Sage advise needed for a pre-op DSr

Hello. I have my DS scheduled for January 9th and am very excited. I have a birthday and Christmas between now and then. I don't have a lot of extra monies to look at stocking up on items so am going to have my family get me "care packages" with samples in preparation for the surgery and so I will have some things at home afterwards. I was wondering what types of things people would recommend as far as different foods, protiens, odor fighters, etc. to request samples of. I do understand that my taste may change between now and then, hense just getting samples. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the wisdom. Kathie

Hi Kathie. I didn't really need anything special. You eat so little at that stage that you almost don't make a difference. I bought protein drinks in cans (called extreme protein) at the Vitamin Shoppe. One can would last me for almost a week. At 1 oz (measured mind you) three times a day, the can would go a long way. I was one of those who could not tolerate a lot of food for a very long time in the beginning, and you might be different. Besides protein drinks, there is nothing else you can have that early. I had one tablespoon of mashed potatoes for dinner, as an example, watered down like crazy, and I was full with half of it. As time passed and I got braver and my pouch bigger, and I would occasionally buy a Starbucks Latte, which would take me over 6-7 hours to finish, one sip at a time throughout the day. On some days I would buy a biscotti with it. That would take me all day and a portion of the night, and if I finished it, I would be ill. So my dear as you can see, you will not need much in the beginning, or for a long time after that either. As for "odor" fighters, that really did not come into play with me until almost 2 years out, and for that "Devron" (over-the-counter) works great. I bought bottled "flavored" water just because I hate regular water. One bottle, again, would last and last and last. I know it may sound funny, as my friend and I would call each other and ask if we wanted to "split a peanut" for lunch, but that is not as far fetched as one might think (a little exaggerated maybe - tee hee hee). One thing that helped me in the beginning (months out of course) is I would make my own trail mix with nuts and some raisins for sweetness, and I would have about two thimble's worth and it would satisfy a nice sweet and salty taste. I can get into lots of other things I ate, but you will figure your own road in that regard. If you need more help, email me and I will be happy to say more. Missy (size 4, 125 pounds - lost 143 - RNY 2003).

I am the great planner and list maker and made sure that my cupboards were well stocked with everything I thought I would need. Much of it went to a food shelf a few months later. I would ask for a care package to include the vitamins I need. These can be expensive and you absolutely cannot forgo them at any time. My surgeon recommended 2 Flintstones Complete a day, 500 to 1000mcg B-12 sublingual (some people absorb it better than others, hence the range), 3 chewable calcium a day, such as Viactive. Some women also need iron supplements. In any case, check with your surgeon's recommendations. Finding water that tastes good to you can be very problematic when you are going through intense ketosis (fat burning) as your taste buds are quite affected by it. After trying everything out there (I couldn't tolerate any sugar at all and no artificial sweeteners) I found "Smar****er", which has a balanced pH level and is available plain or in fruit essence flavors. It's a bit pricey ($1.27 to $1.42/20 ounce bottle in my area), and is often found in the natural foods section of larger grocers. But since water is a requirement, you have to get it however you can. Ifyou can tolerate artificial sweeteners, containers of things like Crystal Light are a good bet. I also drank a lot of low sodium beef and chicken broth in the early days. If you don't have one, get a tongue scraper. Keeping the tongue clean through daily brushing and scraping every few days really helps keep the nasty ketosis breath in check and reduce the bad taste. A few sugar free mints or gum can help too. Just some ideas. Have a safe journey. Ann

Howdy, DSer-to-be! You might get better info posting this on the DS board. I'd ask for samples of as many protein shakes as possible, in hopes of finding one you can tolerate. Me, I've had ONE protein shake since my DS--just too nasty to me. During the first two weeks (the pureed stage) I ate things like cottage cheese, soups, meat spreads (like the Underwood Deviled Ham, chicken, etc.), and anything's fine as long as it's pureed. If it will pass through a drinking straw, it's okay. The second two weeks are 'soft' foods---anything easily mashed with a fork. Here again, anything's fine, as long as it can be mashed or chewed VERY thoroughly. At this stage, I added deli meats, cornbread dressing (I was two weeks post-op on Christmas Day), smoked salmon, crackers to go under those meat spreads, etc. And at four weeks, you'll 'graduate' to regular table food. As for vitamins, I'm certain Dr. Husted will give you a list of what he wants you to have. I take the Wal-Mart version of Centrum as my multivitamin, the Sam's brand of Calcium citrate, my ferrous fumerate (iron) comes from Kroger's, and my ADEKs I order on line. The ADEK is the only one that's pricey. Unless you have trouble swallowing pills NOW, you won't necessarily need chewables post-op---with the DS, you don't have to worry about things getting 'stuck'. The best odor-fighter I've found is Smells Be Gone. You can find this at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, or order it on line. I've never used an internal deodorant like Devrom, Innermint, etc., but I'm pretty sure they have some samples at the office. Good luck!

Kathie please go post this on the DS board as well, there are not many DSers that play on the wls grad board personally I would have them go to Bariatric Advantage and have them order one of each of the individual protein samples they are like $1.75 each. for a bigger present have them go to iQVC and order the X-O odor eliminator, pre-mixed and a large concentrat bottle. Someone else could go to a auto-shop and get your some small bottle of Ozium (what they use to make an used car smell new again) hope you start to post on the DS board soon gratitude is my attitude Amanda S VG-DS October 2001 highest >350/342 start of wls journey/156@goal and after ps