What To Do to Prepare for Lap Band Surgery

I'm a planner. I like to be prepared and I did a lot of research before the surgery. One thing I wished I had was a check list of tips... so now that I've been through it, I'll put one out there. First throw out anything you can't eat if you can.

Stock your shelves with:

-Chicken Broth
-Chicken Stock (it has more protein than broth)
-Slim Fast Low Carb Shakes
-EAS Advantage Carb Control Shakes
-Atkins Advantage Shakes
-EAS Myoplex Shakes
-Body Fortress Protein Powder or whatever brand you like.
-Sugar Free Popsicles - see my previous post on this
- 2 oz measuring cup, or a few extra 1/4 cup measuring cups (by the way 2oz =1/4 cup if only i knew that 2 days ago)

I love this measuring cup!

-Bottled Water or a good reusable bottle so you can measure your progress

-Dried milk (when you're sick of sweet protein powder you can add it to chicken broth to make a cream soup with protein)

- ice cube tray for freezing soups when you open them (only eating 2 ounces at a time will add up to a lot of waste, might as well freeze the rest in portion sized cubes for another day)

-Chewable Gas X or Gas X Strips
- Campbells V8 soup

-Tylenol


Non Kitchen Items:

Really take a minute to think about what you use on a daily basis. It's really hard to bend for the first few days after surgery so put those things where you can reach them. Unless of course you have someone who can get them for you ;)

- Thermometer

-Any Prescriptions you were given at the pre-op appointment

- A small stiff pillow. Our surgeon gave us stint pillows at the hospital to hold against our stomachs as needed. We used them while getting up and down from bed or from chairs. They really feel good the first few days after surgery

- Baby Wipes (no showering for 2 days)

-  A stack of comfortable pants and t-shirts that you don't have to bend over to get to. Changing into clean clothes every day really made me feel better.

- Something to do. I bought some craft supplies, borrowed a few dvd's. Cooking used to be my hobby, that's on hold for the next few months!