Winthrop Bariatric Support Group Recap

Pre-Op Patient Support

The first hour of our Support Group typically focuses on tips and hints for the Pre-Op patient as they prepare for surgery, especially when it comes to managing the 2-week Pre-Op Liquid Diet right before surgery and the diet progression after surgery.

Discussion about the 2-week Pre-op Liquid Diet included:

• The reasons for doing a 2-week liquid diet
• The meal replacement products to use
• How to handle any tolerance issues regarding the meal replacement drinks, and
• When to call the office for support and help

Learn more about the Pre-Op Liquid Diet

Discussion about the surgical length of stay in the hospital.

Most patients will:

• Spend the day (outpatient), or 1 night for Lap-Band surgery
• Spend 1 night for gastric sleeve surgery
• Spend 2-3 nights for gastric bypass surgery

Learn more about the hospital stay after bariatric surgery

Diet Progression

With special emphasis on the Stage 1 Clear Liquid and the Stage 2 Full Liquid phases, diet progression is reviewed. The daily post-op protein and fluid requirements are described and examples of protein drinks are shown. The rest of the Diet Progression is also reviewed, along with common issues that arise (i.e. handling food intolerances, knowing when to advance the diet, and how to adapt your foods to satisfy not only your dietary requirements, but your food preferences).

Learn more about diet after bariatric surgery 

Additional topics are covered, including the whys and hows of reducing caffeine intake and how to determine when it is safest to return back to work.

Post-Op Patient Support

The second hour of our Support Group is mainly for our Post-Op patients, ranging from 1 week to several years post-op.

We discuss a monthly topic, e.g. “Coping with Cravings” including:

• how to identify your specific cravings
• underlying causes of cravings
• creating an action plan to minimize the effects of cravings

Learn more about cravings after bariatric surgery

A list of coping strategies for cravings are reviewed and recipes for healthier versions of some commonly craved foods (i.e. pizza, chocolate, cookies, French fries) are discussed.

Additional topics that may be covered include:

• alcohol intake after surgery 
• how to handle weight loss plateaus