3 days!

I will have my sleeve done this Tuesday! 7/19/16! I am so excited but I am getting really nervous and anxious. I have existing anxiety and it is getting worse when I think about the changes to come. If you could give a newby any advice for right after surgery what would it be? I am so worried I am going to mess things up and not get in enough liquids and protein. I am terrified of not being successful. Any advice would be great!

Hi Shine,  hope my blogs of the past week since my July 11 VSG may help you out.  Don't stress or get anxious....best I can say is deal with the issues as they come along....one at a time.  Let me know if you need any further help.  Rich

Well you don't have long to wait.  That's good.  I think the main focus immediately following surgery is walking and drinking.  Your body is going through a major healing process.  Walking keeps everything toned up and moving.  I did laps in the house when I would get up in the night to go to the bathroom. I didn't have a lot of surgical pain but do have chronic pain but if you have to take pain meds to get up and walk do it.  Hydration is probably the single most important thing post op.  They will give you bags of IV fluid during your hospital stay and you need that.  But drinking is a concern that I still keep up with.  Post op the nurse gave me a bunch of medicine cups and said I was to drink 1 in 15 min.  I was a guzzler pre op. Try to get all of you liquids in.  Water went down hard for me but trying different temps and additives like crystal lite to change the texture of the water helped for me.  Follow your doctors plan and you will be successful.  I remember thinking that it will work for everyone else but not for me.  Anxiety and fears are all normal.  Good luck.

I can totally relate to both your nervousness and doubts.  I had surgery a bit over 3 years ago.  I was so nervous and the surgery itself was such a non-event.  I had little pain, no nausea thanks to the strong anti-nausea drugs I requested.  I felt like I had the flu for about 3days, but was pretty much better by day 5.  I was tired for months, but it was all manageable.

I had so many failures dieting that I didn't believe I'd be successful.  I would have been happy just to be under 300 pounds again.  But I lost 98% of my excess body weight, and I'm now maintaining at 161 pounds - which is a normal BMI. 

You can succeed, too.  I don't want to make it sound easy.  It takes a long-term commitment to following the plan.  But the surgery makes it possible to stick to the plan. 

So try to relax and not worry.  Most likely you'll come thru the surgery great, and be successful.

best wishes,

Carol

Thank you for the advise! I am getting more excited about the surgery! I feel more calm than I was and reading everyone's stories and journeys is helping me feel more confident. I love the advise that is available on this website! 

Congrats and good luck!!!  I was anxious in the hospital the day after surgery and asked for 1 mg of Ativan - they gave it to me no problem.  Made a huge difference.  I only needed pain meds the first night then never took anything after that.  I struggled a bit at first with fluids, protein, and vitamins.  I remember thinking "I think about eating more than before surgery!!", but after a couple weeks it all becomes routine.  Just remember in the first few days fluids are more important than anything else.  Keep yourself hydrated.

You are going to do great!!!!!!