Scared - DS scheduled 8/10

I had a high weight of 470 and my last weight at the doctor was 463. He wants me under 450 for surgery but it's been months since that last weight and I'm feeling pretty certain that I weigh at least 700 today. That might be a smidge dramatic. If I'm not under 450 on the 4th, we'll redo the pre-op on the 7th. If I'm not under by then, surgery is cancelled. 

I've been fighting to get this done for over a year and going through a lot of emotional "stuff" and I felt pretty invincible until I got the call today that we were a go and start that liquid diet (3 protein shakes a day plus water - nothing else). It's really important that we have surgery done on the 10th because I return to grad school on the 24th and have to be able to drive (I graduate in May, I'm $140k in - all of these things have to happen!)

Despite everything riding on this, I'm struggling on DAY ONE! I'm going to take before pictures tomorrow, so maybe that's motivating but this is the strangest feeling I've ever had - joy and fear, happy to have the surgery and freaked out about not eating my feelings. It's like I finally have to face myself and it's really scary. 

My heart goes out to you but I know you can do this.  Try to stay busy and away from temptation, I know that can be a lot easier said than done.  If you need support, reach out through your posts. Lots of folks read here every day and should be able to respond.  Wishing you great success!  

--gina

Hi I just wanted you to know we are here for you, it is a struggle, when I had my surgery years ago there was no pre diet required, and I see it all the time now, so I can't imagine what that must be like but if you need support keep checking in and hopefully you will find words of wisdom and encouragement.

Change is hard, so just remember we got your back .........

Susan

Many people find that the first few days are the worst, and that somehow it gets easier after that. I hope that is the case for you as well.

Try to keep your goal in mind and remember that this isn't forever, and that once you recover from your DS and get past the first few weeks, you will be able to eat. And keep in mind how much better you will feel once the weight starts dropping.

Larra

Sweetie, I'm curious.. why at 450 are they doing a D-switch and not a full on RNY? Are they planning on doing a SLEEVE AND A D-SWITCH?

Just also curious are you having this performed stateside or MX?

The switch is always done with a sleeve.  There is no RNY involved...otherwise it's called a distal RNY, but never a DS.  

Huh???  Please do your research!  "full on RNY" - WTH???   This(DS w. VSG) is the very best surgery that she can have at her weight.  What a smart surgeon she has.  And what a wonderful future she will have!  

I wish her strength and courage going throughout her pre-op diet and a successful beautiful life thereafter.

God Bless!

Thank you for all of your replies! I could read them on my phone but couldn't respond - they made the day better, especially chugging those stupid little containers of protein drinks.

I'm not up on the lingo but Dr. Ayoola is doing the sleeve and the DS - at his office they simply referred to it as a DS and I didn't realize that you could have one without the other. I'm here in Texas and Dr. A. comes highly recommended, so I feel comfortable with this choice. I have several (6 actually) friends who've had the RNY ranging from 14 years ago to 1 year ago and I've seen almost everyone struggle with regaining weight after the initial loss. On top of that, several people say that they get really sick if they eat leftovers and a whole list of oddball things. I went in looking for the sleeve and due to my high weight they suggested that I get what they referred to as the DS because it was the sleeve on steroids and had the least likelihood of regaining. 

On the bright side, I broke down and drove to Dr. Ayoola's office today to be weighed on the official scale and came back at 464 - so I only need to lose 14lbs by next Tuesday and they're confident that the surgery will go as planned.

Congrats on making the right choice. All change is scary but the benefits are really high and life changing.

Regarding grad school, don't feel too bad about money. My son starts law school in a few weeks and will owe about 200k all in when he graduates, as do most highly educated people. My point is you have a lot of company on highly educated student debtors. Over your lifetime, you'll get a strong payback although that too is scary in the early going.

You can do this. Funny, my surgery weight was your current weight so go for it - it's worth it. One of the things that helped me past the first couple of days was knowing I didn't have to worry about maintaining the weight without the DS. Part of my failure with diets was self sabotage about thinking how long I would have to keep it up. Knowing that I had to just do it until the operation made it a little easier for me to handle.  

For some reason I never considered my post-op eating habits a diet just as a change in requirements if that makes any sense.

Anyway - you've got this. You already know things weren't as bad as you thought and that is half the battle.

Looking at your liquid diet I know mine was just a tad better at 4.5 Boost glucose control per day. 

Good luck,

Pete