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

Learned about the surgery from my family doctor

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

I had no problems getting medicare approval

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

the first visit to the Dr. he scarred the hell out of me talking about the complications that a person of my size may encounter due to my health status

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

after my first visit I talked it over with my family dr.and we made the decision to proceed

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

there was no choice but to have it as an open

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?

the fear that I had were great because the chances of me dying on the table were " astronomical " to quote my surgeon

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?

they were very supportive

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

N/A

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

the stay at the hospital was fantastic I could not ask for better treatment by everybody it was the best hospital stay that I have ever had

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

I had two major ones the first was a wound infection that required a second surgery two weeks after my procedure and I ended up with a wound vac and

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

scared to death but I sought refuge with god and he gave me the strength to go forward

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

The first week was great then I got sick with a wound infection and had to be hospitalized

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

160 miles and my surgeon and my family Dr. decided that my family would Handel some of the after care

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.

I can not eat beef still but I do pretty good with chicken and pork but rice still gives me some problems of course no sugar of any kind but the biggest problem that I have had is that I've had to just about quit drinking coffee

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

to weak to move

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

all that has been prescribed and I take extra protein

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?

vomiting after I eat to fast or to much still having that to this day

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

after my second surgery I had a problem with my protein level and I had to be put on TPN and that almost killed me

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

don't have one

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

long and ugly (still open but healing well)

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

none yet

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

yes, people are so glad to see me