Pre Op Visit at St. Joe's went great, Day 1 of Opti today...ick!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're all doing well today.

My pre-op visit at St. Joe's was great.  I met my surgeon, Dr. Lindsay, first.  He was very nice and sat with me for about 15 minutes, telling me what to expect and answering my questions. I was very impressed as my family doctor never gives me more than a few minutes of his time.  I told him I was torn between the sleeve and the RNY and he said I'm not a candidate for the Sleeve because my BMI isn't high enough.  He said I'll be getting the RNY unless he decides I'd be better off with the Sleeve when he's doing the surgery.

I usually have a heck of a time when I have blood taken because they can't find my veins, but there was no trouble whatsoever yesterday!

Everyone was very kind to me, and both the anaesthesiologist and surgeon are very handsome, as in, Grey's Anatomy looks, lol.

Today I'm drinking my first Opti, a vanilla shake.  My friend's water doesn't get very cold and I forgot to ask them to make ice so it is a very unpleasant experience. It tastes absolutely awful. I even tried adding coffee granules but it's really disgusting. I'm just trying to drink it fast to get it over and done with.

The ice should be ready by the time I need to take the next one.  I'm going to pick up a shaker bottle to leave here so I won't have to bring one back and forth from the Sault to Toronto.

I was really happy to discover I can have up to 2 cups of green veggies like lettuce, cucumber, celery, or green peppers in addition to the Opti.  I can also have calorie free broth and drinks, so that will be nice, especially the broth, since it's winter and it will be nice to have something hot.

I'm sure the Opti will be fine once I have ice.  I hope so, anyway, or it's going to be a very long 3 weeks, lol.

Good for you!  Good luck with your opti and keep us updated.

Thank you!

Hi Kathy, I remember having to chug a room temp opti in December and yes, definitely gross. It sounds familiar to say it, but the "Opti-shock" will subside in a couple days. I did it during Christmas and New Years and had surgery on the 5th. I found it challenging to still have to cook for family and (I choose) to sit with them while they ate. Broth was a life saver, just remember to try and get the reduced sodium one. Good Luck! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Thank you, and kudos to you for being on Opti over the holidays AND choosing to cook and sit with your family.  I am pretty tough but I think I would have cried, lol.

I'm flying back to the Sault tomorrow and I have my Nutribullet ready and waiting.  It will be so much nicer blended with ice, I think.  I'll also go pick up some of those sugar free syrups at Winners, if we have them.

Kathy

Absolutely, get those syrups; I also ordered a bunch from www.lowcarbcanada.ca when they were on sale, lots of good stuff there, and get yourself some nice soaps, bubble bath salts, anything that "treats" you for the awesomeness of your courage and determination! I think my mom has family in Sault, I'm in Mississauga myself though.

Thank you so much!  Love the idea of soaps, etc.  I love taking nice long baths.

I'm in Mississauga right now, but back to the Sault tomorrow.  I wish I lived in the area as it's so expensive to travel back and forth.  I booked my surgery flight on sale and got a great deal, but this pre-op flight was crazy.  I could have gone on a week's cruise for the same price, including my flight.  Oh well, it will be worth it in the end and maybe I can save money to go on a cruise one day in the future when I"m not so big.

Thank you for the link; I'll definitely check it out!

Take care.

Kathy, first off, congratulations on your decision to have the surgery.  I had mine 5 1/2 years ago, and I definitely remember the Opti-trauma.  If you also got chocolate, my favourite thing to do was mix it with cold/frozen decaf coffee.  Get a small one from Tim's, freeze it into ice cubes and add them instead of regular ice to the blender.  Or if you can't blend, just get it really cold and use it in addition to the milk/water you're using.  And the sugar free syrups are the best!  Or even LorAnn oils which you can buy at Bulk Barn.  They are highly concentrated flavoured oils so just a few drops in your drink will give you a big taste.  They're very tiny bottles usually at the cash register.

Good luck with the surgery.  And don't forget to walk, walk, walk afterwards.  It's the best thing for you.

Hi Beth,

Thank you so much!  I am so excited that I'm finally really starting this journey.  Opti-trauma; lol, sounds about right.  I'm having the chocolate now, with ice so it's nice and cold, and it's much better than this morning's luke-warm vanilla.  The taste isn't great but it's something I can live with.  I will definitely try freezing decaf coffee, and thanks so much for the tip on LorAnn oils.  We have a bulk barn in town so I'll go check them out after I get back to town.

Take care,

Kathy

Hi there. I'm on day 4 of Opti and this stuff is absolutely horrible . I tried adding just a bunch of different things like coffee, extracts etc. The crystal light helped a bit but I find the after-taste and the smell nasty. Since nothing much worked, I literally have to plug my nose and just drink it down. I know you said you felt like crying on day 1. I did cry the fist day. I was not expecting it to be so terrible. Oh well. I am sucking it up and moving on now. I'm counting down the days!!!

I wish you much luck. Hopefully it works out better for you.