Wondering what to buy.

Hi!
My name's Marlene and I'm 23. I'm new here so *waves*
I just got my surgery date for August 18th.
Bought my optifast and will be starting it on 28th of July.
I'm very excited about surgery but also SUPER nervous.
It's been a very long process to get to this point and I feel like
mentally, I'm as prepared as I will ever be to go through with it.
But as for being prepared for Post-Op adventures... maybe I'm
not so much. I've bought a blender and some childrens
plates and cups and a thermos(mostly because they were hello
kitty haha XD) . I take vitamins regularily  B12, D, Calcium,
Iron and Biotin. I'm just not sure what else would be
good or necissary to buy for the first month after the
operation. Anyone got any Ideas? I'm not sure where
everyone is from but I'm from around Toronto, Ontario so
if you also have any Ideas where I might be able to get what
you're suggesting that would be AMAZING~ lol. Thanks so
much in advance :D

 I don't understand what just happened to my post... so here I go again...

First, welcome! I am from Toronto too, and had my surgery at HRRH as well, but with a different doctor. There is an ontario forum on OH you might also want to check out. We also have support groups in several areas of the city.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/on/

Next, Things I found very helpful: 

-a sippy cup (Playtex brand) great in the hospital and in recovery to remind to take small sips, and to not have to maneuver to get it back on the table. Still use it on my bedside table, as a matter of fact.
-a good nutritional scale
-a good set of measuring cups and spoons
-appetizer forks and coffee spoons for little bites. Still eat with them 6 months later. They really cognitively help me.
-Small containers that you know the volume of - 2 oz 4 oz 6 ounce etc.
-4 oz & 7 oz ramekins for small portion baking
-3 oz custard cups
-An aerolatte is very helpful for on the go protein mixing, as is a GNC shakerball cup.

DON'T buy too much protein as your tastes may change, but you might want to accumulate different samples to try them out to find one you like try to find a few samples of a drink mix kind (like Nectar) as well as the milkshake kind.
DON'T buy too many vitamins unless you know for sure they are the right kinds. I foolishly bought big bottles of gummy multis, jameson calcium chews and ferronyl iron and had to give them all away because they were the wrong types of vites.

And don't forget to prepare for the headwork as well. Books like Geneen Roth's Women, Food and God, Susan Albers' Mindful Eating or LaLiberte's Cognitive Behavioural Management Workbook for Weight Management can help you get a jumpstart.

Good luck!

~Mo

Thank you so much! that is VERY helpful. I'm going to go pick some of that stuff up this week. :D

HI! I am new here too!  I am glad you asked this question as I was wondering the same.  I never thought about the sippy cup, I may have to steal one of my kids. 

Welcome aboard pre ops!

Let me suggest that if you can start getting ANY kind of exercise now, it will benefit your recovery more than you can imagine! Strengthening your core muscles will allow them to help you move more easily without so much struggle. So....begin walking! Get in the pool! Do a Leslie Sansome video! Just MOVE!!!

Best wishes to all of you!

I think Mo's suggestions are great.  Although I never used the sippy cup.  I had no problems with fluids even in the beginning.

About Optifast:  I am not sure how much you use on your program but DO NOT BUY TOO MUCH.  The shakes have a lot of sugar and you may not want to use them post-surgery.  I found I did not eat as much as I was allowed each day and lowered the amount I purchased greatly and still over bought.  The soups are high protein and low carb/sugar so I will use them in the fall.

Yeah I can only really drink the Optifast for 3 weeks. The only thing I'm really able to ingest are some vegetables and 0 calorie drinks that are not carbonated or caffienated. They didn't give me an option of how much I wanted to buy they just said... "here it is and that will be 300$" lol. I got 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 chocolate. I've heard its kind of aweful. But I'm going to try the Decaf instant coffee mix, I also read somewhere that mixing half chocolate and half vanilla makes it managable as well.

I didn't mind it at all - I volunteered to do an extra week on it, actually. It felt sane compared to the "last supper" syndrome that came before it. And I found a lot of "recipes" that tasted really good. When I was out and about, I used a big GNC shakerball cup filled up with cold water, a packet of Opti and a sleeve of Crystal Light. With vanilla I'd mix strawberry kiwi, dragonfruit mango, or orange grapefruit. With chocolate, I'd use raspberry ice or orange grapefruit. This is more water than the Opti called for, but it had the effect of making it taste more like flavoured milk. Very easy at the office.

At home, I would mix it blended with lots of ice in the magic bullet. In the morning it would be instant decaf coffee, a splash of Davici Caramel or Dulce de Leche and Chocolate, and otherwise a variety of flavours of davinci syrups in different combos: ChocolateOrange, Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Strawberry, Cocolate Banana, Chocolate Mint, or Vanilla with Banana, Orange, Strawberry, or Egg Nog (I did Opti right through Christmas last year). They were actually very tastey and frosty. The only things I really had a hard time with was that I got cold a lot on it, and missed hot and/or savoury food. I used herbal tea, decaf black tea and the broth to mitigate that.

The first 3 days are not so fun. Lethargic, headachy hard to concentrate, hungry and grumpy. For most people on Day three that changes and there's a big boost of energy, the fog clears and the hunger dissappears. I'd recommend starting it when you're off work (like over a weekend) if you have a choice, and that you quit caffeine a couple of weeks before you start so you're not hit with the double whammy at one time.

Best!