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Anxiety and Bariatric Surgery



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A friend of mine who is scheduled for surgery next year was recently experiencing anxiety, maybe because of the covid isolation. Is it okay to push thru with the surgery even if she has anxiety or could weight loss surgery help her?

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There is not one person here including myself that was not anxious or nervous about getting cut open and making the decision to get healhty. It is Normal - You should have here join here there are great support members and veterans here that may calm her down. My view is yes get it done before its to late and you die from being unhealthy

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32 minutes ago, Mr Alley Gator said:

There is not one person here including myself that was not anxious or nervous about getting cut open and making the decision to get healthy.

Um, I was neither anxious NOR nervous. But then again, I've gone through brain surgery so this was nothing compared to that and was like a walk in the park by comparison!

Anyway, being nervous or anxious about having surgery is normal. Not everyone feels that way depending upon what they've already gone through in their lives, but most do feel anxious and or nervous about surgery.

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Is your friend anxious about the surgery itself or has anxiety in general? Either way, that shouldn't prevent them from having surgery. Their surgeon's office should have a mental health specialist on staff to help talk them through it.

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I have anxiety which has gotten worse in the last several months. My dr. adjusted my medicines and it has been very manageable. When I went for my EGD in September, I was very anxious, for no reason at all. So I knew when surgery day came, I would be anxious that day as well. I was sleeved on 12/9. I had no issues. By the time I made it to the preop area, they started my iv and started me on Versed and a Scopolamine patch and I was fine. It all went by pretty quickly and I didn't have time to think about it. My anxiety hasn't been any different since surgery. I have been more irritable, but I'm sure that because my family is still eating food and I can't!!

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On 12/18/2020 at 9:57 PM, GradyCat said:

Is your friend anxious about the surgery itself or has anxiety in general? Either way, that shouldn't prevent them from having surgery. Their surgeon's office should have a mental health specialist on staff to help talk them through it.

I am not actually sure, she is set to talk to the mental health specialist to clear things out

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On 12/18/2020 at 11:46 PM, Cherie04 said:

I have anxiety which has gotten worse in the last several months. My dr. adjusted my medicines and it has been very manageable. When I went for my EGD in September, I was very anxious, for no reason at all. So I knew when surgery day came, I would be anxious that day as well. I was sleeved on 12/9. I had no issues. By the time I made it to the preop area, they started my iv and started me on Versed and a Scopolamine patch and I was fine. It all went by pretty quickly and I didn't have time to think about it. My anxiety hasn't been any different since surgery. I have been more irritable, but I'm sure that because my family is still eating food and I can't!!

I would be irritable too if my family is eating and I can't, LOL.

So I think there will be no problem if my friend has anxiety, and to some it's normal to be anxious when about to have surgery.

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On 12/18/2020 at 9:57 PM, GradyCat said:

Is your friend anxious about the surgery itself or has anxiety in general? Either way, that shouldn't prevent them from having surgery. Their surgeon's office should have a mental health specialist on staff to help talk them through it.

not really sure. she will push through with the surgery

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It's normal to be anxious before the surgery, some bariatric patients may feel even more anxious because the results do not become apparent on the day of surgery

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On 1/19/2021 at 1:24 AM, Surgerynx said:

I heard that anxiety is normal for people who will undergo surgery, did she push thru with her surgery?

her surgery was re-scheduled for next month

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      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.
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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. 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.

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        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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