WLS Class 2 and beyond...

On Wednesday I attended the second half of the mandatory WLS class. The room wasn't quite so full this time.

We reviewed the post-op diet again and then we covered the topics of supplements, the day of surgery, the hospital stay and subsequent discharge, and post-op exercise.

On average WLS patients spend two nights in the hospital. I was very surprised at how busy I will be after surgery. There will be frequent five minute walks, a leak test, and another type of test that I am not remembering at this time... Hey! It's 4:30am and I'm tired... and hungry but more about that in a few.

Regarding post-op supplements I learned quite a bit.

1. The body can only utilize about 500 IU of Vitamin D at a time.
2. WLS patients regardless of gender need 1500 IU of Vitamin D daily.
3. Regarding protein, I have read that people recommend adding it to hot coffee, hot soup, and other types of hot meals. I specifically questioned this practice. In theory, it sounds like a great idea and an easy way to get 20g of protein in a meal. Well... it really doesn't work that way. As we all know, heat breaks down protein. This happens when we fry an egg and the originally clear egg whites turn white or when we cook meat and it goes from red to brown. Heat will do the same thing to whey protein. The dietician recommended allowing the heated liquid to cool to below 120 degrees. My coffee maker will heat coffee to above 150 degrees so that is out of question. And I love HOT soup... so again, out of the question... However, I do plan to come up with some creative protein ideas (which I will post here.)

In regards to post-op exerciese they recommend walking one mile per day about two or three weeks out of surgery. However, walking my large dog who likes to pull is out of the question for the first month.

They offer an eight week exercise course with an exercise physiologist for $128.00. I am not sure if I will participate in the program. It definately is not the cost because that is exceedingly cheap. I made sure the participants in the class were well aware of that. My employer offers an exercise program through their exercise facility for employees. I think I'll check into this program first before participating in the program offered by my surgeon's team.

So why am I so hungry??? I have my pre-op endoscopy this morning. I'm not quite sure what to expect. Everyone says it's not terrible and they don't usually remember it due to the drugs. I believe they will use versed and fentanyl to sedate me but if they don't I'll update it here. These are the most common drugs used.

So what's left to do before surgery?

• Chest x-ray
• Psychological evaluation
• Pre-op shopping
• 8 day 1,000 calorie pre-op diet
• Submit short-term disability paperwork to human resources
• Receive my surgical clearance from my PCP
• Visit the kennel for the dog

Wow... I still have a lot to do and only 3.5 weeks left!