4 Things I Wish I Would've Known Pre Op

[mrsbailey921 117]

thank you all for posting this. I am tentatively scheduled for surgery the first week of may, and while I am not an emotional eater, I do wonder if I will *miss* any of my favorite foods. from all the sleevers in my family, they assure me I won't miss anything, because eventually I will be able to eat as I eat now...just in a more normal pattern, and I will get full off of smaller portions. I am praying this will be true for me. I am very close to two ladies who have been sleeved, and both eat very "normally". they get hungry, eat healthy, and stop when they are full. one good tip I have gotten is, "don't think the food is going away. it will still be there when you get hungry again. you don't have to eat it all. eat a little. when you get hungry again, eat a little more. don't worry--it wont disappear." I think that will help me out a lot, as I have always been taught to "always eat everything on your plate" growing up...a habit that has stuck with me WELL into adulthood!

I will definitely take in these suggestions. I have also decided to invest in these small spoons my local grocery sells. they are a bit smaller than the standard teaspoon (I think its a production defect hence them being so cheap). I can't imagine myself eating from a baby spoon while out...but these are actually small enough to leave me with way less food in my mouth but large enough to look "normal".

it's also great to hear everyones individual reaction to being full, pain, and the emotional and mental changes to surgery. keep them coming...this is an awesome post.

[wendyt 108]

Very good reading here. I'm tentatively scheduled for June 16th, so am using the time until then to gain as much knowledge as I can about all aspects of this.

I'm so glad I joined this site; I think I'll get lots of good advice and support here!

[Superfluous 19]

YAY! It's so exciting to be able to reply to this thread on the OTHER side!

I am only 4 weeks out and my journey, so far, has been pretty smooth. Here are the things I wish I knew:

- I wish I knew how TIRED I was going to be for about 2 weeks following surgery. I'm just now starting to feel like my old self again.

- I wish I had known how important it is to have someone to share my NSVs with! People who have never been seriously overweight just don't get how exciting it can be to wear a shirt you tucked away in the back of your closet 5 years ago, or to take a bath and FIT in the tub!

- This is something I actually knew, but I see others struggling with this so I wanted to share it here: how important it is to work with a counselor or therapist about food issues before AND after surgery. The psychological eval most of us have to have is cursory, at best. And we didn't get to these weights because we loved food. We have food issues. Some of us have eating disorders. And this is stomach surgery- not brain surgery! Working with my counselor in the months leading up to surgery and now, after surgery, has made this transition SO MUCH EASIER!

[SuperFab 689]

I wish I'd known, and been more prepared for, dry heaves feeling like you were being ripped apart. Even with an abdominal binder on

I wish I'd have known how much pain id be in when I first woke up. It took an hr to get to the right pain med

I wish I'd known how wonderful my nurses would be at taking care of my needs. I would have saved me a lot of worrying

I wish I'd known what an On-Q pain pump was Bc if have requested that on previous surgeries as well. Lol

[elfnow 277]

I am 10 days post-op!! So far, I wish I had known...

1) Head-hunger is an ugly beast. Things LOOK good. They LOOK like they will TASTE good. I have to remind myself that's because marketing agents spend thousands of hours on pictures of food HOPING FOR JUST THAT. It's how I got this size in the first place. "AHA I see what u did there," I have to think.

2) Yes you CAN go to a restaurant - order French onion Soup "no bread or cheese". I thought I'd be a total outcast all the time, but French onion Soup helps me feel like I'm a normal person having lunch. And I can feel proud of leaving 70% of it behind.

3) I'd get my sense of smell back with not using my CPAP, and those Protein shakes are awful. My body smells awful. My partner smells AWFUL too! Yuck!! Why does he smell that way?! And smelling food is physically painful. Everything smells weird. I don't want my sense of smell back! Ignorance was bliss!!

4) my mouth would forever taste like the north end of a pig going south. It's nasty. I admit to never being very good about brushing my teeth regularly but now it's twice a day because my mouth is so slimy and gross. SO GROSS!!

5) I would feel judged by others, especially in my workout group, for "cheating" by having surgery. I have lost 35 lbs (maybe more) since starting the pre-op diet (24 days ago) and I feel like I'm constantly making excuses for my success, or minimizing it when one of my class teammates is all "gee I wish *I* could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks!!" Sure, I COULD sit on my ass and drink clear fluids and get barely 400 calories in a day and lose weight, but I AM EXERCISING!! I deserve some credit!!

5b) Also that I would feel guilty for losing so much weight so fast while my not-interested-in-surgery partner struggles with diet and exercise, after I used to go on about how hard it is. Damnit it is still hard, why am I minimizing my own efforts?!?

6) my kid likes my Protein Shakes better than I do and swipes them. Also SF Jello comes in 3-oz cups and I can't even finish one, but thankfully my kid is always here to help! LOL.

7) that my heart would do REALLY WEIRD THINGS in the 36-48 hours post-op. I have had a ton of surgeries before, but never an upper abdominal one (mostly sinuses!) and I thought this wouldn't be different. It was. My heart was thumping hard, my blood pressure was ridiculously high, and they even gave me a nitro patch at some point. I mean it was kinda scary! It's idled down since but 12 hours post-surg I was like "what the **** did I just do".

8) only being permitted ice chips or non-red sf popsicles for 24 hours (and then tortured with that upper GI radiology study)... Honestly I was so damn thirsty I drank the contrast dye with no issues!! And then, get this, arguing with my night nurse because my "1 oz" of ice chips had melted into 1/3 oz of Water and he got on me for trying to sip it. Maybe I was on a lot of drugs but that was one of the DUMBEST arguments I have EVER had, bar none.

