I'm right there with you Donna! My surgery is scheduled for the 28th! I am definitely in the 1 week anxiety period too! This is going to be a LOOOOOONNNNNG week indeed! - Angie

Hello All and good morning. Mine is next Monday (27th) Like you, I'm excited, very nervous and scared. Wish they could give us something for the 1-week prior anxiety attacks! Everytime I think about it (when do we not?), I get a swarm of butterflies in my tummy.....or maybe that's just because there hasn't been any solid food in there for a week?? Have already lost 10 pounds. Hubby joked that if I stayed on liquids for a while, I wouldn't have to have the surgery....Yeah Right!! I think it is going to be a loooonnnnnnngggggg week!!

Good luck to everyone having surgery this week. !!!! I know that everyone will go GREAT for you all. !!

Hello everyone! I'm 21 and I currently wieght 295 and my surgery is Friday. I'm sooooo nervious! I never had surgery before and I hate hospitals with a passion. I wanted it liposcopically but It's going to be open procedure. I'm so nerivous, its really stressing me out! My mom had it in 2000 and lost 125 lbs. She told me that its not going to be easy the first couple weeks. I just be glad when its over.....Are there anyone else in my shoes right now?

Hello, Heidi! I'm sorry you are feeling so lousy. The first few weeks are hard to get through. But, it does get better, really it does! I had my surgery on September 12, and am 5 months out now. I've lost 71 pounds already. I can eat practically anything (although plain milk and few other things don't set too well, so I stay away from them.) You, too, will be at this point soon. Don't rush your diet progression. Give yourself and your new stomach time to heal. Here's a few suggestions for you to try to get through the first few weeks: 1. The Gas-X strips are wonderful! They got me through my bout of bad gas right after surgery. Try them and see if they work for you. Try to find a comfortable position to lay in to expel the gas. You will hear and feel a lot of movement of things in there for a while. I thought mine would never stop, but it did. It will get better. 2. If you cannot stomach the CIB (and I couldn't, either...I thought it was nasty), find a protein shake or product that you do like. There are some brands that are very good, low in sugar and carbohydrates and calories, but high in protein. Go to www.bariatriceating.com and look at the RTD protiens. I found that the ones that come in cans are better and tasted better to me than the mixable powders. I still drink a shake in the morning for my breakfast, because it is convenient. I get mine from a local GNC store now. The brand I like is called WorldWide Protein and it comes in a lot of different flavors, such as banana, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry. The banana is my favorite. It has 35 grams of Protien in it, only 160 calories and only 1 or 2 grams of sugar and is low in carbs. Also, at your local GNC store, you can pick up a drink called Isopure. One whole bottle of this stuff has a whopping 50 grams of protein in it, and absolutely no sugar, no carbs, nothing at all in it besides the protein. It is good to start out with right after surgery. It comes in a variety of flavors and some are better tasting than others. You have to try them, becuase your taste buds will have changed. Anyway, if you try/use these products, you get your protein and your liquids in at the same time. Each bottle is a 20 oz. bottle. Another thing to try from the bariatric eating website is a tube of liquid protein called NewWhey. These also helped me out. In one 2.9 oz. tube, there is a whopping 25 or 40 grams of protein (available in both sizes of amount of protein). These will help you get in your protein and liquid intake, too. I also heated some of these drinks up slightly in the microwave, for about 25-30 seconds. I found that luke warm things went down better than cold things at first. 3. Take the diet slowly. Right after surgery, I did get tired of the liquids, but kept pretty much to what the NUT told me to do/eat and I have had no problems at all. Don't accelerate your diet too quickly. If you do, you will have further problems (getting your stoma clogged, throwing up, etc.). Your new stomach/pouch needs time to heal. It has been through a lot and is in a state of shock. That's why they don't want you jumping right to the mushy stuff like applesauce, yogurt,the noodles or chicken in the soup, etc. right away. Stick to warm liquids (beef and chicken broth) and try some of the other protein drinks mentioned above. Take it slow and move slowly to your next step in your diet. When you get to the full liquids, you can have the creamed soups. They are yummy! I also found that I had problems with milk, but I could eat cheese. So, I decided (after about 2 weeks out) to try some string cheese. I took a very small bite and chewed it up really good. At first, I could only eat about 1/2 stick, with very small bites and chewing the heck out of it, but it tasted good. You might want to try that in about a week. 4. Your bowel movements will change. You may not have a move every day. You're not eating that much, so it may be a few days before you have one. At first, I was alarmed about this, too, but gave it some time and then it was fine. You won't have as many moves as you did before. Don't push so hard to force it. There may not be enough accumulated in there to have one yet. Give it a few days. If you haven't had one in about 4-5 days, then I would ask your surgeon's office what they recommend to help the constipation. Every person is different, but I found that I had a move about every 3 days at first. 5. You will be tired. You just had major surgery and your body needs the recovery time. I was so fatigued the first 2 weeks, I couldn't hardly even move. Your body needs time to recover, adjust and heal. Your energy will pick up, especially when you get the go-ahead to start taking your vitamins again. Until then, rest if you need to. At first, I slept quite a bit and did feel like roadkill. The first 2 weeks really suck, but it will get better. I did a lot of reading and watching movies, and made sure that I did something for myself that would "pamper" myself. Take the time to care of you first. Good luck and I hope this helps some. It does get better, honest!