Question:
Any advise on things you should have at home after wls?

ex. special clothing, foods, ect...    — k K. (posted on February 1, 2003)

January 31, 2003
These are the things that were most helpful for me. A 2 oz. glass measuring cup (you can nuke stuff directly in it), tupperware containers in 3 and 6 oz., I found the 3 oz. containers at a Michael's craft store, SF pudding and jello, although first chance you can stop eating it you will NEVER want it again. :-) Your supplements, protein, chewable or liquid multivitamin (I personally use the Centrum), baby spoons because they force you to eat small bites, a water bottle with a sipper attachment (one found in the baby department worked best for me because it only comes out with sips). Obviously the type of food your surgeon say you can have. Decaf tea, bottle water, SF drinks. I quickly learned that I could not tolerate the Crystal Lite or anything with Splenda. An expensive lesson since I had seriously stocked up on both. I didn't see if you were having open or lap, but if open you may want some gauze pads to fold under the top of the incision for when you get that bra back on to keep it from rubbing also useful when g-tube (if you have one) is removed to cover for a bit). Tape to tape the g-tube up (again if you have one). I'm sure there are things I'm overlooking but those are the most helpful things that come to mind right now. Good luck to you!!
   — Click

February 1, 2003
You will be on liquids for awhile and then into pureed foods. So stock up on pure fruit juices and crystal light, decaf tea, decaf coffee, a blender, a good thermometer.Soups so you can have the broth, and then later some cream soups than you can pour thru the strainer.Popcicles are great.S/f of course. Have your vitamins and supplements bought already. Bottled water is great and convienant. I bought some baby spoons, a sippee cup, and a minature plate, to use , in order to learn new eating habits. For fun, I bought a snow cone machine and some s/f syrups to make snow cones, it will help me meet my fluid intake daily.
   — Leslie E.

February 1, 2003
Two things I couldn't do without: 1) a mini-cuisinart. Costs about $40.00 I think (a friend gave me mine). Absolutely the best for puree-ing everything from meats to fruits to vegetables. I could not stand baby food, so being able to cook a turkey breast for the family and having some of it myself was great. 2) a cup warmer - the kind that is a flat disk you set your cup on. I bought a rather pricey one at Brookstone ($20.00) because that is the only one I could find at the time. When you are first starting to eat, it takes a long time. I put food in a little Pyrex custard dish and kept it warm on the cup warmer until I was able to finish it. Things I had on hand: Soup At Hand (cream of chicken) - good for adding to pureed chicken and turkey for moisture and thinning. Packets of plain instant oatmeal, Lactaid milk, single containers of unsweetened applesauce, V-8 juice, Choice DM (like Ensure but low sugar), low fat cottage cheese, and Tyson, roasted skinless, bonelss chicken breasts (pricey, but 1/2 a chicken breast was a meal, and I didn't feel like cooking for awile). Also, I bought a pack of plastic medicine cups that hold an ounce, so I could measure easily. (The hospital gave me a bunch of throw away 2 oz. paper cups - and those were great!) Good luck and hope this helps!
   — koogy

February 2, 2003
hi there :) i made sure i had a comfy recliner and i sure put it to good use. i slep in it for nearly a month! i stocked up on broths, sugar free jellos and sf popcicles, crystal lite, bottled water. i also had gotten some wet wipes incase i wasnt feeling up to a shower right away . i had baby lotion and chap stick on hand as well becuase i ended up getting really chapped lips and dry skin. also maybe get some of those one oz cups from the hospital as those will come in handy for measuring your food in 1 oz incriments and it saves on having to wash all those dishes! best of luck to you! :)
   — carrie M.