heynowkc

Again my browser seems intent on posting my topics twice. Sorry about that!

Hi there. I am having surgery on the 17th and I am curious what you veterans use to drink out of after surgery, especially since you'll have to carry your Water with you everywhere. It's just not convenient for me to have an open glass/cup everywhere, but most of my water bottles at home have some sort of straw which I know is not allowed. I know someone mentioned using a tervis tumbler with the sip style lid, and I do have one of those, but I find them less than optimal and am wondering if anyone's found other options that they like. I know we are not supposed to drink from straws, but I have at least 2 camelbak water bottles with the bite-tip that doesn't allow much, if any, air through. (Plus they have the nice feature of being guaranteed for life.) Has anyone had any luck with those? Does your doctor say it's okay? (I have my final meeting with the surgeon on Thursday and will definitely ask him then!) Also, does anyone take their doctor's recommendation of buying small toddler-size plastic plates and flatware for eating after surgery? I am thinking of purchasing some of amazon. Does anyone find this helpful? What did you use?

Hi there. I am having surgery on the 17th and I am curious what you veterans use to drink out of after surgery, especially since you'll have to carry your Water with you everywhere. It's just not convenient for me to have an open glass/cup everywhere, but most of my water bottles at home have some sort of straw which I know is not allowed. I know someone mentioned using a tervis tumbler with the sip style lid, and I do have one of those, but I find them less than optimal and am wondering if anyone's found other options that they like. I know we are not supposed to drink from straws, but I have at least 2 camelbak water bottles with the bite-tip that doesn't allow much, if any, air through. (Plus they have the nice feature of being guaranteed for life.) Has anyone had any luck with those? Does your doctor say it's okay? (I have my final meeting with the surgeon on Thursday and will definitely ask him then!) Also, does anyone take their doctor's recommendation of buying small toddler-size plastic plates and flatware for eating after surgery? I am thinking of purchasing some of amazon. Does anyone find this helpful? What did you use?

@@Megan00 If they say it's okay I will be so happy. This BA soup is just so hard to get through! I actually went to bed without "dinner" last night. Are you going to be at the 2.5hr class tonight? I am going to be there!

I have managed to doctor up the Bariatric Advantage soup in a way that I can tolerate with a handful of carrots/tomatoes pureed into the soup and then topped with green onions and cilantro. I found out the first time I made it that I had actually used too little liquid. But with 16 oz (as suggested on the Bluepoint handout given) plus the liquid I use to make the slurry ahead of time, and the fact I still don't love it, it just makes way too much. Am considering cutting it down and only using one scoop, but my question is, has anyone had any luck refrigerating leftovers of the soup?

My surgery will be on Dec 17th. I'm in Virginia.

For me, I was diagnosed with very mild (barely registering) sleep apnea, and I had to either A.) Go on CPAP treatments before my surgeon would complete the surgery, or B.) Get a letter from my sleep specialist stating that my sleep apnea was mild enough to not need treatment prior to surgery. I did the latter of course. If you do have apnea and it is severe enough to require treatment, I got the slight impression that there's a risk with going under anesthesia... but mostly I just think they want you to be on a CPAP machine while in the hospital overnight if your apnea is severe enough.

Congrats!

I just started mine yesterday and hope I can last until the 17th without cheating!! My surgeon uses Bariatric Advantage (used to use Optifast I think). We are allowed 3 shakes, 1 bar, and 1 Soup per day of the supplements which comes to something like 800 calories, plus a little more (up to 120) if you use skim milk/unsweetened almond milk to mix your shakes. I was doing between 1200 and 1400 on a diet prior to this, so am not hungry at all so far. However! I am not super happy with two of the flavors so far. The orange cream recommended to me by one of the office staff is pretty terrible and I am going to try to make orange cream freezer pops with it instead of a shake. I think I might like that better. Also, the soup mix was terrible and am going to doctor it up tonight with extra Fluid and maybe some non-starchy veggies, which we are allowed to add in moderation to the soup. I can also eat 1 banana a day, which I am going to save only for emergency hunger moments. I actually have considered breaking/cutting the Protein bar up into a few pieces and carrying it around with me in a baggie each day. That way instead of just eating it at lunch as recommended, I can have a bite whenever I feel hungry (or just sad that I can't eat food?) I was not worried about the pre-op diet because I generally like protein shakes/bars and find broth very satisfying, and I have been having next to no hunger issues lately and have experienced the same non-hunger when I have done juice fasts in the past, but these products are not what I imagined they would be. I know the Protein powder soup is supposed to be filling, but honestly I would just prefer plain broth!

@@Megan00 Hmmm they didn't tell me this was an option. If I can't manage it after a couple days maybe I'll call and ask them if I have any other options.

