Cross-post : Students and WLS

I thought I would post this in the 20's forum because after I posted this in the main forum, I was made aware of this forum!! Hey everyone! I have some questions for students {particularly college students) and how they deal with going back to school after having WLS.

So my story is that I am a senior in college - I have one more semester left. I took this fall off, in order to have the surgery. All summer, I have been getting things in order, etc, to have the RNY surgery. But I still do not have a date from my surgeon.

I am very nervous about the lack of time I'm going to have to recover and re-adapt to life and eating after the surgery. The nurse/coordinator said my date would be in November at the latest, but that scares me. Classes start the second week of January, and I'm worried that the 'hibernation' stage everyone goes through, and possible troubles with finding the right foods to eat will cause a lot of trouble if I'm already in the middle of classes.

But I am also VERY resistant in taking an entire year off from school. So, if any college students are on this board, and had the surgery during a school semester or right before going to school, etc, please let me know your experiences. Thanks!

I had surgery July 10th. I am in a doctorate program that starts Sept. 4th.  And yes, I am ready! I can't wait to start back up. After about one month I was ready to start doing things, and was bored not working/not being in school.  Everyone does recover at different paces, but for me one month was more then enough to get back into the swing of things. When I went back to work I started on a wednesday and did half days to ease into it. If you are worried about fatigue maybe you could go to the library before classes start- just to get a feel for that again. Also, exercising helps a lot with keeping up your energy levels. The more I exercise the better I feel.

I am in college too having my surgery september 11th.  I am not taking this semester off.  I know a lot of people on here have had their surgery during a college term.  I think you will be okay :)  I have faith that I'll be fine, and if you have surgery in november that gives you like 8 weeks till the second week of january.  Think of it that way :D

While everyone recovers at a different rate, I think you'll have plenty of time. I stayed home from work for 3 weeks and that was more than enough. Make sure you prepare yourself, food-wise. You won't need any specialty stores, just a regular grocery store and a health food or vitamin shop. And PLENTY of water - water with you at all times. Every surgeon has a different post-op diet, but mine eased me back into "full-foods" through stages - liquids, soft proteins, added cooked veggies and non-citrus fruits, then all foods (within reason and 50% of my meals consist of protein). Get familiar with your doc's post-op diet so you can mentally plan ahead. If there is a nutritionist in your doc's office make it a point to talk to him/her about your food concerns. At the very least post back to us here on OH and share your post-op diet with us so we can offer some meal ideas! Good luck - everything will be great! Nicole

It can be a bit difficult, but my attitude towards my recovery helped/is helping a lot.  A couple of days out of my surgery i had to switch residence halls (i stayed over the summer to have my surgery) and start a nine hour a day training for my new on-campus job as an RA.  Energy drains pretty quickly, but the most important thing is to listen to your body and listen WELL.  If your body says sit or go lay down for 30 minutes, do it!  I tried to be superwoman and take public transportation by myself (it's summer time in GEORGIA, mind you) and i nearly passed out in front of a moving car!  Lesson learned: Rest voluntarily or you will be forced to rest!  On a lighter note, you're going to be spending your recovery period ACTUALLY recovering, I'm about 2.5 weeks out and I'm doing pretty darned good, except for the car thing.  I start classes tomorrow and I feel well enough to handle it...you should be just fine by the time January rolls around...no worries and congratulations on your surgery!  =)

Hey there I am a college student, but I am not an RNYer.. so my info may be completely irrelevant. I had surgery on 12/15 and was up and shopping on 12/18.  (mind you, this is Lap Band)  I started school Mid Jan and had no issues at all. I waited til the end of my semester (I had surgery the day after my last final) so I only had work to worry about.  Which they gave me a week and a half off no questions asked. Two things that helped me a lot..   moving around as soon as possible and drinking as much as possible.  (might be different with you guys) Hang in there! Amanda

Hey, I'm not in school but I do work full time (in an office, talking and doing paperwork-researching.. it's basically like school!) I had my surgery on July 27th.. I would have been fine to go back to work after 6-7 days. Taking a full 2 or 3 weeks off wasn't even necessary! Of course, you might be different.. but just know that there is a chance that you'll be fine to go back after only 1 week.

Hey there -  I had my surgery in November of 2005 and by the time classes started up in January I was beyond ready to get back to class.  The adjustment was a little rocky (at that time I lived in the dorms and relied really heavily on the cafeteria, which as many of us know is far from nutritious) but everything was fine in short order.  If your end up not having surgery until November I think you should be find unless, God forbid, you have some kind of complication - which of course I pray you absolutely DO NOT have.  I think you should be okay.  Welcome to the 20's board and I hope to see you around!

Thanks for all of the responses - I have been reading them, I usually just forget to respond when I read them. I am really excited to hear all the positive responses...I KNOW I will be ready to go back to school in January, especially since I've been home since mid-May...And last summer, I didn't stay at home, I stayed up at school. So I'm already VERY ready to be in school. But this is very good timing, to have it done the semester before I graduate...and I FEEL ready...Not scared, not like when I first started researching the surgery (about 3 years ago). It feels right, now...