Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

I did not have an emotional battle with weight. I was pretty athletic and very attractive even with the weight, but I ate anything I wanted. I was never a big eater, I just ate the wrong kinds of foods. I did not have any other health problems, I exercised regularly,and I was told I was the perfect patient for the surgery, so I took a chance.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

The worst thing about being overweight was people assumed because your overweight that all you do is eat. My family took me to multiple doctors to find out why I was so overweight and ate like a bird. I remember one physician telling my mother that I should never be on a diet because I did not eat enough calories. I also played four years of basketball, softball and volleyball in high school and every year I would get heavier and heavier.

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

I was just more confident in the way I looked. The downside to my experience is the follow up care. I had surgery in 2001. I remember being told that I would have at least 2 years of follow up care. To make a long story short. I did so well with the weight loss, at my one year anniversary the surgeon told me that I did fine I look fine and did not need anymore follow up. This was not the surgeon that performed my surgery. After suffering for the last four or five years with abdominal pain I decided to consult a surgeon because I was convinced the pain had to be more than IBS. I was watching TV and heard the newsanchor mention that there was a procedure for people whom already had the Gastric Bypass Surgery and have put weight back on. At this point I had put back on over 30 pounds, and did not have a clue as to why. I was examined by the surgeon and he performed an EGD, and it was found that my stoma had stretched, and may have been the cause of the pain. He sent me to a nutritionalist and we conlcuded that I have been eating the wrong types of food. I would have know that If I had the follow up care back in 2002 and so forth. He also informed me that I should have been getting about 12-15 routine labs done every year. Despite the multivitamins, I had become severly anemic, exhausted,at one point my vit D was so low that it could not be measured, I have had very low zinc and vitamin A, my hair fail out at times, and I have lost the majority of my teeth. I think it was all linked to the surgery and the lack of education and follow up. I asked the surgeon about the ROSE procedure and of course his office contacted my insurance company, and on the follow up visit I was told that my insurance denied the procedure. Very devastating. Today my labs are better, Im eating right and still exercising, Im still anemic and dont have any teeth, but I am doing what I should have been doing a longtime ago. And I have yet to lose the weight that I have gained back. I am still interested in having the ROSE procedure and would like information on any trials for the procedure or cost for the procedure, or information on what you can do when denied by your insurance company.