Pre Op Appointments

[LDallas 108]

Hello Everyone..thank you for your informative posts. I'm in the midst of appointment h*ll! tomorrow is the NUT seminar, which is 3 hrs long. A few weeks later, I have the "one on one" NUT appt that will take 30 mins. Any ideas what the 30 min appt is for? Only asking because I want to hold off surgery til mid October, and if that meeting with the nutritionist is for her to load me up with diet shakes, maybe I should reschedule for a later date. Thank you!

[Pennie 66]

You might want to call the office to find out. I had to do a pre-op class with the Nuts, and then another meeting with them right before I started my final pre-op diet. So its possible that one-on-one meeting with the nut is to get you started on your final pre-op diet... but I don't know if that is how your surgeon does things. It could also be just to review your eating plan and stages with the NUT and answer any questions that you have.

[LDallas 108]

Thanks Pennie! I went to the longggg seminar and she put us on a food plan/diary until our 1:1 appts in a month. She said that appt only lasts 30 mins, and we hv to bring in that food diary. I was thinking ...if we could eat like this none of us would be sitting here!!! So i have no idea what the expectation is for the follow up...i hope to lose 15 lbs, and maybe skip the pre op liquid diet if that's what their plan is. She also said we'd have one more 1:1 with nut. I really should ask more questions but my head is spinning from all these appts!!! <<<shhhhh!!! Don't tell the Shrink!!!! LOL

[MinaT 669]

I had my one on one appointments once a month for six months and had to bring my daily food logs each appointment, I have two scheduled nutritionist classes, I also had my WLS "is it right for me" seminar and I had to sit in on group meetings. I'm at the waiting for approval stage now. Once approved they will schedule surgery then I have to have two wednesday three hour appointments/classes with nutritionist, nurses and then I start the two week pre-op liquid diet.< /p>

[LDallas 108]

Wow Mina that's a lot! I hope it's going by quickly for you and you get approved. Have you lost wt doing all this pre op stuff? I still have to do gb ultrasound, psych, colonoscopy ... Eeeeeek! Nut on may 25. That's it as far as i know. Good luck, and thank you for the reply.

[MinaT 669]

I got my verbal approval from BCBSIL today. I called the surgeons office and they set me up for a 2 hour class with a nurses this Wednesday, then I have another one next Wednesday. During this time they will explain the pre-op liquid diet, the post-op diet, and determine which medicines I should go off of prior to surgery (I have Lupus), glaucoma, diabetes, sleep apnea and a small brain lesion located on my trigeminal root. They will explain which Vitamins I should be on afterwards. I've seen the nutritionists and been through all kinds of groups & classes already and had my psych evaluations and testings. I will get another ekg, upper gi and blood work and they will schedule surgery and I'll start the two week pre-op liquid diet. I'll let you know how this two hour class goes.

I swear I have jumped through hoops compared to so many people and no date yet.

I have been struggling for years now and I hit 300 and got down to 250 and when I started to gain again I made my first call to Healthy4Life (Bariatric Clinic) in November 2010. A few weeks later I got pneumonia and was drinking a ton of orange juice during this time, and I couldn't keep up with the diet they gave me because I was eating pretzels, drinking chicken noodle Soup and drinking orange juice all the time so I quit the program. I got pneumonia again in March 2011. Boy did i put on the weight.

In September of 2011 it hurt to lay down it was as though there was so much weight on my chest and I realized I was above 300 again!! I grabbed all the materials from the year before and started cutting back on carbs and adding Proteins, it was hard to walk up the stairs. I needed help getting out of the chair and I realized, I was becoming "What ate Gilbert Grape".

I spend a lot of time sitting and on the computer and I decided to find good shows on Netflix and stand in the living room and walk in place. I progressed to doing 5 minutes on the Gazelle and now can do an easy 1 hour. I started to lose the weight slowly and I realized I couldn't do this alone again. I'm going to be 49, I've got too many health issues, including Lupus, Raynauds, a small nodule on my brain located on my trigeminal root, I get Migraines, have acid reflux, my feet hurt, I have diabetes and I'm going to die of obesity, not the tumor, not the Lupus, but obesity.

I've dieted successfully on my own in the past and went from 330 - 128. I kept the weight off for 5 years, then I had to have a complete hysterectomy and bowel resection due to adhesions, cysts, a tumor. I had sepsis, and it was a LONG recovery and I was never the same. Knowing I couldn't have more children caused a big depression, I quit working out, and as they rest the rest is history.

When I finally made the call to call healthy4life (take two) I got down to 299 in November of 2011. During the past 6 months I'm down to 241, but I realized the exercises I have been doing started adding bulk muscles and now I'm doing more repetitions. I am hoping to be closer to 230 by the time I have surgery. I use myfitnesspal.com and I try to stay within 40-50 gm carbs and 80 gms of Protein and stay within 800-1000 calories a day. I haven't given up coffee yet, but now that I know within a month I'll have surgery, I'm going to give up my morning coffee and switch to decaff. I would rather have withdrawals pre-op than post-op.

Good luck to you, let me know.