Good morning! My surgery date is on the 21st and I’m trying to be prepared. I have all my Premiere Protein shakes. For water can we use crystal light? I also bought Premier protein bottles of water? Does anyone use collagen in their water? I take regularly now and it has protein so wonder if it’s an option to add PO. Thank you for any feedback it’s a week and I feel like everything is running through my head to be prepared. Any PO additional things you know of that maybe I’m just forgetting. Thank you! Good luck on your journey !

Hello!

Yes, people take collagen PO. I don't know if they do it day 1 or wait a little bit. Someone else might know, as I don't take it. Or, you could always double check with your team to see what they say about it. I can't imagine it being an issue.

I wouldn't stock up on too much pre-op because sometimes people taste change drastically (temporarily or permanently). I used to LOVE the chocolate peanut butter premier protein shakes pre-op and I can't stand them now. They taste like pure chemicals to me. Otherwise I haven't noticed huge changes, that was the big one I noticed.

Yes, you can you flavor packets (crystal light) in your water. I was even given it in the hospital. But, I couldn't handle it the first few days. They were too "intense" for me and the super strong citrus flavoring was harsh. I have always thought they are a little intense for me (even before surgery) so I always use more water or less of the flavor than recommended and it is good for me. I am huge water drinker (pre and post op) so I have no problem drinking plain water and usually prefer it. Some people struggle with it post-op and try it at different temperatures until they find what works best for them.

Good luck on your surgery, GETTING CLOSE!!

Agree with everything @kcuster83 said above. I love Crystal Light, but had to stay away the first few days after surgery. It was just too harsh immediately after surgery, but a week or two in it was totally fine. You may need to experiment. I wound up drinking a lot of warm bone broth, which was great because it has more protein than regular broth, felt nice in my tummy, and also counted for fluid.

I also used to love all the Premier Protein shakes, and post op I hated everything except the Vanilla which was tolerable. The Caffe Latte is also delicious but I couldn't drink it for the first 6 months because of the caffeine. I switched to Unjury protein powders in soy milk. Yum.

14 minutes ago, Queen ApisM said:

Agree with everything @kcuster83 said above. I love Crystal Light, but had to stay away the first few days after surgery. It was just too harsh immediately after surgery, but a week or two in it was totally fine. You may need to experiment. I wound up drinking a lot of warm Bone Broth, which was great because it has more Protein than regular broth, felt nice in my tummy, and also counted for Fluid.

I also used to love all the Premier Protein shakes, and post op I hated everything except the vanilla which was tolerable. The Caffe Latte is also delicious but I couldn't drink it for the first 6 months because of the caffeine. I switched to Unjury protein powders in soy milk. Yum.

I use Unjury in my rotation too. I love the strawberry and I actually mix it with around 10 oz of the crystal light lemonade and have a strawberry lemonade. IT IS DELICIOUS! I use more lemonade to thin it out so it doesn't even have the shake thickness. Doesn't even taste like a shake, just like I am drinking a strawberry lemonade drink with bonus protein!

You might want to pack a Biotin spray as your mouth gets really dry and it's a terrible sensation. I used a Lipsil on my lips so much, as my lips were so dry. Sorry I can't think what you call them in the USA. Like a clear lipstick ??

I'm only a couple days post op, and the answers here are so true. Some things are just hard on the tum-tum right away.

My nutritionist said that collagen is not a complete protein and isn't absorbed like the isolate that we need after surgery, but you can still take collagen for other reasons. I don't know how long it will be before I'm able to have an entire shake in a day, but I'm a reaaaaaaaly cheap date right now. ?

3 hours ago, You Are My Sunshine said:

I'm only a couple days post op, and the answers here are so true. Some things are just hard on the tum-tum right away.

For sure, and it's so variable.

Lots of people complained about not tolerating shakes, post-op, so I bought several brands & flavors of protein water. Luckily I don't really get nauseous PO, but I found the protein waters didn't sit right on my tummy, so was better off not drinking them. The shakes as still fine, by the way.

Go figure?

Can add collagen with no problem but just don't count it in your total protein goal since it is not a complete protein.

