Question:
Okay...Surgery in 18 days...any last minute advice and/or suggestions?

I have read all the archived posts, and just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions or advice on A) how to handle the next few days, and B) how to prepare myself and my home for the big day...Thanks!    — Phillip C. (posted on December 4, 2003)

December 4, 2003
I have no advice, but will be anxious to read the posts you receive...we share the same surgery date, 18 days and counting! cherie
   — Cherie A.

December 4, 2003
Congrats on your surgery date. I am a new post-op (surgery on 09/25/03) and here is what worked for me. If you believe in God, put the whole thing in his hands. That's what I did and I had the most amazing sense of calm. Never got the least bit nervous. I also had tons of people praying for me. I didn't hold back in telling people about my surgery because I have a lot of praying friends. That is purely an individual decision though. You may not choose to tell everyone. Spend everyday enjoying your family and friends. Look at them in a new way as if you've never seen them before. I spent time thinking about what I would want to say to them if I knew I wouldn't see them again and I said it before surgery. Eat as healthy a diet as you possibly can. Leave off the refined carbs and eat low fat foods. If you can, lose a little weight. The more things like that you do, the lower your surgery risks will be. Begin lots of water and try to start walking. If you can't walk for any distance, walk in place. If you can only do that for a minute, do it for a minute once per hour. Every little bit helps and any conditioning of the legs will reduce the risk of blood clots so I'm told. Start drinking the protein drinks now. Not only will they help you with healing, but they'll help stave off hunger from your low-fat, low carb diet. If you smoke, stop now. My surgeon told me to "tank up" on iron so I took an iron supplement everyday before surgery. Iron stores in your bones and muscles so any you take now will help prevent low iron after surgery. Practice eating very small bites and eating very slowly so it won't be such a shock after the surgery. My philosophy was that if I could do it before surgery, I was positive I could afterward. Stop drinking with your meals. That was the hardest thing for me to get used to but since I stopped it before surgery, I didn't have to deal with the change afterward. It was already a habit. Wean yourself off caffeine. You don't want to deal with headaches while you're dealing with the surgery. That's about all I can think of right now but if I think of others, I'll e-mail you. Again, congratulations to you and may God bless.
   —  SCbabe B.

December 4, 2003
I am 4 months post-op, so it was not so long ago that I was in your shoes. If you have not taken yourself off of soda, do it now. The withdrawals will give you a headache, but stopping cold turkey and having some time before you have to stop will help in the long run after surgery. If you haven't yet, start drinking protein shakes, but remember that you need the protein shakes with low carbs and low sugar, and that your taste may change after surgery. Mine sure did, I was drinking Atkins before surgery, now I can not drink them, they are way to rich for me. I drink the EAS Myoplex with the light silver front. Have some favorate meals now, don't overdo it, but enjoy your favorates before surgery, start trying to eat more protein, to help your body get ready for that. Buy some things that you are going to need after surgery when you get home. Don't overstock, I did, and did not use half of the stuff I bought, like soup. When you buy your sippy cup, make sure it is clear because you are going to want to see how much you are drinking, and make sure it has more than one hole in it. With one hole, there is no place for the air to go and it makes you hold the gas in your tummy. If you do not have a recliner, try to borrow, buy or rent one. I slept in the recliner for the first week that I was home, then went to half the night in the recliner and half the night in my bed with alot of pillows behind me. Don't spend alot of money buying a hospital gown, just use the gowns at the hospital, they are large and work real well. <p>The scarey stuff now, that you will most likely not need, but needs to be in place. Your living will, your will, power of attorney if you have kids. Letters to your love ones, stuff like that, like I said you will not need them, but it sure made me feel good to know that they were there, just incase. I did not mean to scare you, but it is part of peace of mind. <p>I was going crazy 18 days pre-op, one minute I was anxious and the next I was afraid, that is okay, it is normal. <p>You have made the best decision for yourself to have this surgery. What a great gift of having your life back. <p>My thoughts and prayers are with you for a safe surgery and a speedy, uncomplicated recovery.
   — cindy

