Hey guys! I'm about 27 days out from surgery and was wondering.... Experienced sleevers, what you know now that you wish you knew prior to being sleeved?

What you wish you had packed for the hospital???

What you wished you had done to prepare, mentally, emotionally and physically?

After you came home???

Etc. etc. etc.

Gimme ALL the deets ... LOL thanks!

I wish I took less to the hospital. All I really need was my face wash and lip balm.

I wish I knew I wouldn't be a "freak" forever. At 6 months I felt just like a normal person with a smaller appetite and capacity. I don't feel different or like I had weight loss surgery, at least not how I thought it would be.

I wouldn't have stocked up on anything before surgery like I did. I ended up tossing so much of that stuff recently.

I wavered a little on telling people about my surgery, but now that I am 8 months out I am very happy and secure in my decision not to tell people. It has made my recovery a lot easier and my weight loss easier also.

Things get better at 6 weeks, better again at 3 months and back to normalish at 6 months.

I wish I would have not stocked up on too much broth, yogurt, etc before surgery. Get enough for a week, but realize your taste buds change.

I think physically and mentally I was pretty prepared. Maybe over-prepared in that I never used all of the millions of kinds of Protein powders I stocked up on....lol. What I wish I would have known ahead of time was the emotional work it would take to be successful after surgery. I never realized the emotional connections I had to food, and it was really surpising to me what a struggle it was when that coping mechanism was gone. I would have read up on Geneen Roth's writings before I had the surgery. That would have helped so much!

Good luck to you!

*I wish I had bought chap stick before as I needed it every day.

*I wish I had bought sugar free gum to whet my whistles (Check with your surgeon..many do not allow)

*I wish i had bought really soft nightgowns to slip on and off. I had bought a few mens style Pjs and they were too rough and scratchy and effort to get on and off - I had bought one super soft nightgown 2 sizes too big and wanted to wear that all the time. The softness and the tent-ness of it made my bloated and healing stomach feel better.

* I wish I had bought a few different lightly scented candles - different smelling ones. By day 3 (for me) everything smelled bad - my bedroom, my living room, outside, people, etc. my friends who came over told me nothing "smelled" but I had to burn cool linen candles in every room in order not to feel ill.

* I wish I had given my scale to a friend to hold for the first week so i wasn't constantly checking and obsessing about my weight

*download an app to help you remember to drink / eat at regular intervals to avoid over or under doing it - it really helped me the first 4 days to get all of my Protein drinks and liquids in - ( I used Bariatric Timer)

Good luck with your surgery!

What I know at 5 months out is........ the weight WILL COME OFF. I was soooooo impatient. My advice is RELAX. Take it one day at a time. You will be losing large amounts of weight and it won't come off in equal increments. Trust the process. 64 oz of Water daily, as well as 80 grams of Protein when you're able. Once your get your legs back under you be sure to WALK as much as possible..... Final Suggestion, TRUST THE PROCESS. Don't get too anxious, as the weight will come off. You will have stalls. Don't panic. You will average a lot of weight loss per month for the first few months for sure... Enjoy the ride.

For the hospital, definitely bring Chapstick and stock up on it because you will need it all the time. Same with lotion for dry skin.

I also bought way too much canned fruit, Soups, and broth for the early stages. Just loaded up a big tub of it to give away.

Get rid of all junk food before your surgery. If it is not in the house you will not be tempted to eat it. My surgery was right before Halloween and I had to buy candy for the kids. Turned out I didn't have any and that candy kept calling to me until I threw it out.

My recovery was really easy with almost no pain. So I can't think of anything special that you need for that.

Emotionally, you need to prepare that this is not a diet, it is a lifelong journey. You will never be able to eat like you once did, and it can be a struggle every day. Be sure to have hobbies or other things to fill your time. I'm the most hungry when I'm bored. It is head hunger, but is hard to get rid of.

Start exercising NOW! Just walking if you don't currently exercise, but get moving. It will help you recover quicker from surgery and it will be a habit by the time you are pre op.

Good Luck! I'm sure you will do fine.

