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Cooking for rest of the family



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I am the main "cook" in my family. I use cook loosely because I am far from being a "real" cook! lol Any who, do any of you find it difficult to cook for your family right after surgery? I'm still a ways away from that but I'm just curious how you handle the situation after surgery. I have 4 boys and a hubby to cook for.....4 teenage boys I might add!

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pre surgery I prepared and froze some meals, because in the time I was on liquids I did NOT want to cook. and then once I was on soft foods it was fine. it doesn't bother me a bit to cook for the crew and there is going to be something in the mix for me so maybe they are also having some healthier choices.

oh and because I have lived life with 4 teenage boys I will add, if you need to set aside something for tomorrow, put your portion in the vegetable drawer, BEFORE they come to the table! my boys are grown now, but in those years I did not know what a leftover was. they ate EVERYTHING in sight.

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I'm the main cook for my family (husband and two kids) and was worried about this same thing. I'm 3 weeks post op now. For the first two weeks after surgery, my fabulous friends and family brought meals over every couple of days. That was incredibly helpful, and I appreciated the company since I was bored at home while hubby worked and kids were in school. I highly recommend asking for this type of help if you have a good support system. If not, have the family fend for themselves for at least the first week. Now I'm back to preparing meals, and of course, I can't eat it. But it's really not as bad as I expected. I keep the meals simple for now and make extra so there's leftovers. Believe it or not, I'm enjoying the taste of foods more than ever right now. I don't know why, but it all seems so wonderful. Hummus especially! It's my new favorite! Anyway, since I'm happy with my own food, I don't feel like I'm missing out. Hope that helps!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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pre surgery I prepared and froze some meals, because in the time I was on liquids I did NOT want to cook. and then once I was on soft foods it was fine. it doesn't bother me a bit to cook for the crew and there is going to be something in the mix for me so maybe they are also having some healthier choices.

oh and because I have lived life with 4 teenage boys I will add, if you need to set aside something for tomorrow, put your portion in the vegetable drawer, BEFORE they come to the table! my boys are grown now, but in those years I did not know what a leftover was. they ate EVERYTHING in sight.

That's an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing!!

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I'm the main cook for my family (husband and two kids) and was worried about this same thing. I'm 3 weeks post op now. For the first two weeks after surgery, my fabulous friends and family brought meals over every couple of days. That was incredibly helpful, and I appreciated the company since I was bored at home while hubby worked and kids were in school. I highly recommend asking for this type of help if you have a good support system. If not, have the family fend for themselves for at least the first week. Now I'm back to preparing meals, and of course, I can't eat it. But it's really not as bad as I expected. I keep the meals simple for now and make extra so there's leftovers. Believe it or not, I'm enjoying the taste of foods more than ever right now. I don't know why, but it all seems so wonderful. Hummus especially! It's my new favorite! Anyway, since I'm happy with my own food, I don't feel like I'm missing out. Hope that helps!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Great idea! I had family and friends bring over food when I had my last back surgery in November. I'm sure that I could get help with that again.

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Pre surgery I made and packaged frozen meals for the family which made things easy which took them almost through the second week of post surgery; pre-made casseroles, meats pre-seasoned and vacuum sealed. Post surgery as the main cook...and I enjoy cooking it is my relaxing time I have kept meals simple.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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Two teenagers here, too. I didn't have a problem cooking post op but when I didn't feel like it, they were perfectly capable of making PB&J or Cereal. I found it easiest (on me) to cook things they love but I don't care for so it wasn't at all tempting. (Who wants pancakes? Blech.)

I will say that you need to set aside your own cabinet and drawer in the fridge. Three years later and my family still knows not to touch anything in MY area. Yes, my leftover sushi looks delish. Yes, I know you love edamame. Yup. Those are the Protein bars you like. Oh, you finished your beef Jerky and forgot to add it to the list? Sucks for you! Hate to be greedy, but....

And speaking of lists. I don't eat Cereal and milk any more so if we are out, I am clueless. I don't eat bread, so if they don't put it on the grocery list, I'm not buying it. They are out of goldfish or chips? Write it or don't. If I don't know, I can't help you. Because I eat very little of the same snacky foods they do, I don't know what's in the pantry. And no, I won't run out right now because you forgot to tell me. Sorry about your luck!

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
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    • BeanitoDiego

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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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