Scared About Life After Surgery

[jhwkgrl 1]

I had the same fears, but everything has gone smoothly. I have a three year old, so we spend a lot of time before the surgery explaining that mommy was going to go to the doctor to "get her belly fixed", and that afterwards she would have an "ouchy belly" and we would have to be very careful. We showed him my belly when I got home, and we had a big routine where he kissed each incision. I think it helped keep him very mindful of the fact that he couldn't climb on it. We practiced comfortable ways for us to cuddle, and my husband played defense any time my son got near me to make sure he was gentle. It all worked out fine.

As for the lack of mindful eating, I almost popped one of my son's pieces of tortellini in my mouth just a couple of days after surgery. I stopped myself just in time! So it does take a little focus at first. It's easy now, a couple of weeks later. It will be helpful if someone else can do the family food prep for a few days, while you get used to it, so that you don't accidentally slip up. If you do slip up and put food in your mouth, you'll probably realize it before you swallow, and can spit it out.

You will have some changes to get used to, but we all got through it, so I know you can too. Good luck, you're going to be so glad you did the surgery.

[royboy 40]

I think all of us were apprehensive prior to surgery. We do the research, read the fail rates on leaks, and read the success stories. I'm 6 weeks post-op and the real learning came in the first two weeks after my surgery. I realized how much food played a vital part of my life. Always eating, family gatherings, evenings in front of the TV, everywhere. LOL

But the funny thing is that when your hurting and feeling bad, you start to realize how you got this way in a real sense. I could talk about being fat before the surgery and thought I understood why and how it happened, but when I ccouldn't eat what I wanted to, I realized the real problem and how much food controlled my life.

I miss being able to mow down a pizza or whole chicken, but now understand just what it was doing to me. Diabeties, High blood pressure, cholesterol thru the roof. But with the sleeve, it has given me the tool to stop those destructive habits. My Doctor gave me a wonderful little bit of advise. He said, "listen to what your body is telling you" I never had done that before. It works. I eat healthy foods now and the weight is falling off. You will do wonderfully well as you learn thru your journey of weight loss as all of us are also. Enjoy the journey!

[Indymom 132]

For those of you thinking about being tempted by your kids' food . . . I've used my surgery as a starting point to improving my daughter's eating habits. Very little eating out now when we used to hit the drive-thru a LOT, lots more veggies and Protein and less simple carbs, etc. She understands that I had surgery and that now we're all eating better to help mom get thinner and heathier. It's really been beneficial for the whole family!