The Last Supper

As a pre or post op are you familiar with the term the last supper? Did you feel the need to have one final large meal prior to surgery or maybe even a whole month worth of last suppers? Did you gather with family and friends and how did you feel about yourself after you binged? If this sounds like something you or someone you know participated in before surgery, please send me a short email telling me about your experience for an article in OH Magazine. Please send comments to [email protected].

Ronda Einbinder
Public Relations Manager
ObesityHelp :type:

I had my surgery 5+ years ago with Dr. William Y. Marcus and back then just about everyone in my support group talked about having a last supper. Many did this every night for a week or month. The y would then either go to the support group or post online about the lavish and rich meals that they ate. I'll admit to having done the same thing. About three nights prior to surgery I had a last supper of Delmonico steak and steamed lobster, baked potato, salad and cheese cake for dessert. I enjoyed the meal itself very much and the group of us that went all had a great time that night. I had some mixed feelings about having done so. There was a lot of camaraderie in doing what everyone else in the group was doing. I had gone out with some friends and family and it was a party-like atmosphere. We were celebrating my decision to do something better for my health and for my life. I also remember thinking that just prior to having had the last supper I had lost some weight while waiting to have the surgery. So in some ways I felt as if I was undoing everything that I had accomplished in the 8 months prior to the surgery. But then I also felt that this ritual was a way of saying goodbye to the food that I thought had become my friend for so many years. It was in fact not a friend but it had almost become my executioner. By the time I had convinced myself that having gastric bypass surgery was my most viable option I weighed 512 pounds and had sleep apnea, hypertension, asthma, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high triglycerides. I was sitting duck for the heart attack that both my parents had already had. They were my perfect little crystal ball peek into my future. I remember thinking about all that while I was consuming this last supper. I was also thinking about the upcoming surgery. I was scared and nervous. Not just about the surgery itself but also about the lifestyle changes that I was asking myself to make. But I was still sitting at that restaurant table eating that monstrosity of a meal. A meal that I knew that if I kept eating that way would eventually kill me. While I can't say that I am letter perfect today about my eating I can say that my eating habits have changed considerably. I've lost over 335 pounds and feel better, healthier, happier and more at peace with who I am than ever before. Michelle "Pookie" Engelmann -335 lbs Biliopancreatic Diversion 7/20/00 Dr. William Y. Marcus North Bethesda, MD