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

The first I remember about bariatric surgery was from a member chat site linked to the website of a diet shake I was using. Some of the members were speaking of the danger, disadvantages and results of people whom they'd known of that had had bariatric surgery.

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

I went to my family doctor and told her that I was trying to lose weight (prior to this I'd seen her enough for other health issues) and was considering surgerical options. She sent me to see the general surgeon of our hospital a few days later. I told him I wanted to have a gastric bypass. I went in armed with pictures I'd printed from the internet, literature I'd read, and a friend who'd had the same weight loss surgery I was desiring. I talked to the surgeon about many things regarding weight loss and he sent me home. About one week later, I went in for a second appointment with the general surgeon and he measure my bones (to see that I am infact a small framed woman) and saw that I was indeed morbidly obese and that day he agreed to write up a referral for me to have the surgery. It took about 9 days for him to write the referral, about 2 days for my insurance to approve a consultation with the bariatric surgeon. About 3 days for the bariatric surgeon to contact me, write the consultation and get it in to my insurance and then another 3 or 4 days for my insurance to come back with an approval letter. Less than 2 weeks later I was having laporoscopic gastric bypass roux en y weight loss surgery.

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

My stay in the hospital wasn't as I'd expected. Early in the year I'd been at the hospital with someone who'd had heart surgery. In previous years I'd also given birth to two children, one of who had been delivered by Cesearn Section. This said, I expected my hospital stay to be quite comforting, very informative and educational. Before going to the hospital I'd spoken, via telephone and internet, with several hospital employees and was thoroughly assured that English speaking personnel would be present and helpful. Well I arrived at the hospital on a Saturday, I had planned to arrive on Sunday evening, but one of the surgeon's staff asked if I'd come early for prep and consultation. I complied. It proved to be a mistake. I sat idle, bored, and irritated because there was no prepping or consulting done on that day other than a simple draw of my blood and a discussion with the anestisologist. Then next day was even worse because it was Sunday, so even a walk in the area surrounding the hospital proved worthless as Sunday is a very slow day in Italy. Even worse the hospital did not get good reception for cell phones, there are no public phones and just one EXPENSIVE pay phone, so I couldn't talk much to anyone. I had been told I'd be able to used my cellular phone from my hospital room, not so. My surgery was early Monday morning. I was out of surgery, with no complications late Monday morning right before noon. Between the operating room and my hospital room I stayed in a different area to be watched. It was horrible! The staff did not speak the same language that I did and so we had a tough time communicating. I was left alone for hours and when I tried to ask for help I was ignored. I felt scorned as I overheard and saw the staff making gestures and speaking of me. It was an emotional, physically trying time and being in a hospital of different culture and language made it all the worse! Fortunately the next day I was wheeled to my own room again. This one being private (which I very much appreciated, as I was given a room, the only one on that wing in fact, which had a private shower and a circulating plug in electric fan -- Italy is extremely hot in August and this hospital did not have centralized air units). From there on I stayed five more nights. On the sixth day I was released from the hospital, against my surgeon's wishes as I wanted so desperately to go home and he wanted me to stay at the least one more week to be watched for any complications that might arise and to meet with the dietician. (In hindsight, I wish I would have stayed just to see how much more involved he might have been then). I was at my limit though, I felt like some of the nurses were kind enough and others were very frustrated with me because of our language barrier which made communication very intense. I often disagreed with being given a medication, shot, having the cathedars out, etc and they didn't know how to explain to me what it was for. The interpretor was called SEVERAL times which often delayed the nurses work. It was a frustrating situation. Even if I'd had a friend available to go with me, it wouldn't have done much good because the Italian's visiting policy is strict and only for a few hours each day. The fact that I don't speak Italian, the English speaking staff was limited, I was away from home, away from my only support (my spouse and children) and going through a physically stressing ordeal made my hospital stay an emotional, stressed time that I do not care to revisit!

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

My surgery was complication free.

