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What do you wish you'd known before, during and after surgery?

KeriK

KeriK

Member
Hi, I'm new to the site and very glad to have found this place. :)

I have not had my surgery yet, though I've done almost all of the prep work (blood work, xrays, counseling, nutritionist, endoscopy, etc). All that is left is an EKG, which won't happen until closer to the surgery and...losing 10 pounds.

Tomorrow is my next, 3rd, appointment with my surgeon. She was likely going to set the surgery date but may delay as I haven't lost the weight yet.

My endocrinologist has been trying to get me to have this surgery for years. I was determined to lose the weight the old fashioned way (and I did once lose 60 pounds with some still to go, then gained 100 pounds back instead)...but obviously haven't and I will be 56 next month. Apparently I need my gallbladder out and they can both be done at the same time, so I decided to talk to the surgeon about it and was encouraged to go for it. Which I'm doing. :) But I still have some pensiveness about the unknown. I don't personally know anyone who's had the surgery to get the inside scoop from and would very much appreciate any and all input. :)


~What Do You Wish You'd Known and/or Done Different at All Stages?


Thank you!! :)
 
Hi Keri. Welcome to the group. Glad you found us. Which surgery are you having? This such an exciting time getting all of the prep work done. If you haven't done so yet, you might want to begin replacing any sodas (including sugar-free), juice, and caffeine with water. The goal amount is 64-80 ozs. This will help keep you full and hydrated, and may help kickstart your weight loss. This of course is not to be taken as medical advice, just as a friendly suggestion. Good luck.
 
KarenWV said:
Hi Keri. Welcome to the group. Glad you found us. Which surgery are you having? This such an exciting time getting all of the prep work done. If you haven't done so yet, you might want to begin replacing any sodas (including sugar-free), juice, and caffeine with water. The goal amount is 64-80 ozs. This will help keep you full and hydrated, and may help kickstart your weight loss. This of course is not to be taken as medical advice, just as a friendly suggestion. Good luck.
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Hi Karen and thank you! :) I just had my appt with the surgeon and I'm a go for the sleeve surgery! I'll be getting a call from her assistant to set the date...Eek! Exciting and scary!

Thank you for the drinking tip! I don't generally drink soda any more (used to be a total Coke-head, now I think it tastes gross), but I Love my unsweetened iced tea and am bummed to have to give it up. It's definitely for a good cause though! :)

How do you remember to drink every 5 or so minutes? I tend to forget until I'm really thirsty and chug a bunch, which I know won't work after the surgery. I tried to set an every 5 minute reminder on my phone, but it was having none of that, lol. Tips? :)
 
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JudyNY said:
I wish I had found this group BEFORE I had surgery but instead found it a few months after. So good for you for finding us. There is so much info here as you browse the old posts. Welcome & good luck!
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Hi Judy and thank you! :) I have been doing some perusing, which is super helpful and love that there are people at All stages of the process and everyone seems so friendly! I actually mentioned it to my surgeon. :)
 
KeriK said:
Hi Karen and thank you! :) I just had my appt with the surgeon and I'm a go for the sleeve surgery! I'll be getting a call from her assistant to set the date...Eek! Exciting and scary!

Thank you for the drinking tip! I don't generally drink soda any more (used to be a total Coke-head, now I think it tastes gross), but I Love my unsweetened iced tea and am bummed to have to give it up. It's definitely for a good cause though! :)

How do you remember to drink every 5 or so minutes? I tend to forget until I'm really thirsty and chug a bunch, which I know won't work after the surgery. I tried to set an every 5 minute reminder on my phone, but it was having none of that, lol. Tips?:)
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I always keep a 16 oz bottle of water beside me, and I just sip on it all the time. I've always been a big water drinker. That habit really helped post-surgery to stay hydrated by sipping frequently. Not staying hydrated days & weeks after surgery can put one in the hospital! Anyway, please try keeping water with you so you can sip constantly.

