Question:
What do I tell the dieatician?
I have to go to see a dietician and need to know what info to say or what to withhold. I got the pamphlet from them today and it asked all kind of questions. Has anyone that is post op been through this before? — Big_Sassy (posted on June 12, 2005)
June 12, 2005
Hey Denise, My surgery is tomorrow, June 13, and I would advise you not to
without anything from your surgery team, that includes your dietician. They
are there to help you and they need your help to do that properly. Start
your experience on a positive note. Good luck.
— Patricia C.
June 12, 2005
Shame on you!
Asking what you should withhold from your medical team is offensive. We
have all been in your position at some and wanted our surgery very badly,
but lying is not the answer. You need to tell the whole truth no matter how
if effects your chances. Your dietician plays just as great a role in your
(positive)outcome as your surgeon does.
Please dont ask the very people that have walked in those shoes and
faced our demons to help you "fudge" it. I know you want your
surgery very bad, but this is not the correct way to go about it. You will
soon find that having this surgical tool is more about accountability than
you could have ever imagined.
Christy Riederer R.N.-B.S.N.'s
Open RNY 4/8/04 (Starting weight 265lb.,-136lbs. Currently 129 and at
goal!)
— Tiny Pixie
June 12, 2005
Lord, tell her everything, the truth, that is the only way she can truly
help you. Sissy
— Karen W.
June 12, 2005
I can understand your question, and I don't think that you meant it to come
accross the way it did. I'm sure that you want the surgery very bad,
however it is imperatie that we remain as honest as possible throughout the
whole process.
Good Luck sweetie,
Plain old Aliya-no letters here...
— njcocoa
June 12, 2005
Denise,
Please, whatever you do, do not withhold any info from your dietician. You
are not really on a pass or fail with them. If you have a problem with
something, they help you work with it and even though your surgery may be
postponed a bit, it will be worth it. My dietician is with me for life.
If I forgot to mention anything, she would have found out sooner or later
and you definitely don't want to risk damaging that relationship. Good
Luck. Kelly
— Kelly MzKelz Valdez
June 12, 2005
Oh, and I forgot to mention. To answer the first part of your question.
They are going to ask about your prior diet plans and so you should have
your list of prior attempts with you and my office had me start a daily
food log the day I made the appointment and I was to bring that to the
dietician appointment and she looked at it and went through it with a
fine-tooth comb, per se. Be prepared to talk about alcohol consumption and
everything else that gets put into your mouth but also be prepared to talk
about why you put it there and how much and if you truly feel you could
change these bad habits. Hope this helps, Kelly
— Kelly MzKelz Valdez
June 13, 2005
Hello Ms Denise!
I am a dietitian and wanted to let you know that our role is to support you
in your journey, not to judge you. If you find that your dietitian is not
supportive, or is judgemental, or doesnt have the experience with WLS, then
you may decide to seek out someone who can expertly guide you through.
My typical first visit with a patient is as follows:
Types of diets you followed in the past-
what worked and why do you think? Structure?
What types of foods you eat now and your eating pattern (do you eat out
alot and how do we work with that after surgery?) or even, how can we
adjust your family's meals to support you post op.
Allergies to foods
Activity pattern
Of course, ht, weight, bmi
24 hour recall, fluid intake. Are you a sweet beverage drinker or caffiene
drinker?
I then review the post op meal pattern with the person to help them
understand the diet changes post op, we also discuss how they may deal with
things with regard to lifestyle changes after surgery.
Pills/medications you are on now, if you are a diabetic, what your BG and
A1c are.
The red flags for me are : uncontrolled binging and purging because they
can harm you after surgery (if this is in the past and is controlled and
has been, its not usually an issue)
another red flag for me is large quanitities of alcohol intake and binge
drinking patterns.
Again, this is only a small representation of what we may go into, but I
wanted you to feel a little at ease and have some info prepared.
Much luck!
Natalie
— majorcat
June 13, 2005
Hi Denise, I asked this very same thing of posties 3 years ago when I was
waiting to have surgery and hoping to qualify at every turn, so I'm going
to tell you what they told me, and what my nutritionist told me after the
fact. On the good side, they are going to work with you on an eating plan
you can live with post op and determine your weak points to help you manage
the very different way you will be eating and digesting food after surgery.
On the BAD side, they WILL be determining if they should recommend you for
surgery (and they have the power to help postpone your date)or not based on
your answers to questions about binge eating, purging and other eating
"disorders", because they consider you should get those mental
issues "fixed" before attempting surgery and it could mean one or
more years added to the waiting to qualify for surgey if they decide you
are not emotionally well enough to alter your habits. I was borderline, as
I always ate for comfort, hid food in the house and in my car, and I tried
to "cheat" often on the pre-surgery diet (even later as a post
op)...would have certainly gained everything back were it not for the
surgery, so it DID help me in that way, but I dealt with extreme emotional
pain because I loved food so much. I wondered many times Post Op, WHY I did
I do this, especially when my old friends wanted to go to the usual Sunday
Brunch/buffets and I could not eat the 3 plate-fulls I used to...I killed
my relationship with food by my RnY. Didn't want to alter my sweet tooth to
healthy eating, stuck my heels in the ground, but the surgery forces this
in you, and you dump and sweat and feel like you want to die when you stray
too far off the proper diet. If you really believe you want and deserve and
can handle what this surgery does, then you have a price to pay and it is
eating healthy and giving up the relationship with food you had before. I
also had a huge list of every diet I was ever on from teenage hood until
now...every slim fast, miracle juice, cabbage soup, sweastin to the oldies
tape, gym, jenny, weight watchers, deal a meal, diuretics...everything. I
wish you all the best on your journey. Don't let anyone on here tell you
"shame on you", because we are all human beings and we all have a
bond of wanting and needing this surgery. I hope things go well at your
appointment. Love from Kathy in MA
— Kathy A C.
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