Surgery before "Food Coma Holidays"

Hello

Did anyone have surgery a month or so before Christmas or Thanksgiving? Were you the cook or did someone else have to do the food? Was the food difficult to overlook or not? What are the pitfalls or good reasons to have the surgery close to a FCH?

I had my surgery on December 15, 2013. I was on a two week liquid diet before surgery (protein shakes, chicken broth, greek yogurt, sugar-free jello and sugar-free popsicles). I was on a clear liquid diet 3 days after surgery (protein shakes, broth) and then full liquids again for 11 days (same as pre-surgery). So basically December was the month I didn't chew!

I had no problem with it at all. I had soup for Christmas (broth basically) which was delightful (savory, not sweet). I had some sugar-free jello after. I didn't offer to cook/host because why do that when I was still sort of tired and just focused on getting my water and protein shakes in. I was committed to my new life, and if I ever felt sorry for myself ("Waaaaaaaahhh...why can't I have stuffing and turkey and be NORMAL?!" I then realized I had FAR more than my fair share of food in my lifetime - hence why I was super morbidly obese and needed weight loss surgery!). There will never be a "great" time to take a week off of work and have surgery, but for me, work was slow between Christmas and New Years so it was a good time to be low energy :)

Good luck!

"I had no problem with it at all. I had soup for Christmas (broth basically) which was delightful (savory, not sweet)." you made me giggle at work! OMG I never thought of having already had my fair share of food. I like the way that switches my thought patterns. Thanks

mine was dec 15 2015. It was actually freeing not having to worry about cooking for others, only worrying about myself for once. IF you go to a gathering though- bring something you can eat. you don't want to eat what you shouldn't and be sick or in ER.

mine was a few months before the holidays, but at that time, I still was never hungry and had little interest in food, so it wasn't bad. I brought some pumpkin yogurt to have instead of pumpkin pie. I also ate some turkey breast and maybe a couple tablespoons of vegetables, but that was about all. It's more of a challenge now with my hunger & appetite back in full force, but then, I don't have all the food restrictions I had then, either - it's more of an issue of eating a "safe" amount at this point.

Me personally would not have been able to handle that mentally. I suffer from depression, anxiety, and food is my coping mechanism. If you have any of those issues. I recommend talking with a therapist before to be better equipped.

Hi Racemomss

I don't but thank you for your concern. Take good care of yourself I know it adds an extra burden to carry on your path.

I had my surgery a few days before Thanksgiving. I had no issue with doing this as I was so excited about the surgery. i didn't go to my family Thanksgiving because I was recovering, but I did for Christmas. Food wise, it was more weird/different then anything. I couldn't eat more than 3 or 4 bites anyway, so it wasn't a issue for me.

I'm 10 mo out now and do worry about this years holidays though!

Wow your question brought back some memories!

I was on my pre-op liquid diet for Thanksgiving of 2008 and was immediately postop for Christmas of that year. So I didn't really "eat" much during that holiday season at all.

As far as the holiday meals: I sent my husband and youngest daughter down to his folks house in Portland for Thanksgiving and I stayed home. (oldest daughter was with her fiancé and his family) And while I went to many Christmas gatherings that year it wasn't terribly hard to stay on my surgeon's post op plan which was still liquids for me since I was only about two weeks out on Christmas day. I sent them back down to MIL for the actual Christmas Day dinner.

It might sound lonely but it helped a lot. I could concentrate on "eating" whatever liquids I was allowed and didn't need to worry about my family being denied the food that is associated with those two big holidays. I didn't have a lot of food envy that year for which I am grateful.

The bottom line is what you know will work for you. Bear in mind though that you definitely will be able to eat all of those holiday foods again, probably by the next holiday season and certainly by the time you're a year or two out. Whether you do or not is up to you.

Thank you for this question. I just had the RNY on 10/05, and my birthday is in one month...I was considering postponing my surgery so I could celebrate, but realized the best gift I could give myself is this surgery...I'm a little nervous about the upcoming holidays, but I'm ready for them!