OMG, it's really going to happen!!!!
(deactivated member)
on 3/31/09 4:14 pm - Wynantskill, NY
on 3/31/09 4:14 pm - Wynantskill, NY
I am so , excited, thrilled, scared, nervous, and I could go on and on!!!! My RNY has been approved by my insurence company. The letter came today. So now my surgery date of 4/21 is really going to happen!!! I have been concetrating so much on my diet and jumping through all the hoops that now I feel unprepared for so many other issues. I don't meet with my dietician untill 5 days before surgery so I really don't know what I should be buying in preparation for when i'm home after surgery. If anyone has any helpful hints on anything, products, recipes for protein shakes or any words of wisdom I would so appreicate it. One silly thing i'm "concerned" about is no coffee!! I'm a nurse and work overnights. Coffee is my lifeline and also my passion (one of them anyway!!). I'm looking for supportive friends who can give me great pearls of wisdom, know any??????
Good for you. I had mine done at Alb. Med. Last week 3/23 by Dr Dunnican. I am the type that wants to be prepared for the worst case so I went ahead and bought 300.00 worth the bariatric Proti water packs,puddings, shakes, smoothies, cocoa's and a few soups from www.bariatricchoice.com. I found them searching yahoo for bariatric foods. I can say that I overbought but have nutrition for a few months. I also like the ease of use and the fact that most are 100 calories, sugar free, 15g protein per serving and for the most part they taste pretty darn good. I like the proti water drink the best because it helps me get the min of 64oz of water all while giving me 45g of protein and it taste like juice or punch. I like the grape the best, fruit p and kiwi next best.
Coffee... I can tell you that for quite a while, you will have to drink PLAIN no sugar/cream decaf but if that is fine then your ok. They even gave decaf to me in the hospital which I did not drink because I do not like coffee and I had all I could do to drink 64 oz of h2o the day and 1/2 I was there.
You are going to ask yourself the first day " what have I done". I can tell you that within a few days when you are feeling better that you will again know this was the right choice.
PM anytime if you have Q's.
I am home for another week before returning to work and have nothing but time on my hands.
Coffee... I can tell you that for quite a while, you will have to drink PLAIN no sugar/cream decaf but if that is fine then your ok. They even gave decaf to me in the hospital which I did not drink because I do not like coffee and I had all I could do to drink 64 oz of h2o the day and 1/2 I was there.
You are going to ask yourself the first day " what have I done". I can tell you that within a few days when you are feeling better that you will again know this was the right choice.
PM anytime if you have Q's.
I am home for another week before returning to work and have nothing but time on my hands.
So excited that your approved. Don't worry about the coffee. You will find that your tastes will probably change and you will be busy getting your fluids and protein in. I had a positive attitude going into the surgery and have no regrets. It is definetly hard in the beginning but I will tell you that it does get better. Protein shakes are such a personal thing. I didn't stock up on them because my taste changed and it took a while for me to find one that I liked and agreed with me. My surgeon's office also sold alot of protein shakes and soups in his office so I bought a couple of boxes there. Once you meet with your dietician I sure they will give you the rules to follow as every surgeon has different one's. Best of luck to you.
Hugs,
Patty
Hugs,
Patty
Getting my revision to RNY was the best thing I ever did. I hope that you will be just as happy as I am. Good luck to you! 
Congratulations on your approval and surgery date! It's such an exciting time. Relax for now, eat some of your favs (last supper syndrome, anyone?). You won't those foods as much as you think you will. And in time, you will enjoy them again ... just in WAY smaller amounts. You will love your new, healthy life. Don't buy too much. You won't need that much. And you'll have time to do your last-minute shopping after you meet the nut. I know people who after a time do drink some coffee (not tons of it) when they are farther out and just drink some additional water to counter the diuretic effect of the coffee. No worries, relax.
First let me say congrats on your official approval. As you know my surgery date is scheduled for 4/21 also. My surgeon's office was called by my insurance company on 3/19 and the office then called to notify me. I still, however, have not received an "official" letter from the insurance company. I've been slightly concerned but not overly worried at this point. I don't believe the surgeon would schedule the procedure if they weren't absolutely certain of approval. Hopefully it will come in the mail soon.
I had my meeting with my NUT back in January. And funny you should mention buying things in preparation.......I just got back from Walmart this evening. I went for the singular purpose of getting some of my post-op supplies. My NUT and Surgeon both said that the 1st week will be clear liquids only. So I bought beef broth, chicken broth, sugar-free jello and, of course, lots of water. Week two will be whole liquids. For that I bought cream soups, grits, oatmeal, and apple sauce. Week three will be pureed foods (squishhhhhh). I bought beans and peas (that I can mash up), gerber sweet potatoes, carrots (also that I can mash), instant potatos and of course, more soups. I think soup is going to be a mainstay for quite some time.
As far as supplements, I've been using the vanilla Body Fortress whey protein powder. I like this powder because each scoop has 52 grams of protein and I actually don't mind the taste. I mix a scoop with 4oz of skim milk and about two tablespoons of low fat vanilla yogurt in this really neat single serving blender (that I also got at Walmart). After its all blended, it comes out to an 8 oz shake (give or take an oz) and with the addition of the yogurt, it kind of tastes like a vanilla/cream cheese flavored shake. I have read that post op folks have a hard time getting protein shakes down because their tastes change. The shake that I make isn't have bad but I hope that I continue to be able to tolerate it after surgery. Other things that my surgeon told me to stock up on were Multivitamins, B12, and Calcium supplements. I got the Flintstone chewables and Flintstone gummy multivitamin. I also bought Spring Valley sublingual B complex supplement which covers your Riboflavin, Niacin, B6, and B12. Lastly, I bought Viactive Calcium soft chews which also have Vitamin D and Vitamin K. So I think I'm sufficiently covered in the supplement area.
