I Cheated On My Pre Gastric Sleeve Surgery Gastric Sleeve Surgery Diet... Should I Be Nervous Now?

[Kendall Ann 0]

im on day 5 on a 14 day pre op liquid diet and i just feel like i am starving myself.

just before I broke down and ate 2 oatmeal Cookies...

should I be worried?

i just dont understand how all different doctors have different pre op diets...

how is it fair that i have to suffer 14 days while some only suffer 3???

it should all be the same guidelines in my eyes...

[omamilam 11]

1. It may have to do with shrinking your liver before surgery. I think it depends on you BMI also. If you have a higher BMI you may have to diet longer in order to shrink you liver size to make surgery safer. It will also introduce you to what the typical postoperative diet is like.
   

[Lissa 2,631]

Kendall, Lots of things aren't fair, but the pre-op diet is because your surgeon wants you to have the best outcome possible. You need to follow his instructions as closely as you can so that you have the best chance of doing well during and after surgery.

I don't think a 1 time small cheat is going to hurt you too badly, but it should NOT become a habit. The diet is to do a few things, IMO. It's there to help shrink your liver, which reduces the chance of the surgeon harming it during surgery. It's also to get you and your body used to the diet you will have to follow post-op. I think it's also a way for us to detox from all the crap we've put in our bodies over the year AND a way for us to prove to the doctor that we CAN follow instructions.

Most surgeons have limited availability for surgeries. Unless they are superman, they can only do 3-5 surgeries a day, and then, only a couple of days per week, so they have to limit themselves to doing surgery on people that they know will benefit from the surgery.

If we as patients can't manage to follow the diet pretty closely pre-op, how do the surgeons know that we will be compliant afterwards and manage to lose our weight?

Attitude is everything with this journey, IMO. It's not going to seem "fair" that your friends can eat and drink unlimited quantities of food while you have to do liquids, then mushies, then tiny amounts of food one you are healed. If you walk around thinking "It's not fair", then you will be doomed to being unhappy with your surgery. If, on the other hand, you keep thinking "I'm losing weight and becoming healthier. That's great!" you will be much happier with the results you're getting.

I wish you lots of luck with your journey! I know that you'll do great and rock your sleeve!

[Thomas CPA 496]

preop is not a function of bmi or weight per se it is what the doctor/insurance want. The typical is to lose 10% prior to surgery to shrink fatty liver but that will not happen in 14 days. Part of the prep is to clean out the stomach (at least day before) for the surgery.

I am with Kaiser, my preop was 1 day - the day before nothing to eat after Breakfast except liquid and morning off nothing even if brushing teeth, spit out Water don't swallow.

One moment cheating not so bad but you can't have the Cookies or things with seeds for at least 4 to 6 weeks post op so small things don't get lodged into staple line inside the stomach.

[Liliana Arleen 173]

Is hard but you need to make sacrifices to get great results at the end . I was on a liquid diet for 4 weeks total and I never cheat . I don't compare my self to others because my surgeon is the one who decide what's best for me . You CAN do it . I don't know your surgeon but mine won't operate on anyone who didn't follow the pre op diet. I think one single cookie won't hurt but dont do it again . You need to start from now to follow your dr rules so you can successful with your sleeve . Good Luck!!!

[sirensiren 67]

are 2 oatmeal Cookies 9 days prior to surgery going to cause your liver to be inflamed and hazardously large for surgery? It's quite unlikely. Without being a surgeon, that just stands to reason.

As others have said, so long as you don't make "slip ups" a habit during these tough 14 days, you should be fine.

I had a low BMI and my surgeon put me on only a week of pre-op surgery to shrink my liver. My habits were not great on my liver prior to surgery, I enjoyed alcohol frequently, not to mention some other things. My surgeon said my liver looked perfect during surgery (I asked! I figured it was large and blackened, LOL!) and it was nice and small and easily moved out of the way.

Just keep on your diet, and remind yourself that you will never ever be this hungry again! This diet is to assure that you have the easiest, complication free surgery as you possibly can in regards to your liver allowing your surgeon to have full access to your stomach.

It's good that you are concerned, and realize you messed up and asked. I am sure out of the many VSG patients out there, there are plenty of people who don't control their urges to cheat during this time and figure it's no big deal. Better to be safe than sorry, and better to have the easiest possible surgery you can.

[kgb 10]

After you have surgery, you won't have the same starving feelings and it'll be so much easier to watch what you put in you mouth! Hang in there!!!!!

I was on a stringent pre-op diet for two weeks and I cheated (4 times). I was very ashamed of myself because I knew I had done a disservice to my surgeon by making his job harder. In the end, my surgery went fine.

Forgive yourself about the Cookies and strive to do better in the future. Don't forget they need to shrink your liver so they have room in to work with your tummy. DO THE BEST YOU CAN! In my humble opinion, pre-op dieting this is the hardest part.

[cbates31 0]

I would say you need to call it off now if your already cheating before because that means you will cheat after and then it was pointless to even have it. Honestly. Not trying to be mean but it's true. You don't have the right mind set.

[NewLife2011 13]

I had no pre-op diet and have managed the diet fine after surgery. It is way easier to diet with a tiny stomach and no hunger pangs. Just because you cannot do a pre-op diet does not mean you won't manage after surgery. I was fortunate in that my doctor did not think a per-op diet was necessary - you must follow your doctor's directions at all cost. But IMO 2 Cookies is not a big deal.

[PreciousCargo 55]

I cheated on my pre op and still lost the 10 % required for my surgery. Actually the doctor said I had the perfect liver and there were no complications other than my negative reaction to the medicine. I am now one week post op and have been able to manage fine on the post op diet, however my diet isnt normally that others follow. We are all human and mess up, each of us are different. I say we didnt become overweight overnight. Good luck and stay positive.

[Bypassjourney 88]

I am currently on Day 13 of the pre-op diet with surgery coming on Monday. I too have had a couple of times where I have messed up during this time. But that doesn't mean I am not in the right mindset to have a successful weight loss after surgery. It means I am human and I made lots of "mess ups" during my life and that is what got me to this point right now to have surgery. If I was a stronger person, I could have succeeded on diets long before now and not be where I am at this point.

Hang in there and do the best you can. You did the right thing by posting about this. We have such a great support system here.

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

One of the best lessons my mother taught me is "Life isn't fair - get used to it".

I think LIssa's answer says pretty much everything you need to know - (I liked it so much I have it bookmarked in my personal "Words of Wisdom" file)

You are 100% responsible and 100% accountable for your success with the sleeve. The sleevers that lose the weight the fastest after surgery are the ones that avoid the kinds of carbs you cheated on. It takes mental toughness and committment to break those bad habits we all had.

The longer I have been sleeved, the more I realize staying thin is a mental game as much as anything else. If my mind and will are strong, I can overcome any passing desire for anything. I can find some other way to cofort myself than putting something in my mouth.

Good luck on your journey.

Sharon