DR. ARANOW'S PATIENTS PLEASE

I am scheduled for the 21st (2 weeks away and getting ). I have been reading the message boards and am seeing alot of pre-ops who have to do a liquid diet "x" amount of days before their surgery and they also have to drink some stuff (Berium, I guess) to clean out their system the night before surgery. No one from his office has advised me of having to do either of these. Is this something Dr. A doesn't do??????? . Also, can anyone tell me what kind of vitamins to get? I'm so confused as they all look the same, and again, I read different things from different people on the boards. Is there anything I need to know before my new life begins???? Ideas, suggestions, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and gals in advance , Love, Stacy

Hi Stacy.. Dr A doesn't have his pts do a liquid diet or a bowel prep--thank goodness. You just don't eat after midnight. I still take my Flintstones chewable vitamins daily. I also use the liquid calcium citrate(you can get it at Vitamin world-and I only like the orange flavor). I bought my B12 subllingual at Stop and Shop. Good luck on the 21st. I am sure you will do fine. PS: the best thing I brought to the hospital with me was a backscratcher. It got rid of the itchies but I also used it to reach things by pulling things closer to me. See you on the losers bench..

Hi Stacy! Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I was just banded by Dr. A last Wednesday. I can't speak of the bypass but as a bandster I didnt have to drink anything special or go on any special diet. Just had to lose 10 lbs before surgery. As far as vitamins go, I live in Cromwell and I went to GNC in Cromwell. I told the lady I was a patient of Dr. Aranows and she was like..oh yes, I will tell you everything that Dr. A recommends to his patients. She proceeded to bring me around the store and point out all the items he recommends. As far as vitamins she suggested the GNC Multi Chewable Solotron dietary Supplment 2 per day/lemon-lime flavor. She also recommended the B-12 1000 dietary supplement w/ folic acid. sugar free, cherry flavor that you let dissolve under your tongue. Hope this helps! All the best to you! Angie

