Regardless of which bariatric procedure you choose, the changes you experience after weight loss surgery can be difficult. You will be a new you – and that “new you” will have to relearn a lot of things, like eating, exercising and taking vitamins.

Post-Operative Guidelines

Before your surgery, Dr. Stowers will provide you with a handbook with all the details about what you need to know before and after surgery, including important guidelines for living with your new stomach. At first, you’ll be on a 100 percent liquid diet, after which you will transition to soft foods, and eventually to solids, over a period of several weeks. Once you are able to eat a normal diet, you will have to learn to chew your food thoroughly until it is practically a liquid. Depending on your procedure, you may have to avoid juices, sodas, candy and other foods containing simple sugars. Also, you won’t be able to drink beverages during meals to keep from washing down your food and ingesting too many calories, and to ensure you get the proper nutrients from your food.

Although the recovery time varies based on an individual’s health prior to weight loss surgery, as well as which procedure they have, most patients are able to go back to work and resume exercise within one to three weeks after surgery. Women should not become pregnant during the first 16 to 24 months after weight loss surgery.

Follow-up Visits

When you commit to weight-loss surgery, one of the most important components is your commitment to follow-up. We want to work with you in reaching and maintaining your health goals, and regular follow-up visits are crucial to tracking your progress. During your visits, we will evaluate your observance of the lifestyle changes required, assess your weight loss, and monitor your health.

All Obesity Health Solutions patients are required to stick to the prescribed schedule for follow-up visits:
•    Five to seven days – initial post-operative evaluation
•    One month – physician evaluation; psychological and nutritional follow up as needed
•    Three months – diet assessment, assessment of compliance with vitamins and exercise; psychological follow up as needed
•    Six months – physician evaluation and blood work
•    Nine months – assessment of diet, compliance with vitamins and exercise
•    Twelve months – physician evaluation and yearly blood work
•    Yearly for life – physician evaluation and blood work

Missing office visits could compromise the outcomes of your weight loss surgery. Long-term follow-up care is mandatory for success.

Support Groups

Supports groups are helpful for anyone undergoing a major life change, and weight loss surgery is no exception. Obesity Health Solutions offers several regular support group meetings at Wise Regional Hospital, and also access to nutritionists, fitness counselors, and mental health experts to help you on your weight loss journey.

Whether you are having weight loss surgery in Decatur, TX or elsewhere, we encourage you to join an in-person support group or online forum as you go through your process of change. Friends and family may be less helpful than strangers who have personally experienced dramatic weight loss, so seek out support from those who have been there, and who can help guide the way to life-long success.