At the start of 2021, I was still getting tests done in preparation for bariatric surgery. I still remember having to take a Lyft one Wednesday night to Sheepshead Bay and stay overnight at a sleep center in order to take a sleep study. I remember back in September, I was put in a hospital gown and pushed on a gurney to have an endoscopy done. I remember taking test after test, month after month, having delays and waiting for everyone’s clearances to be put through.
Hi, my name is Liz and I have surgery in two weeks.
I was talking to my mentor last night about my surgery since I found out the date I was having it, and she brought up the point that if I decided I wanted to write about the surgery process and experience, she would be interested in knowing and reading about it. I thought to myself, “that’s not actually a bad idea!” So here I am, documenting the life of an adult who is getting ready for surgery in less than a month.
I found out my surgery date earlier this month, and that’s when I knew it was time to get serious. It began to feel real; to know that it was only a month and a half away from happening made things feel intense, and I had to start getting my body ready for the surgery.
I got my diet plan from my nutritionist and was told to start it a month before surgery. I had a little more time to prepare myself for it, but when it was time to finally get serious and start it, it was definitely difficult. I was hungry, stressed, and cranky for the first couple of days. Getting a list of things you had to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next two weeks was something I was not used to. I cooked my own meals most days, I brought lunch to work instead of getting what everyone else was getting, and the portions were a lot smaller than what I was used to. It took some time to get used to it, and after awhile I did!
But now, I’m about 2 weeks before my surgery, and the next phase of my diet begins: protein shakes. I’ve been preparing myself for that two week diet; it’s definitely not easy, to say the least. I don’t know how I’ll get through the two week period if not having solid meals during my day, but just like anything else you do consistently, it will get easier as time passes.
I can’t say that I’m not nervous for surgery. It’s such a major change that I didn’t really see until it came time to prepare for surgery. The process to even get to this point was long overdue; it felt like I was never going to get to this point in the program, to be honest. I thought something was going to hold or delay the process even more than it was already, and all of the work I did to get to this point would’ve been for nothing.
But I’m here. Things are happening. Things are changing. Life is going to be different for the next couple of months. Surgery is in two weeks.
Letters From Liz. 