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

I do not recall the first time I heard of the WLS surgery. I do know that for years I have seen several people have the surgery that did not take it seriously enough & thought how unfair is this. I have been told for years that I would be a perfect canidate from my doctors since I have been trying over & over for years. But my stubborn self thought I was going to do this without such a drastic move. I finally gave in & glad I did.

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

I must say that I was very fortunate when it came to my surgery approval. You see since I have been truly trying everything in my power that has been documented with my physician for years now including Weight Watchers, doctor perscribed diet pills & most recently seeing a nutritionist for the last 2 years I did not have any issues when it came to my approval. I also most importantly have the support of my primary physican with whom I have been seeing for about 13 years now. With that being said I was still surprised that I did have my approval very quickly. I was truly expecting at least a 6 month batlle.

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

Do your research before you go. Know your body & be ready to hear everything. Not to mention be sure of what you want.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

I was to a point that I knew I needed more help then I had previously admitted to. Along with the fact that my genes are definitly against me. My niece was born & realized that I needed to be here for her for as long as I can. My 68 year old mother is in a nursing home as a stroke victim & I just needed to cut my chances to be in this same situation. I needed to break the chain.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I choose the open procedure for a few reasons. 1 is my size, 2 I wanted whom ever I choose to "check everything else out" & 3rd I had a feeling that I had a good chance of having my gallbladder removed at the same time. Less chance of complication.

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 biggest fear I had was obviously the dying part. I did take that into account for a very long time & did my research. I armed myself with as much information & talked to as many people that I could & felt confident that the odds where in my favor rather then not.

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?

I still have only told a few of my closest friends & even family. The majority of my family does not know just for the simple reason that I did not want to feel as though I needed to defend my decision. I have a wonderful support system in place with multiple avenues to turn to. Maybe later on down the road I will let everyone in my life in on "my secret" But for right now I am going to keep this one to my close circle of support.

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

I only told my direct manager. She is a wonderful support to this whole process. I was very upfront with her ( we have worked together for years) We also had come up with several different "stories" we could tell but decided to just keep everything to ourselves. Of course we always have people prying but It has been kind of fun hearing some of the rumors. I was only out for 2 weeks & considering I had an open procedure with my gallbladder removed I guess that is pretty good. ( I was going stir crazy at home)

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

My stay was wonderful, the entire staff at Barixs in Langhorne are AMAZING. I was treated with nothing but the respect & compasion I feel that I deserve. I would say the best items for you to bring for yourself are your cell phone, ipod for your walks, & comfy clothes to get on & off easily. As for my stay I had surgery on a Wednesday afternoon & was released on Friday. As much as I was treated like a Queen, I just wanted my own bed.

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

No Complications. Thank God!!

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

Like I was on a roller coaster. Like I said once I finally made the decision to move forward with the surgery I still felt that it would take at least 6 months for approvals & such. So when I was approved in just 2 weeks time I was just spinning!! As far as the anxiety about the upcoming surgery, I had coped by talking to the few people in my life that I told looking for support & advise, including someone that had been through this before which was & still is the everyday support I did not realize I needed. The website has been a great sense of support to know that I was not alone. And most of all meeting with my doctor on a regular basis has helped more then anything in coping with some of the negative feedback as well as everything else.

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

I was home for just 2 weeks. For me especially after the first few days I was going nuts!! I would get up everyday & take a nice walk which felt great but I was just stir crazy in the house. I was not allowed to drive for 2 weeks & day time tv is not very good. On the physical side of things it would be very easy to get lazy at this time but the one thing I would say is get moving now & your recovery time will be much smoother. Trust me!

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

About 45 - 60 minutes. This did not affect my aftercare one bit. I do not mind the travel.

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 am only 10 weeks out at this point. So I am still trying to incorporate some different items. I now can eat yogurt which I could not even swallow in all of my years in the past. I do have an issue with some of the foods that I used to trully love. They just do not taste the same so in turn not very satisfying. I will update this better later on my journey.

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

It goes up & down. I would say for the most part that it is more up then down these days.

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

2 Chewable multivitamins along with a Calcium supplement.

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 nausea & almost vomit especially when I first started eating solids again. It was for the most part my own fault for not chewing enough & paying attention.

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

The 3rd week of the liquid stage

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

OH website, Barix post op support group, Barix website, Barix nutritionist, my nutrionist, My doctors & friends & family that know the full story. This has been an amazing journey of emotional up & downs & I feel that everyone & everything listed above has helped in getting me this far & will continue to get me to my goal & beyond

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

My scar looks great. It is still a bit pink but I do know that from talking to others that it will dull in time. My surgeon is an artist.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

Thankfully none just yet.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

Yes, I do receive a ton of compliments but also some jealous ritten behind the back type of talk.