So I have my surgery next week! I'm having the gastric bypass, I'm having it on the nhs I'm from the UK, I couldn't afford to have it done here privately, anyone on here who has had it done on the nhs ? How long did it take to recover? I'm on the pre op diet and I'm starving! Lol the first few weeks I Have to be on a liquid diet, any ideas of what I could have?

Were you given a diet & list of what you can & cannot drink/eat before & post surgery? If you didn’t ask for one. It’s really important to follow the plan you’re given. Surgeons can have different plans with different requirements. For example the pre surgery diet could be three protein shakes a day, or it might be 4 shakes a day. It could be two shakes & one meal of meat & vegetables (low fat, low carbs). Some even specify what brand of shakes to drink. I was on keto so lots of differences.

Generally post surgery it’s protein shakes, bone broths, cream soups, consumes so protein, protein, protein. Some are allowed sugar free jello but again you should follow your surgeon’s plan.

All the best.

Edited January 22, 20242 yr by Arabesque

Yes I was given a diet sheet , I can only drink 4 pints of milk a day, I can have 2 pots of jelly and that's it , thankyou

Oh good you got a diet sheet some don’t. I remember some other UK people only being allowed milk. I’d still give your dietician or surgeon a call to see what other options you might be able to include like the shakes (which can be awful after the surgery texturally &/or flavour wise) or broths. Or if you could blend yoghurt with the milk to make a smoothie adding a sugar free flavour or vanilla. Can’t hurt to ask.

I’m not a milk drinker (except in my porridge) so I’d struggle with only milk.

Hey there, congratulations on your surgery date, it’s probably been quite a wait.
My sleeve surgery was done 2wks ago privately in the U.K., my surgeon also works in the NHS so I presume the post op diet he uses is the same or similar for both sets of patients.

within 3hrs of surgery I was sipping water, and throughout the following day I had half a milk shake, 4 spoons on soup, 2 spoons of jelly and another half milk shake.

For 6 days post op I pretty much consumed protein milk shakes, protein yogurts & puddings, also Frubes, which were easy to eat, laughing cow/dairylea triangles, thin soups and cups of tea and water.
At 2wks post op, I’m eating the above, but also mashed lentils (the pouches of ready made ones for ease.) liquidised bean/lentil/pea soups and hummus. All washed down with 2l of fluid per day.
Trial and error over the past 2wks have taught me I need to eat small and often, as I’m rarely hungry it’s easy to forget to eat, but this is a mistake as then I do get hungry, eat too quickly, eat to much and feel rubbish. Really rubbish. I’ve found it really useful to make up little 50g pots of food, so I have a ready supply of yoghurt/protein pudding/lentils/mashed egg/lentils/hummus to grab and go. I eat 5 or 6 of these pots per day. Yesterday I had 200g of liquidised bean soup at one sitting, which was lovely and filling.

my nutritionist said let your body guide you, so if you are starving at the liquid stage you may be ready for the soft diet/puree stage. At this stage she advised you can eat anything which is of a paste consistency as you swallow it. So bread sticks or Melba toast which melt and break down might be easier to eat than say a berry. I chew everything at least 20 times, so anything which arrives in my stomach is basically mush. I am a vegetarian but I read on here other people eat tuna and salmon at this stage,

Hope this helps. Good luck for a straightforward procedure and steady recovery. You can do this ?

Edited January 23, 20242 yr by Doris27

I just wanted to pop onto this thread to see that it is really good to read some experiences people are having in the UK! I am on the NHS waiting list, but I know that can take years, so I am hoping to have my surgery in May this year privately.

I hope all goes well with you! ❤️

From first private consultation Oct. 17th I was offered a surgery date of 28th Nov , but had holidays booked so I chose Jan 9th instead So it was quick.

Worst thing I’m experiencing so far is constipation. Wow. Just wow. ?. This is despite the 2l plus of fluids per day and a twice daily dulcolax. Heading out to get some fybogel today… wish me luck.

May will soon come round for you. ?

1 hour ago, Doris27 said:

From first private consultation Oct. 17th I was offered a surgery date of 28th Nov , but had holidays booked so I chose Jan 9th instead So it was quick.

Worst thing I’m experiencing so far is Constipation. Wow. Just wow. ?. This is despite the 2l plus of fluids per day and a twice daily dulcolax. Heading out to get some fybogel today… wish me luck.

May will soon come round for you. ?

If you don't mind me asking - who are you going with privately? I am going with Spire hospitals with Simon Monkhouse!

I am so glad it was quick for you! I feel that the waiting times on the NHS are just awful as they really impact our health in every way. I know for a fact if I have to wait 4-5 years I just wouldn't be in a good place, both mentally and physically, by the time that comes around.

Oh god...I do not envy you there! I wish you all the luck!

I can't wait!

I never even attempted to go the NHS route as knew it would be years. I’d toyed with the idea of surgery for a couple years, then I suddenly thought, what am I waiting for? No time like the present so just booked the consultation.

There’s only one private hospital in my area of Scotland so it was Circle Health and Prof. Bruce for me. Both outstanding. I saw the psychologist and dietician within 2wks of the initial consultation and was then cleared for surgery. Zero complaints from me about any of the process, and apart from the constipation I’ve had a very easy recovery. So easy in fact I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I expected to suffer, and know how to cope with that as I have endometriosis, but no suffering ensued. so I feel very fortunate.

I’m trying to take each day, one at a time. Last week I was panicking worrying about putting back on weight I’ve yet to lose. Eejit. So that needed to be quelled. My energy level is good, I’ve been slowly increasing the distance I walk every day, I drove after a week and plan to returning to work one month post surgery, all being well.

The future looks brighter for me from where I’ve been sitting. Wishing you as positive an experience as I’ve had .

It was a long process with the NHS was about 3 years , when I got on the waiting list after meeting the surgeon, I was lucky to get a cancellation so I only waited 5 months