Hello!

I am getting banded on January 8th! I am also hoping to go to Disney World Jan 17-22. At that point I will be on the second week of my post op liquid diet. Is this a crazy idea? Also I would be going with my best friend who does not know about the surgery and I am not planning on telling him. Does that make it even crazier? I don't know what to do!? Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Thanks in advance!!

Disney is VERY accomidating to any special diet. You just need to tell the waitress or call ahead and let them know what your diet is.

As far as telling your friend? that might be hard to keep from him if you are having just liquids and he's eating a steak? It also may be hard for you if he is not privy to your condition. You are going to have to be careful of your stitches and certain rides may jostel you too much or lap bars may come down in the wrong place. You might have to tell him you had surgery. You could always just say a "female surgery". Most men wont ask questions. Hope you have fun.

Since we would be driving and are college students on a budget, hopefully we will be bringing our own food rather than eating at the parks in order to save money. I tried to kind of preface it by saying I think to save money on food I am just going to do some liquid cleanse diet while we are there. :/ I feel really bad but he is a skinny little thing who is always complaining about his size 29 pants falling off....so he doesn't exactly understand what I would be going through. I am also hoping we will be so busy in the parks and such that it will actually help me with my liquid diet and distract me from any hunger I may be feeling. I don't know haha! Thanks for your suggestions!!

lol, I'll be going on the 23rd! That is absolutely what is getting me through tomorrow! This is a girl trip, leaving my gus all behind.

Have a great time!

You are getting banded tomorrow?! Congrats!!! I see you have already lost 19 lbs!! Double Congrats!!! I seem to be staying in the same about 6 lb range and fluctuating but hopefully by the time I get to DW ,if I get to go that is, I will be down at least a pant size! Have fun on your trip! That week is probably one of the best weeks to go, nice temperatures and low crowds! Enjoy!!

I love disney!! It is truly my 'happy place'. You will be able to get around the on the liquid stuff... there are tons of places in disney with Soups. Also, take Protein powders (like special k) and add into the bottle waters.

My biggest concern would be your stamina. You will probably need to tell your friend that you have had some kind of surgery (maybe hernia repair), so that he will understand that you will need rest and breaks often.

It is my favorite place on earth!! My best friend is not as excited because he thinks Disney is for little kids and doesn't want to waste his money on something like Disney. Which might be one of the reasons we might not be able to go, we are both in college so neither of us really have that much extra money. For my liquid diet I should be getting a minimum of about 64 grams of protein each day. I have tried numerous protein drinks and have hated most of them. The other day I got the flavorless Unjury Powder and the flavorless Beneprotein. I have heard the Beneprotein is better tasting but it is only about 6 grams of protein per scoop as opposed to the 21g in each scoop of Unjury. Hopefully if he believes that this "liquid diet" is just a cleanse he will understand if I feel weak or need to take a break, and also since I am overweight if I need a break hopefully he wont think much of it or make a big deal out of it. If I take a plastic ziploc type baggie with some protein powder in it to mix into my drinks to the park, do you think Disney will make a big deal? I don't want them to think it is some sort of drug or a powder I am going to make explosives or something out of! I know that is a bit extreme but I just don't know what they think of unidentified powders haha!

Hmmmm I wouldn't go....I think that is a lot of stress on your body. I don't think the liquid diet will be a problem because your mind will be on other things. I also have not told anyone about my surgery only my mom and husband know(I'm a little embarassed) but I'm sure you can just say you pulled a muscle and he should know to take it a lil easy!

If it were me I would NOT go. At 2 weeks post op I was still very weak....remember by that time you will have been without calories for a long time. I dont know what your pe op diet was? Mine was 3 weeks liquids so 2 weeks after my surgery I was on my 5th week of liquids and feeling very poor energy wise.

I am 11 days out at age 50 and went (and stood in lines) for Sherlock Holmes on Christmas! I went to church and Target by myself today. I would tell your friend something. Like the other's said you will need breaks and rest. Have a fun trip!!!

Thanks for your opinions and suggestions, it is still up in the air whether or not I will be going.

My pre-op diet is actually pretty tame compared to others I have seen. I only have to be on a clear liquid diet for the 2 days prior to my surgery. I was told that those two days will be the worst since I am not used to it and don't have the band to curb my appetite at all. Since I will only be about a week and 2 days into my liquid diet I am hoping I won't be too worn out from it yet.

I am also kind of counting on my age to help me out a bit since I am only 20. However, I won't know and I understand no one can really tell me how exactly I will be feeling post-op since everyone is different.

Only my parents know that I am getting the surgery and they have both been very supportive and helpful which is good. I do not want to tell my friend because I am slightly embarrassed and I am not sure how understanding he would be.