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

Immediately after my surgery I felt a physical difference. In the hospital I lose nearly 20 pounds. Although I was swollen and looked larger, I felt lighter. My step was lighter and my movement was swift considering I left the hospital with two drainage tubes still intact. At home, just one week out from surgery I was able to move up and down stairs, walk a few blocks away to the store and park (not carry anything home though) and do cooking and cleaning (just not bend much or carry things like cast iron skillets or laundry baskets). My most difficult parts were not being able to eat what others were eating. At one dinner not even two weeks out I burst into tears because I had such a strong mental desire to eat off my husband's plate but knew it would make me so physically sick. I also wanted to talk to someone. I had seen my family doctor for a skin rash and to fill my medications, I'd seen the general surgeon for a follow up (since my bariatric surgeon was so far away), and I had my husband and the friend who'd had the surgery before I did BUT no one, not my family, not my friends, not even my neighbors knew. It was difficult not being able to vent, to share, to talk to others about it. It was my choice though, I made it because there was too much gossip involved and I didn't want that. I journaled A LOT! I cried often. I prayed constantly. I walked. Walking kept me out of the kitchen and it helped ease my mind to walk slowly and smell the air and see the sights (and it physically helped me to heal).

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

I got home exactly a week to the date of my surgery. I took a taxi to the airport from the hospital, simple enough. I was alert and talked to the driver for the hour's drive. At the airport I was TIRED and sore and sweaty from over doing it while walking around the airports (couldn't find a seat). Finally once I got a seat I slept and rested and felt fine. The plane ride was comfortable enough, and since it was short I didn't have any problems. At home I immediately got into my normal routine of doing house work, cooking and schooling my children. My spouse took care of heavy things like sweeping, mopping, taking out the garbage, etc. But I was able to do many things and had a desire to because being home, bed ridden is boring and makes you want to eat to fill the void. In the first month home I probably only had two or three days that I felt so tired that I couldn't get out of bed. These days however came because I was doing too much moving around, too much lifting of things that were semi heavy, because I was dehydrated from not drinking enough water and because in the beginning I wasn't drinking enough protein. The tubes in my stomach stayed butterfly stitched and bandaged for about a month (their getting too moist, I believe, is what caused the skin rash on my belly which I then, from scratching, spread all over my belly and thighs). The tubes didn't hurt or cause any delay in my mobility or activeness. In fact by one month out I was preparing for a bike ride.

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

I rarely communicate with my bariatric surgeon. In the beginning I relied on my hospital's general surgeon and my family doctor for medications, health issues and general knowledge. In my third month I saw a bariatric surgeon (in the U.S.) on an emergency basis as a result of a visit to the ER for stomach pain; it resulted in an endoscopy which discovered I had an ulcer. Other than that, there the nutritionist's (from my local hospital whom I'd seen before my surgery too) assistance with how to/ what to eat and various literature for me to read and the information I recieved via email from my insurance rep, I did not have much medical/professional support on a daily/weekly/or even monthly basis regarding my weight loss surgery. I will say though that the general surgeon and nutritionist from my local hospital were great about researching bariatric issues and providing me plenty of literature to read on and gain knowledge from.

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

My scars are just a tad darker than my skin color and a hair larger than the tip of an ink pen. I thought they'd be ugly, noticeable, and large. I was so pleased to see two of the five openings used in my surgery were closed within a week and nearly faded into my other skin with in a few months. The other three are hardly noticeable. Looks like I had a minor cut or poke from a stick.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

At first I lost weight by at least 10 pounds each week. By two months it was slowing to about 5 pounds or less each week. By three months it stalled. I did begin to eat, wasn't exercising and experience an ulcer so I figured that was the reason. Yet by four months I'd not lost any more weight. I was terrified. I contacted my bariatric surgeon and insurance provider thinking that my surgery had failed, but neither were of much assistance. Upon my own research and doing I put into process some major changes and have begun to see a weight loss of about 3-5 pounds each week again. Some of the things I incorporated into my life after the plateau happened were daily weight lifting and cardio, going back to shakes only and adding salads every now and then and keeping away from any junk foods and breaded foods completely!

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

I notice that people notice how much smaller I am now. I notice that people compliment my clothing (same exact clothes I've always worn) now, as if I've changed them to some very differnt style or something!