Stacy,. First of all, take a LONNNGGG DEEP BREATH.....HOLD IT...and let it out! There....now, make sure you call Lois and have her set you up for the hospital pre-op class on Wednesday. (They have them every other Wed.) This is a very informative class and helps a lot. Now, you don't have to do any type of liquid diet or bowel cleanse...Dr Aranow doesn't require it. You will have to have a prescription filled (Lois will call it in) for you to wash your belly/arm pit ares/front of body for three days prior to surgery. As far as being confused about your vitamins and stuff to buy, take out the hand out the dietitian gave to you titled "Middlesex Hospital Diet Stages & Nutrition Guidelines Following Gastric Bypass and Surgery". THIS WILL BE YOUR BIBLE FOR MONTHS TO COME...READ IT NOW and refer to it constantly after surgery. It tells you EVERYTHING you need to know. If you are unsure about something, email me or post here and you'll get an answer. As far as vitamins go, I swear by the CVS brand of Centrum's chewable. They are called "Spectrovite Chewable" and are about 7 bucks a bottle (I get them on sale for buy one get one for a penny and stock up). They don't taste bad and can actually keep them in your mouth to soften them up a bit then chew. You can buy Flintstone's or any chewable or liquid of your choice. Make sure you take two a day. As far as B12 goes, I like the Bariatric Advantage brand that Dr Aranow sells right in his office. It's 8 bucks a bottle. I do buy them online because I live over an hour away from his office. They have 1000 mcg's and Dr Aranow wants you to take one daily. As far as Calcium goes. You MUST take Calcium CITRATE...BUT, you don't have to start Calcium until Stage 5. You can buy it now to have it. I take the Tropical oasis liquid Calcium/Magnesium/D. It's got 1500 mg in one tablespoon. I found having to chew 4-5 chewable calcium horse pills too hard and you won't be able to swallow the Citracal yet. You will need a protein powder. Get some samples (www.bariatriceating.com or www.wlssupplies.com) to have a variety. I also SWEAR by unflavored Unjury www.unjury.com to put into broth, juice, V8, pudding, yogury, etc. It has 25gms of protein per scoop. Dr Aranow sells the beneprotein, but that only has 9 gms per scoop. The scoops are different size, but it's up to you. Unjury is about 20 bucks a tub. They also sell it in flavors. You will be on liquid protein for three meals a day, you will go through a lot. Make sure you have some protein that has a lot of gms of protein in it per serving. You MUST get in AT LEAST 65 gms of protein a day EACH DAY. It's the first question Dr Aranow will ask you at your two week appt. I still drink chocloate Isopure protein. You can get it a lot cheaper on line than from GNC. They are double the price. It is 50 gms of protein per serving and tastes pretty good. I'm sure you heard from others that after surgery, your taste buds will be different and things that taste good to you now will be awful later. They do, and you have to experiment with samples. I didn't have that much trouble with it. You will have a taste of protein in your mouth and odors coming from your body after two or three weeks. Your body will be in full ketosis (fat burning mode) and it gets better. You'll be losing the weight like mad and it will seem like it's just melting off. Thing to take to hospital: pair of slip on slippers with rubber bottoms or sandals. It'll be easier to slip into something than to put on those dreadful blue socks they give you. You will have on white compression socks up to your knees from the time you arrive at the hospital up until two weeks after your visit. You will have the "puff" booties on your feet in the hospital 24/7 as well, except when you're up and walking. This is to prevent blood clots. They will be giving you shots of heparin in your belly throughout the days in the hospital. They pinch a tiny bit and your belly skin may bruise. It's no big deal. This is to prevent blood clots as well. Shampoo and soap...tooth brush (but there will be toothbrush, mouthwash and toothpaste in your bathroom) Ask for chapstick, they have cherry... Ask for a fan. WLS patients are always VERY HOT after surgery. They have them if you ask. You must ask for your pain meds by mouth. The nurses will not give them to you unless you ask..and make sure you ask in plenty of time in case they're busy and it takes time to get to you. I didn't have any problems. You will be on a PCA (pain control machine) where you push a button to administor your own pain meds yourself. This will be taken away after day 2. Then on oral pain meds. You own PJ's for after your first shower. You'll feel fresh and clean. You will wake up with a binder on around your belly. They will give you a second one to take home with you also. They also wil give you extra stockings. I washed out a pair and hung them up to dry right before bed every night and had hubby put on a new pair for me each night and it was a refreshing way to end the day. Make sure you walk a lot at home once you get home. To prevent blood clots and to help anesthesia leave your body and to recover and heal. It helps A LOT. Get Special Request cream of chicken soup, sugar free popsicles, sugar free jello and pudding, dannon fit and light carb and sugar control (pinkish/reddish label) yogurt in both cups and drinkables. lactaid milk in case you can't tolerate the lactose in regular milk. You can change back in a few weeks to see. Buy Tylenol Rapid Release gelcaps to have on hand for pain control. This is an approved med by Dr Aranow and works very well, doesn't get stuck either. That's about it. It will come and go so quickly you won't believe it. And, when I was preparing for surgery, I tried to stay away from the boards too much as to not freak myself out with too much information. Just start walking a lot now. It helps in losing more weight before surgery, shrinks your liver for surgery, and aids in healing. Start having a couple protein drinks a day now. THey say that a lot of protein in the system prior to surgery helps one heal faster. And, helps reduce the hair loss. Somethig in which I had NONE of...as of 6 months out on the 28th of April. Hang in there..and remember to look at the positive in this...you will lose lots of weight and feel SO much better once you recover. Give yourself the time to recover and heal and be kind to yourself. It is, afterall, major surgery! paula

Hi, Stacy! You've already gotten a lot of good advice, especially from Paula (who must have been typing for half an hr.). I just wanted to add that although GNC can be an expensive source for vitamins and protein shakes or drinks, they're a good place for trying anything for the 1st time. Their return policy is that if you have your receipt and bring the item back within 30 days, you'll get a full refund...even if you tried it! The 1st time I bought the bottles of the already-prepared Isopure drinks, I bought 1 of each flavor. If I liked it, I kept it. If I didn't like it, I tried a 2nd sip. If I still didn't like it, I closed the bottle and it sat in the fridge until I took it back to GNC and got my refund...with no problem. After you figure out what you like, you can either stock up when GNC has a sale, or find another less-expensive source. Debby P.S. Make sure you go to the pre-op class. The nurse who runs it will go through in detail what you should expect to happen, day by day. It's excellent preparation for WLS.

Thank you all for the good advice!!!! See you on the losing side

See now aren't you glad you chose Dr Aranow????? No silly liquid diets pre-op no silly bowel cleanses.......and he's the TOP surgeon to perform this operation....you are in good hands.......Good luck sweetie.

Someone at work referred me to him. I feel confident and glad to know I have people here to talk to and get help with certain things. THANK THE MAN UPSTAIRS FOR NOT HAVING US DRINK THAT STUFF!!!!!!