Being prepared

okay.. so now that my surgery date is fast approaching I'm freaking out for being prepared after surgery when I come home from the hospital. 

My questions:

1) what exact vitamins do you need to be taking after you come home..or do they go over this with you again before you have surgery/leave hospital

2) I know we need to take liquid vitamins.. so is there a place that you all purchased your vitamins that was easy to find a liquid form? I've gone to shoppers and the only liquid forms i could find is calcium and vitamin D. I've also heard people talk about calcium chews (do they work as well?)

3) what are some staple food items you have in your house after your surgery. I know we are on solid liquids so just wondering what you guys ate(drank) on the solid liquid phase, as well as the pureed phase. 

I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.. but I just want to be totally prepared!

Thanks for all the help! 

-Michelle

Hi Michelle, you should have gotten a booklet that would have all your suggestions.   For Calcium, you can go for the liquid or the Jamison Chews, or other chewable pills.  The Jamison Chews are not pure Calcium Citrate, but they aren't worried about that for a couple months.  B12 is another one that you'll need to take.  That can come in shots, or take a sublingual (melts under the toung) or strips for this.  You can get your multivitimins in chewable forms as well.  There are bariatric vitimins that are chewable.  If you are told you need iron supplements, you can get this in liquid form.

Depending on your clinic, some people are to supplement with protein shakes (don't buy too much of any one shake until you try them after surgery to see what you like).  Some people have regular protein shakes, and some who are lactose intolerant get a juice type.  I did this and had soups.  Your booklet would also give you meal suggestions.

If you are currently on any prescription meds, you will need to talk to your pharmasist to see how they will react after your surgery.  Most clinics say that you can swallow pills the size of the tip of your baby finger right away.

Cathy

It has been so long since the orientation..etc.. I need to go over all of my material that I have! 

I remember them telling me about a fiber supplement I can take as well. 

I would guess that they were referring to Benefiber or metemucil SF capsuls.  You may or may not need to take these with Optifast.  They can help with OptiTrots and OptiClog.  I never took them myself, but others have.

Cathy

Vit recommendations must vary based on what hospital because i was told to start Calcium Citrate right away. You won't find these in a chewable form anywhere but online or in the US BUT your hospital pharmacy may carry them. (mine does). They are called Bariatric Advantage. There are other forms of Calcium, which is what you probably saw at the pharmacy, but you need the CITRATE. If confused, ask your pharmacist. There is a liquid called Wellesse that you can buy also at SDM or Walmart but it tastes very chalky and i can't keep it down which is why i switched to chewables. Bonus...they taste like candy!

Vit D you can get in drops.

Multivitamin you can get in chewable form.

Iron pills are small and easily digested.

Myself i have not started on any of the fibre supplements because i am having a hard time getting all my water in. DO NOT take fibre supplements unless you are getting at least 2L of fluid per day. At the beginning, you won't be able to get anywhere near that and until you start eating, you probably won't need the fibre.

As for food, i ate/eat a lot of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and applesauce with protein powder added. You can get unflavoured protein powder at the bulk barn. Lots of people also really like the Premier Protein shakes that are available from Costco. You can also try Boost Diabetic.

Good luck with your surgery!