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Don’t over pack! You most likely won’t use anything you bring!!



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So my surgery was on the 4th and the night before surgery I had written an entire length of paper worth of things to bring with me. Guess how many of those things I actually used?? THREE. My chapstick, sweater, and phone charger. I didn’t even get to brush my teeth (yes I know, gross) because I was either asleep, or walking and then when I was done walking I was right back to sleep. I had a book with me and a couple times I started reading and the words started to blurr together. Before I knew it I was waking up to people coming in to check my vitals.
Needless to say, don’t pack so much stuff to take with you. All it did was make more things for my husband to take to the car 😂😂. There may be a few people that will get bored and not sleep as much but even if you are those type of people I suggest you do sleep. I hear it helps with the healing process. Best of luck to all of you who are still waiting to have surgery!

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I agree with this! Definitely make sure there's a pillow in the car for the ride home though so you can hold it against yourself when going over bumps or anything.

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7 hours ago, mdmiller9385 said:

So my surgery was on the 4th and the night before surgery I had written an entire length of paper worth of things to bring with me. Guess how many of those things I actually used?? THREE. My chapstick, sweater, and phone charger. I didn’t even get to brush my teeth (yes I know, gross) because I was either asleep, or walking and then when I was done walking I was right back to sleep. I had a book with me and a couple times I started reading and the words started to blurr together. Before I knew it I was waking up to people coming in to check my vitals.
Needless to say, don’t pack so much stuff to take with you. All it did was make more things for my husband to take to the car 😂😂. There may be a few people that will get bored and not sleep as much but even if you are those type of people I suggest you do sleep. I hear it helps with the healing process. Best of luck to all of you who are still waiting to have surgery!

There are quite a few posts about just this! So many people bring way too much. It's not a vacation LOL.
Lipbalm
Dry mouth spray
Phone w/ charger and extra long cord
Sweat pants
Slippers
Extra pillow.

That's all I used.

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14 hours ago, mdmiller9385 said:

So my surgery was on the 4th and the night before surgery I had written an entire length of paper worth of things to bring with me. Guess how many of those things I actually used?? THREE. My chapstick, sweater, and phone charger. I didn’t even get to brush my teeth (yes I know, gross) because I was either asleep, or walking and then when I was done walking I was right back to sleep. I had a book with me and a couple times I started reading and the words started to blurr together. Before I knew it I was waking up to people coming in to check my vitals.
Needless to say, don’t pack so much stuff to take with you. All it did was make more things for my husband to take to the car 😂😂. There may be a few people that will get bored and not sleep as much but even if you are those type of people I suggest you do sleep. I hear it helps with the healing process. Best of luck to all of you who are still waiting to have surgery!

This is 100% true. With the exception of a nightgown, I did not use anything I packed. I was sleeved Wednesday.

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Definitely agree! I didn’t use anything in my bag except my tooth brush, my face wash and my chapstick because i didn’t like the lip balm the hospital provides. My phone may have went in the charger but i was not thinking about that phone 😂. Congratulations on your surgery welcome

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So true. I used my chapstick, the phone charger, my toothbrush/paste, oh - and I brought my surgery bunny to hold against my belly when standing the first day. That's it. LOL

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Oh my gosh thank you all for posting this - I'm going in Monday and I needed to hear this!!!!

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I agree but I do have two suggestions:

1.) I brought my Crocs which I use as slippers around my house. We have a slate kitchen floor so the extra cushion helps per my orthopedic surgeon. I was able to walk a lot further than everyone else because they were wearing the slipper socks and their feet hurt.

2.) I started my period the day before surgery. Apparently it is common for the surgery to cause some women to start as well. I normally use tampons but that wasn't happening after surgery. Bring your own pads. My nurses had some throw away panties that were great and told me that any pads they had were horrible. I brought the Always overnight extended and they were excellent. I received 2 blood thinner shots in the stomach and each time made my flow very heavy.

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Hi guys just wanted to know did any of you have problems with getting out of bed since u have to do some bending and straining to get out? Just wanted to know my surgery is Oct 26th the sleeve

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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
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      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

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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.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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