July 2021 Surgery People!

[Candace76 212]

1 minute ago, Bluebonnetgirl said:

Today is the day! Headed to the hospital for my surgery. So nervous and excited.

Best wishes! I look forward to hearing about your progress! 🤗🍀

[Jeseca832 19]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:40 AM, Mama Des said:

Hi I’m waiting for my surgery right now. Today 7/14/21. I’m scared and nervous and excited

Good luck!!! And good luck to everyone going today. Y’all keep us posted!!!

[WorldCruiser 38]

5 hours ago, eholmes89 said:

Just an update on how I am feeling now! Finally the vomiting has stopped! I am now able to hold down Water and the oral meds!

I do however need to learn when my pouch is full as I have had the dreaded ‘foamies’ a few times.
I think most the wind/gas has now gone and just pain around incisions and tender tummy.

Due to some complications with my stomach and additional swellings I am not allowed Protein Shakes until Saturday, but can have Protein Water now. So feeling quite tired.

I did have moments of doubt yesterday, but feel much better today.

😊👍🏻

Hope you'll feel better each day.

[WorldCruiser 38]

36 minutes ago, Bluebonnetgirl said:

Today is the day! Headed to the hospital for my surgery. So nervous and excited.

Good luck!!

[WorldCruiser 38]

37 minutes ago, Bluebonnetgirl said:

Today is the day! Headed to the hospital for my surgery. So nervous and excited.

Good luck!!

[Anj0399 61]

On 07/15/2021 at 06:33, Bluebonnetgirl said:

Today is the day! Headed to the hospital for my surgery. So nervous and excited.

Hope all goes well and you recover quickly! 😊

[Jenfs5 19]

Hi everyone!
I’ve been reading a lot more about what to expect lately and kept stumbling on this website and decided to join! I had my my surgery on July 8 so about almost at a week post op and just excited filled with emotions since this journey began.

Welcome! I had my surgery on the 8th as well. I'm so ready to move to the puree stage.... how are you handling the liquid phase?

Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

[Maribelle76 82]

14 hours ago, Monique1123 said:

Hey Maribelle !
I had my surgery today too. Do you have any gas pains ? That’s my main issue right now . I read about some people having issues when they swallow but that was more so in their chest. For me, when I swallow it goes down fine and like 10 seconds later I get this burning sensation in my stomach and leg out this super tiny burp . I got up to my rom around 4:30/5 and have done about 6-7 laps up to now . That’s my only issue right now .

Hello! I do have some gas pains and bloating but it is minor and passing. That's good you've been walking!

Sometimes it feels the same way when I swallow. I think the burning is just that the stomach is really bruised from the trauma. And I do get the little burps. They are so tiny!

Are you feeling better today?

[okmom05 15]

So I had my surgery on Monday and oh my gosh… Ouch! I’ve heard people talk about trying to get enough Water down to leave the hospital but I just needed to get off the drugs they were giving me. Everything hurt and the drugs made it hard to do anything but sleep. I’ve been home since yesterday and I feel 1 million times better. Fluids are going down pretty easily and I’ve actually managed to stay awake today which is progress for me these days.

[brightly 16]

Hi All, I'm new here. I still have to figure out how to enter my "stats" . I'm going in for vsg on July 28th. I have zero reservations, but this preop diet is killing me. I'm really failing at it. It's constipating and giving me severe GERD. (broth helps) I reached out to the dietician for insight on alternatives to the shakes because the Calcium is so high w 6 shakes (3900mg) and she told me to have three shakes and 3 egg whites total in a day. So it went from 1000 cals allowed to ~500. !!!??? I asked for the math on the diet--- and if the fact that it is liquid is most important and she didn't answer. Does anyone know? I'm wondering why not 9 egg whites to replace the Protein in the shakes. ? She said no steamed chicken. Isn't the point that your calories are low enough that you lose weight but keep your protein up? If so, I do not understand why they don't give patients the tools to customize the preop diet to their medical needs, or at least offer suggestions that align with the preop diet's number of calories. The preop diet seems shrouded in mystery for no reason. It's infantilizing. It would help to know the science of what the preop diet is aiming to do. I'd love insight from veterans. Thanks!