I wish that I knew how emotional I would be the week after surgery.

I wish I knew that the "after" was really not that bad. (at least for me) I worried so much about nausea and inability to eat/drink before surgery...My doctors took good care of me and I had none of those issues.

I wish I knew that the week after surgery it is entirely possible to not lose weight even though all you do is drink. It apparently can happen any time....and can last a while. (I started getting regrets)

I wish I knew that unflavored Protein powder...is not flavorless. I still haven't found a way to add it to any food. Instead I stick to keeping protein supplements between meals and choosing foods that have protein in them. I track everything on myfitnesspal and I'm meeting my goals with out that expensive useless jar of nasty powder.

I wished I'd known how easy it would all be. Luckily I was blessed to have no major complications. But even the preop diet, surgery and anesthesia, postop diet, stalls, diarrhea, constipation, food intolerances, learning how to eat, eating healthy, being able to control head hunger, etc has been much less dramatic than most of the posts I read on these forums. Sure, it takes effort, but if you are committed and truly embrace the WLS lifestyle with a good attitude it is not that bad. The fun and exciting NSVs far outweighed anything negative I went through.

I also wished I'd known I would get gallstones so I could have had my gall bladder removed during my VSG.

This post was interesting. I have all these fears and worries basically based on a lot of the things I read here! Glad to hear it can also go smoothly and easily.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This post was interesting. I have all these fears and worries basically based on a lot of the things I read here! Glad to hear it can also go smoothly and easily.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Expect and prepare for the worst but Hope for the best. You likely won't be disappointed.

Thanks so much you guys! Taking yalls experiences and tips to heart!

I wish I drank more Water leading up to my surgery! The day before I did my magnesium sulfate and I didn't pay much attention to my Fluid intake. The morning of surgery, they struggled with starting my IV because they couldn't find my veins. I've never had this problem, but I'm usually very well hydrated. Everything else was a breeze compared to that!

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How very little I actually needed! I always suggest getting a 45° angle pillow for your immediate recovery. For the first week to two weeks it was extremely helpful in allowing me to get into a restful position and also be able to get up without a great deal of pain.

I've been reading other posters answers ... and thinking about my own ...

I can honestly say I read and re-read all the information I was given by the surgeon ... so I was "prepared" ...

as much as you can be I guess ...

the only thing I wish someone had really stressed to me ...

was the left shoulder gas pain ... whoa ... that made me stop in my tracks ...

the pain from the actual surgery was a piece of cake compared to the shoulder pain ...

So when someone tells you you probably will get the gas pain in your left shoulder ... listen!

It does go away ... thankfully !

I wished I had packed a robe, I was missing a tie on my hospital gown so my husband had to hold it closed for me. I used the chapstick, gas-x strips & slippers I brought.

At some time through the process you are going to freak out or just be done with the whole thing. About two weeks out I got really grumpy with my husband and just started bawling when he came to give me my shot (some surgeons prescribe anti-coagulant shots.) I was tired of the whole after care process and just wanted to be normal.

After surgery Water may taste sweet to you & it may make you nauseous, it faded after 2-3 weeks but it is really tough to get water in when your main source tastes nasty.

For me the whole process doesn't feel real, I had an easy recovery & am losing weight pretty quickly. I wish I knew that I would be able to drink normally. When you are in post op liquid phase you may be able to drink more than 4oz if so it will freak you out and get you worrying. Just make sure to measure what you drink and keep to your timetable. If you one of the lucky folks you also won't feel restriction during this phase but when you move to more solid food you will.

Also the dreaded three week stall is real. The worst part of the stall is the mental games it plays with you, all your previous diet fears & emotions come bubbling up and you just can't help it. It will break as long as you follow your program.

Almost every surgeon has their own plan and post-op instructions, I am following my surgeons instructions and tucking things I am learning from my online support group that follows my guidelines.

Even though you feel fine one month after surgery, be careful a this is when you can really hurt yourself (your internal stitches have not dissolved yet and if you do something wrong you will feel "pinching". It is not pleasant.