHT MADE ME DECIDE THAT SURGERY WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE AND MY ONLY WAY OUT.I WAS DISCOURAGED I DIDNT WANT TO SEE NOBODY OR GO NO WHERE AND JUST LOOKING AT MY KIDS MADE ME REALIZE THAT I NEED TO LIVE IF NOT FOR ME BUT FOR THEM BECAUSE MY KIDS MEAN THE WORLD TO ME AND THEY NEED THEIR MOM IT WOULDNT BE FAIR TO THEM IF I KEPT ON GAINING WEIGHT AND DIED OF A HEART ATTACK OR SOMETHING BUT MY MAIN REASON WAS MY PRINCE AND PRINCESS(MY KIDS)

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

WELL I DECIDED GASTRIC BY PASS THE ROUEX N Y BECAUSE THATS WHAT DOCTOR RAFTAPOULOS RECOMMENDED EVEN THOUGHT IT WAS MY FINAL DECISION TO DECIDE BUT DOCTOR RAFTAPOULOS KNOWS WHAT HES TALKING ABOUT SO I DECIDED TO TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT!!!!

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?

WELL MY NUMBER ONE FEAR WAS DYING. I REMEMBER THE THOUGHT STARTED GOING THRU MY HEAD WHEN THE SURGERY DATE KEPT GETTING CLOSER, I EVEN WROTE GOOD BYE LETTERS TO MY FAMILY SAYING MY LAST GOOD BYES JUST IN CASE SOMETHING WENT WRONG MY BIGGEST FEAR WAS NOT SEEING MY KIDS AGAIN I PRAYED WHEN I GOT TO THE HOSPITAL AND WHILE THEY WERE PREPARING ME IN THE SURGERY ROOM I PRAYED ALL THE WAY UNTIL THEY PUT ME TO SLEEP WITH ANESTHESIA BUT I LEARNED THATS JUST A FEAR THEY WOKED ME UP AFTER SURGERY AND EVERYTHING WENT AS EXPECTED(EVERYTHING CAME OUT GOOD THANKS 2 GOD AND DR. RAFTAPOULOS)

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?

WELL MY FAMILY WERE HAPPY THAT I TOOK THE DECISION IN TO DOING THE SURGERY THEY WERE REALLY SUPPORTIVE ITS SAD TO SAY THAT MY HUSBAND WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDNT APPROVE OF IT AND WASNT SUPPORTIVE HE DIDNT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HE CALLED MY CRAZY IDEA!!!BUT AFTER I CAME HOME AFTER SURGERY HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE I HAD AROUND ME HE WAS THE ONE TO GIVE ME MY MEDICATIONS,TAKE ME A SHOWER WHEN I COULDNT BECAUSE OF THE PAIN, HE CHANGED MY DRESSINGS IN MY INCISIONS AND THE DRAIN HE PRETTY MUCH HELPED ME THRU EVEYTHING!!!!

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

WELL I WSNT WORKING AT THE TIME SO I COULDNT ANSWER THIS QUESTION!!!!

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

WELL MY HOSPITAL STAY WAS GREAT ALL THE NURSES IN SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL WERE SO NICE TO ME THEY WERE ON POINT WITH DOCTOR RAFTAPOULOS ORDERS!!!AND I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO BRING TO THE HOSPITAL IS A SMALL BAG WITH COMFORTABBLE CLOTHES(I WOULD RECOMMEND A LOOSE JOGGIN SUIT OR SWEAT SUIT IF ITS THE WINTER AND FOR THE SUMMER SOMETHING THATS LOOSE AND DOESNT FIT TIGHT AROUND THE STOMACH AREA) AND A COUPLE OFF TOILETTRIES LIKE DEODORANT, A SMALL TRAVEL TOOTHPASTE AND TOOTH BRUSH(BASICALLY YOUR EVERYDAY PERSONAL PRODUCTS)

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

THANKS TO GOD AND DR. RAFTAPOULOS EVERYTHING WENT WELL I DIDNT HAVE NO COMPLICATIONS DURING OR AFTER SURGERY!!!!

In the weeks after you got your surgery date, how did you feel? How did you cope with any anxiety you might have felt?

WELL TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I WAS REALLY NERVOUS AND ANXIOUS TO THE POINT I STARTED GETTING STRESSED OUT AND I COULDNT SLEEP ALL I DID WAS CRY AND WORRY BUT ONE THING THAT HELPED ME COPE WITH THIS SITUATION WAS TALKING TO MY FAMILY ABOUT IT AND WRITTING IN MY JOURNAL!!!!!!

