What One bit of wisdom would you give to a Pre-op?

I asked this last nigh in the oneline chat meeting we had and got some great replies. Cardfan said " Be sure to Journal your food intake and how it affects you" i thought that was great advice  Someone else said   " It is just the beginning off a wild ride   it will affect you physically, mentally and spirtually."  I forgot who siad that and I'm sorry. Can anyone else ad a tidbit of advice to a pre-op.  Eddie

I copied and pasted this from what I wrote on the Main Board a few weeks ago... It is a journey and a wild ride combined.  We tell people to "Hang on for the ride", yet you don't really know what that means until your in the middle of it.  Be ready to have to go up to close friends and family to reintroduce yourself.  It will happen.  Your thinking "didn't they know me!!"  It's the same me...Yes it is.  Both the good and the bad of you is still there.  

For me the weirdest thing was having pretty women making eye contact at me while walking by.  Before they would give me extra room and not want to be near me.  Getting more respect in business and office situations.  The list goes on and on.  No it is not fair...judging people by their appearences, yet we tend to do it.  It makes me real careful when seeing an obese person to acknowledge them as the person they really are.  Brian

WLS is like being shot out of a cannon. You have about 6 to 8 months of free fall. During that time there is pretty much no way you can do anything but lose weight. During my "free fall" time my medical people kept telling me that this WLS was just a small part of the equation. At the time I didn't really understand what they meant. I do now because the honeymoon is over and I've discovered to my dismay that if I let old habits like eating the wrong foods and not exercising take over I begin to gain weight. So from this point forward its pretty much conventional warfare with regard to the weight lose battle. You know; diet and exercise. Something I could not discipline myself to do pre op. My advice to you is to use your 'freefall" time to develop new eating habits; read labels and count calories. Make life style modifications that include REGULAR  exercise and develop activites that will force you to move about. You will have a lot free time now, time once spent eating and digesting or sleeping. Turn that energy into something postive. This is our last chance at being thin and it is possible to fail. Stay active on this forum and when you stumble, tell us so we can help you back up. (When I give out this advice I am giving as much to myself as anyone. If I preach it, its easier for me to follow it). Begin to observe how fit people live their lives. In most cases they make a pretty good role model. In order for this to work you will have to change mentally, physically and yes at least in my case it helped me to become even more spirtually fit. If you are a Christian, ask God for companionship on your jouney. He reminds us that "His yoke is easy and His burden is light". When you have God and His earthly helpers such as the ones you've found here, its not necessary to ever feel alone in this. Enjoy your journey. Doug 

Awesome summary, Doug!! Well done.

 

I'm not that far along yet. I haven't accumulated the wealth of wisdom that others have and thus don't have as much to share. I can only tell you what I wish someone had told me 3 or 4 years ago, and that is: "Pull the Trigger. Just do it. Yes it's irreversable, but grab your sack and get your fat ass up on the table and do it. The risk to reward coefficient is unbelievably in your favor. The new life that you can create is infinitely more rewarding than the old life you'll leave behind." That's what I wish somebody had told me pre-op.

Hey Eddie, the best advice I could give you is to take advantage of the first 6 to 8 months.  Doug said it wonderfully in his earlier post.  Just be sure to develop the right eating habits and the right exercise habits during this time.  And remember this journey is as much mental as it is physical.  If you ever get to feeling down or need a question answered, there are plenty of people here in the Men's Forum that would be more than happy to help out..  And of course I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts as you go forward on your journey.  Take Care friend!

All great input from the guys here. Just my two cents.... Do the work before surgery to best prepare you for a favorable outcome. The better you strengthen your lungs, abs and health in general going in, the better your odds for a complication free surgery, quick recovery and smooth transition into the post-op free fall. Walk walk walk walk and then walk some more, now. My surgeon has people blow up a bunch of small balloons everyday for the two weeks prior to surgery to strengthen your lungs and build lung capacity, which is very important to avoid complications from the anesthesia, like pneumonia. In addition to the physical benefits, I think it also helps prepare you mentally for the ride you are about to go on. Good luck! JP

Ive found the first 8 weeks after the op to be hard as hell, eating puree, watching othes around me eat while i cant, having to drink so much water per day.. struggling to eat diferent foods, forgetting to chew as well as you should.. mentally its a real struggle.

i want people to know that yeah maybe 6 - 8 months down the track things are good, but right after surgery, its hell, i long to have my stomach back so i can enjoy some sort of food, to eat with out throwing up would be nice . Yes ive lost 28kg in 2 months, thats awesome, but as of right now i wish i knew the first 3 months would be hard.. harder than i thought..

havng said all this ive had the sleeve, and im having a barium swallow performed as they think i might have a stricture or something making it a bit harder for me to swallow thicker foods. Perhaps ive had a harder path than some..

I would tell people its a great thing to do, and the long term outcomes are awesome, but just be prepared that the first few months might be hard, best to be prepared for a hard recovery and find its easier than to think it will be a breeze and find things are harder than you ever thought. Dont let me put you off, getting smaller is wonderful, i have bones i didnt know existed

mmmm advice advice advice.....I can't really give you food advice cause I dont' know what surgery  your having.....but I will say this...research all your surgical options and make the best decision for you. Not for your mother or friend...or based on what your cousin's best friends roomate did ...but which surgery will work best for you.   One of the DSers has this on her siggy line "think twice, cut once, revisions are a *****" (or something like that).  Regardless of the surgery....get on a good suppliment regime and test every 6 months if you have the RNY or DS.

What they said.... PLUS - get ready for more ***** than you can shake your stick at, my Harley riding brother