How big of a screw-up did I make?

[wendy1974 3]

Okay, I've been on my liquid pre-op diet since June 21. My surgery is only THREE days away... Yesterday, my Italian MIL made the freakin' best lunch EVER and I caved... I ate roasted potatoes & carrots, salad, and home made chicken Soup w/ cheese tortellini and then I ate a piece (albeit small) of birthday cake for my nephew. OMG, the feelings of guilt have been EATING at me all night!! It was sooooooooo freakin' good though, I have to say. But I'm hoping it won't hurt things too bad for my surgery. Do you think if I follow the liquid diet to a 'T' for the next couple days it will be okay? I mean, how fast can your liver get fatter? I've been doing soooo good up to now...

Thanks for your input!

[TijuanaPlication 87]

There's not much you can do either way, so get straight back on the wagon and follow things to the letter!

[iegal 460]

Well, you know that was not the right choice after one bite...or the second and so on. So, what can you do? Nothing and hope you did not eat so much that you reversed affects of preop diet. Wish I could say - hey, no big deal. I encourage everyone to self evaluate during preop diet the two cosiderations below.

You stick to the diet for two reasons. 1) to reduce fatty liver for less potential complications during surgery 2) to learn new habits you MUST adhere to after surgery for your safety (no leaks) and for weight loss to goal. Questions - How badly do you want to be healthy and lose weight? Are you a fighter? If you can taste (excuse the pun) the need to VSG surgery then know you MUST learn to say no and make the right choices. Good news for post surgery is that most of us no longer battle with being hungry all the time.

Be honest with your surgeon should they ask at preop appointment. Surgeons don't torture patients just to see if you can follow the rules. Most require diet for your safety. I would be worried for those who do not diet. Have you seen a liver with no diet? Yes, you can see the difference. Move forward, learn from the lapse. Learn about yourself and your desires.

Best wishes on your upcoming surgery! Rooting for your upcoming victories.

[suez1105 2]

I wouldn't worry about it honestly. I consulted with two different surgeons. The first my friend who is a nurse went with me. She asked him about a req pre-op diet. He said only 48hrs before. He did say he heard some doctors give that advice but he kinda just rolled his eyes n shook his head almost like it wasn't true. I kinda find it hard to believe that you can shrink a fatty liver that much in 2 weeks to make a difference or that your one meal will make a difference. I think more that you can loose more weight and we all know that the lower our weight before surgery the better we are thru the surgery, just my opinion. Also I would think they just want to see if you can stick with it so they can see if you will follow the rules afterwards.

[Silverlining 2]

All the best for your surgery, hope to see you back soon on the forum.

I am due for surgery on 15 July but till now my doc has not advised any diet control, may be because in general he knows I do not smoke, drink alcohol and am purely vegetarian.

[readytolive 1]

The Pre-Op Diet is not easy! I haven't started mine yet but I have been doing gluten free for awhile. The other night my mom asked me to pick up a veggie pizza for her on my way to drop off my son for the evening. I resisted her offers to have some at first but caved when I came to pick him up and I hadn't had dinner. Mom's and MIL's just want to feed us because it makes them feel good. I however felt awful the next morning! Part of our new lifestyle is learning to resist and be in control of what we choose to eat. Don't be so hard on yourself, if this were easy we wouldn't need the surgery. After we will have a powerful new tool. And resisting food when you are not hungry and motivated by weight loss will be much easier!

[KathyM 14]

Don't sweat it too much, one goofup won't keep you from your surgery. Just get back on track with the preop diet and keep going. If it is that hard for you to resist, you may find that you just have to stay away from situations where there will be that awesome food while you are on the preop. I know it's hard, but it will all be worth it.

[bunny 2]

I cheated on my diet too...2 days before surgery I had some butter chicken (drained about 95% of the sauce so it was mostly just like 8 pieces of chicken in a bit of sauce) and a small skim Cappuccino and a mini cheesecake cupcake. My surgery went fine according to my doctor and he didn't seem to notice.

Yes we are supposed to change our eating habits, but we're supposed to change them to *healthy* eating habits, not permanent fasting. That sort of extreme dieting/fasting isn't going to be a permanent lifestyle choice, you're going to be eating healthier food in small portions, not shakes and liquids forever. To me the point of this surgery is to eat like a normal person, and Soup, veggies and tortellini sounds totally reasonable, even the small piece of cake is something 99.9% of normal thin people eat. We didn't get fat eating a small piece of cake, we got fat eating too much cake.

If you are worried about complications definitely talk to your doctor but don't beat yourself up about it...I don't think one meal is going to make your liver balloon up to fatty again. That being said - don't do it again One slip up is reversible, but don't shrug off the pre op diet in general.