DianeF

September 5th for me!

Hello! I'm a brand-newbie and am scheduled for surgery on September 5, 2024. I've gone through 6 months with a dietician, sleep study, endoscopy, all of the usual suspects. Now I'm in the official countdown to actually having the surgery and I thought it might be interesting to hear from some folks who have been through it and what they wish they would have done in this timeframe. Should I be working out more? Is it too early to start a liquid diet? What should I get ready in my house for when I come home afterwards?
Any advice is appreciated!!!
Diane

September 5th for me!

Hello! I'm a brand-newbie and am scheduled for surgery on September 5, 2024. I've gone through 6 months with a dietician, sleep study, endoscopy, all of the usual suspects. Now I'm in the official countdown to actually having the surgery and I thought it might be interesting to hear from some folks who have been through it and what they wish they would have done in this timeframe. Should I be working out more? Is it too early to start a liquid diet? What should I get ready in my house for when I come home afterwards?
Any advice is appreciated!!!
Diane

I'm so glad this came up. There's one reference to caffeine in my prep book, but the doctor and dietician have said nothing else about it. And I wrote coffee on my diet plans, but nothing about decaf. I'm going to ask them about it, but I'm now realizing that I will have to cut out caffeine. I'll have to start a weaning process. This might be the toughest pre-op process for me.

Hello! I'm a brand-newbie and am scheduled for surgery on September 5, 2024. I've gone through 6 months with a dietician, sleep study, endoscopy, all of the usual suspects. Now I'm in the official countdown to actually having the surgery and I thought it might be interesting to hear from some folks who have been through it and what they wish they would have done in this timeframe. Should I be working out more? Is it too early to start a liquid diet? What should I get ready in my house for when I come home afterwards?
Any advice is appreciated!!!
Diane

I'm so glad this came up. There's one reference to caffeine in my prep book, but the doctor and dietician have said nothing else about it. And I wrote coffee on my diet plans, but nothing about decaf. I'm going to ask them about it, but I'm now realizing that I will have to cut out caffeine. I'll have to start a weaning process. This might be the toughest pre-op process for me.

My surgeon cleared me for a little caffeine and I switched to Decaf from week 2-6. Six weeks on I restricted myself to one cup of coffee a day only, occasionally 2 (second one decaf always) and that's huge progress from 4 cups of coffee a day.
You can incorporate caffeine in your post op diet (6 weeks on), but make sure to check with your team first.

Wow. I’m surprised you made it a week with the caffeine withdrawal headaches. I’m glad you didn’t have any issues from drinking it so soon post surgery. I am weaning myself off it now and I tried cutting back too fast the first day and woke up with a massive headache at 2am so bad that I downed some. I am down to my last day actually. I should be caffeine free tomorrow. 😁 and I start my preop diet the next day I THOUGHT I had more time between the two and I was going to do lower carb to sorta detox from those before preop but the office messed up and I got alot less warning. Oh well stuff happens I guess. Just trying to keep going forward. Anyways, I guess my point is that I definitely second the cutting caffeine. I did it further in advance with the sleeve and really wish I hadn’t cut it so close this time. It has been stressful thinking what if it’s too fast and I can’t get there. Especially for me being post sleeve because I can’t just take an Alieve and Tylenol doesn’t do anything for me. I can’t even imagine dealing with everything post op and having a withdrawal headache on top of it all.

I wish I ate more of the things I loved pre-op LOL!!!
Nah jokes aside, WLS is a tool that we utilize towards - hopefully - permanent life changes, if you see it as a means that'll all it'll ever be, if you see it as an effective tool, it will get you where you want to be.
I would say, clean up your act, get moving, change your daily habits and get into the fat loss mindset. This doesn't mean going completely cold turkey on everything, but whatever bad habits that led you to needing the surgery in the first place need to be thought of and turned around.
I didn't need a liquid diet, my BMI was on the lower side and I worked out consistently my entire life so I didn't much change anything and boy I wished I changed some things because dealing with the discomfort of the surgery, the huge changes in your diet and all the restrictions afterwards is no fun all together. I wish I cut back on caffeine (I had caffeine a week post surgery because I had terrible headaches), I wish I cut out diet soda prior to WLS because I love diet soda so very much and it was tough to think that I can never have this without any mental preparation beforehand.
I wouldn't change much else because fortunately for me, I had a good experience post op, the weight dropped off very quick, I never threw up or had severe food aversions and have very effective restriction. But I also had a very balanced diet and workout regimen before WLS and that helped me tremendously and I know that might not be the case for everyone. Also, prepare yourself for a new life and new you, it's cliché but it's very true.

I wish I had stopped smoking long enough. I would also be rested before surgery instead of going to hospital after work.

