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Holy Hannah: A Date...A Date... I FINALLY got a Date!!



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It is official! Yowza! My surgery has been scheduled for February 22, 2021! After months and months of checking off all the boxes in what felt like slow motion, it now seems like someone finally pressed the fast forward button! I am jumping for joy while pushing the panic button at the same time! ACK!

I am in search of book recommendations, items you found invaluable after surgery and any other advice you are willing to share!

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Congratulations! I haven’t read any books about WLS. I honestly think this forum is the most valuable thing you can read because it’s from people who have actually gone through what you’re about to do. You can ask any questions that come to mind and there will probably be someone here who can answer. I think a lot of programs fall short on telling patients what to expect, but if you stick around here, you’ll be well prepared.

Items that I find useful:

  • A good food scale.
  • Protein Powder (I tried a bunch of samples during my pre-op diet to find some I liked) - flavored and unflavored.
  • A portable blender/milk frother really helps for mixing Protein powder.
  • Small containers - I have a bunch of 4-ounce glass containers (sold as baby food containers) that are perfect for meal prep, and I also use a ton of disposable 2-ounce containers with lids.
  • A good pill organizer- you’ll have to take a lot of Vitamins after surgery, so it’s nice to have a big pill organizer. I have one with 7 separate boxes, 3 compartments per day, that all fit into a larger box but can also be taken out individually.

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I can't remember if I read any books (I spent A LOT of time on the internet researching WLS, though), but some of the vets on another site I'm on are often recommending "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" to new people. I can't really vouch for it myself, though, since I've never read it...

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That's great news! Advice: Take the pre-op diet seriously. Now that you're scheduled, don't do any "food funerals" or binges.

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Congrats! If you can, try to see if you can find samples of a few different Protein Shakes or powders for afterwards. The ones I liked before surgery where horribly sweet, smelled gross or didn't sit well afterwards. As such, I spent the first week and a half after surgery I was trying to find and buy different powders or shakes almost daily. It has been very expensive to go that route. Your sense of smell and taste change after surgery so it is hard to know what you will actually like afterwards.

Something else I found invaluable for the first week and a half (I am 2 weeks post surgery and just stopped using it a couple days ago) was an abdominal binder. Velcro to do up, covering from hips to boobs basically. It will help support your sore stomach and lesson the pain if you cough, sneeze, twist or breath wrong. lol. Seriously, huge help!

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Thank you all for the advice! I will look into each of the suggestions.

I am sure it is just nerves - I just feel like no matter how much time I spend reading/watching online about the surgery and what to expect after - that I am still going to be severely underprepared... hence the search for books. It is absolute craziness, I know.

Deep breaths. . . . . .

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    • LeighaTR

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      · 0 replies
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    • Doughgurl

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      · 2 replies
      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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