If you do decide to have weight loss surgery you must be prepared to make lifestyle modifications once the surgery is complete. One of the benefits of working with St. Francis Center for Weight Management is that we have a registered dietitian on staff to help you manage post-surgical diet and nutrition.

The modifications made to your gastrointestinal tract will require permanent changes in your eating habits, which must be adhered to for successful weight loss. Post-surgery dietary guidelines will vary by surgeon. You may hear of other patients who are given different guidelines following their weight loss surgery.

It is important to remember that every surgeon does not perform the exact same weight loss surgery procedure and that the dietary guidelines will be different for each surgeon and each type of procedure. What is most important is that you adhere strictly to your surgeon's recommended guidelines.

Dietary guidelines a weight loss surgery patient may encounter:

• You may be placed on a liquid-only diet temporarily following surgery to allow your stomach and other affected areas to heal.
• Most patients slowly graduate to pureed foods; then to soft foods; and finally solid foods within one to two months after surgery. High protein liquid drinks and nutritional supplements may become the foundation of your diet, supplemented by healthy food choices. Only very small quantities of food (1-3 oz at a time) can be tolerated in between protein drink meals.
• When you do 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.
• Avoid drinking fluids while eating. They will make you feel full before you have consumed enough food and they will push the food through the pouch prematurely.
• Omit desserts and other items with sugar listed as one of the first three ingredients.
• Omit carbonated drinks, high-calorie nutritional supplements, milk shakes and high-fat foods.
• Avoid alcohol.
• Limit snacking between meals.

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 four weeks of their procedure. Patients who have had a minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure may be able to return to these activities within two to three weeks.

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.

Over time, you will need periodic checks for anemia (low red blood cell count), low-serum proteins, and Vitamin B12, folate and iron levels. Follow-up tests will initially be conducted every three to six months or as needed, and then every one to two years.

The widespread use of support groups has provided weight loss surgery patients an excellent opportunity to discuss their various personal and professional issues. Most learn, for example, that weight loss surgery will not immediately resolve existing emotional issues or heal the years of damage that morbid obesity might have inflicted on their emotional well-being.

Most hospitals or surgeons have support groups in place to assist you with short-term and long-term questions and needs. Most bariatric surgeons who frequently perform weight loss surgery will tell you that ongoing post-surgical support helps produce the greatest level of success for their patients.