Liver Shrinking Prior to Surger

[Miss Sammy 0]

Hey everyone...

My surgery is set for end of january very early febuary. I see the surgeon on the 15th january and by then he said i need to of shrunk my liver and lost some weight. I was meant to be doing Optifast from november through till when i saw him but the doctor has taken me off optifast as i was getting very sick on them.. i have since found i have the same reaction on all the shakes i have possibly tried. My dietician and surgeon both said i would have to try and extremely low cal (300 calories a day) diet which i am beyond struggling to stick to. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas and ways in which i could shrink my liver in time. I am scared as he has said if i go under and my liver isn't shrunk i will come out of the surgery without having had the band done and that is going to be seriously horrible. As far as doctors and dietician is concerned the only way to shrink it in time is to stick to a 300 a day calourie diet which means avoiding almost all forms of carbs.. so not even beetroom, potatoe, peas, corn, carrot, or anything like that.... but im struggling to stick to a Water based Soup for most of my meals. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i really need this surgery both for my health and emotional state. Please please help, atm i am feeling so helpless and i don't know what to do..

Love Sammy

[btrieger 21]

A 2 or 3 month liquid diet? A 300 calorie diet for 2 months is not a diet, it is starvation and liable to kill you!!!

Are you sure this guy knows what he is talking about?

[Melinco 1]

Miss Sammy,

I'm on a solid food, high Protein, low carb diet for 10 days prior to my surgery, which is this Thursday. It's recommended by my surgeon. He said that it doesn't really matter if you're food intake is liquid or solid, what matters is getting less than 30 grams of carbs per day. I'm shooting for about 100 grams of Protein. He did not limit my calorie intake. However, I'm averaging about 1400-1500 calories a day and I've lost 10 pounds already.

I'd talk with him again, and if you're not comfortable with him and his recommendations, I'd look for a different surgeon.

[abbylamb 1]

Yeah, I'm with the others on this one. 300 calories is not only unrealistic, it's dangerous. When I first started my pre-op diet, I was only eating about 800 calories, and my nurse upped my calories to 1000, because she said anything less than that is liable to put your body into starvation mode. I was told it was the low carb, high Protein part of the diet that shrinks your liver. I would call your doc back and tell him you cannot possibly live with this diet for 2 days, let alone 2 months, and if they won't work with you, I'd consider going somewhere else.

[adagray 1]

Honestly, I would find a new surgeon. I have been on this board all year and haven't heard of anyone with as drastic or lengthy of a diet as what you are describing. I also feel that when surgeon's are so concerned about shrinking your liver so much maybe it is because they don't have much experience w/laproscopic surgery. I mean exactly how small does your liver have to be for him to work around it? My surgeon doesn't require a pre-op diet at all.

[Yvette1026 0]

Something REALLY isn't right here... really...really really isn't right. Unless you have a servere liver problem/medical condition none of this make any sense. I would get a second opinion and/or make sure you're fully understanding his instructions.

From your pic you don't look very big, even with a BMI of 50+ pre-op diet is only 3 weeks.

[Miss Sammy 0]

Hey everyone,

I probably should have given you all a little more background information. I see a dietician and have done since i was 9 i am now 21. I suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Disease and Insulin Resistance (just to name a few) and because of this my body doesn't lose weight as easily as most people. I have been big since i was 4 and tried everything under the sun except surgery. Previously i had been on Optifast and lost 15kgs or 33pounds. That had been the only weightloss diet or program that had me lose ANY weight. Being as no other diet works my dietician and surgeon have both said i need to lose 10kgs before my surgery and either i do the shakes (which the doctors have taken me off) or stick to a diet that is equal to being on the shakes which works out to be 300cal a day!

I currently weigh 134kgs or 295.5 pounds. Im huge, and it's a danger me going under the knife. Being at this weight means my liver is quite enlarged etc. So i really need to lose the weight to a) lesson the surgery risks and shrink my liver so he can "lift" it during the laproscopic surgery because apparently if it's too heavy they can't lift it and you can tear the liver etc.

I live in a small town and he is our only surgeon but apparently he is quite good. I know two people who have had it done by him and they don't seem to mind him.

I am just a little stuck atm, as there is no way i can live on this everyday:

one peice of toast and one egg for brekkky

a sml bowl of Water based Soup (consisting of only like cabbage, spinach, broccolli, cauliflower, celery, onion and garlic) for lunch (bland and not overly enjoyable)

and either the soup for dinner or a small peice of meat and the rest vegies!

That is roughly 300 cal... it doesn't sound that bad but to stick to its impossible. But the dietician and surgeon said that if i want the surgery i have to deal with it, because the surgeon said if i couldn't do shakes he wouldn't do the surgery and when i said well can't i try and alternate diet etc.. he considered it and said that yeah a 300 calorie a day diet May shrink it....

Just really confused and scared right now as ive waited 7months for this surgery because my waiting period on my health insurance wasn't up but now is and i can't wait any longer than febuary. Please Please help.....

[thebandedgirl 0]

I have PCOS. I weighed 298.2 pounds (135.26124 kg when I started my pre-op diet. I ate a lot more than 300 calories a day.

There are other ways. Find a new surgeon. People start this journey at a lot more than 300 pounds and do just fine without being forced into anorexia.

[Miss Sammy 0]

Banded girl, may i ask what you did for preop diet? and did ur surgeon require u to lose weight before surgery? I know some things are diff in australia so i wasnt too sure

[thebandedgirl 0]

I didn't have to lose a certain number of pounds for my pre-op diet; I lost 9.2 pounds in the three weeks before surgery.

I detailed my pre-op diet here: Banded Girl

[Miss Sammy 0]

That sounds quite good!

My so called diet im trying instead of 300 cal is two scrambled eggs or baked Beans on One peice of toast for brekky.. lunch is usually meat and salad on a plate and dinner is usually meat and vegies or salad, sometimes Pasta or rice but i know i need to cut them out completely. I figured this diet would have to atleast shrink my liver a bit surely..?

[TinaM 0]

I suggest trying Isopure clear no carb ready to drink.

It comes in several flavors I find orange and grape to be the best. It has 40g of Protein and keeps me full for a long time.

It does have an after taste so I drink a swig of ispure then a swig of something else that tastes better like lemonade or tea.

Good luck

[Yvette1026 0]

Not to be harsh, because it's not what's intended. However, with your medical issues, there's a reason your doctor is requiring you to do this. You're asking for help, but honestly you need to help yourself.

Save your own life, surgery is in Feb right? That's gives you plenty of time to lose 10lbs, even if you don't stay on a 300 calorie diet every day. But even with that, if your doctors are saying to do this to save your own life, do it and do it happily. So you can live your best life!

[dyingtobethin 0]

the way my doctor told me to shrink my liver was to do the Atkins low carb diet for 1 week before the surgery and that would be all I would need to do.

[happy2lose 0]

Liver shrinking diets are quite common for people with a BMI above 50. Please call your doctor and clarify the 300 calorie per day diet. It just doesn't sound right. Lien Protein and a veggie for each meal will shrink your liver, there is no need to starve yourself. We bandsters can't even survive on 300 calories per day.