I'm scheduled for 12/17/14. That's less than two weeks away and I'm super jazzed but also suffering from a little bit of mental whiplash because I just found out my date two days ago and it feels like there's zero time until surgery. I would join the December facebook group but I don't have (or want) facebook. Is there a thread around here specifically for those of us with dates in December? I started my pre-op diet yesterday. My doctor's office uses Bariatric Advantage brand products. So far I have not liked the orange cream Protein shake (am considering turning it into an ice pop) and the Soup was really hard to get down. But on the plus side I am not feeling hungry at all so I'm thankful for that. Excited to see how much I lose pre-surgery. Am wondering if my 55+ lb losing streak will cause me to lose less over the pre-op diet. I know some people lose a lot during this time. I am planning to go to the gym nearly every day leading up to surgery as long as my energy is good. The past two months I've been at the gym/done something physical almost every day, so I don't want to stop now, especially since it will be several weeks or more after surgery before I can go back. I want to make every second count! I am planning to bring: gas x dissolving strips, vaseline lip therapy, a robe, house shoes, phone/charger/kindle, my book club read for January, pillow (maybe), and other than that I am not sure! I considered my laptop and charger actually, but if I'm only in there for one night (as my doctor suggested might be the case) I am not sure it would be worth it to lug that thing around. (I don't have a tablet because I found I never used it so I sold mine.) Good luck to everyone!

The only thing I can think that might make it tolerable is to use the tomato idea and puree it with my hand blender and then it might be like a creamy tomato soup. I don't know. I'm definitely going to try.

I have a friend who is considering the surgery in VA and she is lucky to be in a Kaiser service area. They cover it and she got her insurance through healthcare.gov. Good luck! I have Anthem BCBS through the state and they cover it as well.

Yes, the Woodbridge office is still open and running, thank goodness. That's where I went yesterday. I'm a patient of Dr. Halmi's. I am not sure if the locations have changed for any of the other doctors though. They seem to be doing the best they can and I was treated very well yesterday. The Stafford location has been removed from the site so you may want to try calling the Woodbridge number.

I wish I had chosen different flavors. The Orange Cream is terrible. Has anyone had any luck in making frozen protein pops? Just an idea I had. This might be the better way to go with the orange flavor. Blech. It may be better mixed with chocolate or vanilla. (I used to love those chocolate oranges when I was a kid.) Also had a hard time downing the soup yesterday. Gonna have to doctor it up with veggies like they suggest and maybe add more liquid next time to dilute it. One plus is that I'm not hungry at all, so at least I'm not dealing with that too! One last thing... when I was at the office yesterday I was told by one of the ladies at the front desk that the doctors in Blue Point have split up. May be why things have been so weird with some office staff leaving and the Stafford office closing last week.

Mine will be tomorrow for Breakfast. I might just go crazy and have bacon and eggs. (I know, that's not really that crazy!) Will start on the pre-op diet at lunchtime. Have to travel north mid-morning to pick up my Optifast shakes and bars and just got my surgery date yesterday. I was told not to fast ahead of time and go ahead and eat a normal breakfast. Working tonight until 9PM and don't get home until 10, so I hope we have bacon in the fridge at home!

Wow thank you! I hope you're right! I feel so energized right now and I feel like I owe it all to the pool! Who knew swimming laps in circles could be so rewarding? Haha.

Thanks, @@Elode!

An EGD was not on my order for pre-surgery testing I had to get done. I did get an upper GI though. I got my surgery date today and she told me over the phone that with the Upper GI the doc probably won't require the EGD. I am hoping not because I only have 2 weeks until surgery. I will find out tomorrow. Luckily it doesn't sound too bad based on what you guys are saying!

@@BeagleLover Where do you get the ISOPURE drinks? Does GNC or The Vitamin Shoppe sell them? @@Aranks Thank you so much for your reply! This was very helpful! I have a notebook where I keep a lot of things and am writing stuff down. I think I am in that initial shock phase you're describing. I really thought there was no way I would get a pre-Christmas date and was thinking mid-late January at the earliest. So when she called today and said "I see in the notes you are looking to have surgery before Christmas..." I already had the let down she was about to deliver in my mind. I couldn't believe it when the next words out of her mouth were that she could fit me in on Dec. 17th. Mind: Blown. Tomorrow when I see the doctor again I think I'll be more calm. Today I feel like I've got Flight of the Bumblebee running through my brain.

@@bobbyswife Awesome! I think I saw a thread and there are a lot of us that week. I wonder if there's a main thread for our time period? @@della street Well I will cross my fingers for you! Sorry you have to wait to submit but hopefully you get a quick decision. The reason I wanted a pre-Christmas date is that I work for a school library and we have 2 paid weeks off surrounding Christmas and New Years! I am so lucky I got it when I did. I still can't quite believe it.

I guess I just meant to prepare for the upcoming changes. I am definitely doing the right thing. No need to prepare for that. I would search but I can't remember what the threat was called or any specific details about it. Thanks anyway!

@@della street It's just so crazy. I was all set for a mid-January date and now it's happening in 2 weeks. Insane!

I was looking for the same thing. I remember seeing a list of suggestions but can't find it. I know it was kind of long! Haha.

I just got my surgery date today and it's 2 weeks away and I have to start the pre-op diet tomorrow after a mid-morning appointment (they said it's fine to eat a regular Breakfast tomorrow). Because it's so quick (I feel like that's unusual) a friend just texted me and said she hopes I am mentally prepared, but... I've been planning this for 13 months, so I guess I have been thinking about it for so long that I didn't REALLY think about it like that until just now. I'm not scared or worried at all, except for the fact that I hate needles! Haha. I am wondering what you guys do to mentally prepare yourself for the pre-op diet, surgery, etc? Also, I know there is a list somewhere around here about what you should bring with you to the hospital! Anyone know where I can find that? I feel like I will blink and it will be the 17th.