Psychological Effects Of Gastric Bypass

How do you feel overall after gastric bypass surgery?

After having had the gastric bypass surgery I overall feel pretty good, but again emotionally, so many things are… the emotional change is different because when you walked into a room at 500lbs you kind of knew why people were looking at you, because you were fat. Now when I into certain situations and people are looking at me I associate certain things. I think that I'm still the 500lb person. So those things don't really go away, those scars, those wounds, those mental wounds that will stay with me forever, but overall physically I feel top notch. I can't think of any time in my life where I was in better shape.

What do you worry about, now that you've had a successful gastric bypass?

I'd have to say, most people would expect me to say gaining all the weight back. That is not a fear whatsoever. My fear is forgetting the fundamentals of keeping up with this new body, which is taking small bites and chewing, because I no longer have the food processor that everyone else has. My food processor is now exclusively my teeth, so that's very difficult. You know, I have to take small bites at all times, because I don't want anything getting lodged, because I have, in the past, had some bowel obstructions which aren't very fun.

Was gastric bypass the right choice for you?

Yes, the gastric bypass was the right decision for me. It may not be the right choice for the other person or this person, but it was the right choice for me.

Do you think you could ever gain the weight back?

I had a dream a week and a half ago that I had gained the weight back and it was so real… I almost forget what it was like to be 500 pounds - I look at the past photos and say to myself "who is that?" because it is not who I am. This is who I am, when I look in the mirror I see me. So, I obviously have a level of fear that that person will come out again - that shell will somehow grow on me overnight. But I don't fear gaining the weight back by over-eating because I'm a different person and my success is to much a part of my new life so I don't fear that whatsoever.

How did people view you before gastric bypass, and how do they view you now?

Both friends and family see differences in me after the surgery and after having lost the weight. They see a new found confidence such as packing up, moving across the country to a city that is almost consumed by beauty. My friends see a new Chad in that I live for the day, I take each moment and I basically live my life day by day now. I no longer give up experiences. I want to try new things, where as before they would want to try new things and I would almost always have an excuse to why I could not. And at the end of the day, it was because I was over weight. I was uncomfortable. I did not want other people to see me doing these things. And now I will sky dive, I will ride the roller coaster, now I will go to Vegas on a whim, I will live life to its fullest and that is probably what my friends and family see in new Chad.