Round One Scheduled--Words of Advice?!?!?

Hello All,

Well, I went and did it yesterday. I went for my well exam with my PCP earlier in the week, and had my complete blood workups done. I am 26 months out from VSG. She asked me to list all meds / vitamins I take so I told her. I chew up a Nature Made Multi-Max with Iron (Yucko tasto, but it works for me); and I chew up two Calcium Citrate with D + Minerals once per day (about 660 of calcium); a few times per week I have a Kelp (I don't use salt so I supplement for the iodine since thyroid problems run in the family); and a few times per week I add some potassium caps since I still limit my fruits and veggies. I am a huge protein eater, so I also still protein supplement. To make my short story longer (lol), she telephoned yesterday to say that all my labs looked terrific. Oh, I forgot; pre WLS my blood pressure was 150 / 89 with a resting pulse in the 90s; now it is 118 / 60 with a resting pulse rate in the 50s. Thank you WLS and exercise. About three months ago, I did the couch to 5k (thank you Mz Shell for your leading example and shining encouragment!!!); and this past Saturday I ran my first 5K.

OK, back on topic; so with all this in hand, I called and scheduled the first round of my plastics journey. I will be seeing Dr. Kurtis Martin out of Cincinnati. I am having a fleur-de-lei tummy tuck, lower body lift, butt flaps, lipo of saddlebags on September 20th, 1st one on the docket for that day. I am so excited. I chose September so that both my kids are in school and established in the routine to make my at home healing time less strenuous. I have the caretaker plans made also.

So, for those who have travelled this path before me, do you have any "in the meantime" advice that I should be doing to prepare for this leg of my journey? Anything I should / should not be eating, supplements; other preparations that can make this run smoother? Do tell, I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

Congratulations.

My "in the meantime" advice is to continue reading this forum and pay attention what others are experiencing.  So that when things come up with you, you have a better understanding of is it a normal part of the recovery or is it something that needs immediate attention.

It helped me to keep myself focused on something else up until the day before surgery.  I signed up for a 1/2 marathon two weeks before my surgery date so the training kept me distracted.  Work kept me busy too.  I had planned to work from home two weeks before surgery and take time getting home ready, but work needed me to support another project in NYC so I had to travel those two weeks, which actually kept me very busy and took my mind off of things.

I did take the day off before surgery for mental prep and last minute errands.  That worked out perfectly.  I also saw my therapist the day before surgery too and that helped.  I started seeing her when I started thinking about plastics.  I wanted to make sure that when I woke up I wouldn't freak out when I saw a whole new me.  It helped a LOT.

Also the day before surgery, I roasted a turkey.  While I was in the hospital and when I got home, there was no thinking about what to eat for me and DH.  DH had a lot of stuff to get done before he came to the hospital for me the next day so just having something quick to heat up, made it easy on him too.

Make sure you have your recovery area set up - most find that a recliner is the best position in which to sleep, but check with your surgeon.  Which leads me to this suggestion - start now with keeping a list of questions you want to ask your surgeon about during your pre-op visit.  When it came time for my pre-op, I pulled out my notebook and went over everything that wasn't already answered.

Thanks for your reply. It is good to hear it all over and over! Wow--a 1/2 marathon???? I am going to look for another 5K to run right before surgery--to keep me exercising. The goal will be to "beat my timez" lol most walkers can beat my run--but that's okay. I work also, part in home and part in office. I am so blessed as my boss doesn't mind as long as my work gets done. I will have the entire weekend off before surgery, so I should make good use of that time. Back to the therapist---that may be a good idea. I saw a behavior therapist right after WLS to relearn non food coping strategies. I found her as valuable a tool as my sleeve. I did wrestle with identity crises during the weight loss phase, and had not considered that I may go through that gain after plastics--but that makes sense! I think I will line her up for a few.

I have a seal-a-meal and chest freezer. I have been "putting up" individual bags for "boil-in-the-bag" dinners. Something hubby can just boil a big pot of water and put 'em in. But now that I'm typing this out, I probably should also pack school lunches and put in gallon bags for quick go-tos. My kids will be in school, and they have food allergies, so packing is a must.

Yuppers, recliner's ready to go--repeat of right after WLS. I also have my hubby taking off and help lined up for the kids. They will go to Grandma and Grandpa's house the first weekend after surgery too.

