Life After Surgery
After surgery, success is in your hands! The changes you make need to be lifelong commitments. Your Aftercare Provider will offer guidance and support, but the choices are yours.

Be aware that how you see yourself and how others see you may change. Turn to those close to you and to your Aftercare Provider for support. They can help you adjust to your new life.

Most people experience steady weight loss in the first few months after the operation. This of course, depends on how they use the tool to maintain intake of low calorie healthy foods. It is further influenced in a very strong way by whether or not they exercise with regularity. The following identifies areas that are important for you to consider after your weight loss surgery.

What You Eat

Your Aftercare Provider, your Lifestyle Guide, and the resources you will find in HouseCall will instruct you on your new healthy eating habits for successful weight loss and health. The following are some of the general dietary guidelines a gastric band patient may encounter:

When you start eating solid food it is essential that you chew thoroughly. You will not be able to eat 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 consumed enough food. They will also flush the solid food out of your stoma faster, resulting in hunger sooner.


• Omit carbonated drinks, high-calorie nutritional supplements, milk shakes, high-fat foods and foods with high fiber content.
  
Avoid alcohol.


Limit snacking between meals.

When you receive your Lifestyle Guide you will have access to detailed information including recipes and nutritional advice taking you through the first twelve weeks post-surgery and beyond.

Going Back to Work

Your ability to resume pre-surgery levels of activity will vary according to your physical condition, the nature of the activity and the type of weight loss surgery you had. Many patients return to full pre-surgery levels of activity within a week of their procedure. If your work requires heavy lifting or other physical activities it may take you longer to recoup.

Birth Control & Pregnancy

The adjustable gastric band is a good weight loss surgery choice for women who may want to become pregnant in the future, because there are no malabsorption issues associated with it. However, it is strongly advised that women of childbearing age use the most effective forms of birth control during the first 16-24 months after surgery. After weight loss surgery your body is stressed and the added nutritional and physical demands of pregnancy could increase the potential for fetal damage.

Once your weight loss has stabilized, becoming pregnant may be easier, because your menstrual cycle may become more regular. If you need to eat more while you are pregnant the band can be loosened. After the pregnancy the band may be made tighter again. Then you can resume your weight loss efforts.

Long-Term Follow-Up

Although the short-term effects of weight loss surgery are well understood, there are still questions to be answered about the long-term effects on nutrition and body systems. Nutritional deficiencies that occur over the course of many years will need to be studied. This is just one of the many reasons we put together a complete 200+ pg. Lifestyle Guide to assist you with your healthy new life. Your Aftercare Provider will also provide support long term during your monthly visits. Beyond adjustments, your Aftercare Provider offers support for nutrition, exercise and fitness and the other things you need for your healthy new lifestyle.

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