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

I heard about it years before I actually had it done. Watched a program on TV about it and then just followed every story I could on it and then started researching on line. My first impression was that "FINALLY a glimmer of hope" feeling.

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

I was lucky I had decent insurance and a WONDERFUL dr. Primary not surgeon. My dr had known all my struggles and all my diets and losses and what not and everything went thru will absolutely no problems. I had Aetna at that time. My suggestions for people is documentation documentation. Not just by you about all your diets and failures and health problems, but by your dr as well in your charts.

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

Very quick. Seemed like a cattle shoot type ordeal. The wait in the waiting room was very very long and the visit with the surgeon was very very short

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

Last chance to change and save my life

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

Research from on line

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 didn't have any fears. I already had it in my head I was dying from my obesity so this was going to save my life. I told others that I was obese but otherwise strong and that I knew without a doubt that I was not going to die, but to finally live.

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 and friends were not supportive at all. They constantly tried to talk me out of the surgery. My boyfriend at the time even took me to the hospital and left as soon as I went into surgery. They called him for several hours but could never get him to answer. He finally showed back up hours after I was in my room and then didn't come back till the day of my discharge. I had no visitors what so ever, but it didn't discourage me. After the surgery was pretty much the same, my only visitor was a nurse that had to come dry pack my wound from a hospital staph infection.

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

self employed

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

My hopsital stay was horrible. Several of us had the same surgery the same day...back to the cattle drive....and was told that we would be on a "bariatric floor" and be roomed with other WLS patients with specially trained nurses that would help us with PT and what not. This was totally untrue. Not one WLS patient was roomed with another. My roommate was and elderly alzheimers patient who screamed out at all hours of the night. Not one time did a nurse come to help me out of bed let alone was there PT involved. They constantly kept me over drugged and didn't come to even check on the sites for over 24 hours. When discharge came I was asleep and they forgot me and I had to stay for another 3 hours while they tracked down a dr to sign my papers. I SUGGEST HAVING SOMEONE WHO CAN BE WITH YOU ALMOST THE ENTIRE TIME YOU ARE IN THE HOSPITAL. YOU NEED SOMEONE WHO CAN SPEAK UP FOR YOU AND HELP YOU OUT. A DRUGGED PATIENT CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES!

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

Yes I got a hospital staph infection in the one site. I kept complaining in the hospital that my one site was red, hot and hard and needed to be looked at. It never was and I was sent home like that. The next day my boyfriend called the surgeons office and explained my situation. They stated since I wasn't running a fever I was fine to wait for the one week visit. Two days later my side ruptured and over two cups of massive infection oozed out at once and continued to drain from my site. Surgeons office felt this was "normal" and "no biggie" to wait for the visit to come. When I did finally get to go to the office it was horribly infected, he popped out my staple, shoved a huge Qtip inside of me and told me he would have a nurse come by to start dry packing it. But no antibiotics. After a month of this and NOT BEING ABLE TO KEEP ANY LIQUIDS DOWN AND BEING BEDRIDDEN I called my primary dr. I had to be on antibiotics for over a month and it took me till my fourth month to be able to eat and keep down my first soft food. I was on liquids till that point. I lost a lot of my hair, my strength and my friends.

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

Four months after my surgery I was still recovering so that was all I focused on. It was nearly SIX MONTHS till I ate my first solid food meal and kept it down.

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

I HOPE TO GOD my was the out of the ordinary. I was over drugged with oxicotin and couldn't hardly walk from being dizzy. I couldn't keep anything in me including liquids and had night terrors from the hospital stay.

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

An hour away....there was no after care the surgeons didn't 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.

No solid foods for months. My best friend was sugar-free popsicles. I swear they saved my life! Eating them would numb my stomache and how I finally started tolerating liquids and then yogurts and able to keep them down. I never have to this day been able to tolerate more than a could bites of ice cream. Oily foods forget it. Rice and breads still make me get sick occasionally. And I throw up dry meat no matter what....this is six years later.

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

I walked around the hospital ward like they told us to do pre-op and tried walking around the house but the infection had me bedridden pretty quickly. After that I walked around the house, then the yard then down the street. Eventually I was up to 3 miles a day then joined Curves and went there every day for an hour plus my 3 mile walk.

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

To this day, thanks to my primary, I still take a prenatal vitamin and calcium plus D

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?

I still get sick from certain foods and they way they are prepared. My hair fell out, but grew back VERY thin. I have diarreah every day after I eat my first meal. I've learned to just live with it and make sure to those close to me know and understand whats going on so they don't freak out.

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

The recovery from the infection and lack of care from the surgeon

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

I had none and still have none

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

My scars are hardly visible other than the site that got infected so badly, but even it is not bad looking at all. I would say my excess skin is worse than the scars

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I reached a plateau a year after my surgery and had to really really work hard physically to start loosing again. Thats when I joined Curves and walking. Once I got jump started though I was good to go.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes and its sad. Jobs were easier to get...help in a store easier to get.