I am soooo nervous!

This is basically a cross-post of the topic I made in the RNY forum, but man, I am freaking out about my surgery. And it's not even really about the surgery 0- it's about having the surgery when scheduled! My doc said when I come in on the 14th for my NUT class that if I haven't lost "enough" weight, they'll postpone the surgery b/c they want to make sure the liver has shrunk enough. Supposedly, on Tuesday I was at 323 (at my appt on 11/2, I was at 330), and I let Susa (the coordinator that works with Fuzz) know this. But I've had the most evil munchies that I've given into the past few nights. And I'm gonna get back to the "straight and narrow" of my diet plan, but I'm soooo worried that I won't be down enough pounds by this Wednesday! I do realize there are worse things that could happen, besides surgery being postponed, but I've just been waiting for so long, so much time that I've personally wasted, I feel so ready for this, but so stressed out.... Just looking for some NC support and any words of wisdom, especially from any other patients of Fuzz!

Emily, I was the same way before surgery, it was hard to really comprehend and take the diet seriously after all this time of waiting, that ITS REALLY HERE!  But it is, you're running out of time, what you've waited and worked for all this time is finally going to happen, it would be a total waste to mess up after all you have invested into it!  It didn't "set in" untill say, 2 days before surgery that it was really, going to happen.  I advise throw out all the goodies today, and start doing a workout, weather walking, gym or tv exercise, within the few days till your visit,  you'll  probably see a drop..sometimes you can carry as much af 8 lbs of water and that comes off pretty quick.  I wish you the best and keep us posted, and welcome to the NC board! Nancy

I wish I could throw everything out but my biggest, hugest problem is that I live with my family. My mom is trying to be as supportive as possible, but you know, she still bought a pack of cookies last time she went to the store. Also, my father owns a store and does a lot of cooking at home - roasting cashews, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, frying falafel, cooking dolmathes, baking spinach, cheese, or meat pies. It's l always something different every night. So it's really really difficult to get away from the food (along with the fact hat our open floor plan downstairs has the kitchen and all the cooking and all the smells in your face!) But, if I become an early sleeper this week, that's okay. If that's what I need to do to get away from the temptation, I know that's my best bet. I can't keep using my family and things like that as excuses for eating what I shouldn't be. Thanks for the encouragement! I am definitely exercising daily, and the only scale we have at home isn't digital, so depending on how I'm standing, it reads a different number. So I'm really trying NOT to get on that at all.

You'll be ok, Emily.  Worst case scenario is that they will discover that your liver isn't small enough to do the surgery laparascopically and they will have to do an open procedure.  (Trying to motivate you here!  lol)  Or the surgery will be postponed.  We didn't get here because we have been successful at controlling our eating impulses.  I was so grateful that my surgeon did not require a liquid diet pre-op.  I shrunk my liver by going on a low-carb diet for 2 weeks pre-op.  Also lost a goodly amount of weight doing it and never felt deprived! Sounds like you are Greek!  I LOVE Greek food!  Ask your dad to give me a recipe for goat meat.  I have a freezer full and would love to make good ke-babs and souvlaki. All the best.  It will happen, don't worry!

Thanks for the motivation! My father's family is actually Palestinian, but I'm pretty familiar with greek foods. Unfortunately, we don't eat goat. They do lamb stuffed with rice sometimes - especially Easter, usually at least twice a year.

LOL!  I also have 2 lambs in the freezer that I raised on surplus goat milk!

Wow, nice! Well, I don't even know the 'secrets' to roasting lamb! But it's quite yummy when they do it. Unfortunately, the rice is one of my favorite parts, with lots of pine nuts and spices. But the meat itself is pretty good, with some thick yummy yogurt.

Ummmmm..... sounds dreamy!

Hang in there Emily!  You'll get over the hump.  Do your parents have a weight problem?  Are they sabbotaging your efforts?  Gosh, I hope not since you're living in the same house. Perhaps you could ask them to be a little more supportive, at least for now.  Tell mama to hide the cookies if they are too much of a temptation. Since you'll be doing liquids, mostly clear, for the first couple of weeks after surgery, try "practicing" tomorrow and Monday and you'll drop a few lbs. from that too. But remember, you said it up above yourself: "I can't keep using my family and things like that as excuses for eating what I shouldn't be." We're all here because of years of excuses and poor self control.  You've got to stop the excuses and start the self control n.o.w.  We are professional "blamers" around here, but surgery brings us to realize that we cannot continue the blame game.  That gal in the mirror is who puts food in my mouth, and nobody else.  And she's the gal I'm accountable to as well.  Take a break from inside where all that food is lurking. Bundle up and go out for a brisk walk this afternoon.  I'm getting ready to do that at halftime of the NCSU/UNC game I'm watching.  It's REALLY windy and chilly out there, but that's NOT an excuse!  I'll walk some more between this game and MY game of the day when ECU plays Marshall at 4:30. I always feel a rush of adrenalin and better about myself after a walk...   Or go to a movie (minus the junk food)... or curl up with a good book and some SF hot chocolate.  Drink! Drink! Drink! (SF STUFF)  Those liquids will keep you feeling fuller and less likely to snack.  Get some SF gum and/or hard candies to keep in your mouth.  Just DON'T EAT what you shouldn't be eating!  Keep your eye on the prize... that NEW YOU!

Well, it's a toss up... My parents are super supportive, they're paying for this surgery!!! (Bad insurance policy and no other options/outside help = parents got a loan with the bank for the surgery.) The problem is for my father is that our kitchen is the only place he can do his cooking - he doesn't have the facilities in-store to do them, so when he gets home in the evenings, he does the cooking. I really should have walked this afternoon, but I couldn't sleep last night, so I woke up with a headache, and conked out on the couch during the sunniest time of the day. We do have a treadmill, thankfully, so sometime between now and, oh 9ish?, I'm gonna make myself walk for at least 20 min, even just at a snail's pace. Hopefully tonight will be easier, because usually nothing is cooked for the store for Sundays, since it's slower. And thanks for the book and movie idea. I went out last night to the movies, but tonight I may pull out a dvd or see what's on our many HBO channels.. Thanks again for the encouragement! Oh, and one more thing.... GO WOLFPACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!