Question:
Is there anything else I need to do to prepare for surgery?

I am awaiting insurance approval; if it goes through, I will have surgery Nov. 18th. I am diabetic with high blood pressure, don't smoke, BMI 41. I take 3 meds for diabetes and two for the blood pressure. Besides trying to keep those under control, I take a baby aspirin daily, calcium citrate with Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B-100, and have just started a multivitamin with iron. I have also just started taking fish oil but don't know if I can keep it up- I burp fish! I'm also drinking some Glucerna to increase my protein. Is there anything else I can or should do to make complications less likely, and to make recovery easier? I'm a nurse and you'd think I'd know this but I don't!!    — Susan A. (posted on October 22, 2002)

October 22, 2002
Congratulations on your surgery date. I hope all goes well. I was just going to comment on the baby aspirin. You may want to check on that. I know that some people are adviced to stop this at least 3 weeks prior to surgery. Stopping this can help control the bleeding during surgery. Call your doctor and ask. Good Luck.
   — Jan S.

October 22, 2002
All good thoughts. You might want to swtich to a dry form (powder in a capsule) of E. Ditch the Glucerna & find a protein drink that delivers a lot of protein, near 0g sugars, in a smaller volume than that for now & postie. There is a non-fish oil that delivers the Omega 3 & 6 you're after. We malabsorb the fats & oils to a degree, so you might hunt down some Coromega. They're in little foil packets (like fast food ketchups, kinda?) and taste like orange pudding, mostly. Not bad. Non-oil fish oil. And they DO absorb, because I tested them. Sounds like you're off to a great start, though!
   — vitalady

October 22, 2002
One thing I did was as soon as I started down the approval road I began walking 30 minutes EVERY day and doing the "post-anesthesia" breathing exercises every night right before I went to bed. I wanted to be as prepared for the shock to my body as I possibly could. I think doing both of those things really helped me recover faster. Good Luck! Carolyn 3.5 months out from Lap RNY, -60#
   — Carolyn I.

October 22, 2002
I am just going to reiterate what an earlier post said. Stop taking the baby aspirin at least 2 to 3 weeks before surgery. I feel like I could have almost written your post, although I don't have a surgery date yet. My PCP told me to stop with the aspirin 2 weeks (or 3??) before surgery. Good luck!!!
   — Kathy S.

October 23, 2002
You definitely have your nutritional bases covered. And the suggestion for preping your lung capacity was great too. I added doing sit-ups, as many as I could, daily, and some stretching so I could have an easier time getting up and around. I figured the tighter my abdominal muscles, the easier time the surgeon would have sewing them up, the less complications on healing and the better I could move. Good Luck to you!!!
   — merri B.

October 25, 2002
Get in the habit of walking and drinking lots of water now!!
   — Diane T.