Bariatric surgery is not a quick fix. It’s an ongoing journey toward weight loss incoherence with lifestyle changes. After surgery, the difference in your body makes it physically easier to adjust your eating and lifestyle habits. Positive changes in your body, your weight, and your health will occur, but you will need to be patient through the recovery process.
In the early days after surgery, you may not feel much different. In the recovery room, you can expect to have some discomfort (this can last for several days). Unfortunately, you may feel worse before you feel better. Some doctors will provide a Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), or a self-administered pain management system, to help control pain. Other doctors prefer to use an infusion pump that provides a local anesthetic directly to the surgical site to control pain without the side effects of narcotics.
| All abdominal operations carry the risks of bleeding, infection in the incision, blood clots, lung problems (pneumonia, pulmonary embolisms), strokes or heart attacks, anesthetic complications, and blockage or obstruction of the intestines. These risks are greater in morbidly obese patients. You should be aware that some surgical side effects, such as a blood clot, could be life threatening. The risk of death during Bariatric surgery is less than one percent. |
The changes made to your gastrointestinal tract will require permanent changes in your eating habits that must be followed in order to achieve successful weight loss. Post surgery dietary guidelines will vary by Bariatric surgeon. What is most important is that you follow your surgeon’s guidelines. The following are some of the generally accepted dietary guidelines:
- When you start eating solid food, it is important to chew your food thoroughly and eat very slowly. It is important to wait two to three minutes after swallowing before putting the next bite of food in your mouth. You will not be able to digest steaks or other chunks of meat if they are not ground or chewed thoroughly.
- Don’t drink fluids while eating. They will make you feel full before you have eaten enough food. Fluids consumed with meals can cause vomiting and dumping syndrome, and can lead to feeling hungry sooner after a meal.
- Don’t eat desserts and other items with sugar if they have more than 3 to 5 grams per serving size.
- Avoid carbonated drinks, high-calorie nutritional supplements, milk shakes, foods high in fat, and foods that have no nutritional value.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Limit snacking between meals.
Most patients are instructed to eat 1/4 cup, or 2 ounces, of food. As time goes on, you can eat more (as instructed by your medical team). Most people can eat approximately 1cup of food after a year or more post-surgery.
The guidelines are designed to improve the chance of long-term success in weight loss. If you don’t follow the guidelines, you may not lose or maintain the loss of the estimated 70 to 90 percent of excess weight. You may experience complications such as vomiting, diarrhea, or malnutrition after surgery.
It is strongly advised that women of childbearing age use the most effective forms of birth control during the first 16 to 24 months after Bariatric surgery.
Finally, it is important to follow the advice of your physician at all time.