My surgery is coming up FAST! I am trying to bet things ready so my family is taken care of(preparing meals and freezing them laundry car pools etc), but this thought just occured to me. What should I do to make it easy on ME Post op?? So is there anything you wish you had purchased or done ahead of time that would have made the first week or so after easier on you? Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks.

I would stock up on all the foods you will need. I had plenty of jello, popsicles, yogurt, mash potatoes, creamy soups, etc. I also made sure I had all the drug orders filled and GasX strips. Good luck.

If you take any medications you might want to buy a pill cutter and/or crusher. Also make sure you have Gas-X on hand just in case of the dreaded gas pains. Don't prepare too many meals because you propab;y won't be that hungry right away. Have sugar free jello, pudding and broth on hand too. Good luck - it's sooooo exciting.

take lots of before pictures the day of or before surgery from all angles so you have something to compare them to once you start losing weight

One thing I forgot to do and wished I had was put a pillow in the car for the trip home to put between you and the seatbelt. I had to hold the shoulder belt away for a 2 hour trip, which sucked.

Small dixie cups to sip from so that you don't over do it in the beginning.

The thing about taking pictures is the ONE thing I wish I had done. It is virtually impossible to find pictures of myself at my highest weight. I wish I had done some in bike shorts and a sports bra (or a swimsuit) so that I could take progressive picks as I lost. Good luck on the uncoming surgery, it gets pretty nervewracking the day or two before!!!

And take your measurements! Sometimes you can see more in that number than you can on the scales.

Go ahead and start on your protein supplements....find some you like. They will help you help and stay strong and will help meet your liquid intake requirements....also help satisfy cravings. Don't settle for some junk off the grocery counter (like Carnaation of Slim Fast).....use good quality ones made for bariatric patients (not athletes) and experiment with them.

Thank you all so much for the great ideas! The pillow tip is especially great. I remember holding the seatbelt on my way home after my c section. Thankfully my trip is 30 minutes tops! Maybe I will put a pillow in the car right now so I don't forget! Also, I will be sure to take lots of pictures. I probably wont look at them though until I don't feel like I look this way anymore.

As far as the meals go, I am preparing them for my family, not myself, so I wont have to prepare food I can't eat right after surgery, and also to take some of the pressure off of my dh. Who by the way is being SO wonderful about this!!

Keep the tips coming!! Thanks again! I can't wait!

All these items came in handy:

Bathroom size mini Dixie cups

Liquid Tylenol, refrigerated to make it go down easier

Heating pad

Comfy pillow to hold against your stomach.

Magic Bullet blender; invaluable to pulverize anything

baby plastic spoons; you'll use these even throughout.

small, 3-4 oz Rubbermaid plastic containers (tupperware) and/or Glad disposable containers; let's you visualize what 3-4 oz is (normal pouch size)

chewable Vitamins, Centrum Silver

low fat cottage cheese

egg-drop Soup (good Protein source, almost a clear liquid)

hummus (good protein source once you can do mushies)

Campbell's Select soups.

Good luck to you, bandster-to-be

You might want to purchase DVD's for viewing; a good book for reading; lots of flavored waters (I like fruit 2/0 grape-flavored and Crystal lite peach-flavored). Also, download an IPod with peppy music for long walks.

Best of luck!

Dianne