NO pre-op Liquid Diet...Anyone else?

[NaturalMom 3]

No pre-op diet at all. Doc said just to stop eating at midnight the night before my vsg surgery. He said his hospital has found doing a pre-op diet isn’t necessary and somewhat barbaric (his words). They used to do them and ended up stopping. I have surgery on Feb 23 and am just trying to get in more Water, walking more, and will drink 1-2 electrolyte drinks the day before since my veins are tiny and they often have to poke me 3 times before being able to place an IV.

[Guest]

I just had to lose 10 lbs the month before surgery. Lost 19. Obviously arrived on the day of surgery on an empty stomach, but that's required for all surgery where they put you under.

My doc said my liver had shrunk considerably, and dryly said "so you did yours, we did ours. The rest is up to you, buddy!".

[XtinaDoesIt 202]

My nutritionist wanted me to replace one meal preferably Breakfast with a Protein Shake the month before just to get used to it. I did it pretty inconsistently because she said it wasn't mandatory. At the time I had a habit of skipping breakfast. She also gave me some guidelines to help me reduce my salt intake (I have hypertension) and add Protein to my diet. I did follow her suggestions most days. I also felt the urge to have ALL my favorites before surgery and I did that too!

Other than that, I was on liquid diet 6 days prior to surgery, Clear Liquids 24 hours before. I cheated twice on my liquid diet (had some sunflower seeds, I'm ADDICTED) but my surgeon said my liver looked great during surgery! One thing to note, at first he said I would need a Hiatal Hernia repair during surgery but during the surgery he found nothing to repair. My pre-op diet could have helped with this? IDK.

Actually, I'm kind of glad I didnt see this post pre-op because I was looking for all sorts of excuses to break my pre-op liquids diet but the internet scared me into trying hard to maintain it. lol. If I read this I would have cheated more.

Edited February 17, 2021 by XtinaDoesIt

[maslman 65]

I was already losing weight when I had my 2 week pre-op appointment. My surgeon said just keep doing what you're doing and the day before have nothing but Protein Shakes.

[JazzyJess20 32]

On 2/16/2021 at 6:46 PM, mweiss1998 said:

I am also in NJ and I did not have to do any pre-op diet. I finished my 2 week Clear Liquids and am now on pureed foods. I wonder if we are using the same surgeon.

Oooh! My doctor is Dr. Bell? Who is yours?

[JazzyJess20 32]

On 2/17/2021 at 5:26 AM, NaturalMom said:

No pre-op diet at all. Doc said just to stop eating at midnight the night before my vsg surgery. He said his hospital has found doing a pre-op diet isn’t necessary and somewhat barbaric (his words). They used to do them and ended up stopping. I have surgery on Feb 23 and am just trying to get in more Water, walking more, and will drink 1-2 electrolyte drinks the day before since my veins are tiny and they often have to poke me 3 times before being able to place an IV.

Ok, great. This makes me feel a lot better.

How did your surgery go? I hope all things went very well.

[mweiss1998 79]

46 minutes ago, JazzyJess20 said:

Oooh! My doctor is Dr. Bell? Who is yours?

Mine was Dr. Schmidt out of Hackensack.

[baritheri 14]

On 2/16/2021 at 10:10 AM, JazzyJess20 said:

Unlike many others that I have seen on this forum, my doctor is not requiring that I do a liquid diet pre-surgery. I don't have any questions or concerns for this doctor, as he is pretty renowned in New Jersey and Connecticut.

But has anyone else had this experience? I still plan on taking it easy, beginning two weeks prior. My liquid diet will not begin until post-op.

All surgeons are different my sleeve is Tuesday I wasn't ordered a liquid diet either.. actually found out 10 days before the surgery of the surgery everything was halted due to covid and the surgeon just gave the green light and everything is moving teally fast..Good Luck

[NaturalMom 3]

14 hours ago, JazzyJess20 said:

Ok, great. This makes me feel a lot better.

How did your surgery go? I hope all things went very well.

It went well. I'm home recovering now and doing pretty well. Not getting in all my Water or Protein yet, but working on it and getting a bit more in everyday. I have a liquid diet for 20 days which is already getting old and I'm only on day 6!

[TLE 15]

On 2/16/2021 at 12:10 PM, JazzyJess20 said:

Unlike many others that I have seen on this forum, my doctor is not requiring that I do a liquid diet pre-surgery. I don't have any questions or concerns for this doctor, as he is pretty renowned in New Jersey and Connecticut.

But has anyone else had this experience? I still plan on taking it easy, beginning two weeks prior. My liquid diet will not begin until post-op.

I don't have to either, all I have to do is clear liquids beginning the day before and nothing after midnight, my surgery is on Wednesday.

[Kukubari 16]

From what I understand, the pre-op diet is determined by the surgeon's preference, the patient's BMI and bloodwork. My surgeon did not do a 2-week liquid diet. Instead it was a 2-week diet consisting of:

Morning: New Directions Protein Shake (or Ensure max Protein)

Morning Snack: 2 cup raw non-starchy veggies

Lunch: New Directions Protein shake (or Ensure max Protein)

Afternoon Snack: New Direction Protein Bar

Dinner: 1/2 cup cooked veggies, 1 serving of fat, 3-4oz lean protein, one serving of carb (max 15g)

Snacks x2 a day: 2 Tbsp of fat free cool whip

On the last day it was only protein shake.

My surgeon said my surgery went amazingly and that I was a model patient to work on. So don't be scared if your surgeon doesn't use the most common pre-op diet. It doesn't make then a bad surgeon and it doesn't mean you will fail.

[EaglerRc 1]

My Dr. had me on a lower fat, lower carb diet. When I asked how strict it was needed to be followed, he was low key about it. Talked about shrinking the liver, but was not concerned about that in my case. Week before, I said goodbye to some good foods, had a great (filet) steak, with Vegetable . Normally I would eat Ribeye and Baked Potatoes.:). Lost about 6lbs during the 2 weeks. The last 3 days, I followed pretty much verbatim the Low Fat/Low Carb diet.

[Arabesque 7,240]

My doctor sent me to a dietician who put me on Keto for the two weeks (was actually 2.5 weeks) prior to surgery. But he sent my friend to the hospitals weight loss clinic & she was put on their liquid Meal Replacement program. Another friend’s surgeon put her on two shakes & one meal (small serve Protein & steamed vegetables/undressed salad) per day for four weeks prior. So I guess what I’m saying is every doctor has their own ore surgery requirements, some even have different plans for different patients. You just have to do what they advise.

Being more careful about what you eat prior certainly won’t hurt.

oh, just noticed this was posted last month. Have you had your surgery and if so how did it go?

[EaglerRc 1]

Surgery went better than I ever expected. No issues Post Surgery, from recovery room on. Next day had some pain from the CO2 gas, but after that night, No pain medicine. 2 weeks later I was able to hit golf balls and play! The liquid diet has been relatively easy to follow and no hunger at all. Weight is coming off quick so far.

As I get ready to go to soft foods, it will be interesting to see if anything changes.

Wish I had done this earlier, but once I decided, I was decision to surgery in 3 weeks.(had been talking to my surgeon for 4 years, on and off).