Whats needed before my surgery??

Could someone tell me what I might need from now till my surgery date of Jan.25th.Also,what I will need in the hospital.I have my pre-op screening on the 17th,they will probably let me know then.But I just thought I could get a heads up.And is it true that 3 days prior to your surgery,you have to go on a liquid diet?Thanks again everyone.Have a great week ahead......Larry

Of course all doctors are different, I will be on a liquid diet the day before, however i Have other instructions to follow three days prior.  

I am sure when you go for your pre-op you will be notified of this.

Good luck and congrats!!! Michelle...

 

All docs are different, Dr. Garber doesn't do liquids until the day before As for the hospital, You don't need too much, some people take their own pillow from home.  I did, but some others think it's very unsanitary--I switched cases as soon as I got home. comfy slippers  are a must--they make you WALK! Chapstick! a book  in case you feel up to reading,  iPod I'm sure you'll get other suggestions; those are mine!

I would same the same as Karen did, I was SOOO glad I had my own pillow there with me. Everything else I did not use since they had it all there...... My surgery was in June and I had hubby purchase a small fan for my room since it was so warm in there but I don't think that might be a problem in Jan. Also make sure you have all of your vitamins and stuff ready for when you come home! I wish you all the best hun ~hugs~

I would definitely recommend an MP3 player/Ipod.  I brought one and it helped me sleep better during the night and naps.  It blocks out any noise from the IV machine and the noises from the hall/intercom.  Also the chapstick and slippers.  That is about all that I used while there. Christine Your pre-op meeting will tell you what you need also. I was lucky didnt have to do the liquid diet. 

Larry: Hello & Welcome!  I am not clear on exactly what your request  is for (education on just hospital stay or living the life forever with WLS etc)? As others have stated each program is different you may consider calling your surgeons office to find out the preop plan.... (liquids etc) Here is a post on psychological prep to WLS (a forgotten item at times!) I think I first sent to Britt a yr ago or more!?

The single BEST piece of advice I can offer being > 5yrs out is this to anyone:

***Disclaimer some may consider this a no-brainer, others a downer, some a new view, psychobabble, whatever thought it is just my opinion, so take it for what it is worth, and it is meant to be helpful/insightful and thought provoking at a time so many of us are caught up with the right vitamin to take, amount of water to drink, etc.. it is meant to challenge beyond those tasks to see the small stuff matters but that there is a larger and more global view as well to consider!!!***

 

 

Establish your mindset to accept that weight loss surgery is not a cure/quick fix for morbid obesity, it's a very effective/powerful/wonderful tool that can be used lifelong to combat the chronic/lifelong disease of morbid obesity that has NO *current* CURE (*So at 1 yr out when many say 100# gone forever I sometimes shudder, it is never gone forever it is gone for now but the work has just started at 1 yr out IMHO). The tool is flawed and can be defeated as well (emotional eating, grazing, drinking calories, eating/drinking together, alcohol use, high calorie dense foods, too many simple carbs, overfilling pouch, carbonation, no consistent exercise routine). Considered WLS as part of a life-long process & commitment to challenge your personal awareness/responsibility/consistency/accountability and that a life-long requirement to follow up with physicians, a regular exercise program, and healthy eating. Accept it will come w/ potential challenges & imperfections (risks, side-effects, complications, challenges such as plateaus, not meeting goal, regain, possible depression, grief over the loss/safety of food/obesity may of offered/invisibility it offered although may of been unwanted at the time/the new attention you get, possible anger or anxiety w/o comfort of food as it used to be/limits it may impose, effort it requires to be healthy etc.) that these frustrations are part of the process to make you healthier see them as challenges not difficulties, positive self talk helps!. Your mindset will be the most important tool for success, as all the challenges of traditional diets/exercise plans for health will be present after WLS as well *Yup so many say I will never diet again, well let me say diets don't work *because people go off them* correct but you will have to be mindful of food and pay attention to intake and exercise for life, so in a sense your dieting for life! Even after WLS.... The surgery won't make a person change, but the beauty is YOU HAVE COMPLETE control over those changes/choices needed after surgery for success, the choices are there and the best use of the mind/psychology will harness those. Surgery is such a drastic choice that so many are successful due to a recommitment to healthy living and choices that is one reason it works and we say it is a 'rebirth'.

