longandloud

Obesity & Me

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

I have been battling with obesity all my life, I have followed various weight loss diets only to gain the weight back with additional weight. Nothing I did seem to work, no matter how hard I tried the weight just didn't come off. It didn't take much food for me to maintain my weight, I knew something had to be done

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

Losing the ability to walk, having severe problems with my health, and not being able to be or become very active.

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 the ability to walk again without the use of a wheel chair, and I enjoy having more energy to do more things. Things that are taken for granted unless you lose or begin to lose the ability to do them

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

I have know about it for a long time as far back as when they use to perform the bypass surgery where they removed part of the colon. My first impression was one of concern and not knowing what to expect

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

I had a very pleasant stay at the Hospital, the staff was courteous, and attentive. I was treated very well. Make sure you bring personal items, and if you are on CPAP you will need that also

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

I have been blessed by the fact that I have had no complications from the surgery. The only complication I had was from the epidural, I had to switch to a different pain therepy. I didn't have a lot of pain just discomfort.

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 received my surgery date 1 week prior to surgery. I had mentally prepared myself and was very confident in the surgeon. I had no anxiety about the surgery, and was more than ready to proceed

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

Just signed up for Association for Mobid Obesity Support. This is the only support group at this time that I belong to. This very important, Each and every individual will have their own story, and differnces with dealing with this surgery. Some do better than others, I did above acceptually well. It is important to learn from each other how to cope with all the changes we are facing.

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

Because the surgeon used stiches instead of having us heal from the inside out my scar is just like a stright line, and In fact it is better than I had expected

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Three weeks out of surgery I had one week of no weight loss. It scared me. For that week I was hoping that this would just be something that was uncommon. However the weight loss has rusumed and all is fine

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

People that I know are beggining to notice the weight loss, but so far I am treated the same as I was before. Those that know me are noticing, however others haven't really noticed yet.
show more answers

ARE YOU READY TO PAY IT FORWARD & SHARE YOUR JOURNEY? Your journey will help highlight the many ways weight loss surgery improves lives and makes a difference in our families, communities and world. EACH JOURNEY COUNTS as a voice towards greater awareness.

Share Now
×