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

52 minutes ago, brightly said:

Hi All, I'm new here. I still have to figure out how to enter my "stats" . I'm going in for vsg on July 28th. I have zero reservations, but this preop diet is killing me. I'm really failing at it. It's constipating and giving me severe GERD. (broth helps) I reached out to the dietician for insight on alternatives to the shakes because the Calcium is so high w 6 shakes (3900mg) and she told me to have three shakes and 3 egg whites total in a day. So it went from 1000 cals allowed to ~500. !!!??? I asked for the math on the diet--- and if the fact that it is liquid is most important and she didn't answer. Does anyone know? I'm wondering why not 9 egg whites to replace the Protein in the shakes. ? She said no steamed chicken. Isn't the point that your calories are low enough that you lose weight but keep your Protein up? If so, I do not understand why they don't give patients the tools to customize the preop diet to their medical needs, or at least offer suggestions that align with the preop diet's number of calories. The preop diet seems shrouded in mystery for no reason. It's infantilizing. It would help to know the science of what the preop diet is aiming to do. I'd love insight from veterans. Thanks!

It’s seems odd to me that she said you can have egg whites instead of shakes but not chicken. I was on a liver shrink diet the first two weeks and two days of just liquids and the point was low calories low fat low sugar (all to shrink the liver) but I was allowed chicken and even lean steak (2 ounces I believe) and veggies on mine as well as egg whites or egg beaters. If I were you and was looking for alternatives to the shakes I would call the dr and not the nutritionist. I know they ask them to go over the pre op and post op diets with us but I just don’t know that they know anything more than the one cookie cutter plan (or at least not all of them do). Anyways, like I said if it were me and I was having an issue with the standard approach looking for alternatives, I’d go to the surgeon or the PA. And if the office tries to direct you back to the nutritionist tell them you already tried and can’t get a clear answer from them. If nothing else maybe they can give you something for the GERD and Constipation it is causing you.

[Soonlee_W 24]

54 minutes ago, brightly said:

but this preop diet is killing me. I'm really failing at it.

Dear Brightly,

This pre-op diet is so so hard. I failed at it for almost 4 days till I got it down. Be careful what you say....people can be brutal. They'll make you feel like if you can't do the diet then maybe you shouldn't have the surgery.

I was not given specific instructions either or any why's other than the fact that they said it would make my liver shrink. Also, they didn't tell me how much -- I mean, can I have 6 pudding cups if I'm hungry? Some people were told to only have liquids, some people were allowed to have eggs. People will tell you to do exactly what your surgeon says, and I guess that's the best advice ... but I'm with you ---this is so hard. If it were easy for me to stay on something like this, maybe I wouldn't be so fat.

It feels weird to have gone this many days without anything solid. They said, "Jello, sherbet, pudding, and Protein Shakes. Strained soups." that's all my papers say. That's a lot of sweet stuff. I've been straining all the chunks out of the Soup and just drinking the soup-juice. 4 days before my surgery (so, this Monday) it will only be Clear Liquids.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

7 minutes ago, Soonlee_W said:

Dear Brightly,

This pre-op diet is so so hard. I failed at it for almost 4 days till I got it down. Be careful what you say....people can be brutal. They'll make you feel like if you can't do the diet then maybe you shouldn't have the surgery.

I was not given specific instructions either or any why's other than the fact that they said it would make my liver shrink. Also, they didn't tell me how much -- I mean, can I have 6 pudding cups if I'm hungry? Some people were told to only have liquids, some people were allowed to have eggs. People will tell you to do exactly what your surgeon says, and I guess that's the best advice ... but I'm with you ---this is so hard. If it were easy for me to stay on something like this, maybe I wouldn't be so fat.

It feels weird to have gone this many days without anything solid. They said, "Jello, sherbet, pudding, and Protein Shakes. Strained soups." that's all my papers say. That's a lot of sweet stuff. I've been straining all the chunks out of the Soup and just drinking the soup-juice. 4 days before my surgery (so, this Monday) it will only be Clear Liquids.

I did not see the other post that you were speaking of but from my experience on here people are generally really supportive and kind. Is it possible that they were trying to say that they would wait to have the surgery until you can stick to the pre op because the post op is even more restrictive and AFTER surgery you can actually hurt yourself if you don’t stick to the plan? I’m hoping it was something like that (out of concern) and not something negative. If it was negative I hope you don’t let that color your opinion of everyone here because I have been on here over four months so far and have found nothing but absolute kindness and support.

[Soonlee_W 24]

On 7/12/2021 at 5:42 PM, FutureSkyDiver said:

Follow the guidelines of your surgeon, not something you found online. Think of this as a practice run for post-op, when “cheating”, or “slipping up”, or having a “bad day, or whatever else you want to call non-compliance to make yourself feel better, can actually kill you.

I’d say if you don’t have the discipline to follow the pre-op diet, you probably should reconsider surgery at this time.

Barely slept that night after reading this. It's all good --

[Kshort215 4]

Hi everyone! This is my first post here and my surgery was a week ago tomorrow (7/9/21). It’s amazing seeing so many people willing to undertake such a huge life altering change!! Good luck to everyone!!