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

My mom had weight loss surgery approximately 25 years ago. She lost a bunch of weight but never seemed to be happy with where she was at. The weight slowly crept back on and about 10 years ago she had the RnY. They had to repair the damage from the old procedure and her surgery was 8 hours long. I was really scared waiting for her to come out of surgery.

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

The staff at my MD's office are very well educated in the ins and outs of insurance. They told me up front what needed to happen and in what order. They made sure to not get my hopes up because any insurance plan can deny for you what they approved for the person before you. I was given cash prices for everything so I could work on saving up the money if my insurance did deny my procedure. My advice would be to make sure you keep in touch with the MD office, follow everything to the letter that they give you, and keep all your EOBs (explanation of benefits) sent to you by your insurance plan. The more you know the more you can help the office in obtaining approval.

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

I totally forgot to watch the video they sent me. I would highly advise you research the procedure options before you meet with the surgeon. I already knew quite a bit from my own research but they will want you to understand what they do and why they do it. It's always best to make an informed decision.

What made you finally decide to have the surgery?

After a failed pregnancy I decided I was not going to have any more children. I have always considered weight loss surgery to be vain and couldn't convince myself to spend that much money on myself. Now that I am bordering on a lot of health issues (cardiac, diabetes, joint pain, etc) I want to make sure I can be the mom I was meant to be from the beginning. I want to avoid taking a dozen medications a day just to be 'normal'. I want to lose weight so I can be active and fun and friendly.

How did you decide which proceedure to have?

I've seen a lot of different results from weight loss surgery. I felt that the sleeve and the band weren't 'permanent' enough for me. I needed something I couldn't reverse or 'work around'. The D-Switch is a bit newer and it was iffy if the insurance plan would cover it so I just went with RnY. I want results, with the least likelihood of weight gain later. The highest success rates have been with the RnY (possibly the D-switch, but I haven't researched it enough).

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?

After having issues last year from my miscarriage, every trip the the hospital puts death in the forefront. I almost backed out at the last minute. I had this insane fear of my children growing up without a mom and when asked how she died they would have to say 'She wanted to be skinny'. It seems like such a silly risk to take when most people don't understand that dieting and exercise just DO NOT work for some people. And it's not all about being skinny. It's about feeling alive, not embarrassing your children or husband in public, being more successful (yes, heavier people are NOT in positions of power for the most part), and living the life you want to live without your damn weight being a factor.

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 husband will support me in anything that I choose to do, but he doesn't have to be happy to be supportive. ;) He keeps telling me that it's a physical fix to an emotional problem. Yes, to an extent that is true, but I feel I need to lose the weight before I can fix the emotional issues. My mom and my sister are fully supportive and will bend over backwards to help me out. My brother things anything medically related is stupid so I just don't bother eliciting his opinion. I may not see my family for a while though - we always get together to eat! LOL Many friends told me that it wasn't necessary, that I am fine the way I am. I do still think many people think it's a selfish move on my part, but I may just be projecting.

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

My direct manager is a man and I didn't really feel comfortable explaining my decision to him. I did tell him I was having an elective procedure that would have me off work for a few weeks. I tried really hard to put off the surgery until it worked better with our work-load, but that just wasn't working out. I should be back before a co-worker goes on maternity leave and we have 3 new hires training with my team lead. That's the best I could do. I've put this off for almost 8 months trying to get my team stable enough at work to be without me for a few weeks and I am just not going to continue to put it off. I should be out 2-4 weeks. I have a desk job so I think as long as I prepare my meals properly ahead of time I should be fine going back to work. I am almost weaned off the pain meds and my all fluid diet is going well. I am REALLY craving a cheeseburger though! ;) Would really like the gas to go away before I have to return to work.

What was it like attending your first information seminar on weight loss surgery? Were you glad you attended? if so, why?

I attended several with my mom in the past. I thought they were very informative and I was glad to see I wasn't the only person of my size there. Compared to a lot of weight loss surgery candidates, I have always been on the smaller side. I 'wear my weight well' though according to my mom. I bet I was in the same weight range as most of the seminar attendees. It was nice to know you weren't alone in considering surgery and that others were just as unsuccessful as you were with Jenny Craig, Nutri-slim, phen-phen, etc.

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

I was in the hospital a lot longer than I expected, especially after having a pretty quick recovery. My surgery was at 8:30am on Wednesday and they released me Saturday morning. I think I could have easily went home Friday morning. Since my insurance was paying for everything maybe they just wanted to take advantage of that and make things a bit easier on me? Not sure. I was going stir-crazy though! Make sure you bring something to occupy your time once you aren't on pain meds constantly. I slept most of the first day because of the morphine. They gave it every two hours but by the second day I was taking it every 6-8 hours and only took Lortab on the 3rd day. Once they took the drain out on Saturday morning most of the pain was gone. That little bugger was the source of most of my pain!

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

So far I have not had any complications. I was not happy being without my birth control pills and my anti-depressant for 3 days though. There should be a way to still have these medications post-op. Maybe there is and I just didn't think to research it ahead of time. It's definitely something to consider as I really need that hormonal balance that I haven't had the past few days.

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

too soon to answer

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

to soon to answer

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

15 minutes. I live just outside of a metroplex and had my choice of two surgery centers and both were within 15-20 minutes from my home.

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.

too soon to answer