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Upcoming surgery in November



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Hi! I am brand new to this site. My physician recommended it. I will be having suregery in November. I have been fairly nervous and kind of waffled for a while. But I am ready to go. Has anyone had to face doing the surgery and post op during the holidays? It is such a busy and hectic time, not to mention full of food and celebration... I have 5 children, what can I do to keep them excited while at the same time not place too many temptations in my path?

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I'm November 2nd with 2 kiddos (a 3 and 5 year old), rocking in the same boat with you... Not sure how we'll get through this, except that the best Christmas gift I can give my kids is that of a healthy mama, to last longer on God's Green Earth for them. When I look at it that way...it helps :) Let's stay in touch!

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I have 4 kids and they love all things about the holidays, not just the food. Try focusing on activities instead of the tons of treats. Maybe make a holiday craft instead of Cookies. I don't want to totally deprive my children of treats, but I try to stay away from things that I really like. Gingerbread houses are a good option because you can get all that gross candy and the kids don't care. I actually rarely crave sugar after my surgery, so you might find that the old temptations aren't really much of a temptation anymore. Good luck!

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I have 4 kids and had my surgery 11-19-13. Believe me if anything the smell of food will make you sick before you crave it. I cooked a full thanksgiving meal, with the help of my kids/spouse after surgery and I had no desire to eat any of it. My kids ranged from 5-17 at the time but we bonded and I used the time to teach them old family recipes. It was nice and they still help me cook even now.

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Thanks so much! It's so good to hear others who have been in the same situation! And the yucky candy for the gingerbread house is such a god idea!!! I am really hoping that it works that way for me too, that I will no longer crave some of the things I do now. I have had to lose 37 pounds just to get to a weight where I can have the surgery. (My surgeon requires a BMI of 35-45 before doing the surgery.) So I have been working on weight loss since the end of February. I am finally there and start all my preop stuff October 13. Am so excited!!! Thanks so much for your advice!!!

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I just realized this post is in the 30's group. Awesome! We have a lot in common. I'm 37...yicks! How did that happen lol. Yeah, I'm not a spring chicken anymore...so I figure another motivation is that the sooner I get this done, the better because I can't help but think it's tougher the older you get.

Since most of us have kids here, the first hurdle we'll have is not even Thanksgiving...it's Halloween (which I'm not particularly fond of), with all the bounty of chocolate and candy. It's there at Easter, at Valentines, at Halloween, at Christmas...there is just no escaping it's presence....we will have to strategize to fight back!

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
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    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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