Lose weight before surgery?

[dolores a]

Amanda, I think you might have a point about how we handle past stressors, as I have always dropped weight under any undo stress, and surgery being a stress for sure, I dropped quite a bit of weight.

[JenM]

I dropped sbout 35 pounds prior to my surgery which was on June 8. I was mainly overweight due to having really young kids (2 and 5) and never lost the baby fat since I was in so much pain because of my scoliosis. The day after I saw my doctor back last November I told myself I would due everything possible to try to get in the best shape of my life. I wanted surgery so bad (probably for the past 10 years) and I just really used the surgery as a motivator. I weighed myself everyday from November up until June 8, my day of surgery and lost 35 pounds. My dr didn't say to do this, I just wanted to because I really wanted to lose the baby weight. I felt great going into surgery and alot of my anxiety about the surgery eased up because of the weight loss. I was sooo nervous (probably more so than anyone else in this forum) and thought about the surgery like all the time from Nov 2009 to June 7, 2010. My anxiety about the surgery is what made me work out. Exercising has great mental benefits that I never knew about. I always felt GREAT after I got off of my treadmill for my 35/40 minute run/walk.

Anyway, I am sooo glad I did lose the weight before surgery. I would recomment it to anyone who has a little weight to loose. I am 4 weeks post op and this recovery has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. It is extremely painful. I can't imagine log-rolling if I had been 40 pounds heavier! You have to reposition your body alot in bed constantly throughout the day and night to get comfortable and I couldn't even imagine doing that being heavier.

Anyway, I couldn't believe it, but I gained 10 pounds right after I got out of the hospital. I was shocked because I couldn't even eat in the hospital. But as soon as I got home, I have lost another 10-15 pounds again.

Anyway, hope this info helps.

JenM

[TexEx]

jen:

I had a similar experience. I gained about 5-6 pounds right out of the hospital. I think is was because I was up all night and I snacked and retained alot of fluid. I ate very small meals, but did eat frequently. After the first two weeks the meds messed up my stomach, I stopped retaining fluid and subsequently lost about 10-12 pounds for a net loss of about 6.

I have maintained most of that loss.

Melissa