Ontario54
Pre-op weeks
Jun 14, 2013
Hi all,
Well, after two years of waiting (denied out of country surgery because Ontario increased surgeries and a lost application as they switched to group processing) I had my surgery on Friday, June 7 at St. Joe's Hospital by Dr. Scott Gmora. I originally wanted a VSG but the goal was to get me off my diabetes medications (insulin and pill) so I had the RNY bypass.
I was on OptiFast for 2 weeks and 5 days before my surgery as I got my surgery date close to the date I was to start. I bought the chocolate flavor on advise from the woman at St Joe's pharmacy and was glad I did. The same day I went to Wal-mart to buy a shaker and saw a personal blender for less than $17. I had a blender but this allowed me to mix and drink it from the same container. It was small enough that I just put the blender and my OptiFast pouches in a computer bag I carry to work. I actually looked forward to them as it tasted like a thin milkshake. I found out later that blending the Optifast changes the taste and texture significantly. One day during this time I was with my daughter and didn't have my blender. I did have a back up shaker by then and thought I'd get a similar drink. Wrong. The drink was awful. Not appetizing and definitely nothing to look forward to. So a $17 investment was worth every penny and more.
Now I might have lost ar a bit more than the 24 lbs (which was amazing I must say) if I had not been the focus of a 'farewell' lunch near the end of May before I began my time off from work. My manager insisted that I pick the restaurant and wouldn't take "but I'm on a liquid diet, doctor's orders, etc." for an answer. (I didn't want to divulge why I was having surgery.) We went to Walker's Fishmarket in Burlington and I had a lobster salad. I was 11 days out so I was certain that it wasn't high fat, loaded with calories and my body could get rid of it way before the actual surgery.
I've heard so many stories of what surgeons require other patients to accomplish before surgery. From losing 8-10% of their weight before surgery to just a liquid fast days before. I think both are extreme ends but that's just my opinion. I think when it's difficult to lose weight for most patients and requiring an 8-10% weight loss can be a large mountain to climb. I also think that if you're having surgery on your digestive tract that you'd want to make sure there's no food contained in the body parts that are getting impacted by the surgery. Just seems like common sense to me.
