What every WLS patient needs to know

Sometimes it pains me to read posts on message boards from newly post-op RNY patients. I spent so much time before surgery reading about what I was going to experience and asking questions in my support groups, that I felt totally prepared for the physical effects of my surgery. (Okay, the psychological effects were another story.)

So here are my observations for those considering RNY gastric bypass.

1.) You will plateau. And it will happen sooner than you expect or want. Two weeks post-op seems to be pretty common. And it doesn't mean that your surgery failed. It simply means that your body needs to catch up to the traumatic changes and stabilize a bit after losing that first wad of fat.

2.) You will feel hungry. It's not your stomach talking; it's your head. And you don't have to listen to it. Don't eat until you think you're full, because you won't feel full for a couple of months. Your nerves have to heal. So measure your food. Be diligent about it. Buy a decent scale. And stop freaking out.

3.) Don't tempt fate. You may--or may not--dump on sugar. Why do you want to find out? Keep it out of your mouth as long as you can. There's a reason why it helped you get fat in the first place.

4.) If your doctor says liquid, do liquid. If your doctor says puree, do puree. Who cares what other people are doing? They are not living in your body and they likely didn't choose the same surgeon you did. You--or your insurance company--paid good money for the doctor you got. Why waste it? Listen to your doctor, not some chick who has nothing better to do than sit on a message board for 10 hours a day.

5.) You're the boss of you. Take responsibility for your food plan. Don't whine when you go out and can't find food to eat. Duh. Take it with you. Or take the time to learn what you can eat. Study menus before you go into a restaurant. Buy the groceries you can eat.

6.) You are not an island. Your surgery affects most everyone around you. Understand that it's just as of a change for the people in your life as it is for you. So be willing to consider how your changes affect them. It may not always be for the better. But that's what we get--and you won't know it until you go through it.

7.) If you think you're going to have this surgery and the only thing in your life that's going to change is the shape of your body, you're sadly mistaken. Everything is going to change. Even how it feels to sleep in your own bed when you no longer fit in the dent left by your morbidly obese body. Even how you pee and wipe your ass. How you deal with that change--embrace it or reject--is solely your responsibility. Your first and most important step is to simply accept that responsibility.

I could probably go on. And maybe I will later. Feel free to add your two cents worth.