About 2-3 months out from surgery... give me advice/tips! :-)

Hi everyone, 

I'm new to this site and this is my first post on the forums. I'm 37yo and have finally decided 'it's time' for a change. I have tried multiple diets throughout my life (born at 10lb2oz and been overweight since!) but have never been able to get under 280 in my adult life and have not been successful in keeping it off for long. This is the third time I'm heading down this path but this time I'm not going to let my own fears sideline me. I never had any health problems associated with my weight but now I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and my blood sugar is in the pre-diabetic range so I'm more afraid of not having the surgery at this point!

I'm going through the paper-work, testing, appts, etc. for surgery (bilio w/ DS) and I'm looking for some advice and tips on what to do and what not to do from this point on. My Dr would like to see me lose weight before the surgery and I'm trying to figure out the best way to go at that. The info they gave me suggests a liquid diet program for faster weight loss but I'm a little afraid if I start that now, I'll be sick of it by the time surgery comes and I HAVE to follow a liquid diet for a while. Then I'm thinking maybe I'll do it for 2 weeks to get a jump start and then just stick to a healthy balanced diet until pre-surgery diet begins.

What did you do to prep for surgery? How much weight did you lose before your surgery, if any? What else do you think I need to know and/or need to do to get myself prepared? 

My biggest fear is that I won't like 'skinny me'. I've grown so used to hiding behind 'fat me' that I'm afraid of skinny me. What if my skin looks so saggy that I can't stand to look at myself (but I hate to look at myself in the mirror or in pictures now anyway so I realize this is a stupid fear, but it's real for me). Or what if my face looks drawn and I wind up looking 10 years older? What if my boobs look like I belong on a National Geographic special? LOL I know these are all superficial 'fears' but in my head they are so real and scary. Then I keep trying to tell myself that it's just the fat girl inside of me trying to suppress the skinny girl who is ready to get out. 

I look forward to getting to know all of you! :-)

Denise

HI Denise! Welcome! Congrats on all the changes you are making.  This is such an exciting time before surgery and there are SO many questions I had when I started the process.  I read everything I could get my hands on.  LOL That's the best thing you can do, read, read, read.  Get educated about your surgery so you will know what to expect. 

I wasn't the greatest example of losing weight before my surgery.  I started the process in the summer of 2011 and did good for about 4 months on my preop diet.  Then my doctor retired and my job changed and I let it fall by the wayside.  I had almost all of the requirements and testing done for surgery too!  I went back to my old way of eating and gained everything back, plus a little more! I started up the process again last year in November and was approved by December. I started trying to lose weight late in the game and only lost about 9 pounds prior to surgery.  My doctor recommended 2 weeks of lowcarb and then 1 week of liquids prior to surgery and I did that as well as I could.  Surgery went great and there were no complications.  I really do wish I had lost more before surgery though. 

We all worry about what our bodies will look like after we lose the weight, especially those of us with a lot of weight to lose. But really, everyone is different.  It depends on your body type, age, where you carry the weight, genetics, etc. I have my flabby arms and wrinkley thighs but I would take those ANYDAY rather than go back to the miserable girl I was 135 pounds ago. 

Let us know how everything goes.

Welcome, Denise!

I came to my surgery 17 years older than you are and also staring down the barrel of potential diabetes and heart disease.  My doctor told me that my time was literally running out to avoid both of those intense health risks on top of the sleep apnea and elevated blood pressure that already troubled me.  I was also just gaining and gaining with no self-control, no hope, and was becoming increasingly less active.  Not good when one has a husband, children, and elderly parents to look after.

Anyway, when my PCP stared me in the eyes and said, do something NOW, I finally listened.  I got really serious that day and scheduled my first surgeon consult the very next day.  On consult day I started drastically cutting carbs out of my daily intake and also ate more lean protein and vegetables.  I also stopped buying Diet Pepsi and merely used up what I had on hand, because I knew I would have to give it up postop anyway.  Eventually I didn't miss it and have no plans to drink soda again. 

