Pre-Op Diet and Instructions

We have been on our pre-op diets for a week now and the bowl of plastic fruit has been looking appetizing for a few days now. I am not saying to pig out before you have to start the diet but I would definitely recommend eating your favorite meals. Before we were looking at it as a kind of last meal (or five), we have had to stop and remind ourselves that just because we are having the surgery doesn’t mean we won’t be able to eat any of our favorite food, we will just have to be smarter about it and eat less of it.

Well back on point…the pre-operative diet. When you are approved for surgery with Specialized Bariatrics they send you an email that includes a document with your pre-op preparation instructions. There are instructions for what to do at certain times/days before surgery.

Right now we are on the fourteen days before surgery portion and our diet is quite limited, it includes two protein shakes a day and a salad with protein. Basically in the morning for breakfast and in the afternoon for lunch we prepare a one cup glass of protein shake for each of us. Then in the evening we each make a small salad with chicken. At the grocery store they have the bags of pre-shredded romaine lettuce that we buy along with the packs of the precooked and sliced chicken/turkey breasts. As for dressing they say you can use a “small amount of low-fat or fat-free dressing, or olive oil and vinegar. Ally uses a raspberry vinaigrette and I use the calorie wise Catalina dressing. In the evenings you are allowed one protein drink if needed but so far we have been able to resist.

Now for the protein shake it says any prepared canned or powdered protein drink that contains at least fifteen grams of protein per serving. We are using a scoop of powdered “cookies n’ cream” protein that we got at Wal-Mart. I recommend getting the protein at least a few days in advance and trying them before you are stuck on the day with a protein powder you don’t like, and maybe try a few flavors because having the same one twice a day every day is getting a bit monotonous.

Making the shakes is different for both of us as we have different preferences even if we are both using the same protein powder. Both of us use 1% cow’s milk, although we are looking into milk alternatives (coconut, soy, almond, etc.) and we shake it up using the Blender Bottle: Classic, which is basically a cup with a lid and wire ball to help remove lumps. It does work really well at getting the lumps out, and in the process it gives it a frothy texture which I don’t like but Ally does so I just shake mine as little as possible while Ally goes for a little longer. I also like mine really cold so we shake mine with a few ice cubes. Since I don’t really like the taste of the shakes I drink mine out of a cup with a straw (and as quickly as possible), while Ally just drinks hers out of the shaker cup itself.

Seven days prior to surgery there is a list of medications that you are to discontinue, including vitamins, Aspirin, ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil, most arthritis medications, and herbal medications/remedies. Three days prior to surgery we have to “complete bowel prep by taking a laxative.” And on that same day we start a diet consisting of only clear liquids (broth, sugar free juice, etc.). If we think we are hungry now I shudder to think what it will be like during the clear liquid phase.

It’s been hard but we just have to remember that we are doing this for a reason and our lives will be better after.

XOXO, Evie & Ally

The Chosen One

It has been a while since I have updated on our weight loss journey, so grab a snack and get comfortable because this might be a long one.

To begin with we applied for and received our passports. We made it to the application office early in the day (a Wednesday) expecting there to be a rather large line that would take all day to navigate. But when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find the place nearly deserted and the whole process was fairly painless. Ally and I each took a number then went and sat down to wait, there was only one person ahead of us and it only took five minutes for Ally’s number to be called. I waited another five minutes while Ally was giving them her application for my number to be called before going up to the window. The only painful part was the $120 fee we had to pay. They told us to expect our passports to be delivered on January 6^th, but were again surprised when they tried to deliver them just before Christmas. As we were out at the time we had to wait until after Christmas to go pick them up from the closest post office.

After that we were able to actually begin planning our surgery. We had done our research and decided that Dr. Alejandro Lopez and his wife Dr. Jacqueline Osuna with “A Lighter Me” were the doctors for us. When we checked back with their website for the first time in a week or so we were surprised to find that our chosen doctors were no longer listed with the company. After further research Ally found that they had opened their own company called “Specialized Bariatrics, INC.”. Discussing the situation we both decided that we were comfortable enough with the company (A Lighter Me) to continue with them and still book our surgery.

Having been sent the necessary forms a few months before when we were doing our research on the company we now filled them out and sent them on to be considered by the surgeon (who we were still researching). Their Patient Coordinator/Sales Manager Janese, talked to us on the phone and when talking about the surgery we wanted she said that the I would probably only be able to get the Vertical Sleeve because that is what the surgeon would recommend for someone of my weight. That alone would have been enough for us to seriously consider other companies to get our surgery, but when we asked her the surgeons’ statistics she was rather rude and asked if she should go thru his entire schedule and count them all for us.

Leaving that conversation rather unsatisfied and unsettled we decided to research the company that our first choice surgeons had opened “Specialized Bariatrics, INC.”. As we had thoroughly researched the surgeons and were comfortable with them, we were only worried about the company itself. We worried about how everything would work and were we would stay. Turned out that they use the same hospital and hotel as “A Lighter Me” and their procedures are basically the same. Following the same procedure we did to contact “A Lighter Me”, we obtained, filled out and sent the required forms to begin our process with our originally chosen and vetted surgeons.

Cathy is the contact for Specialized Bariatrics and she has been great. She answers all our questions (on the phone and thru email) and she is quick in answering all our emails, sometimes late into the evening. Once we were approved for surgery and had reserved our dates (February 26^th) she sent us an email with all the forms and information we would need and we went to the bank to transfer our deposit. On February 2^nd we bought our plane tickets to arrive an extra day early because the flight was cheaper that way, we will be staying an extra day at the hotel in Mexico which Cathy has booked for us. More to come on the preoperative diet which we start this weekend. XOXO, Evie & Ally