don't know what to do- please advise

Thank you so much for doing this-  what a great tool!!  I just had my consultation this past Thursday and I have been scheuled for 7/1 for a RNY.  I was given so much info and I was so frazzled going in that I feel like I either have forgoten or did not ask the following questions: 1.  I was told I needed to lose prior to surgery- is there a magic number-  I am 263.5 and according to charts iam 120lbs overweight. 2.  Do I need to go on a liqquid diet or does that come as I get closer? 3. my nut appt isn't until mid june and I just want to continue my progress and be farther along as Io can be  4. Vitamins-  what  kinds ans SHould I start taking anything now?   Thank you again and I look forward to your responses.  Andrea

1. Every doc is different so you will get a lot of different answers. SOOOO for this one your doc is the best one to ask. A lot want you to lose to shrink the liver so they can do LAP better.  2. Again every doc is different a lot do put on you liquid 2 weeks before. Mine didn't I could have whatever I wanted up till midnight the night before. SOOOOO again aks your doc to see what they want. 3. Any wright you lose now is GREAT and you can start trying to work out some even if it's just a 5-10 min walk.  4. I sound like a borken record but again every doc is different and everyone is different. At the very least you will need a GOOD mulit Vitamin, and Calcium CITRIAT. some people will need iron and B12 as well as other. You don't need to get the most costly I get most of mine from WalMart or KMart when they have Buy one Get one FREE.  Again your doc should give you a list of what they want you to take and then check your labs at about 6 mos and 12 mons and then adjust from there.  You might want to post on the RNY board  http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/a,messageboard/board_i d,5465/ and on the Lightweight boards http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_lightweights/ Good Luck,  Robin

My recommendations to your questions: 1. Depends on who is asking you to lose weight. It's not uncommon for surgeons to ask you to lose 10% of your body weight before surgery to shrink your liver & make you a better candidate for surgery. If this is the case, losing approximately 25 lbs should make your surgeon happy. However, sometimes insurance companies have specific rules as to what your BMI should be for surgery - in that case, you'll have to find out what your target would be. My suggestion, call the doctors office, talk with the program manager and tell them you are taking this very seriously and need to have some guidelines as to how much weight you should try to lose. 2. Every doctor is different. The program I worked with required a liquid diet for 48 hours prior to surgery. However, I've read many posts on this site where some do the liquid diet much longer. If you weren't advised to do the liquid diet, then you probably don't have to do it yet. You will also get more information when you see the dietitian in June. 3. Good idea. Plus he/she will know you are taking this seriously. 4. Right now, you can take a regular multivitamin if you want. It's not required, but also not a bad idea. You don't have malabsorption now, so you don't have to buy the bariatric specific vitamins just yet. Just get a regular multivitamin. Like a Centrum or a Women's One-A-Day .... something like that. Good luck. Don't be afraid to call your surgeon's office with questions. I think I can speak for most surgical practices when I say that we'd rather you call and ask all your questions and get the CORRECT answers than to guess ..... :)