June 11, 2008

Today I had my pre-op appointment at the hospital where I will have my Lap Band done. I was there for 3 and 1/2 hours. Wow. I had blood tests, a chest x-ray and an EKG. I also went through preadmission for the hospital and preadmission for the Ambulatory Surgery Center. I met with the financial person and also spent a great deal of time with the nutritionist. This was most interesting. I was given a booklet to read followed by a 20 question, multiple choice quiz. The nurse went over the quiz with me and we discussed all the answers.

The nutritionist gave me a two-week pre-op diet I will start in two days, Friday, the 13th. Oh my. It will be a combination of Slim Fast protein drink, lo-fat cottage cheese, yogurt, vegetarian vegetable soup, oatmeal and no sugar puddings and jellos. She also gave me a protein powder drink to mix in with my food. Their main concern is my getting the necessary amounts of daily protein. The reason for such a strict eating program prior to surgery is to clear the liver of as much fatty tissue around it as possible. This will help ease the process of the procedure and later help with the absorption of the vitamins and minerals I take in. I think there is more to it than that, but I will need to go back and read my materials again to be more knowledgable on the matter.

The surgery is scheduled for June 27th. Then I will be on a clear liquid diet for 2 weeks followed by 2 weeks of pureerd food and finally work my way slowly into solids again.

So, I'm on my way. I'm still upbeat and have never been so excited about quitting eating before. I also met a former patient from the weight loss center. He has lost 125 pounds since his Lap Band last July. That's a great loss for less than a year. How excited he was. We had a good conversation and he shared some of his eating habits with me.

Guess that's it for now. I'll keep you posted on the soft diet program stating Friday.:wink: