Dear Jello:
e are all here to support you and you can count
on us at any time…..these are the things I did to
prepare for my surgery in 1997. Make a chart and weigh
yourself. You will want to know where you are starting
from. Take all your measurements, start with you neck
and work you way down. Don’t forget something like
your wrists and your ankles. Write down all your
clothing sizes, not forgetting even your ring and shoe
size. Then after you have done all that….(after you
get your insurance approval) go out and eat yourself
silly. Eat everything you have ever possibly wanted and
have never dared to eat before. I say to make sure you
get your insurance approval first, because you don’t
want to gain 20 pounds and then get turned down by the
insurance company. Anyway eat everything you want and DON’T
feel one bit quilty. Take a bath in hot fudge if you
think it will make you feel good. (Just kidding, well,
maybe not) Then after you have had your little fiesta
you might want to have a pity party. A good cry and a
few "why me." I have always been jealous of "skinny"
people and think they should be put on their own
separate island somewhere. Don’t you just hate the people
that say, "Oh my heavens, do you know I have to buy a
size 7 jeans now instead of a 5" "GIVE ME A BREAK."
Try finding a size 26 and then tell me you are having
a problem….Oops, got off topic didn’t I. You will
shake and be nervous right up to and after surgery,
there is nothing unusual about that. Just remember that
all the pain, discomfort and liquid diets are worth
every minute. A year from now you will be picking out a
sexy swimsuit for the summer. Just get your mind set
straight. DO NOT sabatoge this surgery, which you can. If
you plan on eating nothing but milkshakes and candy
bars AFTER surgery, don’t plan on losing the weight
you want. If you stick to a sensible diet which will
most definitely be smaller (it just has to be) then
you will lose the weight you want, plus probably
more. I was told I would only lose 60 pounds and I have
managed to lose 115 lbs so I know it can be done. Well, I
have rambled on enough…I will give someone else a
chance. Good luck with your insurance company…Helen
January 16th, 2003 at 11:47 pm
id any of you eat any baby food the first month?
i started looking at it today with some trepidation
(spell?)but if babies eat it I guess I can too. <br>This is
not a decision to make lightly , is it?<br>Life will
change forever,but for the best. I’m 45, my mom died at
age 46 …complications of obesity. Iwant to be
around for my 2 boys who are still young. this is going
to sound a little goofy, but I heard my surgery
theme song today,<br>Remember "The Power of Love" BY
HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS? <br>thanks for being there,
all!!<br>Jello
January 17th, 2003 at 10:28 am
have never heard of anyone having to eat baby
food, but I suppose it is a thought. If you can stomach
it, why not. It is full of vitamins and minerals and
certainly wouldn’t hurt you. I was on a liquid diet for
about six weeks which all most drove me crazy. I have
read many posts where the doctor gets you back on
regular food fairly soon. I feel it is too soon, but that
is just my thought. After the six weeks, I was able
to start on soups, cottage cheese, yogurt, dark meat
chicken and soft eggs…things like that. That was for
another three weeks. You can almost feel your stomach
healing and will know what you can tolerate and what you
can’t. I never gave baby food a thought. It is about the
right size serving, but some of that stuff can really
be disqusting. Your taste buds will change also, so
something you thought was going to be really yummy before
your surgery, might be really yucky after your
surgery. I have heard people saying that have drank Boost
or Ensure so that they can be sure they got the
proper amount of vitamins and minerals. I would think
that the chocolate flavored would be kind of
disqusting after surgery, though. Take care….and I am so
free with information…write any time….I should
give someone else a chance though. Helen
January 17th, 2003 at 3:49 pm
hank you for all the wonderful advice. it takes
someone like you to keep this going. I have a question.
My father who has is big into this JUICER claims
that it does a body good. Why take a pill when you can
drink it down which has more nutrients. I hear it is
not the best of taste from my mother. But how much
can we drink of water, fruit juice if any? Water
fills us up now..what about after the surgery? I
realize I can be asking the nutritionist about this but
that is next week. Thanks for the advice about the
vitamins. Makes me feel better. I have done so much
research on this I am getting overwhelmed and need to get
this surgery over with. I healed from my other
abdominal surgery (unrelated to weight loss) in about 1 1/2
weeks. Perhaps I had my age going for me. I was up
walking that day,right away and doing the breathing
exercises and so forth…everything the dr told me to do.
Thanks to percaset (some type of narcotic…mmm mmm
good…morphine did not do a thing for me, I was able to move
around much better and quicker with less pain. I just
wonder about taking a pill so soon after the surgery. I
will have to remember to ask the doctor about that.
That is all for now. Look forward to hearing from
everyone.
January 17th, 2003 at 9:10 pm
or the first six weeks I drank a lot of juices.
Cranberry juice, apple juice and just between you and me, I
hate juice. But I stuck with it. After the six weeks
the doctor told me to start drinking water, flat diet
drinks, cyrstal light, and other things like that because
basically the fruit juices were high in calories and suger
and even though they helped in the beginning, they
would work just the opposite trying to lose weight. I
never could drink the water I was suppose to. I still
can’t now. You will just have to remember, everything
has to be taken in sips. No more gulping. Take a
swallow and wait. Believe it or not, you are going to
FEEL when you can drink again. In fact you will feel
the water move all the way down until it hits your
stomach. Very weird feeling!!! The juices your father
makes will probably be good but you would have to watch
out for calorie and sugar content. You don’t want to
sabatoge your surgery thinking you are doing something
good when you are adding more calories than you need.
You will be taking very high potency vitamins. I can
not believe you would ever be able to drink enough to
accomplish what one or two pills could. They should have you
up and walking either the day after or the night of
your surgery. As you know with your other surgery,
walking and getting active as soon as possible will help
you heal faster. However, I came home in five days
and still walked like I had been run over by a truck.
It was a good three weeks before I was up and almost
feeling normal. I needed a full eight weeks of recovery
before I was back in the swing of things. I have had two
c-sections and a gall bladder surgery and this is more
painful that those surgeries. It is manageable. The first
two weeks are the worst and then it is up hill all
the way. As the weight comes off, it gets better and
better. Just remember, don’t sabatoge this surgery by
incorporating foods that you shouldn’t have. Believe it or not,
we can all live without our candy bars, milk shakes
and ice cream. This is so important. If you are going
to work so hard to fight the weight loss, why have
the surgery at all. This advice is for anyone that is
reading this, not necessarily you. Take care…Helen
January 18th, 2003 at 2:31 am
ello, I was eating baby food fruit for quite a
while, I liked the peaches, apricots and pears. I found
a papaya mix that was the best. I still eat the
fruit, it’s convenient for work. I also take two
chewable complete vitimans every day, I had another Dr.
tell me they were absorbed through the lining in your
mouth while you are chewing them, he recomended sucking
on them to get all I could out of them.
January 18th, 2003 at 7:51 am
hanks for the info, Cindylu! Are the vitamins
just regular kid chewables or is there something for
adults with more trace minerals in them?<br>It is great
to have folks to exchange ideas with. I will be so
much better prepared!!<br><br>and a general ? for
everyone, if you are in need of anti inflammatory meds like
motrin, what can you take instead?<br>Thanks!!!<br>:~)
January 18th, 2003 at 1:12 pm
ello, we had two choices on the vitamins,
Flintstones complete and centrium junior.However I am
presently taking the wal-mart brand "Spring Valley"
childrens chewables complete. The taste is better and it
has every thing the Flintstone vitamins have.Good
luck to you, Cindy