I finally got my surgery date!

[annabellarose77]

Hello everyone I finally got a surgery date scheduled. I am beyond excited, but very nervous at the same time. My surgery is scheduled for April 29. It's a little ways off, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it. I have to lose 20 pounds before surgery so I hope to start making the right choices now.

My emotions are all over the place right now. Any advice for preparing for surgery? I will be grateful for any input given. Thanks guys.

Andria

 

[newanatomy]

Congratulations on your date! In prep for your surgery and in order to lose those 20 pounds I would dump as many carbs from my diet as possible and start learning to "live the life".

 

[JackieOnLine]

congratulations! it's will be here soon.
yep, low carb is the way to go pre-op.

 

[southernlady]

Cut carbs to the bone...it will help later. Focus on protein/fat/ and hydration and getting as healthy as possible now.

If you need an idea of what you can eat
Any beef/pork/seafood/poultry
Dairy products (but take into account the carbs in them and yes, there is sugar in milk, it's called LACTOSE and is part of the milk)
Fats....do not buy into the low fat nonsense...all low fat does is add sugar or sugar alcohols to make it taste better. Example, Twizzlers are pure sugar BUT they say LOW FAT on the bag! Well, duh...just because they are low fat does not make it good for you.
Spend the time getting rid of any soda/sweet drink habit. Soda is not a no forever BUT as a newbie, it can be hard on a HEALING system.
Coffee is also not off the table but to help with any caffeine withdrawal, add decaf now...and slowly switch to nothing but decaf before surgery. You can go back to caffeine afterwards.

As to everything else, READ everything here and at DSFacts. Print out anything you need and place in a binder for later. Most of us suffer from anesthesia brain in the weeks following our surgery and ask for the same info we already read. An idea for organization is here: http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/we-have-to-get-organized.2488/

Vitamins...Not sure who your surgeon is but if it's Boyce/Williams in Knoxville, do NOT buy theirs. See the lists of vitalady links in the Vitamin/Labs forum.

 

[newanatomy]

Coffee is also not off the table but to help with any caffeine withdrawal, add decaf now...and slowly switch to nothing but decaf before surgery. You can go back to caffeine afterwards.

Boy can I attest to this! I had migraines and vomiting post-op and I know it was caffeine withdrawal. I wish I had weaned myself off prior to surgery!

 

[southernlady]

Boy can I attest to this! I had migraines and vomiting post-op and I know it was caffeine withdrawal. I wish I had weaned myself off prior to surgery!

Charles and I started weaning ourselves off onto decaf about 6 months before his surgery...by the time we had surgery, we were easily drinking decaf. But we started by adding about 2 oz of decaf to the regular and mixing in a small can. Then we did 4 oz...kept upping the amount until a month before, we were completely on decaf. Two weeks after...back to regular.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I went off coffee for the surgery and it was hard, but worth it. I am now back to way too much caffeine but at the time I'm glad I weaned myself off of it. coffee is hard on a healing stomach!

 

[hilary1617]

Congratulations! Please start on a good hydration and vitamin regimen now and get good nutrition so that you will be super strong the day you go under the knife.

 

[annabellarose77]

Thanks for all the advice and support. I started eating low carb and walking a little. I cut out soda about four weeks ago (very hard as I was addicted) and haven't looked back. Still working on giving up the caffeine but I will get there. I did a lot of research on DSFacts and the information I found here has been invaluable. My surgeon is like a lot of others that preach very low fat after surgery. I'm so glad I know better after researching this site. Their office sells Bariatric Advantage vitamins. I told my surgeon I planned to obtain my vitamins from vitalady. I'm trying to be as prepared as possible.

@southernlady, thank you for the binder idea and the link. I have bookmarked a lot of information. That is a great feature! My surgeon is Houston in Nashville.
@hilary1617, I'm doing well with hydration. I started on a probiotic and a multi w/iron. Is that good, or should I make additions? I had my primary draw my calcium and vitamin D levels Thursday to see where I'm at right now. My vitamin D usually stays on the low side, and my iron was at 11 in January. Thanks for your help.

Andria