Another thing, don't buy too much because the liquid stage will go by fast and you will be stuck with tons of extra you "won't want to look at for a very long time" type of stuff lol. I still have tons of protein powders, bariatric soups, shakes that are sitting in a box.

I survived on the warm LF chicken bone broth for “dinners” for a while. It got cold a few weeks ago and I actually craved it. Agree with the don’t buy too much camp, because your tastes will change. I can’t stand jello now, nor popsicles.

I survived for the first 5 days post op on just water. I'm 8 days post op now.

I packed water, sf jello, broth for immediately post op. I hated the jello after because of the sf taste (fine with it beforehand) and also hated the broth for no good reason. Finally had creamy soup yesterday and had gas pain/bloating. We will see how it goes. I did like the easy crunch ice (from Zaxbys/sonic).

Medicine wise: I packed chloraseptic spray (throat sore post intubation for surgery) and gasX.

My advice: prepare to be flexible with finding what you like and be PATIENT with yourself. I kept feeling like I should be able to drink more, get more protein in (starting day 6). Truth is that I'm no where near my goal for fluid or protein. I just can't take that much in. But I get a little more each day, and I'm happy with that for now.

Before my surgery I did the same and tried to stock up on all things protein! Multiple flavors, premier protein water, gatorade protein, gatorade zero, vitamin water zero, you name it... But my taste buds changed so much during those first 2 weeks. My advice is buy a single bottle of protein shakes or zero sugar drinks and see how you tolerate it first before stocking up.

On 10/13/2022 at 7:14 AM, kcuster83 said:

Hello!

Yes, people take collagen PO. I don't know if they do it day 1 or wait a little bit. Someone else might know, as I don't take it. Or, you could always double check with your team to see what they say about it. I can't imagine it being an issue.

I wouldn't stock up on too much pre-op because sometimes people taste change drastically (temporarily or permanently). I used to LOVE the chocolate Peanut Butter Premier Protein shakes pre-op and I can't stand them now. They taste like pure chemicals to me. Otherwise I haven't noticed huge changes, that was the big one I noticed.

Yes, you can you flavor packets (crystal light) in your Water. I was even given it in the hospital. But, I couldn't handle it the first few days. They were too "intense" for me and the super strong citrus flavoring was harsh. I have always thought they are a little intense for me (even before surgery) so I always use more water or less of the flavor than recommended and it is good for me. I am huge water drinker (pre and post op) so I have no problem drinking plain water and usually prefer it. Some people struggle with it post-op and try it at different temperatures until they find what works best for them.

Good luck on your surgery, GETTING CLOSE!!

I am going in for my last prep appointment on 11/8 , so hopefully will have date then shooting for 2nd week of December (wish me luck)?I wanted to ask about loose skin have heard so much about collagen but there are so many choices and does the cream work well or is it all oral? I also heard to use a brush on areas to circulate the skin - is that something anyone has done? I thought about going ahead and starting the collagen definitely going to talk to my team about it . Thanks for all of your support.

Edited October 30, 20223 yr by Giginc

12 hours ago, Giginc said:

I am going in for my last prep appointment on 11/8 , so hopefully will have date then shooting for 2nd week of December (wish me luck)?I wanted to ask about loose skin have heard so much about collagen but there are so many choices and does the cream work well or is it all oral? I also heard to use a brush on areas to circulate the skin - is that something anyone has done? I thought about going ahead and starting the collagen definitely going to talk to my team about it . Thanks for all of your support.

No supplement, pill or cream is going to cure your loose skin. It may help SLIGHTLY but it is inevitable. It solely depends on your body, age, how much weight you lose and how long you were overweight. For some people it is very minimal and others it is unbearable.

I never heard anything about brushing the area, so I have no input there.

I asked so many questions about loose skin and was told that nothing I could do besides staying hydrated was going to do anything to help prevent it. if you have a lot of weight to lose and have a lot of loose skin though plastic surgery is something to consider down the road and may even be covered by insurance if you meet the criteria.

One tip about the crystal light though. For some reason the fruit punch flavor did not burn like the lemonade and pink lemonade did. I think it’s may have less citrus?