BigSue

My surgery is scheduled for next week and I'm kind of freaking out about how I'm going to get to and from the hospital. I'm not telling anyone about the surgery, so I have no one to drive me (plus all of my family is hundreds of miles away and I don't have any close friends in the area I would feel comfortable asking, even if it was something other than weight loss surgery). I live in a rural area about an hour from the hospital. There is a home health care agency in a neighboring small town that also does housekeeping, and I have used their housekeeping services several times, so I know them a little and trust them. They are usually pretty flexible, accommodating, and reasonably priced. I figured I could get one of their caregivers to drive me, and I asked a few weeks ago, but they just responded this week and said they're not available the day of my surgery. I called another home healthcare agency near the hospital, and they said they can do it, but they would charge mileage plus an hourly rate -- which is fair, of course -- but the problem is that I don't know exactly when I am being discharged, so I would have to pay the hourly rate to have them available during a particular window, and I might not even necessarily get discharged during that window. I am thinking about taking an Uber to the hospital, but I was under the impression that I couldn't take an Uber home because the hospital has to release me to someone's care and they have to sign something to say that. Is that true? How does that work? I've never had surgery before, or accompanied anyone else to surgery, so I have no idea. Help!

My pre-op diet is 2 weeks. The first week is 3 protein shakes per day plus one healthy meal (either 3 ounces of lean protein plus 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables, or a frozen healthy meal under 350 calories with no rice or pasta). The second week is liquid-only, 4 protein shakes per day and broth, plus up to 2 sugar-free Jello or popsicles per day. One of Dr. Weiner's videos said that he only requires a liver-shrink diet for patients with a BMI over 50 and/or a lot of abdominal fat (as opposed to fat carried in the hips and thighs). My program requires the same diet of all patients regardless of BMI or body shape. I can't remember where I saw this, but I read about a surgeon who says the liver-shrink diets are BS and if your surgeon makes you do it, he or she is just a bad surgeon. I am on day 9 (2 days into the liquids only week) and it definitely sucks, but if that's what my surgeon thinks will give him the best circumstances for performing the surgery, even if it's nothing but superstition, I'm willing to do it.

I have been doing intermittent fasting and restricting my calories for several months to lose weight before surgery. I have lost about 60 pounds. When my surgery was scheduled, I had a feeling of panic when I thought about all the foods I will not be able to eat anymore, so the week or so before my liquid diet, I planned out all the things I wanted to eat one last time. But I didn't want to undo all the weight I have lost, so I made my "food funerals" fit into my calorie limits. Sometimes that meant fasting for the rest of the day to save all of my calories for dinner, and splitting a piece of cheesecake between two days. Maybe you can try that -- go ahead and have that bagel or those cookies, but put a limit on it. And please, have a doughnut for me... I'm on my pre-op liquid diet now and I never got a chance to have that one last doughnut.

My surgery is July 16, too! I haven't told anyone, other than my doctors. I have just heard too many ignorant comments about other people who have had WLS. It feels like we can't win because people are nasty toward obese people, but when we want to get the only effective treatment for it, they're rude about that as well. Some people just think they are morally superior for being naturally thin. I looked into WLS about 15 years ago. I went to an information seminar and even had a consultation with a surgeon. I was still on my parents' insurance at the time, so I had to tell them. My mom talked me out of it because she was scared I would die on the table or have horrible complications. It's probably for the best that I didn't do it then because it has become a lot safer in the meantime, but I can't help but wonder what I have missed out on in life that I could have done if I had gotten WLS back then. This time, I am not giving anyone the opportunity to talk me out of it.

Congrats! Glad you are feeling better.

I'm on my pre-op liquid diet and I went shopping yesterday to stock up on stuff for the liquid and pureed stages. The store has one-way aisles, so I had to walk through a bunch of aisles I didn't want to, and man, was it hard to walk by all of the foods I can't have anymore. To make matters worse, there was a delicious smell from the bakery wafting throughout the store. On the upside, I discovered that sugar-free tropical Popsicles are delicious!

OMG, I have been worrying about this! I don't get an EKG until the DAY OF surgery! I am so afraid that I have gone through this whole process and I will get to the hospital on the day of surgery and fail the EKG. I don't understand why they wouldn't give me the EKG at the beginning, or at least before the liquid diet. At least you have time to go to your PCP and (I hope) get cleared for surgery before it's time.

I've watched a lot of Dr. Vuong's videos, and he has some good information. Something about him just seems a little off to me (like the fact that he no longer does surgery -- it seems like he's hiding something about that). I really like Dr. Matthew Weiner's videos. Most of them are several years old, but they're very informative, and Dr. Weiner seems really kind and genuine.

That sounds rough. There seems to be a lot of variation in pre-op diet requirements. Some are only three days, and others are up to two weeks. Mine is two weeks, but the first week, I'm allowed to have one actual meal per day (like a Lean Cuisine/Healthy Choice/Smart Ones/etc. under 350 calories with no rice or pasta -- actually very hard to find ones that meet these criteria!). The second week is liquid only (water, protein shakes, broth), but I'm allowed to have 2 servings of Jello and/or popsicles per day. Have you tried bone broth? I found some single-serving cans at the grocery store (haven't tried them yet, though). If you have a popsicle mold, you could try making your own popsicles with flavored water (I assume you're allowed to put no-calorie flavoring like Mio in your water). Unless that's not allowed, either (I can't imagine why this wouldn't be allowed, but I'm not a doctor!). Hang in there -- you can do it!

