What would you tell pre ops?

Tomorrow I'm doing a talk on 10 expectations for pre ops.

What would you include?  Would love especially to hear from veterans or anyone really.

Good and bad.

Dawn

  I would want to know all my WLS options, and the breakdown of exactly what vitamins and mineral supplements I would need at the minimum  and suggestions for purchasing them :)

Sorry I should have clarified that. I'm not a surgical centre so I don't want to touch upon what they are going to tell patients.  People that come to my meeting may go to different surgical centres so I don't want to give that information when they should get that from their surgeon's team.

This is more of a general thing  like "expect to have some eating difficulties at first". etc.

Dawn

I would want to know how things could change socially and within your relationships. I would also like to know how to cope with "buyer's remorse".

  Yea, i can understand why you wouldn't  want to be misconstrued as offering medical advice, but sometimes even centers are not that great at doing it. Well how about telling people some other support alternatives like the OH forum and such  :)

At mine I met a woman who claimed she didn't know about OH. I'm sure there are plenty of people from there who are members and read the forums but never post though....

I would want REALITY.  I don't like to feel like I'm at a sales seminar.  I want the real scoop.  I love to hear other people's stories.  How did you come to your decision?  How did your support systems respond?  Complications?  First week or so after surgery?  Regrets?  I agree about resources....websites. forums, books.  Mostly I'd say tell your story (that is the one area in which YOU are the expert) and leave lots of time for questions.

Hope all goes well 2mrw and thanks for speaking to pre-ops.
I am a pre-op and I searched for info and was'nt aware of the following(still waiing for a test and have'nt moved forward,so that's why. Anyhoo....

POSIBILITY OF......
seizures**
strictures
gallstones
bowel obstruction
depression
surgery+pounds do NOT=weight gone FOREVER(tool)
TRUTH about pain
hair loss
vitamins being avail at cvs etc. and not just the bariatric brands

I would tell them:

1. Find and participate in a support group.
2. Exercise will be part of post op life, as difficult as that may be to imagine.
3. Follow their doctor's nutritional plan to a "T". Don't test the waters - we are all long past the point of making up our own rules about what we "can" eat. We've walked through the door of a surgeon's office, for goodness' sake!
4. Understand that you will feel "normal" again - and you will adapt to that new normal and not miss your favorite foods forever. That doesn't mean you will eat them again - just that you won't miss them. Again, this is hard to imagine pre op.
5. When reading the forums, bear in mind that many people only post when there is an issue or a problem. As a result, the forums can seem to show an overwhelming number of post op problems - and this isn't the case. It's a skewed sample!
6. Don't be afraid to call your doctor and to ask lots of questions. You deserve answers and this is a very complicated, life changing decision.

I think it would be important to tell them that comparing yourself to others and the speed that they lose weight is setting yourself up for disappointment. I read over and over again people who feel they are failing because they think they aren't losing weight fast enough.

I think its also important to mention about stalls and not to freak out about this. As long as you are following your program, weight loss will happen.

Expect difficulties drinking water initially.

Expect that the process takes time. You can't lose all of your excess wt in a few months.

Expect the unexpected. You may tolerate a food one day and then not tolerate the same food two days later, even though it's cooked the same, etc.

Expect that you have to take supplements forever, and expect to have to follow your surgeon's protocol for wt loss sucess.

Expect that exercise is needed in this process. The surgery is only a tool towards wt loss. The patient should expect that surgery by itself, and that behavior modifcation is a necessary part of success with any wt loss surgery. 

Expect to go to their doctor for annual labs. Without labs, the pateint may have vitamin deficiencies that cause long range health challenges.

The pateint should expect to read labels carefully, for sugar levels, carbs, protein, etc.  Reading labels on supplements is necessary too, to make sure you're getting the correct dosage, type of calcium, type of D, etc.

Expect to eat smaller portions, avoid too many carbs--granulated sugar.  Expect that greasy and fatty foods will likely lead to diarrhea for many patients.

The patient should not expect to automatically have dumping from sugars, fatty or greasy foods.  No every RNY post op dumps, and this I know from personal experience.

 

These and other items should be stressed. Too many new post ops regret having surgery, as they failed to fully understand life after surgery.