Starting to Feel Overwhelmed....

[Birdy 3]

I am about to embark on the pre-op diet, appointments, etc. and I am starting to freak out. I am having my lapband removed and gastric bypass on 1/12. This evening I started my online courses and started to panic. They outline all the complications, Vitamins (3x daily), nutrition requirements, etc. and it just is starting to feel too much. My doctor has me on a 3 week liquid diet prior to surgery. I will miss Christmas and I am going on vacation. Vacation was planned before the surgery, pre-paid, and I didn't know that was when I would be on the liquid diet. What do you do when you start to feel overwhelmed? I could really use advice. I want to do this but I have a bad track record of failing when I can't do everything perfectly. It is kind of what got me here in the first place.

[Djmohr 6,965]

Take a very deep breath and decide if you are truly ready for this to happen.

If you are, none of the other stuff should matter at all.

Take things one step, one day at a time and that is how it all becomes less overwhelming. This includes the 3 week diet. It really is not that bad and will kick start your weight loss, ensure you have a healthier liver and make things safer.

I can tell you that every bit of this is worth it in the end.

I am 14 months post op, down 135lbs and 10 lbs from my goal. I thank god everyday for putting the Bariatric community on this earth to help us get healthy.

When you feel the stress practice breathing very deep, it can be calming.

Good luck to you!

[miiasan 370]

agree with @@Djmohr and understand that looking at the whole process at once can seem overwhelming. I read a lot of books on the surgery as I was doing my research and that helped me get used to the whole process thereby easing any anxiety I would have had. It is a big decision; If you feel you are not quite ready for things to proceed you can always postpone the surgery date. You can take some control of this and not have it control you.

Good luck with your decision - have a great vacation (whether you are on the liquid diet or not -)

[James Marusek 5,244]

Yes, the whole process can be overwhelming. To make things a little simple, there are three daily requirements to meet. These are Protein, Fluid and Vitamins. food is secondary because your body will be converting stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. For me and many others, after surgery I completely lost my hunger. It was not difficult to lose weight when hunger was not constantly, continually gnawing at my bones.

The next thing to remember is that after surgery, your body will be in heal mode, so if you can't meet your Protein and Fluid daily requirements, don't panic. Healing comes first. You should be able to meet these daily requirements in the first week or two. That is your goal to meet these requirements as soon as possible.

The next thing is don't panic if you don't lose weight from the get-go. During the surgery you will likely gain several pounds because they pump fluids into you during your stay at the hospital. So you will come home a few pounds heavier than when you started. It will take a few days to drop this additional weight.

Follow the directions for meeting the daily protein, fluid and Vitamin requirements. Limit your portion size (by volume) as directed. And finally walk 30 minutes per day. The walking will make the whole recovery process go smoothly. If you aren't walking currently start today. It really helps. And then let the magic happen.