As far as caffeine, it can dehydrate you, so you need to wean yourself off of it pre-surgery and avoid it for the 1st few months post-surgery. Then, after a few months, if you regularly drink 64-80+ ozs of WATER, you probably can ease caffeine back into your life. Basically, I make sure that if I have caffeine, I add that amount to my daily 64 ozs as replacement water to compensate for the diuretic effect of that amount of caffeine.

Best of luck & continued success!
 
TraceyT said:
I wish I had gotten the surgery sooner. I’m a little over 2 years post-op and the surgery has put me back in my life. I’m not watching it go by I’m actually LIVING it.
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That is so Wonderful that you're truly Living your life now, Tracey!!!! That is what I'm looking forward to, as well. I'm having my surgery around my birthday and have chosen to look at it as a birthday gift to my future self. :)
 
KarenWV said:
I always keep a 16 oz bottle of water beside me, and I just sip on it all the time. I've always been a big water drinker. That habit really helped post-surgery to stay hydrated by sipping frequently. Not staying hydrated days & weeks after surgery can put one in the hospital! Anyway, please try keeping water with you so you can sip constantly.

As far as caffeine, it can dehydrate you, so you need to wean yourself off of it pre-surgery and avoid it for the 1st few months post-surgery. Then, after a few months, if you regularly drink 64-80+ ozs of WATER, you probably can ease caffeine back into your life. Basically, I make sure that if I have caffeine, I add that amount to my daily 64 ozs as replacement water to compensate for the diuretic effect of that amount of caffeine.

Best of luck & continued success!
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Thank you, Karen! I'm in pre-op diet land now and missing my iced tea (and food!!). Awesome idea on whatever tea I have in the future I should up my water by that amount! :) I found a little timer that I'll set to remind me to drink every 5 or 10 minutes...now I just need to remember to use it. ;)
 
I went to my doc (surgeon) for some reason and 20 minutes later I was signing a consent for RYGB. I remember he told me I was 100 pounds overweight. Two weeks later I was in surgery. Back in those days there was no pre-op diet. Doc said,"try to cut down on your food intake."

It's amazing how complicated pre-op is these days. 14 years later, everything is still great.
 
dianeseattle said:
I went to my doc (surgeon) for some reason and 20 minutes later I was signing a consent for RYGB. I remember he told me I was 100 pounds overweight. Two weeks later I was in surgery. Back in those days there was no pre-op diet. Doc said,"try to cut down on your food intake."

It's amazing how complicated pre-op is these days. 14 years later, everything is still great.
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Holy cow, that's fast!!! :oops: I'm glad that it seems to have been so successful! :) And with less to do and slow things down, it didn't give you as much time to stress and be anxious about it. :) Things are definitely much more complicated now! Is there anything you'd wish you'd known or done differently?
There's a history of wishing I'd known things before taking action that has me pensive... about 9 years ago I got a breast reduction (dr said I needed to lose weight, but as they (my ridiculous boobs) had me popping ibuprofen like candy and in pain often the reduction needed priority). At the consult he told me he'd take the side boob too (something I'd been told to ask for), so yay!...but he forgot and I hadn't reminded him, so now I feel like I have more boob under my armpit than on my chest. Also, he usually did reductions for more fit people and when I was sitting there and he was drawing on me pre-op, my protruding tummy had my boobs sliding to the side, and that's how he drew them. If I'd have known better I'd have sat up more straight and forward, but I didn't, so now my boobs and nipples don't feel centered like they did before the surgery...things I wish I'd known.
Also, about 4 years ago I got Invisalign. There's a cleaner you buy to clean them. I didn't know that you needed to limit the time that they soaked in the cleaner or it could damage them and the chemicals get on your teeth and eat at your enamel. I now have really sensitive teeth, need a prescription toothpaste and who knows what's next.
Things I wish I'd known in advance. Thus me asking the question above. :)
 
Yeah, one very important thing: I wish I'd known I should have consumed fiber lax every day.

