Surgery Friday... any tips (for this week, at the hospital or post)?

Hi all,

I'm super excited, and it almost feels surreal. Im having RNY this Friday!!

Any tips for me? For this last week (note I'm in Opti, so not food related!), while I'm in the hospital, or my first few days home?

Thanks in advance.

Lots of walking, lots of sipping, and your protein shakes count toward your liquid intake so drinking those is killing two birds with one stone. Don't pack much for the hospital, you won't use it. And don't stock up a lot for post-surgery. You'll be out and about in no time and will likely fast grow tired of what sounded good pre-surgery and after surgery makes you cringe at the thought of consuming.

Best of luck to you!

Walk. Drink. Repeat.

Congratulations!

what everyone else said, plus cut yourself some slack with regards to recovery. It might be minimally invasive, but it is still major surgery. Being tired, or having difficulty hitting targets is normal. Just focus on walking as much as you can. Sleep when tired, and sip in between.

Your body needs to heal.

First, let me repeat what the other folks have posted. Sip your fluids and walk! Both are so important. I had trouble with room temperature fluids, so I drank lots of hot herbal tea and ate lots of SF popsicles.

I also started a journal in my pre-op weeks and have found it to be a great help in the months since. I don't always write anything more than what I ate and how I exercised, but it is interesting to see how things have changed over the last few months. You might want to give it a try.

Also exercise has really become an important part of my life. I could barely walk 3-5 minutes when I had surgery, but I did it several times a day and now I exercise every day. I swim and wog (walk-jog) and feel so much better. Start slow and keep at it. The exercise will help your body to heal and get stronger.

All the best in the days to come!

Bring chapstick to the hospital!

I'm not up for surgery for a while yet, but this was a super helpful reminder! DH was so cotton mouthy and dry lipped after surgery and he couldn't have anything to drin****il several hours later that evening!

Get your house cleaned and organized this week if you haven't done so already. You may be lower energy for awhile so not having to worry about those kind of chores Post-op will be helpful.

Someone on this site recommended taking a pair of loose baggy shorts to the hospital. Slip them on after surgery. Anytime your ready to take a walk around the floor you're ready to go , and wont be worried about exposing yourself. Sometimes hospital gowns are not big enough to wrap all the way around.

I agree with not over packing for the hospital. I brought one loose, comfy outfit to wear and my iPad. That was it.

I read a lot of posts where people said they never even had to take pain meds and they were up and doing everything normally within days. I allowed that to make me feel like **** when I was in pain and couldn't do anything the first few days. Everyone is different. Take all the pain meds you can if you even slightly need them and rest as much as you can. I was only going take 4 days off work and at the last minute decided to take two weeks. Thank God I did. I am on day 5 and the pain is much better but I only have shorts bursts of energy before getting exhausted and/or dizzy and lightheaded.

Good luck!