I got a date!!!

I finally got a date for my surgery! I am so excited I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin. July 19th it the big day. Any suggestions on what to do with only about 2 months till the big day?

Hey Tessa, Looks like we have the same date... My surgery will be on the 19th of July too. I will be having lap RNY done by the WISH center though. As for suggestions, I've known my date for a couple of weeks now and have been enjoying all the foods that I will miss for awhile as long as they fit into my pre-surgery diet. My wife had the same surgery last month and I've learned alot from her. Mostly though to enjoy eating 'normally' and prepare yourself mentally for the change. She says the mental hunger is the worst, and you should spend more time thinking about the impact of the dietary changes you will need to make in order to make this work. Congratulations, Greg Taylor

Congrats on your date! I am sooo happy for you!! My suggestion --- start walking! I know it doesn't seem like fun, but I can assure you it will make all the diff. Your heart will be in better condition for surgery! Your recovery will be faster and you'll already have a good pattern for post-op activity. If you lose some weight - even just a little - your surgery will be easier b/c your liver will be smaller. That doesn't seem like a fun suggestion, I realize. But it can be. Get a pedometer. Wear it all day. Keep track of your daily step totals! Try and increase your steps each day, even if just by a few hundered. I started off (a few months pre-op) with only 1500 steps a day. By the time my date rolled around, I had a few 14,000 and 18,000 step days!!! Just a few more steps each day makes a difference and it's doable. The average person takes 2000 steps in a mile, btw. You can add up your miles over the week! You'll impress yourself! You'll see measurable success each day and you *can* do it now while you wait for your date to arrive. Park a little further away, enter at the opposite end of the mall, don't combine trips up the stairs or down the hall, don't let the kids run and get things for you...etc. These are small and easy ways of increasing your daily steps and preparing your body for surgery and recovery. Get your best friend or SO a pedometer and have a little healthy competition to keep you motivated! Another good thing to do in preparation is self assessment. Try and spot the reasons you eat, how much you eat, why you eat pass full, what types of foods are your trigger foods, which ones are irresistable...etc. Question every bite you put in your mouth. I am not suggesting that you change the way you are eating right now, just observe it and learn about your relationship with food. The surgery is a great tool, but your mind and emotions are not operated on and you'll have to face your food demons eventually. Start journaling and preparing your mind for the changes to come. This is so very helpful! Also start thinking about how your life habits have to change for this to work. Start imagining, fantasizing and planning about hiking, joining a swim team, yoga, karate, and other activities that you might find fun... even if those things seem foreign to you it's a good idea to start seeing yourself as a fit and active person. (Look in your community parks and rec center catalogues for ideas of things you might like to try.) I also encourage you to not feel as if you have to commit to liking and doing only one activity for the rest of your life... think in terms of seasons. In the fall I'd like to hike, winter snowshoe, summer outdoor swimming. I get bored; planning for diverse activities will increase my success. I might stumble into something I want to do for the rest of my life or for a longer season. I have purposely picked up new interests that require me to move my body more too. I started gardening and landscaping instead of painting. I've biked, done water aerobics, conquered neighborhood hills in personal record time, etc. Currently, I am training for the Danskin Triathlon! I NEVER thought I'd do anything like that!! My point is plan to MOVE your new body and keep it moving, visualize yourself changing into a *FIT* person, not just thin. It's a BIG key to success! It's a pleasure to move in my new body, I never want to for get that. I wish you alllll the best, Tessa. Keep in touch! Nan Open RNY 9/16/04 276/153/138 -126lbs, 15 more to go!