I hope I don't lose friends... But I don't think I will. Most of the friends who wish they could lose weight are well under the BMI cutoff of 35.

[Mr.sleeve 13]

4) my mouth would forever taste like the north end of a pig going south. It's nasty. I admit to never being very good about brushing my teeth regularly but now it's twice a day because my mouth is so slimy and gross. SO GROSS!!

That's so funny!!! LOL

[Lulah 18]

I'm only 18 days out but I wished I would have known that because I suffer from motion sickness and had morning sickness I was more likely to experience nausea after surgery. I've had plenty of surgeries before and never had a problem with anaesthesia, so it never crossed my mind that I would be vomiting that white froth stuff on day 2. It hurt a lot but by day 3 I felt so much better and have not had any more nausea!

I wish I would have really believed everyone when they said walking would help with the gas pains, it really did so walk as much as you can after surgery.

I wish I would have known that the common cold I caught would set my recovery back a few days, I thought I would be back to work after 2 weeks, but a few sneezing fits had my abdomen so sore all over again. If you feel the urge to sneeze or cough grab a pillow and brace yourself.

And last, I'm a mom of 4, I rarely do anything just for me. I struggled with this decision thinking it was kind of selfish, but I am so happy and proud of myself for doing it and taking steps to get my weight in check. In the long run, my kids will benefit too!

[laurenanastasia 12]

This thread has been one of the most helpful on this site!! I'm scheduled for 3/24 and cannot wait to be able to give my own list. Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

[Tate777 84]

I wish I would have been better prepared for how quickly I would become obsessed with food/exercise. I have a long and sordid history as a "professional" dieter/compulsive over eater/purger with exercise. I am almost 4 weeks out. I bought a Fitbit (pedometer), track every morsel on myfitnesspal, and I am fighting off the urge to workout twice per day so I can burn off all of the 400-600 cals I eat each day (so far, I am managing to keep it to one workout per day). I play this sick game with myself where I see how few calories I can get in and still meet my 60-70g/day Protein requirement. I had this surgery as a way to get off the "dieting/bingeing" treadmill...and I am right back in "diet" mode. I wake up each day anxious to get on the scale and see if I lost another pound or two. I try clothes on over and over to see if they are just a little less tight/looser than a few days ago. I am a MESS.

[hazeleyeflgal 30]

This is a tool for us to use to help us not be so hungry all the time. It was never meant to cure all of our emotional problems with food. For that we need some counseling. We will still have head hunger, even though we know we are full. We will still be tempted by the bad foods we used to consume in quantity. The success of our surgeries has more to do with our minds. We have to get them in a "good place" or we will slip right back into the old habits that got us where we were.

Relationships with family and friends may change. As humans we are opposed to change. Whenever any dynamic of a family or friendship changes, so do those relationships. Some people can work through the changes and some can't. People who are overweight may not like the fact that you are getting smaller. It can be jealousy or a reminder of their own shortcomings. Spouses may look at a more attractive "you" and start to worry about losing you. They may all try to sabotage your efforts.

We did not go into this for anyone else but ourselves. We cannot let anyone disuade us from our goals.

[CrazyJaney 775]

This is a tool for us to use to help us not be so hungry all the time. It was never meant to cure all of our emotional problems with food. For that we need some counseling. We will still have head hunger, even though we know we are full. We will still be tempted by the bad foods we used to consume in quantity. The success of our surgeries has more to do with our minds. We have to get them in a "good place" or we will slip right back into the old habits that got us where we were.

Relationships with family and friends may change. As humans we are opposed to change. Whenever any dynamic of a family or friendship changes, so do those relationships. Some people can work through the changes and some can't. People who are overweight may not like the fact that you are getting smaller. It can be jealousy or a reminder of their own shortcomings. Spouses may look at a more attractive "you" and start to worry about losing you. They may all try to sabotage your efforts.

We did not go into this for anyone else but ourselves. We cannot let anyone disuade us from our goals.

Amen!

[Chelenka 827]

I wish I knew that my arm pits would truly become pits! So much harder to shave! LOL!

[ElyQuint 446]

I wish I knew that my arm pits would truly become pits! So much harder to shave! LOL!

I always wondered how skinny women shaved their pits!!

[Georgia 2,908]

The "pits"! lol. I am so with you, Girls! And since most of the time I don't pir my contacts on til I get out of the tub, I can't even SEE INTO the pit! Ha!!!

[Vixynne 695]

I'm going to be 8 months out tomorrow (holy cow, 8 months already!?) and so far I have to say EVERY ache, pain, moments of queasiness and tears have been totally worth it.

That being said--I wish I had known:

• that the mirror and my new clothing size would show me truth, and yet my brain still lies and sees "fat girl"!
• that seeing collarbones unveiled from their layer of fat for the first time in two decades could bring me to tears.
• that my eyes still want much more food than my sleeve can hold, and I STILL need to remind myself to slooooooow down during meals.
• that drinking (or even sipping) while eating is would be the hardest habit to break!!
• how much I would miss guzzling a bottle of Water all at once. Three swallows is all I can handle at a time now!
• how much FUN it is to jog up three flights of stairs at work, without feeling like coughing up my lungs or stopping to rest along the way. Wow...just wow!

I LOVE my post-sleeve life!! Going nowhere but up, baby!