Surgery during the holidays?

Im still pre-op, doing the 6mo diet and going through all of the process to make this surgery happen, but if all goes well I should be having surgery in Nov just right before the holidays. I know this probably sounds like a stupid question, but what will I do during the holidays if I cant eat? ? Did anybody else have rny during this time of year and how did u deal?

I had my surgery on New Year's Eve of 2013.

I began the liquid pre-op diet the week after Thanksgiving -- endured a liquid diet through my son's birthday (early December), the 3 weeks before Christmas -- the week after Christmas and obviously New Years. Additionally, my birthday is in the middle of January -- I was still in the liquid phase of the post-op period.

Yes, it was hard.

But, guess what I learned? I learned that holidays aren't about food. Parties, celebrations, gatherings are about people we love and care about.

It helped me to recognize how unhealthy my relationship with food really was -- and how I'd gotten to where I was. I also learned that I am stronger than I ever knew -- and I gained confidence in my ability to overcome my obesity, my addiction to food, sugars and eating for fun, comfort and coping. Using food in those ways are what led me to a place where I was super morbidly obese.

Looking back, that time was critical in being part of my success thus far.

You will find people who will encourage you to "cheat" during your pre-op. They will tell you, "just one bite won't hurt" or that "everyone cheats on the pre-op!" -- and you find yourself trying to justify doing just that -- but as someone who not only survived going through her RNY during the holidays without "cheating" -- I can tell you that it was the greatest gift I have given myself and my family.

Even now, I don't "cheat" during the holidays -- because guess what? I have found things other than food that make them amazing!!

Good luck to you. May your holidays hold the wonder mine did in 2013.

Thank you so much for the encouraging msg. You are right there really are so many other great things to do during the holidays besides eat and make food. I will start brainstorming...

What an excellent response. !!

I did my surgery last Sept and was still on a very limited diet all through the Holidays last year. I cooked as usual for the entire family and just didn't eat much. I felt that I might as well learn from the start that the holidays should not just be about the food! Truthfully at that point I wasn't really hungry much anyways so it wasn't terribly hard.

Ceci

Thank you, thats a good point a smaller tummy doesnt want all that junk anyway. :)

I had my surgery on December 10 and was definitely still recovering come Christmas. It wasn't a big deal at all. I brought my own drinks/snacks to the gatherings I went to, like our office holiday party, and focused more on the social aspect of things.

The hardest part was that I was completely run-down and exhausted for the first two months post-op, so Christmas was very low-key. If I'd been scheduled to do a lot of stuff, I probably wouldn't have been able to make it to a lot of parties, gatherings, and whatnot.

Oh good to know thank u so much for sharing. I will talk to my family and try keep it simple this year because i definatly dont want to overdo it.

I had gallbladder surgery 2 days before thanksgiving.

I decided my health took priority. I survived not having turkey. Wasn't very hard to do either.

I had my surgery on Halloween, and was ending my 2nd week of soft foods during Thanksgiving. I went to my sister's for dinner, and I had mashed potatoes. My brother-in-law was so sweet, he put some turkey in a baggie and said "Take this home and freeze it, so you can have it next week when you get to eat turkey." And that's just what I did. Sounds like you will be in about the same stage for Christmas this year. Eat what you can, bring what you need, and have them send a doggy bag home of turkey or ham that you can freeze and enjoy when you can. It made me smile to eat the turkey.

I just enjoyed the conversation and spending time with my family. That was enough for me!