I remember the grief I felt thinking about food never eat again. Turns out that wasn't true. So the day before surgery I bought a cheeseburger and sat crying on my front porch, eating it.

But really, everyone, fiber lax. your plumbing won't work right because you'll not be able to eat vegetables and other important fiber. The log of solid stool backed up more than a foot and was as thick as my forearm. It took two days of crying, bleeding, laxativing, enemas, bursting pain, hemorrhoids.... FIBER! LAXATIVE!

I HAD A GREAT weight loss experience, losing 75 pounds in 90 days, 115 total after 14 months.
 

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MANDY2910 said:
I think a lot of people are shocked at the mental toll it can take on a person and the “grief” you go through for your old pal food! It isn’t just physical changes you have to deal with. Best of luck to you in your journey
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Yea, I've been reading a bit about that on here and am concerned, as so much of my world has rotated around food (a nice thing about this pre-op diet is the lack of struggle in figuring out what to eat, lol). My counsellor has been trying to help with that transition, I have an appt with her today (closest she had available to my surgery) and about a week after, as that seems to be around when depression/regret struggles often seem to set in. I also ordered the book and workbook Intuitive Eating, which was recommended by a nutritionist at a support group meeting I went to (or actually, Zoom'ed to, lol).
I'm hoping that these things and this wonderful supportive group, will make the transition easier. :)
Thank you!!! :)
 
dianeseattle said:
Yeah, one very important thing: I wish I'd known I should have consumed fiber lax every day.

I remember the grief I felt thinking about food never eat again. Turns out that wasn't true. So the day before surgery I bought a cheeseburger and sat crying on my front porch, eating it.

But really, everyone, fiber lax. your plumbing won't work right because you'll not be able to eat vegetables and other important fiber. The log of solid stool backed up more than a foot and was as thick as my forearm. It took two days of crying, bleeding, laxativing, enemas, bursting pain, hemorrhoids.... FIBER! LAXATIVE!

I HAD A GREAT weight loss experience, losing 75 pounds in 90 days, 115 total after 14 months.
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Oh wow, that sounds horribly miserable!!! :( I will definitely get on the fiber train Now. I've sprinkled Benefiber on my food a couple of times, but that's it. I've already started to notice a difference since I started the pre-op diet a week ago and it's not a good difference. Fiber, here I come!

I tried to eat all my fave foods before starting this diet, not knowing if or when I'd ever be able to have them again. My deliberate last meal was a juicy burger from my fave burger joint, along with frickles (zucchini and onions thinly sliced and fried) and even though I don't generally drink soda anymore, they have their own stuff, so I mixed cream soda and orange, for a dreamcicle type taste...so yummo!! What I forgot is that places send you free food coupons for your birthday and mine is Friday, so I keep getting teased with all these yummy free things that I can't have...so I go eat a sugar free jello instead, lol. Hearing about your 'last' burger makes me wanna give you a big hug!

That's Awesome on your weight loss!! May I ask how the hanging skin situation is/was? Any tips on minimizing it?

Thank you!! :)
 
dianeseattle said:
Yeah, one very important thing: I wish I'd known I should have consumed fiber lax every day.

I remember the grief I felt thinking about food never eat again. Turns out that wasn't true. So the day before surgery I bought a cheeseburger and sat crying on my front porch, eating it.

But really, everyone, fiber lax. your plumbing won't work right because you'll not be able to eat vegetables and other important fiber. The log of solid stool backed up more than a foot and was as thick as my forearm. It took two days of crying, bleeding, laxativing, enemas, bursting pain, hemorrhoids.... FIBER! LAXATIVE!

I HAD A GREAT weight loss experience, losing 75 pounds in 90 days, 115 total after 14 months.
Click to expand...
oh my gosh, the new found joy of constipation! my dietician bumped me up to a 30+g daily fiber goal to help
 
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