Making a Shopping List for US Visit

[MadameX 3]

Hi! I am scheduled for a gastric sleeve next month on March 24 and I live in Sweden -I'm from Florida originally : )) . My husband is traveling to Texas the week before my surgery so I am making a shopping list for him of things to get for after my surgery. A lot of items I read about on this forum are not available here in Sweden. I'm so thankful for everyone posting here on BariatricPal as the info you get here in Sweden for after the surgery is very minimal. They stitch your incisions up and send you out the next day with some very basic guidelines for eating and drinking. Have check ups at 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year and then yearly after that for life. It's very different here...!!

If you have any recommendations or something that you think really helped please reply! Here's the list:

Gas X Strips (will ask my husband to buy several boxes as my friend with IBS is very eager to try this too! haha)

GENEPRO unflavored Protein Powder (how long does a bag last?)

chewable vitamins (?? so many brands)

chewable Calcium (Viaktiv??)

sublingual B12 (here you get pills)

Biotin (figure it can't hurt)

Tightening moisturizer Aveeno (worth a try!)

Crystal Light

Cream of Wheat

[Bufflehead 6,358]

Personally I would get some Protein Powder in addition to GENEPRO, if you can't find what you need in Sweden. I don't trust that stuff, it seems very shady to me. Also, I am not sure you can buy Genepro in brick and mortar stores, it may be only online.

Cream of Wheat -- do you really want this? It's empty carbs. Why not stick with eating high Protein foods?

chewable vitamins -- if your husband is near a Trader Joe's, their chewable High Potency multi-vitamins are great and very inexpensive!

Any chewable Calcium should be calcium citrate. Viactiv is calcium carbonate, which most bariatric surgeons say should be avoided as post-sleeve patients don't absorb it well. You may also want to look into liquid calcium citrate, which may be easier to find. I think Wellesse brand liquid calcium citrate is available at GNC, Kroger, Walmart, and some other stores.

Do you like Peanut Butter? If so, maybe have your husband pick up some PB2 if you can't get it in Sweden. It's good to mix into shakes, yogurt, and cottage cheese for some extra flavor, protein, and Fiber.< /p>

Can you get sugar free fiber powder in Sweden? If not, that might be something to consider having him get as well.

Good luck! I am sure you will do great.

[Pepper123 320]

GNC lean me powder and Quest bar all 20% protein...good luck!!!

[MadameX 3]

Thank you so much for the information! This is exactly what I need to know. : ) I'm not sure if they have Trader Joes in TX? But maybe I can order online. I figure chewables the first three months then maybe I can switch to some local brand of Vitamins. They did have a bariatric Vitamin here but it must have not done well as I can't seem to place an order with the co. Good point about the Cream of Wheat. I can find some Protein powders here but the choice is pretty limited and expensive. Not sure what PB2 is but will Google it. I do like Peanut Butter. Same with the bars. .Thank you so much again for the answers. I appreciate it. : )