You have to start walking right away, before you even leave the hospital. For the first 3 weeks, the walking is plenty. It's about increasing the amount you can walk. Around week 4, I started doing the treadmill on a lower incline (not completely flat but a lower incline) and a normal walking speed. I also started doing arm workouts (without weights). I started doing mild step ups, and increased walking even more. At 6 weeks, I started increasing the incline on the treadmill, added low weights to my arm work outs, and added the exercise bike. At week 10, I increased the weights and started doing more strenuous workouts and small hikes. At 12 weeks, I started core work and increased the workouts more. i also do beginner pilates, but I only just started that.

I did this too and it seemed to help make the liver shrink diet easier than others described. I think we need to name this week too. 🤣

Maybe set reminders in your phone calendar for like 5 months, 11 months, 17 months, 23 months, etc. To schedule such appointments. Hopefully they can get you in within the month. And if possible just ask your surgeon for a list of labs to ask for at your primary doctor at your annual appointment.

One of the things that I feel helped me the most was cutting back (or completely cutting off) some food/drink items that I knew I'd have the hardest time missing post-op. When I tell you I was addicted to sparkling Water and diet soda, it's no joke. About a year before my surgery, I started a month-long test for myself just to make sure I could give up the carbonation -- and never went back. If you have any specific foods that are triggers for you, maybe try reducing them beforehand (or cutting out a few) just so you aren't going straight from your regular diet into the liquid diet.

I wasn't happy with the wait, but 4 weeks seems like not enough time. I was ready to go after 3-4 months, but all of the legwork and doctor's appointments took forever. Thank you for the advice!

Hello! I'm a brand-newbie and am scheduled for surgery on September 5, 2024. I've gone through 6 months with a dietician, sleep study, endoscopy, all of the usual suspects. Now I'm in the official countdown to actually having the surgery and I thought it might be interesting to hear from some folks who have been through it and what they wish they would have done in this timeframe. Should I be working out more? Is it too early to start a liquid diet? What should I get ready in my house for when I come home afterwards?
Any advice is appreciated!!!
Diane

Honestly I never had any serious issues with Constipation so I can’t really answer that for certain. Now that you put it in my mind I may notice a differnce but honestly I didn’t pay too much attention the few times I had it. I will say that some doctors say no to Decaf even immediately post surgery though so be sure to check.

I am actually quite excited to open it as I can't remember a damn thing I have written 😂 I read that it is supposed to really help, especially if you are struggling at the 6 month point with not losing enough etc, it kinda reminds you of how you felt before surgery, and why you did it!

I love the idea of the letter!!

Don't overthink it. We tend to want to over-prepare, pack too much, stock up way too much, read every single thing we see online and then obsess about any negative thing we see. You're ready. You've finished all the hurdles, you've been approved, you have the date. There's not a lot you can do 2 months before your surgery.
Maybe start looking at different food tracking apps to see which feels the most user friendly to you. Look through youtube to find some good GENTLE workouts for the first 6 weeks post op and save them to a private playlist for yourself. Make sure you have some loose clothing for after surgery. I bought one of those big, cure jugs that is 64fl oz so it would be easy to measure how much Water and fluids I was taking in (admittedly, at first I was barely getting in 3-4oz at a time, but I quickly worked my way up and was glad I had that because it was cute and convenient).
Make sure you have plenty of Miralax on hand and possibly, if things are really plugged up, a laxative/stool softener combo. And I made sure when I was drinking broth, it was Bone Broth because it has more Protein. That's really it.

I wouldn't be able to remember a month later 🤣 I bet it will be really cool to pull out any time you may struggle a bit.

So does the Decaf coffee help stimulate bowel too?

They are yummy! I also am scared of losing hair, but from what I gather there isn't much we can do about preventing it - but it'll only be temporary if it does happen I just take the gummies to make my hair in a better condition as it is now!
Definitely! I think some vitamins like B12 & D, the absorption is actually quite poor in tablet form, so the sprays help with that!
Oh bless her I know that can happen with some people!
So I paid privately in the UK, and it is a 2 year package of aftercare that includes:
1 week post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 4 week post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 8 week post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 12 week post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse nutritional screen blood test 10 days before 6 month appointment 6 month post-op appointment with a dietician 9 month post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 12 month post-op appointment with a dietician and a follow-up with the psychotherapist 15 month post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 18 month post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 21 month post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse 24 month post-op appointment with a bariatric nurse

I haven't heard of hairburst, but I'm looking it up now! One of my fears is losing too much hair. I hadn't heard of the spray Vitamins until I started this forum. It seems like a great idea. My friend had WLS and had to have a blood transfusion due to her anemia, then they put her on injections of vitamins because she just couldn't keep them down. How often do you still talk to your dietician?