Hi, surgery twin! I'm scheduled for RNY July 16, too!

Mine's right before my birthday, too! Looks like several of us with July birthdays are getting WLS for our birthdays this year.

I am really glad I started my 3-month medically-supervised weight loss before the lockdown. Normally, I almost certainly would have gained weight working from home (right down the hall from my kitchen), but instead, I have lost over 40 pounds in the last 3 months. I have been doing intermittent fasting (16 hours/day) and I just don't even go in the kitchen until lunch.

I am using vacation time for my surgery so I don't have to tell anyone at work anything.

Hi, Lori, July 16 gastric bypass here. I have a lot of preparation to do! I just got insurance approval on Monday, and I didn't want to get ahead of myself and start buying stuff before I got approved. I think this weekend, I will go on a BariatricPal shopping spree. I also need to figure out my transportation to and from the hospital.

Built Bars are on sale for 50% off (on their web site, not Amazon) if you buy at least 4 boxes. That's why I want to stock up now IF I can still eat them after surgery. I haven't tried Pure Protein bars, but Built Bars are my favorite of the ones I've tried.

Yes, Built Bars (I LOVE those things)... Unfortunately, my favorite one, German chocolate cake, is 170 calories, but I also love vanilla, salted caramel, and raspberry, which are all 110. And I could cut the German chocolate cake in half.

This might be a stupid question, but can/should you eat protein bars after gastric bypass surgery (obviously not in the beginning, but once you're back to solid foods)? My favorite protein bars are on sale for 50% off right now, and I'm tempted to stock up, but my surgery is just over a month away and I don't want to buy a bunch of protein bars that I'll never be able to eat.

July 16! Just got approved. When I started, it seemed so far away, and now it's like, holy crap, only 3 and a half weeks until the dreaded pre-op diet. I don't want to get too excited because a lot can happen in a month, especially now when nobody knows what's going to happen with the pandemic, but I'm another step closer.

I live about an hour away from the hospital, in a rural area (no Uber or Lyft out here). What kind of driver do you suggest? I normally drive myself everywhere, so I'm not even sure what the options are around here.

I don't have any friends I would be comfortable asking to drive me, even if I were really having hernia or gallbladder surgery. There is a local home health care agency I know, and I'm fairly sure I can hire them to drive me, so that was my plan.

@Hop_Scotch, did you drive yourself home from the hotel? How did you get from the hospital to the hotel? This is one detail I am still trying to figure out, since I will not be allowed to drive myself home after the surgery. I live in a rural area about an hour from the hospital and I have no one to drive me there (unless I hire someone to drive).

I'm so glad to see this topic because I am not planning on telling anyone. Not my parents, not my siblings, and definitely not my coworkers. It is between me and my doctors. My coworkers are obsessive about their weight and talk about their diets and workouts constantly. Several of us just went back to the office after working from home for two months, and they all spent the first hour talking about how much weight they lost and complimenting each other on their weight loss. They generally leave me out of it because I guess it's obvious I'm not into that. Funny thing is that I've lost 25 pounds in the last two months and nobody noticed. I'm a very private person in general, so they usually leave me alone, but I'm afraid they're going to start asking questions once I start losing rapidly after surgery. They're very brazen about discussing weight; one time, a coworker straight up asked our boss how much he weighs!

My initial consultation was in February, so I did that in person. I also had an upper GI test at the hospital before everything shut down for coronavirus. My next steps were a nutrition consultation (one-on-one with a dietitian) and nutrition class (group class with the same dietitian), and both were changed to telemedicine. They were both changed at last minute -- the day before the appointments -- so I was nervous about having to decide whether to risk going to a major hospital where coronavirus could be spreading just to complete my pre-surgery requirements, but luckily, in the end, I didn't have to. As a bonus, I saved a 2-hour round trip for each appointment. One of my insurance requirements is a 3-month medically-supervised weight loss effort, so I have to go to my primary care provider once a month for three months to complete that. They changed the last appointment and the next one to telemedicine. They just asked me to weigh myself at home and take my own blood pressure and I talked to the nurse practitioner on Zoom for about 5 minutes. My next step is psych consultation, which isn't scheduled yet, but it would be nice to be able to do that by telemedicine, too.

I'm scheduled to have my nutrition evaluation next week at the hospital where the bariatric group is based. I checked the hospital's web site to see what restrictions they had in place for coronavirus, and it said that they would be postponing any non-critical appointments and encouraging people to schedule telehealth visits if possible. I called the bariatric group to ask if I could change my appointment to a telehealth visit, and they initially said no and insisted I had to come in for it, but they called back about an hour later and said they could change it to a phone call. My next hurdle is a weigh-in at my PCP for my 3-month weight loss effort. I hate going to the doctor's office as it is (always full of sick people!), but I'm REALLY wary of going now -- although I live in a rural area where there are currently no confirmed coronavirus cases. One would hope that the insurance companies would make some concessions for surgery approval given the world's circumstances, but insurance companies are notorious for denying coverage for any reason or no reason.

Have you chosen a surgeon yet? I think the pre-op requirements vary, so your best bet is probably to ask someone at the surgeon's office. P.S. What part of Tennessee are you in? Just curious; I'm in Eastern Tennessee.