Things I wish I would have known before I had WLS surgery... Please by all means add...

I would love to hear your ideas...

Things I wish someone had told me about… 1.       Immediately after surgery you will gain anywhere from 10 to 20 lbs…it is water weight and will go away within a week so don’t panic. 2.       Start taking Biotin about a month before the surgery and continuing after for hair health. It will not prevent hair loss but it surely seems to slow it way down. Then when the hair loss starts, get a haircut. It seemed to have worked for me and the hair loss stopped. 3.       Do not get into the habit of offering your uneaten foods to your spouse or children. It will cause them to start gaining weight. Either cook less or store it for a later meal. 4.       Don’t hang on to your clothes once you grow out of them, your never going to wear them again so share them with your WLS surgery support group. This will help keep costs down for everyone and start them with the sharing so maybe you will benefit also. 5.       Your feet too will shrink! 6.       Constipation is your new issue. Two tablets of Senna-S daily seems to do the trick for me, but remember you don’t eat a whole lot so your probably only going to have a bowel movement once every 2 – 3 days. 7.       Schedule your medication on your cell phone calendar with an alarm so you don’t forget, otherwise the day will get away from you and you will miss your vitamins. 8.       Don’t adjust your Rings until you have met your goal weight, the cost and damage to repeated resizing is not worth the loss of your wedding bands or valuable jewelry.

 

LOL  where was this post 7 months ago!?!?!?!?   Great post!

Donna

Thanks for the info. My surgery date is Sept 2nd. I can't wait to hear what others have to say!!

 I wish I had known that if you were prone to kidney stones pre WLS,, you are at a gtrater risk for sidney stones post WLS.

Felix 

And along with those kidney stones - which I have not had - a lot of us have to have our gallbladder removed for stones and other problems. 

Great list.  You also forgot the Ketosis issue that some people have. I haven't had my surgery yet but I have been told about the ketosis.
I am already stocking up on smaller clothes. I have had different people calling me up asking if such and such a size will be ok and I tell them to bring it in AS LONG AS they are not the size I am now or bigger. LOL.
Get protein SAMPLES to try. Not the big tubs because you are liable to go buy one of them and think "OMFG!!! This crap is so wrong."
DO not think you won't be able to eat a certain thing ever again. Vets will tell you it is possible but there are things you might never WANT to eat again due to various issues.
Nioxin Shampoo is nice too.

Thanks again for the I wish I had Known List. I am sure I will be adding more to it myself later on.......

I learned that my regular cusinart food processor to puree food is way too big and won't puree  right, so I went out and bought a baby bullet (a version of Magic Bullet but made for baby for making healthy homemade baby food) and it is doing a great job! and perfect portion sizes!

http://www.babybullet.com/

I just ordered one.  I like the containers, seems like it would be the perfect size for us.  Thanks for sharing.  :)

I wish I had signed up and started reading the OH boards way sooner. I only started a few days before surgery.

Great advice- how much biotin do you recommend? 

I wish I had known a little more about the massive gas pains I'd get in the hospital.  If I could do it' differently I'd bring two of my own pillows and some gas x to the hosptial.  And my own pajamas!