Hi, Amber! For many people the pre-op diet is the hardest part of this whole thing. Fortunately, it is for a short time - you have a light at the end of the tunnelsurgery, which will give you a powerful tool to help you get healthy.

I wanted to start dealing with my emotional eating issues before surgery so I got Geneen Roth's book "Breaking free from Emotional Eating" and practiced the principles she talks about. For me, the book was a life-changer.

Spending time here every morning while I drank my protein shake helped me get my mind in the right place for the day.

Hang in there!! It is worth it, I promise!!

JJ

Thanks JJ

I agree it's the hardest part. I started mine on Christmas day! Ugh! But I knew from life experience that time flies and I relied on that to get me through. Before I knew it I was in surgery and all was well.

You can do this!!

Good luck getting the heart checked out.

Just re-read the beginning of your post. I had to see a cardiologist as part of the normal pre-op procedure.

I had the same abnormal ekg. Personally, I thought it was a crock. I think my doctor took one look at me and said hmmmm, how about getting a little moola off of her.

They injected me with a radioactive isotope or something so they could watch my heart beat, and I passed the treadmill test with flying colors - stayed on the entire time.
Recovered in the time allotted after they my treadmill test.

Yet - he now wanted to do an angio gram cuz he thought I needed a stent. I was sooo disappointed I could have cried.

So I did the angio and it turns out (after they sped my heart up) that I didn't need one.

The nurse practitioner said that often times women with larger breasts have an abnormal ekg at some point. But, honestly - that first ekg was a joke, they practically didn't even leave it on me for 10 seconds.

My second set back was I went in for the endoscopy to check for h-pylori (some sort of bacteria in your stomach) and while they were gonna do it, they would do my colonoscopy at the same time. Showed up for my colonoscopy in outpatient and the anesthesiologist said - sorry, you're too obese and we would feel better if you had this all done in a hospital setting.

Let the crying start again. I really felt defeated.

But - it all worked out even though it took a little longer.

Message me if you want to talk further - I bet everything is going to be just fine for you.

I agree with JJ, the pre-op diet is the hardest part! I often went to bed at 8:00 (as soon as my toddler did) because I wanted to eat everything in site. I also did a lot of journaling. Hang in there. It gets easier - I promise!

Kris

My EKG was abnormal too. But the tech did it again. And again. And AGAIN. And again until she got a good reading. She said sometimes even your breathing can effect it. I was a little concerned that they had to do it so many times but it really was nothing. I had another abnormal EKG when going in for another surgery years ago. They had me do the stress test and all that before they would do surgery. And those tests were fine/normal also. So, I think it is just a cautionary measure...but still a pain in the butt.

I'm sorry this is holding you up on getting your surgery. And I've always said that I'm never going to understand the pre-op diet requirements outside of the liver-shrinking phase of it. I only had to do 3 days which is doable. Having to lose weight before surgery just seems cruel to me so I hope that is not what you're having to do. It is so much easier to lose weight when you're not hungry...which you will experience after surgery. Try to focus on that if you can. And be kind to yourself about the emotional rollercoaster. That is entirely understandable and VERY commonly just a part of the process.

You're doing GOOD, so hang in there!

Tonya
RNY 11/19/2013

One thing that I also have been "thinking" about are the head issues.. Am I hungry? etc. this is an emotional process for most people. We are changing alot about our llives, habits, appearance. Having somebody talk to during this initial phase is a good thing.

Thanks for the support guys. I'm taking it one day at a time. On the up side. I've already been able to cut my insulin usage by HALF!!