 

 

Changing habits pre -wls is the mindset that will keep you going, the surgery is a piece, the easiest/smallest IMHO. *It is however the milestone/landmark we set to focuses on. But truly the afterlife is the most challenging, the ever evolving challenges from things like getting in enough liquids to food introduction to vitamin taking, new ways of eating/drinking, introduction of exercise consistently to battling with the scale obsessions & disappointments as well as all the wonderful WOW moments. Have the support system needed to create the healthiest environment as well, willpower fades, the tools robust effects fades as well as the honeymoon closes...Harness your enthusiasm and mind for 6 months doing all you can to influence (not only wt loss) but the healthy lifestyle you want to adopt for maintenance, that elusive animal no one has mastered pre-wls. Exercise can become more routine after 6 months as well. Again the mind is just as/more useful than the pouch...it is the operator of the tool! Stress inevitable, so see each issue/stressful time as an opportunity to use your new tool/mindset! (Like I say use things as excuses or opportunities because holidays come and go each year as do parties, office food/celebrations, hurt feelings, sadness, losses, etc)

 

 

 

 

I know this isn't one message it is a million crammed into one right! Anyone who knows me knows I am never brief, this is my PASSION (giving back), WLS saved me from myself. It isn't easy or fair, but accepting life is imperfect just as the world we live in, embracing that imperfection and controlling what I can has helped me get thru many issues. There is no perfection, I work on that daily. So what to do about all of this babble?

 

 

Get a good journal, start writing today all the reasons you are COMMITTED to this change, what your expectations are (hopefully realistic for wt loss 50-80% of excess not an ideal body wt) and that the goals are not wt related alone, the functional ones how you can integrate into life easier, (clothes fitting, less medical co morbidities or risk of, less meds, less pain (physical/emotional) the benchmarks you are setting, take measurements and photos each month along w/ weights to document the journey. the mind is powerful but may be challenging to change so the photos/measurements help when the HUNKAMETAL doesn't register a loss. We are much more than a number on a scale, free from the numbers and see how much you are more than that as a person, your abilities etc....The journey is full of hills and valleys, some bumps and many more pleasures to see, it can be an awesome ADVENTURE!

 

 

The letter you may write/journal entry today may save you from backsliding at your first plateau or at 1 yr out, a recommitment to those thoughts, and how you have grown over time. These are the things I recommend. I think everyone else has you covered w/ the 'physical items you need'. These are the ever-elusive psychological things you need LOL!

OK if you have read this far thanks for hearing me out! I wish you well.

 

 

Take Care,

Jamie Ellis RN MS NPP

Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh

320/163/186 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery)

Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005  Dr. King

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=c1132518510

"Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"

Don't forget the CHAPSTICK!

Chapstick or a nice gloss! Getting sleep every chance you can, they push the IV fluids down your veins, it makes you need to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes.  UGHHH!!!  I really hated that part, I tried to refuse another IV bag, but they were nice and knocked down the intake rate by over half.    Don't plan on watching anything on TV, you will be sleeping before the first commercial set.

I didn't take good slippers to where, they gdid give me the socks with the rubber grips on them to wear.   I didn't have anything to read, but I did have a Sudoko book to work on while waiting for the surgery in the pre-op area.   Good luck!!

Larry, Congrats on your date and the best decision you'll ever make to start taking your life into your own hands. I took:  my own pajama's to change into after the surgery because I didn't want the "big gap in the back". I was glad to have done that.  Slippers of coarse.  I didn't need the chapstick. Like they said in the hospital, if you keep sipping water the way you are supposed to...you won't have chapped lips...thats the 1st sign of dehydration!!  My own toothbrush and toothpaste....I like what I like!! Wear the same clothes home that you wear to the hosp. for admission...so don't wear anything tight around the waist.  If you are a tv watcher....ask them at pre-admission the cost of tv per day and bring cash to pay for that if you want it. Hope this helps. Joanie PS...some folks find it helpful to try and find a protein drink prior to surgery so you know if you like it.  I used the Atkins protein drink..already made and it was easy. Others will swear by other brands and mixing it at the time you need it....I only needed it for 3 wks so.... good luck. And don't forget to get some chewable vitamins ahead of time so you don't have to go to the store on your way home from the hospital.

Thank you all so much...I dont know what I would do without you!!!