The only other person I told is one of my older sisters ( I am the youngest by 15 years and the only one still at home with my parents so I should be able to hide it) but she made a huge deal about the whole "cant you just eat less and work out" thing that Im sure many of you have heard before and made me feel guilty about my parents not being able to afford the surgery (assuming I am approved, my insurance will help cover some of the cost) so we just kind of dropped it. I told her I was considering it at the beginning of my journey and since it has been about 6 months since the beginning and I obviously have not lost weight and have not mentioned it further, I am assuming she has let it go and thinks I am no longer pursuing it.

We will see what happens... :/

i went 2 weeks post-op. pushed a kid in a stroller the whole time. no problem. i am 37 and was close to 300 pounds then. but then again i was also back at work -- via a 4 hour car trip -- 3 days post-op. did a public presentation and everything.

i was on "mushies" so i brought in my own cottage cheese, egg salad and drank tons of shakes.

i would suggest spluring for the premade shakes for ease. disney is very accomodating for all guests... you can find plenty of counter service restaurants where you can picnic.

in epcot at the Land Pavillion the Sunshine Seasons food court has excellent homemade hummus that i had on my mushie diet.

as far as your friend "knowing" goes...don't underestimate him or his ability to support you. i have found my biggest cheerleaders to be skinny male co-workers. the most common response i get from men and women who know me is "i am so proud of you"... and that means the most to me!

have fun at the world. we go about once a month and will probably be there next weekend.

First off let me say that I am so jealous that you get to go to the World about once a month!! I would love that! Right now I a have an internship that I work once a week and was only given 2 weeks off for the holiday so I have surgery on a Friday and have to work the next Thursday. I am hoping I will be alright by then, however I will still be on the liquid diet, and since my internship is in a city I have to take a train then walk about 3/4ths of a mile to my office from the train station. Hopefully that won't cause any trouble for me!

As for my friend, I know him fairly well and how he responds to certain things and while I may be underestimating him, and I really hope that I am, I am probably not. Will probably play that situation by ear and just see what happens.

As for shakes do you, or anyone really have any recommendations? I have tried many different ones and really haven't found any that I can stomach! Im assuming by the time I have been on liquids for a few days, everything will seem much more appealing just because I will be so hungry and desperate for something different haha! For now I think I am just going to try the unflavored powders and see how those work mixed with crystal light packets, water, and other liquids.

Also since I will be on the "full liquid" diet as opposed to the "clear liquid" diet, I will be able to add some juices, sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles, which will hopefully fill me up a bit more and make me feel like I am eating food!

Mom on the go, it makes me feel a bit more confident knowing that you went to the world about the same time I would be going post-op. I think I am going to try to get back on my feet and start at least walking as soon as posible following the surgery in order to sort of "prep" myself for disney if I get to go.

Hi Excited... have you tried GNC's 100% Whey Protein? It is a powder that comes in lots of flavors, and gets mixed into 8oz of low fat or skim milk. For a total of 29 grams of protein per shake! The Chocolate and Chocolate Caramel are actually really good! Slim Fast w/ Protein (Chocolate Royale) is okay, and convient, but doesn't taste as good. Be careful if you make it to Disney. Week Two for me has been up and down. The gas settled into my lower back and caused extreme pain to the point that I wasn't able to get around at all. Not trying to scare you, but just keep an open mind about the possibility that you may need that time to contine re-cooping. Good Luck though! And if you are welll enough to go, hope you have a great time!

Excited-

I have only seen posts regarding dietn and being able to stand in line. I'm 12 days post op right now and I would say DO NOT GO.

Aside from the stress on your body from surgery and change in diet, you are compounding the stress by keeping a secret. Also, if you plan on riding a number of rides - no dice you can't be jerked around your body is healing! Not even the tilt a whril!

Would you really want to have wasted all the work you have done to this point?(not to mention money) Is it worth popping your port? Having complications and need additional surgery?

Couldn't you just plan to go spring break instead? You'd be on regular food and healed by then.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer here but I can't imagine doing anything that would possibly stand in the way of my success after 7 months of waiting to get banded.

Tina, Thanks for your concern. I understand how that could be a problem. Obviously I am planning on talking with both my surgeon and the nutritionist at the surgery center about whether or not I would be well enough to go, and also if I can go what kinds of precautions I should take and how to manage my diet.

I just figured I would ask on here to find out what people thought, if anyone had done it before, and the concerns of others.

I certainly don't want to do anything to compromise all of the work I have done thus far and will have done after the surgery. I am not really stressed about keeping it a secret from my friend, if he finds out he finds out it would not be the end of the world and I am not losing sleep over it. However I would prefer that he didn't know if possible and I have received a few suggestions on how to handle the situation without telling him necessarily that I had weight loss surgery.

Thanks again for your concerns.

I hope everyone does realize that I am going to talk with my surgeon before making any decisions so I know I will be making the right decision. And I also hope no one thinks I am being naive, I do realize that while it is an outpatient procedure, I am having surgery and will have to make huge changes and can't expect to just come out of surgery and everything be normal.

I hope that my post shows that I am trying to educate myself on my options and become aware of concerns I may not have previously thought of, rather than just decide to go to Disney without doing any research on how to take care of myself and keep myself safe if I do go!