The Eclectic Interweb

Time to get down and dirty with the information the Circle of Care gave to cover what I can expect over the next few weeks leading up to and after the operation. To begin with, let’s look at the mortality stats. The possibility of embolism or blood clots is 1 in 3,000. Complications, including perforation of the stomach, bleeding, infection and slow healing (age-related) are 0.5% to 1% and there is a 1 in 100 chance of *dying*! These seem to relate directly to the operation

I didn’t ask if these were this clinic’s stats, or the overall stats worldwide. Might be a good idea to ask! 🙂

Following the operation was a huge list of potential complications I could experience after the operation. These include… takes a deep breath… DVT, Bleeding from the cut surface or staple line, ulcers, damage to adjacent organs, leakage of stomach contents, infection, narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the small intestine, dumping syndrome (i.e. massive diarrhoea attacks), hernia, gallstones, dehydration, intolerance to some foods, hair loss and reflux. Imagine getting *all* of them?? Yowser. I’m hoping to get none of these, but because of my age, I’ll have to be super-observant of my condition and do as little ‘physically’ as possible for a few weeks after being discharged.

Clearly, the operation isn’t as straightforward as it might be. Another issue is being unable to get my tablets down for the first few days. Getting them down them with the minimal sips of water it’ll be possible to swallow might cause some concern but that’s a bridge to cross when we get to it. Regardless of these issues, and the very real prospect of ‘buyer remorse’ after the operation I’m still intent on going ahead. As I’ve said before a few times, I really feel it’s now or never.

Moving on to the pre-op diet, it’s much as I expected, so going to be very hard for me.

From now until the actual operation I’m to follow their instructions. The idea is to reduce the fat around the liver as much as possible to make it easier for the surgeon to move it around and get more straightforward access to the stomach itself.

The diet itself is surprisingly straightforward. I’m to have three ‘diet shakes’ a day and drink 2 litres of calorie-free fluid, or water, per day. In addition two to three cups of low-carb vegetables each day, avoiding where possible all high-carb ‘root’ vegetables such as potato, pumpkin, peas, corn, parsnip and legumes. These should be steamed for preference but can be cooked via microwave or ‘fried’ in a nonstick pan with non-stick spray. For my preference one of those cups of veg will be a low-carb salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato etc.) but no cheese, or avocado. Dressings should be limited to ‘clear’ where possible (no oil)… no mayo, yoghurt, butter or oil etc. but soy, vinegar, oyster sauce and lime/lemon juice.

I can also have diet jelly and sugar-free gum… as are stock powder and fat-free stocks (to make vegetable soup from the vegetable allowance) if desired. For myself, i.e. over 178 cm and 120 kilos, I must eat one serve of protein per day in the form of meat (beef, chicken), fish, or 2 eggs. The measure must be *raw* i.e. before cooking and I can have 100 ml skimmed milk to add to tea or coffee.

I already know I’m going to have a few issues keeping to this, but there is an option to have a cup of low-carb fruit each day to help control the initial hunger. These fruits include rockmelon, honeydew melon, passionfruit, [aw [aw and strawberries. This should only be eaten if absolutely necessary as more will interfere with ketosis which is intended to burn fat quickly. Maybe I should cut up fruit and keep it in the fridge only eating a piece now and then as the need arises. We’ll see what happens.

They gave me a few recipe ideas for using the veg allowance in a way that is fairly ‘tasty’. I might use a few as I go along the road. Again, we’ll see. Whatever way I go, I’ll have to make up a shopping list to make sure I have all I need on hand. I really want the best outcome I can have so I need to follow the instructions as closely as I can.