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

WELL THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS WERE ROUGH FOR ME I WAS IN PAIN BUT THE MEDICATION THAT THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBED WAS REALLY GOOD IN TAKING THE PAIN AWAY I HAD TO BE REALLY CAREFUL AND WALK AROUND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE SO I CAN DECREASE THE POSIBILITY OF GETTING BLOOD CLOTS EVEN THOUGH THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBES A BLOOD THINNER FOR BLOOD CLOTS I HAD TO STILL WALK THOSE WERE HIS RECOMMENDATIONS I HAD TO DRINK SOME PROTEIN SHAKES AND SOME VITAMINS FROM THIS PERIOD ON IS BASICALLY THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE POINT THIS IS WERE SOME PEOPLE DONT FOLLOW SOME RULES AND HAVE TO LEARN THINGS THE HARD WAY LIKE I DID IM A VERY THIRSTY PERSON SO I THOUGHT I COULD OF DRUNK MORE WATER THAN 1 OUNCE LIKE THE DOCTOR SAID AND TO MY SURPRISE I TRIED DRINKING AN OUNCE AND AND A HALF AND NOT TO BE DISGUSTING BUT I THEW IT BACK UP I RECOMMEND FOR EVERYONE TO FOLLOW THE DOCTORS EXACT ORDERS!!!!!

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

NOT FAR SAINT FRANCIS HOSPITAL IS LIKE 15 TO 20 MINUTES AWAY FROM MY HOME!!!!

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.

WELL AFTER SURGERY I COULDNT EAT ANYTHING EXCEPT WATER AND THE PROTEIN SHAKES AND I WAS IN A CLEAR LIQUID DIET, THEN AFTER THE 2ND WEEK I WAS IN A PUREE DIET AND SO ON...SUGAR,CARBOHYDRATES ETC. WERE OFF LIMITS EVERYTHING WAS PROTEIN AND GREENS AND TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH WITH A STOMACH SO SMALL THE HUNGER IS NOTHING LIKE BEFORE SO I WAS ABLE TO TOLARATE IT VERY WELL!!!!!

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

TO BE HONEST IN THE FIRST 3 WEEKS I WAS REALLY LAZY BUT THEN WHEN THE PAIN WASNT SO BAD THATS WHEN I STARTED WALKING AND BUYING EXCERSISE EQUIPMENT

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

WELL A MULTI VITAMIN I CHOSE CENTRUMS, A B12 VITAMIN, A CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT I CHOSE CITRICAL WITH VITAMIN D, ZINC AND IRON AND NOW IM TAKIN A B-COMPLEX VITAMIN TO INCREASE THE THIAMIN

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?

WELL I HAD SEVERE NAUSEA BUT DOCTOR RAFTAPOULOS PRESCRIBED ME A MEDICATION THAT HELPED CONTROL IT SO IT WASNT THAT BAD I DIDNT HAVE ANY VOMITIN EXCEPT WHEN I ATE SOMETHING THAT MY STOMCH COULDNT TOLARATE LIKE REGULAR SKIM MILK I HAD TO BUT LACTAID AND I HAVE EXPERIENCE HAIR LOSS AND I STILL DO BUT ITS GETTING BETTER I WAS A LITTLE DISCOURAGED ABOUT THE HAIR LOSS BUT ITS GETTING BETTER AND IM LEARNING HOW TO COPE WITH IT!!!!

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

I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THE PAIN AFTER SURGERY AND THE DARIN BUT AFTER THEY TAKE OUT THE DRAIN THE FIRST WEEK YOU WILL FEEL ALOT BETTER

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

DIDNT JOIN NO SUPPORT GROUP OR PROGRAM I ACTUALLY MADE AN ACCOUNT IN OBESITYHELP.COM AND THE SUPPORT AND ADVICE I GOT FROM OTHER HAS HELPED ME ALOT

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

MY SCARS ARE NOT WHAT I EXPECTED I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA HAVE UGLY BIG SCARS AND AFTER TIME PASSED MY SCARS HAVE GOTTEN SMALLER U CANT EVEN TELL THAT THEY ARE THERE

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I HAVENT HAD A PLATEAU YET SO I WOULDNT BE ABLE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

YEAH I THINK PEOPLE NOTICE ME MORE AND EVRYONE IS ALWAYS GIVING ME COMPLIMENTS!!!!!!