Surgery in 6 days!

[junegirl71]

I'm having my gastric sleeve surgery on 2/17 and I'm seriously stressing out. I'm excited, nervous, and super hungry on this pre-op diet! I am looking forward to starting a new healthier life, but I'm worried that I will never be able to eat some of my favorite foods again. I love pasta, mac and cheese, garlic bread, pizza, etc. Of course I know that part of the surgery is changing the way I eat, and I'm okay with that. I just don't want to have to go without those foods for the rest of my life. Even a bite or two of them (one day) would be enough. Is that going to be possible? Also, how long after the surgery does it take until you can eat actual food again? Not mushy, pureed, or liquid, but real food. Believe me, I want to lose weight, and I want to change the way I look at food, but I also want to be able to enjoy it in small doses again some day. I'm worried that I won't be able to.

Any encouragement, advice, experiences, etc. are greatly appreciated! Please be nice though... I'm already an emotional mess right now.

[sraebaer]

Your surgical team should give you a HUGE handout with everything you can eat and when. I had a schedule. Every Monday I started something new. NEVER think you can eat something not on the schedule, or your could damage your stomach. I think it was liquids for the first 2 weeks, mushy foods for week three, etc., until cleared for all foods at 6 weeks. But believe me, you won't be able to eat much at 6 weeks. You won't want pasta, Mac and cheese, garlic bread or pizza at 6 weeks. You will have so little room in your new pouch you won't want to put any junk in there. That tiny tummy will need nutrients.

Much further down the road you can probably indulge in those things, but rarely. And you won't miss them. You will be too excited about your weight loss to want to jeopardize it with junk food. And if you start getting into the junk food, you could stop losing and worse, start to regain. Take advantage of that "honeymoon period," typically the first year, when you follow the rules and the weight just falls off.

That being said, it's not like I haven't had a piece of pizza in 6 years. Just not too often.

Best of luck to you. I keep pushing Dr. Vuong videos on YouTube, just found the guy and love him. He has hundreds of videos, scroll around to find out what sounds interesting to a person just starting out.

[KiwiGal]

Hi.
Now is the time to start making changes to the way you think about food. The pre op diet was probably the worst part of the experience for me - and even then it wasn't too bad. I knew that it was for a finite period and that the end result was going to be an easier surgery.

As sraebaer said above, for the first part of the journey you won't be very interested in food at all and it will be your job to make sure that you are eating/drinking as per your surgeons instructions.
When you start eating "normal" food again you will need to make smart choices. This will be easy in the beginning. You need to be mindful as the days go on and you are able to eat more that you continue to make the smart choices. Of course you will still be able to eat the foods you listed above but will you want to? I absolutely have treats, but they are just that treats, not an every day choice.

All the best for your surgery. It's going to be the start of a really fun time.

[kandie.f]

Hi I'm just inquiring , how long did it take to get a date , after your pre admission forms were filled out ?

[sraebaer]

Hi I'm just inquiring , how long did it take to get a date , after your pre admission forms were filled out ?

Can't help you there as I was self pay and just scheduled a date. I have heard with insurance the "typical" time between attending the introductory seminar and surgery is about 6 months.