New to all of this

Hi all, My surgery is scheduled for Feb. 13th. I just received all of my pre and post op surgery information along with the diet. OK you guys, I have to know the truth. As I looked at phase I for 3 weeks: broth, crystal ligh****er, jello I thought to myself, you've got to be kidding. How on earth will I survive on that for three weeks? I continued reading the diet program. It gave a list of all the "bad" foods to stay away from. HELLO? If I could stay away from them, I wouldn't need surgery. I don't get it I guess. I love food and I love to eat. How how how will I be able to do this? I'm really scared.

Hi, Karen. I'm also a pre-op, but I'm going in for surgery in just 11 days. From what I've learned, the fact that your stomach is about to go from the size of a football to the size of your thumb should help curb your "normal" eating habits and desires. That a a beautiful thing called aversion therapy. If you eat something that your new system doesn't like, well, you toss it up. Or worse, it gets "stuck" and you have to wait 30 minutes of sweating and dizziness to let it work its way through your new teeny system. That's why they call this surgery a tool. If you use it, you can do it. Try not to be scared of the surgery; be scared of NOT having it. Read the profiles of others who've gone before us. They provide brilliant insight into how this surgery can save our lives. And really, not many complain about missing food, or not being able to handle it emotionally. Okay, maybe just the first week or two! Just think of how quickly you'll be melting, and keep the faith. -Lesa, Portland, OR

Hi Karen: I read your post-op list of foods and thought they sounded a whole lot more exciting that 2 weeks of New Basics. That is what I had to drink for the first 10 days. One oz. every 15 minutes with and oz. of water in between. I was so sick of it by the time the last day rolled around I would have eaten wood chips. Instead, I had a few refried beans and later a few bites of tuna. Then I went on to yogert and roasted chicken. I also found I did real well on a half of a deviled egg. You just won't be able to eat as much as you used to and that is a great thing. Everyone is a little different. I need food to be moist. I can't eat white rice or white bread. Neither are my favorite foods so no big deal. They seem to swell up and make me too full and that makes me sick. Just remember this is re-learning process. You may miss the comfort food has brought you in the past (I think we all do at some point) but I feel like that will be replaced by the good feelings you get when your friends and family say how great you are looking as you shrink before their very eyes. The very best of luck to you.