List of Questions: that's a good one. I'll have lots of time to come up with some.

Thanks once again!

It is good you are in good physical shape. I found that because I did loads of squats and lunges daily and 600 crunches several times a week, I was much better prepared after surgery. I didn't need a toilet riser at all, and because those muscles were already strong, I never had trouble getting up, rolling over, etc. It just made life a whole lot easier. Anything you can do for your cardiovascular fitness now will pay big dividends for you in Sept.

You are wise to up your protein this early. I upped mine to about 150 g. a day about a month before my surgery, and I'm continuing to take that as I heal.

Right after surgery, my hubby had to go buy me some bigger, baggier tops to camoflage the drains. I had to get my acrylic nails taken off right before surgery and take all the polish off my toes, as per hospital rules.

You will do great!

Oh yes - work those legs!

As far as your supplements go - keep doing what you're doing and when you do your pre-admission testing, they'll tell you went to stop those.  It's usually 7 days before surgery.  Then you'll have to stop everything that they tell you to.

I have been so hit-or-miss on strength training. I just started my running. I will add this to the routine. 600 crunches? is that per day????? I do have toilet riser ready, neverthe less. Clothes is something I'm scratching my head on. Bigger and baggier makes sense--anything else I should look for that you found helpful?

Thanks for your reply.

Running is great for you. it builds not only your heart, but your lungs, too. With these longer plastic surgeries, you want your lungs to be in great shape afterwards so you won't be susceptible to pneumonia. Hands down, cardiovascular fitness is the best investment you can make for yourself in this surgical journey.

Yes, it was 600 crunches a day 3 times a week or so, but now, with the muscle repair that came with the tummy tuck, I can't do them, planks, or pushups for 6 months (no ab work at all). I was trying to get as many in as I could since I wouldn't be able to do them for so long. Strengthening your arms is going to help you, too, especially with lifting yourself up.

Fro right after the surgery, it seemed loose fitting exercise type pants with a drawstring were the easiest for me to manage. Now at two weeks out, I'm in my regular jeans, although they fit differently. The next time i go shopping, I will go down to the next size.

Best wishes to you!

I haven't traveled this route yet, but I do have a question for you. Since this is self pay, if you have any complications that require medical treatment, your routine health insurance company won't pay for it - have you planned financially for this? For example, if you need to be hospitalized for a plastic surgery related complication you would have to pay for everything. Will you be buying a special policy to cover unexpected problems? Did you discuss this with your plastic surgeon?

I'm not sure why you are limiting your fruit and veggies at this point in time - they are chock full of phyconutrients, minerals and vitamins that your body needs and they are very low calorie. Not all the phyconutrients have been discovered and only some of these nutrients are in vitamin pills. Your Dr. is not testing you for everything - blood work is only for the major ones. I know protein is your main concern but it seems you have that well taken care of.

Not sure about others, but my ps includes an insurance policy line item in his quote that specifically covers complications from the surgery. 

I didn't discuss this yet with him--and the are very good questions. I will be looking into insurance for the surgery!

The reason I limit my fruit and veggies are three-fold. First, my WLS surgeon said he didn't care if I ever ate another fruit of veggie ever again. As long as I'm getting the protein in, the fruits and veggies, even micro and macro nutrients can be supplemented. I get that all the phyconutrients etc aren't tested, but I'm okay with that. Next, I do like fruit and veggies, but they do not fill me up long term, and I end up eating more, plus I do add extra calories for the veggies as I don't eat them without butter or dressing or some kind of dip (mainly because I slime easy on raw veggies, and I'm not a fan of cooked veggies) Fruit, and anything that has a high sugar count (doesn't matter if it is fructose, sucrose, etc), sugar is any form is a "trigger food" for me, and once I start on sweet, then I keep on going. It is a slippery slope for me. And lastly, carb counts. Cancer is very prevelant in my family history. Cancer cells feed off GLUCOSE twice as fast as normal cells. Glucose can come from sugar, yes, but it also is easily converted in your body from carbs. The body also makes glucose from protein, etc . . . but it takes more energy and processing for that to happen. I hope my answer doesn't seem crass--I meant it only to be to the point. Thank you for your reply.