Hi, what's your name? Welcome to the group. I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier but your post actually went below the line of posts that show in my list and I just ran across it because I clicked on new posts and there was. You seem to have a grip on this because you know that you're psyching yourself out.
I don't think you need to worry about COVID. People are almost over-aware of it by now. Hospitals are taking extra precautions because of liability. The pandemic is out there in public. You're safe in your home and in the hospital. I never go out without my mask and I also wear latex gloves everywhere. And I carry a plastic bag of Clorox wipes and I don't spend a lot of time interacting with people, even if we are both wearing masks. I live in Seattle which was where the first case of coronavirus occured. I didn't know about it for a couple months and I'm really lucky I didn't get it but I also didn't hang out with the population where it was occurring. As soon as I learned about it, I got my mask and gloves, and as soon as I could oh, I was tested for it and came up negative.
You are worried about being home alone after the surgery. That is a valid concern. But there are a lot of people here who have gone home alone and managed to take care of themselves. When you get a full picture of what's going to happen, including things you should stock up on in your cupboards, then start preparing for your post-operative eating stages. That will really take a load off. Start taking a fiber laxative two weeks before surgery so that your stool will be soft enough to pass through your new digestive system. Fiber laxative is also known to cure diarrhea.
When you get home, just be easy on yourself. You are on the road as long as you stick to the plan, which is really quite easy because most people don't feel that much like eating for a while after surgery. You are going to succeed but you do have to do a few things.
The temptation will be to stay in bed and rest. But what you should be doing is making sure you get as much water in as you can. Try for a liter everyday. Chill it in the refrigerator if you like it cold and then sip it all day long, whether you keep the bottle next to your bed or your chair or in a sling across your body. Just don't stop drinking water because dehydration is one of the top 10 things that can go wrong after the surgery. And you do not want to go back to the hospital with that. Also constipation is no joke which is why I recommend the fiber laxatives. You also don't want to have to go to the hospital and have your bowel disimpacted, or spend an agonizing 24 hours on and off the pot like I spent when I returned home.
You absolutely must get up and walk, even if you only walk around your house in a circle inside. You have to keep walking to keep your blood flowing and make sure that it doesn't have a chance to clot. A blood clot can occur in many many cases of surgeries and this is one of them. You have to keep moving. But don't think you have to go to the gym or get workout equipment for home or start doing any exercise at all. Just walk. Keep it up for a few weeks and then you can start introducing more activity. Make sure your doctor provides to you an abdominal binder, and inquire about compression socks as well or any other sort of compression garment you may need.
No one can predict your weight loss, but you will lose weight. Make sure that when you are with other people, you make a big deal about what you are eating and how you're trying to eat more nutritiously and trying to lose weight. Then you don't have to say anything else. You can be as private as you want to be. This decision is yours and you are the only person who has the right to know about it. As you lose weight, you will inspire others. But my experience is that no matter how much I inspired my siblings and family, it didn't change their eating Behavior at all. But you may eventually want to share with one person who comes to you and begs you to help her lose weight. If she's morbidly obese, you can recommend bypass surgery and you can share your story if you feel like it. I had a morbidly obese sister who has since died. She was so sweet to me and so eager to know how I did it and always telling me how great I looked. But I didn't tell her the truth. I did send her my diet and some recipes but she had such an array of health problems, nothing would have helped her except the surgery, and she had made a point at a dinner that that's one thing she would never do.
As to eating out and any other way you eat after surgery, that's going to be up to your body more than your mind. Your body is going to make you stop eating at a certain point or you will become very ill with dumping or just needing to vomit because the food is coming back up your esophagus. So start taking small portions or just order side dishes. When you are in a restaurant and you order food, make sure you tell everybody that you are trying to lose weight and you are not going to order the Grand Slam breakfast. It will make sense to them and they will never suspect.
I am so excited for you coming up on your surgery date in a few weeks. I think you're going to be very excited and nervous, but don't be afraid to ask your doctor for a sedative. Sometimes the nervousness can just be overwhelming and any doctor who knows you're having this procedure will be happy to give you a short-term prescription of sedatives. You will especially want to take a sedative before you go to the hospital on surgery day and tell the nurse. They're going to come in and give you a sedative before they take you to the OR to give you general anesthesia. But they don't want to give you too much so make sure you tell them exactly what you have in your system
Aside from all that it sounds like you're doing great! So just stick around, ask questions, let us support you and read through the postings. We would not be here in this support group if we weren't happy about what we had done. There is so much joy we share here among each other. And we are never short on showing love or support for each other when it is needed. How about you let us get to know you?
I’m getting the gastric sleeve.
