Machalo

I'm a bit late to the party, but welcome to the site! Catching a cold or the flu before surgery has been one of my concerns too. Have you talked with your nurse? I have my bariatric nurse already assigned and she is walking me through all the stages I need to get through. She'd be the first one I'd ask about a cold, or allergies, or anything like that. Best of luck and congrats on getting your surgery date!!!!!

Thank you, everyone for your comments. I brought home some articles for my husband to read about age and WLS and he seemed at least open enough to read them, though he hasn't yet. I think ... well I don't actually know what he thinks ... my supposition is that he wanted to do it too, and now that I'm on the path, he may be feeling a bit jealous? Gosh. That felt good to say. I'm on the path to WLS! Hooray me! Also, what one of our best friends told my hubby when we went to visit with them in August really rang true to me, so I had to do something about it. He told my husband that he was committing suicide by food and that he needed to make some changes or that is what was going to happen. This 80-something friend of ours tells it like it is, and we love him for it. He also mentioned my weight and asked if I was trying to catch up to my husband's weight. Only he could get away with saying that and not completely devastate me. But I took that comment to heart as well, and realized that only I could make the change for me and not for anyone else. Anyway, preaching to the choir here. I hope you all have a great day today.

Thanks Jess. I hope my husband will come around too. I'm sure he will with time, and he kind of has to since I'm having the surgery, right? Well, he's got at least through the end of January to adjust. Thanks for commenting!

OOh! I hope you have great nutritionists on your team. Mine are fabulous and have already shared some hints and a great recipe for crock pot cooking of proteins so I can freeze them in "to go" packets. I hope you also have great success in your small step changes. We can do this. That's why we're here. Right?

My question is how are your families reacting to your decision to have WLS? Mine is currently in the denial phase. Doesn't want me to have it, says I'm too old, too out of shape, etc. He's afraid I think of me croaking on the table. I've started pulling articles about how safe the surgery is now and that it can be done into someone's 70s now. My surgeon will only go up to age 60 and I'm 55. I've researched the surgeries for the last decade and gone back and forth and been anti'd more than once by other people. This time, I'm doing it for my own self health. I'm afraid to tell anyone else because of the anti-surgery messages I got the last time a few years ago when I started the process. That's when I found Bariatric Pal. What a great forum this is! Anyway, I got sidetracked. Any advice in how to raise your family's support of your decision?

I'm thinking that is going to be one of my biggest bugaboo's too. Giving up the soda. I decided to do it during my 4 months of nutrition consults, while I gear up for my surgical consult in January. Like this month (my starting month) I'm not limiting how much diet soda I drink. Next month, I'll limit to 2 per day. In December, 1 per day, so that by January I'm completely off. I still don't think it's going to be easy, but I'm happy with my plan. You may be post-op by now; how did you finally get off soda?

Hello, I had my initial consult on Monday and now have 4 months of nutrition before I even get to meet the surgical team. Between now and then I cannot gain so much as an ounce or insurance will kick it back. So, I'm doing the next best thing and starting to modify my behaviors by cutting out most of the sugar I eat, and chips this month, adding in cutting down on soda next month, until I get to my surgical team appointment and can say I'm off soda and sugar. Has anyone else done any behavior modification while on their pre-op path?