My NUT had told me to start taking all of this stuff well before surgery so that I would have my levels built up. I've only recently started with the vitamins but have been doing the protein shakes for breakfast on and off for quite some time. I go for my pre-op hospital visit with the anasthesiologist and to get my pre-op labs done this Tuesday (4/7). The surgeon said that they would do a baseline workup of my vitamin levels and that he would closely monitor those levels for quite some time after surgery to ensure that they were at an acceptable level.
I had my last visit with my surgeon this past week----the last appointment with him before my surgery date. He used the diagrams to explain the procedure in detail, gave me the run down of all the pouch rules, and just an overview of life after surgery. It's all still just a bit overwhelming for me. I know in my mind that in just over two weeks, my life will change forever but I don't think that I've accepted it completely. A part of me is very happy and excited. Another part is really terrified. I've been planning things and getting my life in order to have this surgery but it's almost like I don't completely believe it's happening......It's almost like some weird-ass dream!!!! It still all just seems a bit surreal to me.
I'm not sure what your surgeon/NUT will recommend but I think (from what I've read) that all diets are pretty standard for the first couple of weeks. I think that you'd be safe to go out and get some of the things I mentioned above as you'll more than likely need them at some point. I hope this helps. Talk with you later.
I had my meeting with my NUT back in January. And funny you should mention buying things in preparation.......I just got back from Walmart this evening. I went for the singular purpose of getting some of my post-op supplies. My NUT and Surgeon both said that the 1st week will be clear liquids only. So I bought beef broth, chicken broth, sugar-free jello and, of course, lots of water. Week two will be whole liquids. For that I bought cream soups, grits, oatmeal, and apple sauce. Week three will be pureed foods (squishhhhhh). I bought beans and peas (that I can mash up), gerber sweet potatoes, carrots (also that I can mash), instant potatos and of course, more soups. I think soup is going to be a mainstay for quite some time.
As far as supplements, I've been using the vanilla Body Fortress whey protein powder. I like this powder because each scoop has 52 grams of protein and I actually don't mind the taste. I mix a scoop with 4oz of skim milk and about two tablespoons of low fat vanilla yogurt in this really neat single serving blender (that I also got at Walmart). After its all blended, it comes out to an 8 oz shake (give or take an oz) and with the addition of the yogurt, it kind of tastes like a vanilla/cream cheese flavored shake. I have read that post op folks have a hard time getting protein shakes down because their tastes change. The shake that I make isn't have bad but I hope that I continue to be able to tolerate it after surgery. Other things that my surgeon told me to stock up on were Multivitamins, B12, and Calcium supplements. I got the Flintstone chewables and Flintstone gummy multivitamin. I also bought Spring Valley sublingual B complex supplement which covers your Riboflavin, Niacin, B6, and B12. Lastly, I bought Viactive Calcium soft chews which also have Vitamin D and Vitamin K. So I think I'm sufficiently covered in the supplement area.
My NUT had told me to start taking all of this stuff well before surgery so that I would have my levels built up. I've only recently started with the vitamins but have been doing the protein shakes for breakfast on and off for quite some time. I go for my pre-op hospital visit with the anasthesiologist and to get my pre-op labs done this Tuesday (4/7). The surgeon said that they would do a baseline workup of my vitamin levels and that he would closely monitor those levels for quite some time after surgery to ensure that they were at an acceptable level.
I had my last visit with my surgeon this past week----the last appointment with him before my surgery date. He used the diagrams to explain the procedure in detail, gave me the run down of all the pouch rules, and just an overview of life after surgery. It's all still just a bit overwhelming for me. I know in my mind that in just over two weeks, my life will change forever but I don't think that I've accepted it completely. A part of me is very happy and excited. Another part is really terrified. I've been planning things and getting my life in order to have this surgery but it's almost like I don't completely believe it's happening......It's almost like some weird-ass dream!!!! It still all just seems a bit surreal to me.
I'm not sure what your surgeon/NUT will recommend but I think (from what I've read) that all diets are pretty standard for the first couple of weeks. I think that you'd be safe to go out and get some of the things I mentioned above as you'll more than likely need them at some point. I hope this helps. Talk with you later.
Oh....and about the coffee. I can't offer any suggestions in that area. I'm not a coffee drinker. I think it's disgusting and I really hate it.
I can say that I relate to your worries though. I still like to get my caffine fix. I'm just a soda junkie instead of a coffee-head. I, too, am concerned. God knows, I can do without the food but I hate the thought of loosing my sodas.
Hate to say it but it looks like it's water or unsweetend tea for me now. I just keep telling myself that in the end, it will all be worth the sacrifice!!!
(deactivated member)
on 4/3/09 2:56 pm - Wynantskill, NY
on 4/3/09 2:56 pm - Wynantskill, NY
Thanks so much everyone. Your all awesome. And Priss, love ya girl. I'm sure the letter is in the mail!!
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