Panic and Excitement

So I got  a surgery date today - the one I wanted. I am now panicking and overwhelmed with excitement. Doing my best to breathe through it.  Things are coming together quickly, which is a great thing, but yeah - nerves. Any hints on how to relax outside of eating myself numb? What did you do to celebrate and prepare outside of your preop diet?

Yeah, the nerves are normal and you just have to get through it! I'd never had surgery, and was self-pay- so it was a mind-bender for me. I didn't really celebrate anything, but I did watch a lot of movies!

Also the best thing that I was able to do was convince myself of this: why waste energy worrying about something you have no control over?.. I was worried about complications, a lot. Then I finally realized statistically, it was really a slim chance.. (plus the fact that statistically w/o surgery my life was not going to be pleasant at all.) I picked what I thought was the best Dr under my cir****tances, and prepared myself as best possible by eating well the month prior, dropping a bit of weight and getting more active.. Once I got it in my head to release the panic over the complications that I really had no control over- I felt a lot better.

agree with jo 100 percent.  big-time nerves are totally normal.  as i got closer to my date i spent time crying, wondering what on earth i was doing to myself, wondering why i just didn't try harder at weigh****chers, etc.  it's been six months and i can tell i now feel totally normal and basically just can't eat as much.  i have to be careful of my diet in some ways that i wasn't before and really have to get exercise into my life when i never have before, but that would have been a good plan BEFORE the surgery!!

i have to admit that a lot of tv watching was my main relaxation agent (wouldn't it be great if i said exercising?!?!  LOL) and i tried not to eat a lot.  food "funerals" are common, so it's not weird to be feeling sad about food either.

keep posting!  this is exactly what we're here for!

Thanks ya'll. I'm trying. I'm a Binge Eater (diagnosed LOL), and I've been binge free for 8 weeks and four days, but yeah. Still scared and mourning food. But also really excited. It's weird how all the emotions get sort of jumbled up together. Thanks for the support!

For me, a higher power kicked in. It's the only way to explain it. I didn't feel nervous, I thought my life was right on course.

I did mourn food, and had several food funerals before surgery....a few of my favourite take-out places... and a big feast of fajitas and daquiris with the girls the night before my two weeks pre-op liquid diet.

TV is hard to watch, trying to distance yourself from food. I didn't even watch it for the two weeks I was on liquids prior to surgery. I'd record and FF through the food advertisements. I like silly little games online, hidden object, cooking, etc... cards.. so I kept myself busy with those things, or reading.. I read 4 books in two weeks pre-op.

The only regret I have, that I didn't do prior to having my surgery was prepare some foods for when you can eat. People focus on the few weeks of liquids, buy the things to get them through that. That kind of stuff, you can mostly buy packaged or canned.

When I began the mush stage -- I wish I had put away some chili, or spaghetti sauce, or stews to puree and eat. Even a soup ladle full of something in a ziplock bag would have been heaven. I certainly didn't feel like making a huge pot of sauce for just myself.

That is the one thing I would focus on. Preparation of soups, sauces and stews to have from 3 weeks out and onward ready for you whenever you'd like to have them! I'd kill to have a little chicken stew or something similar.. homemade and yummy... ready for me in my freezer just about now : )

All the best with your journey!