How necessary is this pre-op diet?

[robga999 129]

I got my date yesterday!!woohoo finally after the first appeal insurance is paying.im getting my gall bladder removed which has been really painful the past few months and also a hyatil hernia repaired.i strated my 14 day liquids yesterday.my surgery is oct 6.i had first had a date of sept 15th and my insurance denied me 2 weekd before that.i had already started my liquid diet at that point.then for the past 3 weeks waiting for the appeal I would do Protein Shakes all day then dinner by 6 if I didn't hear anything from insurance.its been a roller coaster ride for me waiting for insurance approval these past few weeks.thank god its behind me now and I am embracing these next 12 days of liquids!!!I have been doing Protein shakes now for a while just to get use to having them.havent lost a pound!!but is mainly for the liver to shrink.my vsg will be thru my belly butten so that's the only incision I will have so shrinking the liver is very important.

[Luana526 61]

Well, here I am 12 days post op! I lost 10 pounds pre-op diet and 12 pounds since surgery. It is coming off fast but I'm paying more attention to the diet than the scale. I went on Stage 3 diet a week early (they said no problem since I was tolerating everything so well) because I could not--NOT--drink another shake and I had no find a way to get my Protein in. Believe me, it was just about adding eggs and tuna fish and cottage cheese (exciting!)--nothing too crunchy or drastic. I was almost in tears from those shakes because I disliked them so much. I'm not a sweets eater, never was, and particularly would never drink a milk shake, much less one that tastes bad. But that's behind me now. What is very, very new to me and something I so far don't really like is having to actually spend more time eating! I'll have to see what others in my group session say. The thing is, I had a BMI of less than 40 before I even looked into this. I'm not hundreds of pounds overweight, I looked like I did and weighed what I weighed because I love junk food, fast food, and anything fried. But . . . I didn't eat all day! I ate and I was done until my next meal (which wasn't always the best choices, I know). I'm not used to taking forever to eat a dollop of tuna fish! I am physically and literally spending more time eating and I'm not really enjoying it. I'm finding it a nuisance. I only get 40 minutes for lunch and I spend the entire time trying to eat! I'm looking forward to having this whole thing settle down, which I sure hope it does.

[KarenF1972 78]

Here I sit, reading your post, finishing up a sugar free popsicle and typing this with mean fingers. I would GLADLY gnaw someone's arm off right now and not even think twice!!!

[Luana526 61]

KarenF1972, you just gave me a good laugh! I wanted to eat my own children and pets when I was following pre-op. Mostly I was bored. But I got past it! And BTW, my BMI was below 40 to start and my doctor required that I lose only five pounds, so I followed it to the letter the first week and the second week I was definitely adding more Protein and a few Snacks here and there (stuck to low fat). I knew to stay low fat, but I was already past the five pounds (ended up being down 10 by the time I had surgery). So, yeah, it was a pain but I did't follow it to the letter the entire time and everything turned out fine. I really believe now that the pre-op is more about making sure you don't gorge yourself up the scale before surgery. Smaller liver, sure, but it's obviously not life and death since not everyone is being required to follow it. But I'm 13 days post-op right now and happier than ever . . . pre-op is all a blur!

Edited October 9, 2014 by Luana526

[bikrchk 1,313]

As I understand it, (and I'm NOT a medical professional) the primary reason for the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver to provide the surgeon more room to work and give you the safest surgery possible. That said, they all seem to have different requirements. Mine said "lose 10 pounds" before your pre-op appointment. I was lower BMI (37) to begin with. They didn't put me on a liquid diet to do it. I did it on Quest Protein bars and a light, high Protein dinner. 13 pounds came off. No problem. I then had full liquids the last 5 days before surgery which, by that time, was not a big deal. I can do any "diet" for 5 days. As for hating the Protein drinks... This may sound harsh, but you need to find a way to get them down. If it's a problem now, it will be worse after surgery when your stomach is swollen and your tastes are all screwed up. You need to commit to your after care BEFORE you have surgery. Read http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/backontracktogether/discussion/4491168/THERES-NO-CRYING-IN-BASEBALL-Wise-words-about-WLS/. It's a great reminder of what we sign up for when we let them cut out our stomach or rearrange out guts.

As far as product suggestions, I second the nectar products. They have an Iced tea you can add lemon juice to that will help de-sweeten it. It was my go to for months post op. I also enjoy a scoop of chocolate whey in my coffee. I actually PREFER protein'd coffee to regular coffee now.