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

My mother informed me she was having the surgery. I was quite impressed after researching the facts about the Roux-eN-Y.

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 problem whatsoever with the insurance. I submitted my packet one time to my insurance and one week later I was approved. It was easy as cake for me. (Good luck to anyone having trouble with the insurance!)

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

My first visit with my surgeon was in a required meeting I attended to learn about the gastric bypass from him and his nurses. I suggest researching the type of surgery you want to have, and asking as many questions as you want/can to learn and understand more about what you want to get yourself into. They're going to know the best about the surgery, if anyone.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

My final decision was despite the rough road my mother took, I needed to lose weight. I was borderline diabetic, I had anemia, bad back and knees (already had knee surgery and age 15), severe headaches multiple times a month, among other various things.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I had the Roux-eN-Y, which I decided on because I felt losing the weight fast was how I wanted to go. I felt I knew enough about the surgery to know what I needed to do in order to keep myself fit enough to handle anything coming my way.

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?

I had lots of fears, especially after seeing my mother go through a very tough time. The day of surgery, 15 June 2005, I was not nervous for some reason. Surgery does not bother me whatsoever, so I was very relaxed. In the back of my mind, I knew everything was going to be fine. I didn't worry about death at all, even though I knew a small percentage of people do die, however, that did not sit on my mind heavily at all. I knew I'd probably have some complications, but I knew I was tough enough to get through them. I just thought losing the weight would be well worth any complications I would incur. And I was right, I did have complications, and I'd do it again if I had to.

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?

My family was not all that supportive. My mother and grandmother were the most supportive. My mother mostly, however. I weighed in at 239 lbs on surgery day, but had gotten up to 250 lbs at my worst. Just from that, none of my family members thought I weighed enough to have the surgery. That's what confused me, I was morbidly obese. So overall, they didn't take it too well, but that's on them. It didn't bother me at all they didn't support me. Everyone has a different opinion of what they think, and that was theirs.

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

My hospital stay was very quite pleasant. I was there for only three days, like expected. I really suggest bringing your pillow, socks, something warm like a blanket, since obviously hospitals are cold. The staff on call were quite pleasant to deal with and I didn't have any trouble getting done what I needed when I needed it. I also had family there all the time, so that was a big help, as well.

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

I did have a few complications, as listed below: All at the same time: 1) UTI 2) Kidney Stones 3) Ovarian Cyst The doctors said it was caused somehow from the surgery, but I'm honestly not sure how. I don't remember what they said. And finally: 1) Gullbladder went bad. On 10 August 2005, I had my gullbladder removed. And now, from that, my navel, which is where they made an enterance for the removal, is not yet healed, I don't believe. It occasionally bleeds and is very sensitive and sore. It was very hard dealing with all these complications, considering I had barely any energy, and I was going to school full time, as well. I believe I was just pushing myself too much, but I know there are people out there who have had far worse complications than I, so I can't complain. I think I got off easily, and I'd do it again if need be.

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 too excited. I couldn't believe how easy it was for me to have gotten approved and get my surgery date set. I never thought for a second I'd ever be able to achieve this one thing I wanted most dearly in life, to not be obese, and the anxiety from that did slightly overwhelm me, but I was more excited than anyting.

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

Expect to want food. Real food... but not get it. I was on a liquid diet the first week, which honestly wasn't bad at all. It didn't bother me to not be eating solids. After the next few weeks went by, however, I was really wanting something more like meat, but obviously couldn't have until my 6 month mark. Also expect to be drinking a lot of fluids and not want to. Sixty-four ounces a day is a lot for a stomach so newly small. It's overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to it. Also don't expect to have too much energy.

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

I travelled approximately 200 miles. From Springfield, Mo to Bridgeton, MO aka St. Louis. This didn't affect my aftercare at all. I did drive back and forth during my follow-ups. I used to live in St. Louis and I still have family up there who I just stayed with during my visits.

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

My energy level was quite low at first.. the first time I got out of bed after surgery, I got to the door and about fell over because I was so exhausted already. The weeks to follow, I gradually got a lot more energy back resulting from me walking quite a bit. I would say even today, being almost a year and a half after surgery, I don't have all the energy I used to, but have as much as I would being as small as I am now.

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

VistaVitamins are great. They cover a lot of the vitamins in one pill. You do, however, take eight pills a day, four in the morning and four at night, but it still covers it all. I also take Fergon for Iron along with Vitamin C to help the iron absorb a little better.

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 worst side effect I've had I would say is the hair loss. I did lose a fair amount of my hair, however, today I am seeing it is growing back quickly.. and quite curly! Some other side effects were a lot of pain, as my gulbladder went bad, therefore I had it removed 56 days after my surgery date. A while after that surgery, I ended up with three symptoms at the same time. A UTI, kidney stones and an ovarian cyst. All of which were painful to deal with, the kidney stone being the worst. I couldn't move, I felt like my spine was just twisting around and around. It was absolutely terrifying and resulted in excruciating pain.

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

The worst part of it is having to learn to have portion control. Over time, I've tried to teach myself and even to the day, it's still a bit hard as I feel a bit sick to my stomach sometimes, but it's getting better. Another bad part is forcing myself to drink as much as possible. It's very hard to drink at least 64 ounces a day as my job is talking on the phone all day with customers. It's very hard to drink and eat while with customers on the phone, as I'm usually the one talking.

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

My support group is my family. Unfortunately, I don't get to have the Mondays off I need to attend the local support group at St. Johns, so I have my family and friends. A lot of my friends have had the surgery as well, so they know what I'm going through and we work together to do what we need and can do to make this journey even better every day.

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

After my gastric bypass surgery, I had nine scars. My drain tube site is just now, almost a year and a half later, starting to lighten up. It's very sensitive, as well as tingles and itches quite often. I completely expected to have a large and noticable scar.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Basically, I started losing all my weight at once. Finally, once I started getting to around 185 pounds, I started to slow down a bit. After about 2 weeks of being right around that weight, I started losing again a little quicker, and got down to 151 pounds. Once again, stayed at that level for about 4 weeks, and started to lose again a little quicker, where I came down to 135 pounds, and after about 2 months, I am where I am now, at 123 pounds.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

My friends do make fun of me, but only for the fact that I can't eat that much. They're always saying I'll eat one bite and not an ounce more, or else I'll blow up. Other than that, it's not different. I know a lot of new people, and most of them aren't aware I've had the surgery. (Not that I'm keeping it a secret!)