Pre-OP ~ 1. Take all diuretics at the prescribed time NEVER later. And no matter what you do, do NOT fart unless you are seated upon the porcelain GOD. Sleeping and diuretics do NOT MIX...repeat...do NOT sleep if you have just taken your diuretics. (Unless you have some depends on hand..then by all means...)
Pre-Op ~ 2. Understand the two week diet requirements fully, before the two week diet is supposed to start. Don't wait until the day after the diet should have started to realize you have no clue what you are doing. Have a plan, have food purchased and ready to go. Be a good boy/girl scout..Be PREPARED.
Pre-OP ~ 3. Chapstick, Pillow, Slippers...nothing else matters.
Pre-OP ~ 4. 2oz. cups with lids. A must when prepping food for the next several weeks. My motto is waste not, want not...and by breaking down regular servings into several 1oz meals for me and donating the rest to my family...everyone is happy. (Yes, kids will eat SF/FF pudding...like they know the difference!!!)

Post-Op ~ 1. Gas X strips, they dissolve on your tounge...are you new best friend. Buy them, use them...gas is evil.

2. DO NOT GET ON THE SCALE...don't even think about it, until your two week appt. I did, and I am still cleaning the tear streaks off my walls and floor. Bad Scale!!

3. Stop BEFORE you are Full!! This is vital. Take a small bit, then wait...wait.....and wait...if you don't feel anything go for another. If you happen to have even the slightest twinge of pain, cramping, stickiness..or the like...STOP!! Pucking sucks, and it isn't good on the poor pouchie.

4. Ask yourself every single time you eat which is hungry..your pouch or your head. Figure out how to tell the difference between the two. While the pouch is still sore, it relatively easy to pinpoint it...and you can then weed out the head hungers. This little self-exercise will help later on down the road.

5. When trying new foods for the first time (ie: soft stage) GO SLOWLY, CHEW LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, AND only TRY ONE NEW THING A DAY!! Peanut butter, cottage cheese and ricotta aren't seperated when tried for the first time...who knows which made ya sicker than a dog for 2 hrs. on the couch hoping to hurl though you couldn't. Yep, if only I had done as told and try one new thing a day instead of listening to my stupid head and 'thinking' I was finally at week 3 and could try all this glorious new stuff. Yep...DUMB. One at a time my friends...that is SAFE..and SMART...and could keep you from getting horribly ill without knowing the cause for sure.

6. BE PREPARED to be UNPREPARED. Yep, that's an oxymoron...I know. In truth, you have to be prepared to not be prepared to deal with whatever this surgery will throw at you. For instance: I prepared to the extreme, I read it all, knew it all, learned every scrap of info that anyone was willing to tell me. I have yet to experience anything that surprises me...YET I AM STILL NOT PREPARED.. Meaning, even though I KNOW what to expect with all the little quirks...I am surprised by MY reaction to these things. Like vomiting...I knew from reading here what it entailed in the easy spectrum to the harshest stories. I just wasn't prepared to deal with how I would deal with it. I expected the exhaustion, depression and buyers remorse, but didn't expect how I would handle those issues. What I thought I would feel like....was usually WRONG. So...know that even though you are HYPER PREPARED...that you need to be flexable enough to deal with those moments of clairity when you realize something you KNEW has taken you for a ride!