Hi! I have met with the surgeon, had a psych eval, did some online courses and have set a date of June 5th for my surgery. People keep asking me if I’m excited about it and honestly I am not. I have never had surgery.I’m not excited because I have had so many failures with weight loss that I feel skeptical. I am anxious for the outcome, that’s for sure. I’m ready to teach my boys how to ride bikes and ski, I’m ready to travel with them on an airplane, I’m ready to jump on trampolines and climb trees. Those are the things I’m excited for, not the surgery. I’d love to read how y’all prepared for surgery. When did you start the bariatric diet? I was thinking after Passover I’d start weighing my food and eating the things that are recommended (almost two months to get in a habit of bariatric eating).

how drastic of a change is your taste buds? What do you wish you knew before surgery that you’d like to share with me?

I hope to build some relationships and a great support group here. Thanks for taking your time to read!

I only noticed changes in intensity of flavors - for example, sweet things tasted sweeter and spicy things tasted spicier. I haven't noticed that in a long time (I had my surgery eight years ago) - not sure if it was temporary or if I just got used to it. As far as liking things I didn't like before and vice versa, that didn't happen to me.

I didn't have any major changes either but the I did get the intensity of sweets in particular. I don't really like sweets to begin with but right after surgery everything was sickening sweet. Now it seems more normalized.

To your second question, to what I wish I knew... In retrospect, I wish I didn't waste time watching YouTube videos on how awful RNY was because my experience has been nothing like their experiences. It's been a smooth ride with little or no side effects, like the majority of WLS people, on this site.

It’s quite common to have some worries & questions. As you says you’ve never done this before & don’t know what to expect. Everyone here is happy to share their experiences & offer suggestions & tips though we can & do have different experiences pre & post surgery. So if you have a question or a want clarification, don’t hesitate to ask.

For most the change in your tastebuds ( &/or smell) after surgery is temporary. Personally I chose to embrace the too sweet & didn’t introduce it back into my eating & that included all sugars: real, artificial & alternatives. What can happen is you start to embrace new flavours you hadn’t tried before & discover a new appreciation for ones you didn’t previously like.

I only had about 6 weeks between the day I woke up & decided enough of being fat I want to have surgery. I did a lot of my own research & spoke with a friend who’d had the surgery. I think that looking at what you’re eating & your portion size is a good place to begin. Start making small changes to get into new habits.

@Tomo is right there are some negative things online - like many Facebook groups & some personal videos. Go to the experts. I recommend videos by Dr John Pilcher & Dr Matthew Weiner - very informative if you’re interested. And of course here.

PS. I loved your comment about wanting to jump on a trampoline. I did that at Christmas with my 5 - 9 year old nieces & nephew. We had a ball especially as they bounced me so hard I fell over … twice (& I’m almost 58). Would not have done that before surgery. Not sure I’ll be climbing trees though ? .

Thank y’all for responding! The way my doctor explained my palette changing seemed like a bigger deal than what it is (or maybe I got hung up on it because I like what I like?).
Catwoman, has the procedure changed a lot in the past eight years? My doc is going to use a robot and make several small incisions which seems great for recovery!

Tomo, what is RNY?

Arabesque, thanks for the video recommendations! I really am excited to do kid things again!

tha ks again for the responses, I’m sure I’ll have more questions!