Life After Weight Loss Surgery: After Bariatric Surgery

The most awaited moment is the change promised by weight loss surgery after the procedure. Patients who have undergone bariatric operations are committed to a lifestyle modification that is expected to be lifelong. If you have kept that positive attitude since the beginning of the surgery until after the operation, you could be maintaining that glow or else, the life reformation will make a difficult coping up stage for you. Remember that there are steps to be followed right after the surgery. You are expected to comply with these instructions in order to reap the benefits of the whole bariatric program.

What Happens After Surgery?

After the procedure, you will be given IV medications for pain as necessary. The health team/staff will encourage you to walk as soon as you awake. Expect the surgeon to check on you several times reminding you of important instructions; this is the right time to ask any other questions you have. The instructions will be provided also on how to contact your surgeon should any other queries arise.

Your IV will be removed as soon as you are able to tolerate enough liquids such as water or ice chips to sustain hydration. If you have an adjustable gastric band operation, you will be discharged from the hospital 2 to 3 days after surgery. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients are usually discharged 4 to 6 days after surgery; while gastric bypass patients are often released from the hospital 5 to 8 days after the operation.

Upon discharge, you will be instructed primarily to take only clear liquids. Clear liquids may include: ice chips, popsicle made of flavored water or fruit juice, plain jell-o, tea or black coffee, soda pop, soup broth that doesn’t contain food items, fruit juice except those that contain pulp like orange juice. Vitamin supplements should also be taken as directed by your surgeon.

When you have already tolerated clear liquids, you will be instructed to take in full liquids. Full liquid diet falls in between clear liquid diet and soft liquid diet. Full liquids may include: all fruit juices, broth, carbonated beverages, coffee or tea, liquids with butter/cream/oil/margarine, syrup, ice milk, liquid meal, milk, thin fruit purees and vegetable juice.

Slowly, you will be instructed to move on soft foods and other pureed foods depending on the type of surgery you had. Solid foods are introduced as the food become more tolerable for you.

An exercise program should start once your surgeon agreed on it. The exercise should be done slowly and gradually, increasing in intensity through time. You should have started joining a support group by this time. There are a lot of communities online and support is always available for you to share and benefit from. Remember to continue on that positive outlook by surrounding yourself with people who share that constructive attitude.

Disappointments are also expected after surgery. Even early after your discharge, there can be some people who may want to sabotage your efforts. These are the people who may be envious on the effects you will achieve after surgery while they remain fat for the rest of their lives. Never let yourself get brainwashed by these people. Always keep in mind that your best advisor is yourself; staying positive and continuing that inner commitment is vital to topple the hindrances that could come along the way.

How To Stay Positive After Surgery?

Overcoming the negative thoughts after surgery obviously can be done by living a life positively. How to stay positive after surgery? Outlined below is a guide that answers this question.

• Never hurry the results – remember to live each day at a time. The desired effects of the surgery will not come out suddenly. A religious compliance to the entire bariatric program should be followed until gradually you can see and reap the outcome.
• Don’t compare yourself with others – not all men are created equal to achieve exactly similar effects from a given stimulus. A member of your support group could be achieving results faster than you do. Don’t compete. Remember that if you stop comparing yourself with others, the lesser the psychological burden you will have from false expectations.
• Evaluate what they say about you – try to take bad comments constructively. Subjective comments often ruin one’s positive outlook, so it is necessary to fight it back by evaluating the negative feedback and work it out inside you.
• Don’t expect too much – try to level down your high expectations. Expecting too much will ruin your positive attitude.
• Appreciate – the way to continue living positively and achieving the best results is to look at the good side of the things that come along the way. You should start by acknowledging the successful operation and the life you will have on the days to come.

Now, It’s Time:

Once you have started to cope up with the changes after surgery, it’s about time to enjoy life! The moment will come when you start seeing the magnificent result of the bariatric surgery. Now, it’s time to:

• Get out and meet new people – you are now a new person, with a more positive outlook in life. It is essential that you meet new acquaintances and connections for personal growth.
• Do things you couldn’t do before – what’s so promising about having a new look is to try and endeavor on things you haven’t done before due to your condition. Try wearing clothes that you haven’t worn before, or do activities you formerly think are impossible for you.
• Go somewhere you have never been – you might be hindered by your former condition from going to places that you love. Now it’s your chance, and that chance would be almost endless since you are now capable of traveling and reaching those places.
• Try new forms of exercise – it will be part of your lifelong commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Try bike riding or water aerobics or any forms of exercise that you had a hard time doing prior surgery.
• Think of yourself as an active person – keep in mind that you are already renewed; you have left your former self, the sedentary individual. It’s time to realize that you have to be active enough to continue being healthy and productive.

Your life after the weight loss surgery will never be the same again. The beautiful change is at hand once you start committing yourself to the entire bariatric program. Like the old saying goes: “no pain, no gain.” The painstaking stages you need to go through will be your proof that this adage is true. It takes patience and commitment to a lifetime modification of your former unhealthy state. But after you have started reaping the fruits of your labor, you can proudly say that you all deserve it!