December 4, 2003
i had open RNY on aug 21. here are some things i did. 1. clean our your closets and dresser. give away all clothes that you know you won't be able to wear in a couple months to make room for new ones(giving clothes to a pre-op is a really great idea) 2. if you can, use a kitchen cabinet just for YOUR foods and protien supplements. this makes things alot easier. 3. don't by too much food. only buy 1 month supply of protein shakes ect... 4. deep clean your house so that if someone else is helping you out it is easy for them to tidy.....plus you won't have so much to clean after you start feeling better. 5. if you are having open knee lenght sleep shirt are a must. i couldn't bend to take up and down panties so i went bare for the first week hahaha. 6. again if you are having open, a squirt bottle to use in the bathroom is really helpful(if you have trouble wipeing) 7. a handheld shower sprayer for the shower....again for the places you have a hard time reaching because of bending. 8. all of your vitamins. 9. sugar free ice pops-this was a lifesaver for me because of dry mouth and thirst. 10. foods that helped me get by the first month -fat-free refried beans with fat-free cheese -herb-ox brand chicken broth in the packets tastes just like chicken soup. i even put 4 saltine crackers in it kind of like mock chicken soup- bluebunny (walmart)sugar free yogurt- cambell's soup put in the blender. 11. an address and phone number book that only has important numbers relating to your surgery(doctor, hospital, familiy memeber and emergency contacts) leave this out somewhere in case someone else has to call for you or so that you can get it without having to search for it. 12. small tuperware containers, helps with portion control. 13. wide wound dressings with wide tape(skinny tape doesn't work well). 14. i slept in a recliner for the first 3 weeks and a normal pillow doesn't work too well, but a neck pillow worked great. 15. bring something loose to wear home. 16. have a pillow in your car for the ride home to hold over your stomach. 17. i really like designer protien chocolate(bought at GNC) and in the blender with ice i put one spoonful of smuckers naturals sugarfree peanut butter in to to give it a better taste(this also added 10 grams of protein).have have also used in flavored internationals sugarfree coffees in with my protien shake.
   — franbvan

December 4, 2003
Wow, such overwhelming advice. I didn't overplan (I'm 4 mos post-op) and i did just fine. I did, however, end up having one huge regret and that was that I did not practice chewing my food. I kept talking about it but once my Dr. released me to "pureed phase" and I was allowed to eat real food (as long as I chewed it to applesauce consistency), I had some issues. Now, chewing that way is second nature and I don't even think about it but it was tough at first. So, simply said, my advice is Practice chewing now!
   — Donya P.

December 4, 2003
If you haven't already done so, go and have a picture taken. You can go to Walmart or Penney's or someplace like that. I went to a strip mall place called Motophoto. They put my Before picture on a disc and then a year later added the After one. Even though I wasn't too crazy about having my picture made pre-op - I had been hiding from cameras for years - I was happy to have it after I lost the weight. What I did with my closet was to put everything in size groupings, fat to thinner, so that I could work my way through them as I lost weight. (I had a closet full of many many sized clothes from all the previous diets when I reached a "goal" and stayed there for just long enough to spend some serious money on clothes.) What I discovered as I was losing was that I needed to try stuff on every week, as many things were already too big by the time I pulled them out of the closet! Good luck! hugs, Ann RNY 9/10/99 260/124
   — [Deactivated Member]

December 4, 2003
You have great thoughts here. Here are a few of mine. Bring lip balm for post op. It's great if your lips get dry. Forget baby food - yuk, if you haven't bought it - don't. Look at your closet now and know that nothing will fit in a few weeks :-) Take time for you. Remember, it's ok to be nervous pre-op, and if you don't get nervous - that's ok too. LAP-RNY 4/2/03 283/192/175
   — M B.

December 4, 2003
The best advice I was given was to make sure that all essential items (underwear for example) were in drawers where I didn't have to reach down.
   — Margaret G.

December 4, 2003
DON'T KNOW YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES (WEIGHT AGE) BUT I HAD OPEN RNY 03/26/03...I AM 55 YRS OLD & WASN'T SCARED AT ALL (THANKS TO THIS SITE & GOD)...I WEIGHED PRE OP 445 LBS & MY DOC ASKED ME IF I WAS MORE SCARED OF SURGERY OR LIVING THE WAY I WAS WHICH WASN'T MUCH OF A LIFE SINCE I WAS ON A WALKER & COULD HARDLY WALK WITH THAT...NOW 110 LBS LATER (NO WALKER...YAHOOO) I'M ON MY WAY TO AN EVEN BETTER LIFE THAN I HAVE NOW.....GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SURGERY ...WE WILL ALL BE PRAYING FOR YOU...*****BY THE WAY 85% OF MORBIDLY OBESE PEOPLE DIE DUE TO COMPLICATIONS FROM BEING OVERWEIGHT WHILE ONLY 2% OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY DIE DUE TO COMPLICATIONS*****
   — BLSLIM77

December 4, 2003
A FAN IS A MUST!!! I would call your hospital before hand to ask if they furnish fans. If not, bring one especially if you have a tendancy to be hot-natured. Luckily my hospital was able to find one for me. Without it I would have been miserable!
   — Jill H.

December 5, 2003
Hi, Phillip! I don't know if I can add anything further to the wonderful suggestions here, but what I found to be fantastic for me was bringing my own fluffy bed pillow from home. It was like my "woobie"! God bless, best wishes and many prayers for a successful surgery--you'll do great!
   — Joyce C.

Click Here to Return