I'm not saying I ate perfectly preop.  I did have two food funerals for two very select foods, but overall I did change things up well enough to lose 18 pounds preop, ten by eating better and eight during the two-week preop shrink-your-liver diet.

I hit my surgeon's goal earlier this year and hit my personal goal last week.  I'm still in WL mode because I want to get as close to a normal BMI and as close to minimal body fat as possible. 

As far as whether I like the new me or not, well, I'm 55yo now, and the skin didn't shrink up all nice and pretty for me.  There was just too much of it, and I'm past the age for that magic.  I look pretty normal when I'm clothed, and I am LOVING being able to find cute clothes that fit and look nice on me for the first time since I was a small child.  (I have been overweight or obese since I was six months old and have a picture to prove that.  ) 

Plastic surgery is available.  I don't know if I will partake of it, but it's an option for us all if we can pay for it or get our insurers to pay for it.

I have read more than once on these boards that fat redistributes around the body in the year or so from the time one hits goal and one's weight stabilizes.  I'm looking forward to looking less drawn in the face and maybe giving my poor tail bone some redistributed padding, but que sera, sera.

Anyway, I am also feeling younger and more energetic at goal weight than I have since my teenage years, and I can do MUCH more and get out MUCH more now.  I am like a normal person now, which is taking some time to adjust to, but from what I've read on these boards that's normal, too.  

I did what I did to myself by eating my way up to 357 pounds, and there is a price to pay for that as far as the excess skin, but my surgery AND my commitment to following my postop rules have given me my life back and have made it more possible that I might be able to stick around on this Earth longer to raise my kids (young teen daughter and recently-adopted 7yo former grandson) and maybe watch some sunsets on the back porch with my darling husband when we are both old and gray. 

Fair exchange in my book!  What is is, and all we can do is pick up where we are and make the best of it.

Hi,Denise!  I've been heavy all my life and tried a couple of weight loss programs. I had RNY a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. I decided to go the surgical route after losing 100 lbs through HMR and then gaining it back plus extra. My surgeon wanted me to lose weight pre-surgery as well and I will admit that I did not do the best, but I did manage to lose about 20 lbs. I had a "last supper" at my favorite Mexican restaurant with close friends before starting clear liquids pre-surgery. :D

As for advice, number one is listen to what your team tells you and follow their direction. Don't think you know better! Read everything on these boards. I have run into a couple of issues, but I did not panic because of the wealth of information here. Ask questions. Attend a local support group.    For losing weight pre-surgery, I need a stricter program, so I went back to HMR and stuck to the shakes and entrees. They have an "at home" program at HMR.com. I tried Nutrisystem, but that didn't work out so well because they have a lot of high carb snacks.  Good luck to you! Jen

Thanks for the replies! I'm feeling overwhelmed with the whole thing right now but I am determined to fight through that and keep moving forward (rather than chicken out like i idid the last 2 times I tried to do this). I met with the surgeon yesterday and he scared the crap out of me at the same time as he made me feel enthusiastic about the surgery and the future.

He wasn't as concerned about the high cholesterol and pre-diabetic numbers as much as i was when I saw them. He said he's confident that the diet and surgery and weight loss will correct those. He was concerned that my blood work shows some degree of 'fatty liver disease' and so he is recommending a liquid diet to try to shrink the liver. He will also biopsy it during surgery to find out if there's any damage that requires attention. I will have to have my gallbladder removed during surgery also because of previous issues with gallstones. He did say that depending on what he sees when he goes in, he may have to do the surgery in stages because I am so overweight. He said that's not usually the case but he wants patients to be fully aware that it's a possibility so they're not surprised/disappointed if they come out of surgery and find out that they only have the VS for now (with the DS to be done in Stage 2). I will have to get a 'filter' inserted in the vena cava (sp?) about a week before surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots traveling up I also have to go see a cardiologist to be cleared for the surgery and have an upper endoscopy done in a few weeks. I meet with the nutritionist on the 3rd to discuss a plan for the diet.

So much to do but I know it will all be worth it!

Denise