new male member..saying hi and have a quick question..

Hello all..

I meet with my surgeon on Monday for RnY at Humber River Hospital.

can anyone tell me what to expect in this meeting..I'm told im getting the shakes that day..I don't even have a date yet...

very excited to lose the weight and improve my quality of life..

wondering about what the pre op life will be like on the shakes for three wks..

Cheers

My centre was Guelph so things might be a bit different :)

At that meeting, the surgeon went over my info again; explained the procedure and told me what to expect Post Op. Then he answered any questions that I had.

As far as Opti, it really does get easier after the first few days. A lot of people develop headaches within the first couple of days but I was lucky in that I didn't. I think a lot of the issue is sugar and caffeine withdrawal. I had already cut them out prior to starting the shakes so that may be what made it easier.

Another side effect can be your tummy. Some get the 'Opti Trots' while others go to far the other way.

I had no problem at all on the 4 shakes a day plus 1 cup of broth as Guelph did not allow any other food. I did find myself loving the broth because it was savoury. I added ginger and garlic and fresh herbs to jazz it up. When I got really desperate for savoury, I sucked on a dill pickle hahaha!

The only down side that I had was low energy toward the end.

You will do great. Let us know how your appointment goes.

I went through Humber, the appointment is very quick.. The surgeon explained the surgery again ask if I am 100% sure this is what I want to do!! Ask if I had any questions said see ya in surgery.. I went to the receptionist filled out the paperwork gave her the paper work back then she gave me my surgery date told me how long I had to be on opti for left with my arms full of opti. Bring some bags with u I also had to do 3 wks.. opti was ok first few days was hard but when I got to the third week it was hard again I was always hungry and was getting sick of opti

Welcome to the group - it is great that you joined. I went through TWH, things are different there than Humber. You will get your surgery date when you meet your surgeon which is very exciting! Opti is cool. I didn't have any issues at all. Best to drink all 4 a day if you can. My schedule was 7:00 am, noon, 3 pm and Dinner. It is all about cleaning and shrinking your liver! Make sure that your shakes are really cold and well blended. Best to drink with a straw and get it all down. Enjoy your straws while you can since you won't be able to use them after surgery! I found Opti to be the easiest part of this journey. I am just over a week post-op and my first week of the liquid diet was long.....Good luck - please keep us posted and tell us your surgery date. We are all rooting for you!

Hello! And welcome!

I had my first meet with the surgeon at Humber last week. Dr Huynh (pronounced "win") met with me to explain the surgery, make sure I understood the risks, weigh me to make sure I met the criteria and go over medical history and prescriptions. I also had a blood test. Then they gave me a sheet outlining my appointments with the nutritionist, nurse and social worker all on the same day in November. Finally, they gave me a phone number to call Dr Glazier for an appointment, who i think, checks out your abdomen for the surgery. I called and haven't heard back yet. So that's it for my first surgeon visit at Humber.

Thanks..I've already went through all that...I'm at the last step now..just about to get the shakes..

thx though..

K

Hi, I went through Sudbury for all of my preop meetings, then met with the surgeon at St. Joe's in Toronto. I also met with the whole team that day. They did blood work, some other tests, asked me lots of questions, let me ask lots of questions, weighed me, and gave me my opti. 3 weeks of opti is a LOT of opti, so make sure to bring a big enough bag to hold it all. I opened all of my boxes and put the packets in my suitcase and they completely filled my medium sized suitcase (I'm so glad I didn't bring my tote bag or my smallest suitcase instead).

The surgery date was exactly 1 day after my last Optifast. The first day of Opti was awful for me because I had no ice and no bottled water, and was staying with family in Toronto. I suggest using super cold bottled water with ice. I couldn't manage it at all with tap water, either in Toronto or home again in the Sault. It gave the shakes a metallic taste that was absent with tap water. I used almost a whole bottle of water, and about 6 ice cubes and mixed it all up in a shaker bottle. I wanted to try it in the blender with ice but it was winter when I was on opti and I was always cold so didn't try it. I think that would have been good though.

I got half chocolate, and half vanilla. I thought I would like the chocolate better but grew to like the vanilla more. Most people here prefer the chocolate.

The first few days were hard because I was super hungry and staying with family out of town and their teenagers were eating cookies and chips and pizza and all other sorts of yummy looking things all of the time. Going to the mall was hard because we don't have malls with cool foodcourts here in town and there were so many things I would have liked to have tried, lol. I was allowed broth and 1 cup of green veggies per day, which really helped. I did the veggies (broccoli, green pepper, and celery) in a roasting pan in the oven, with various spices, depending on my mood, and they tasted great. Not everyone is allowed veggies; I hope you will be as it broke up the monotony of shakes. By the 2nd week, my hunger had gone right down, and by the 3rd week I was almost ready to cancel surgery and stay on Opti, as I was having such a nice success with it. I lost 23 Lbs in 3 weeks on Opti. Then I lost another 23.6 Lbs in the first month of surgery, and discovered it was a lot easier (for me) post op because my obsession with food had magically disappeared (it later came back, at around 5 months post op, but never as strong as it was pre op).

I'm so excited for you, as those early days are the start of a whole new way of life. Congratulations!

Welcome! It sounds like surgery is around the corner for you. Congratulations.

I am going through TWH where things are different, so I don't have words of wisdom... just wanted to say hello!