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

I had heard of stomach stapling in the 90s, but I heard about the Gastric Bypass from my sister. She was the same weight as me and within an inch of the same height. I was angry with her for getting surgery when I had to fight so hard. I felt she was taking the easy way out. Of course now, I feel terrible about such thoughts. I know now that it is not easy, nor is it a fix-it quick thing, it is a lifetime commitment to nutrition and health. She has completely changed her lifestyle, she eats very healthy foods and exercises regularly. In many ways, she has become a role model for me. As tough as my time has been since surgery, I have remembered that she is eight years out and that she can eat lots of different kinds of food and does not throw up, and that she has a very active life.

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

Well, I am blessed to have good insurance and although I needed to have a rare surgery (the sleeve), after reading my surgeon's suggestion, they easily agreed to it. I didn't really have any problems except for the additional costs that the doctor's office charged, they were unwilling to charge those to insurance although my insurance company said they would pay. I had to get a surgery loan and tht was tough.

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

Haha, I was not a good patient. I wanted to go home immediately. I had no appetite at all, so they would bring me in broth and juice and water and I was not interested in any of it. They ended up keeping me two nights. I was miserable and wanted to go home the first night. I definitely say bring a comfy robe, your own pillow, someone there to keep you company and anything that makes you feel more secure.

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

YES. And I am still dealing with them although as of today I am four months out. The night I came home from the hospital I began throwing up and I have never really stopped. I have had to go to the ER twice and I was once hospitalized for two nights. It has been very hard at times to keep up a positive attitude and to remember that this will all work out well in the end. A couple weeks ago I went two weeks without throwing up, but then I started again this week and havent really stopped. You never know what you are going to feel and how your body will handle something. I am losing a lot of my hair now, but I am trying to realize it wont be forever.

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

It didnt feel real. I was trying to eat healthy, eat smaller portions, but there was also things that I did because I knew post-op I wouldnt be able to do. Last year when I drank soda it was diet, but before surgery I drank full sugar soda which is what I prefer. I didnt really have the last supper attitude until a day or two before I couldnt eat food anymore. The date kind of crept up on me, but like I said it still didnt really feel real. Even the day of surgery. I was definitely not really prepared. But I do not know how I could have been more pregpared.

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

I was not in as much pain as I thought I would be, and that is saying a lot because I could not take pain medicine. I was sore but not as sore as I thought I would/should be. I was tired though, very tired. I am still very tired these days. I was very sick in those first weeks, and on a lot of anti-nausea medication. For the first two weeks after surgery I thought about food constantly. How to cook it, what it tastes like, what would go well with this or that, and my favorite foods. That eventually tapered off. And it wasnt all bad food either, most of it was healthy food. I mostly missed the crunch of food, the sensation of it in my mouth, but I eventually got over it.

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

My surgeons office offers a support group, but it meets at inconvenient times and locations for me, so I have an online group with hundreds of members and they have been unbelievably great and supportive. You can ask any question at any time and at least someone has an answer. There is a huge spectrum of people there, from all over. I have met some good friends who have helped me a lot. I am also very open in my life about my surgery. I have found that a lot of people are curious but supportive not judgmental like I thought they would be.

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

I had my surgery done laparoscopic, so I have three or four small cars, very small in size. It is less than what I expected actually. They dont bother me at all.

Please describe any plateau experiences you have had since surgery.

I look at the whole weight thing a bit differently. I have lost 60 pounds in 4 months and that is great. Not all of it was healthy though because I threw up a lot in the beginning. Now, without a lot of exercise or water or protein I am losing about a pound a week. I am not worried about that at all. When my body can, I will drink more water and eat more protein. And when it doesnt feel weak and so tired then I will be able to exercise more. Last week I gained a pound and I kind of thought that was funny. It was lost before my next weigh-in, but I didnt see the point of getting upset about that. I think people should focus a lot less energy and emotions into just a number, they should care more about how they feel and what they eat. I might always be in the overweight category by medical standards, but can I climb a flight of stairs without becoming winded? Do I eat food that makes my body healthy? There are thin people out there who weight little but get winded going up stairs and who eat tons of junk food and drink loads of coffee and no water. Your scale just gives you a number, you should not define yourself by that number.

Do you notice people treating you any differently now?

People tell me how good I look fairly often. I get a bit self-conscious when they do. They dont treat me that differently though. The biggest thing is how I treat myself and how I see myself. A large part of me still sees myself as the same size, but then I also see the difference. The other day, while I was at work, I was asked by my boss to get on a wheelchair lift with a client. I paused and said quietly to my co-worker are you sure that it will hold me and that I will not be too heavy for it? She groaned and said no, of course not, you are fine. I still see myself as too heavy things like that. I was terribly afraid that when the lift started the van would tip over! Seriously! But it didnt and I realized that I still have a lot of work to do on my self-image. How people treat me isnt half as important as how I treat myself.