Gastric Bypass Support
Where did you find gastric bypass support?
Pre-operative support was found obviously with my family and friends albeit at the same time the program I joined was very comprehensive and that for 6 months preceding surgery, you went to support groups, you were around like 90 people who are about to do it, you make the decision you that were making and this is where mindful leading came into play and support groups are not using food with emotion and meeting with the psychologist, meeting with the entire mental health team as well as the surgical team and the actual physicians that are involve with the program because they heeded so many angles you have the mental health, you have the surgical side and then you have the doctors. The doctors provided the pre-op basically making sure that you're in the best health possible to actually undergo the surgery and then you have the mental health to make sure that you're actually ready to have the surgery and can actually support the after effect because it is very dangerous if you don't have that after effect. And then the surgical team is obviously there to tell you how it's physically going to happen and what will be expected of you before, during and after surgery.
Did you trust gastric bypass doctors?
My gastric bypass doctors had to earn my trust. They came at it from many angles, the doctors, you know, worked on my blood pressure, my mental health team worked on why I'm tying in food with emotion, and my surgical team -- let's face it, at the end of the day I was about to trust my life with them and that is not something I take lightly, so my surgeon probably had to earn my trust the most because at the end of the day, I was going under the knife with her and she was going to actually perform the surgery and it took a long time for me to really trust her.
Did anyone criticize your decision to have gastric bypass?
You will hear a lot of criticism about choosing the gastric bypass. Mainly because its usually thin people doing it to, which is a little awkward too. Because they've never lived their life as an overweight person but at the same time they don't understand it. So obviously the easiest way to fight that criticism is through education. And sometimes they're open to that type of education and sometimes they're not. But I did receive quite a bit of criticism pre-op and still to this day post-op about having the surgery. I take it with a grain of salt because at the end of the day they don't have to live my life, I do.
Who gave you the most support in this process?
Not only did team Chad win, it's a combination of team Chad and the original team that operated on me and were a part of my program, because though I live in Los Angeles right now, I have no problem calling my surgeon or e-mailing my surgeon back in Boston because I know she's with me for life.
