new_me_2013

Please share things that you wish someone had told you BEFORE you got your sleeve....

Mine is very similar except my diet is Protein Shakes for breakfast/lunch then the lean Protein & non starchy veggies for dinner. I look SO forward to eating real food, it tastes so good!!! I've struggled with a horrible detox headache. Tomorrow is day 4, I'm hoping it gets better soon!

Hi guys. I see a lot of you are struggling and worried pre-op about the pre-op diet. It is a HUGE challenge, but for me, it was an important one.
Exactly 1 year ago, I was in the middle of a 2 week liquid pre-op diet because my BMI was 55+ and I was self-pay in Mexico. Traveling from Canada meant that a reschedule would be A LOT of extra expense if my surgeon had to stop due to an enlarged liver mid-surgery. I had NO CHOICE but to follow the diet.
It also meant that cheating would increase the chance of complications and a longer recovery (or worse), all because I could not follow a 2 WEEK diet. Really? Here I was, about to take a seriously radical, life-changing step and get 85% of my stomach cut out permanently. But I can't follow a 2 week diet? That's crazy.
Post-op was going to be difficult for MONTHS, not days. So if I couldn't get my head in the game for the pre-op diet, then maybe I wasn't ready for what was going to follow post-op. I was terrified!
So I started the liquid diet. And I was STARVING. I was dreaming of all the foods I thought were leaving my life forever. Suddenly I didn't care that I had spent my life morbidly obese, I wanted my comfort back. I wanted to fill myself to bursting at every meal, like it was my last meal forever.
But I didn't break my diet.
Because for once, I wasn't going to cheat myself. It was time to grow up (I'm 43....) and take responsibility for my health, my future and my choices. A lifetime of justification, gluttony and excuses brought me to that operating room. Now it was time to face the music and get on with owning my future.
The first 3 days were HELL. That is when your body is detoxing from the carbs. You are using up the glycogen in your liver (to help "shrink" it) and it's screaming for replacement carbs to fill it back up. You can get through it. After 3 days it gets MUCH better. After a week you start to feel normal and more healthy than you have felt in years. You may be hungry, but you don't have the carb cravings anymore.
Most importantly, you feel IN CONTROL; and mentally and emotionally strong for battling your demons and winning. This is the first tangible proof in an unsure future that you CAN get through the post-op recovery and that you CAN succeed in losing the weight this time, FOR LIFE.
Whatever weight you lose during your pre-op diet is really inconsequential. What is important is what you gain:
- Confidence
- Emotional and physical self-control
- The desire to succeed and overcome "impossible" obstacles
- The knowledge that you are a WINNER as long as you do your best
Please don't look at the pre-op diet as a "condition" that your surgeon imposes on you (and some surgeons don't require it!). It is an OPPORTUNITY for you to test yourself, to help build your will, character and emotional toughness BEFORE you have the surgery.
It's like training for a marathon.....you put the blood sweat and tears in before the race to help you finish the race on game day. Without training and preparation, you will likely fail and you can get hurt really badly along the way!
Use your pre-op diet to work through your demons, build up your confidence and prove to yourself you can do it. If you "fall off the wagon" one day, the next day is a fresh start.
Aim for excellence. You owe it to yourself.

I am Sept 10 too we are all having our new birthdays same day!!!!
Did my labs, x-ray, EKG this morning, and tomorrow, have the Cardiac stress test. Class next week, then, surgery.
Band being removed, bad GERD and sleeved.
Good Luck to us all.

I freaking LOVE that saying. That is hilarious; and you are totally normal. I felt the same way, bitter, angry, annoyed, I think I may have actually kicked a wall. I ran and hid upstairs whenever dinner was being made, I bawled while making my toddler a sandwhich, I sat on the kitchen floor one time and sobbed because my family made fajitas and they smelled so good I just wanted to go get my own apartment and have no food allowed in it!!!
After surgery it's SO much easier. I'm NOT hungry, food still does smell delicious, but I'm happy with my 1/4 cup of refried Beans and a dash of shredded cheese or mashed potatoes, etc. Once you get past the healing stage, the anger for me at least, seemed to melt away a bit and now I'm happy with my sleeve, love that I made this decision and most of all, my 2 weeks of pre-op pure liquid diet HELL were completely and TOTALLY worth it. Every tear, every child-like fit I threw...everything.
Good luck, try not to punch anybody and look forward to your surgery date

Starting my 2 week liver shrink diet tomorrow!!!! It's really setting in that this is happening!!! I'm SO ready for Sept 10th!!! Luckily my pre-op diet isn't only liquids. I can have 3 oz lean meat & a small (think new potato) baked potato for dinner. Good luck to all my fellow September sleevers...please keep in touch!!

Born in San Jose and my apt sept 10 as well good luck!

My surgery date is 09/09. They wanted me to have it this Friday but my work needed a 2 week notice. So omgggggggg so excited!!!

Did my Pre-Op testing today....7 vials of blood, 2 chest xrays, an EKG, good bit of paperwork & my copay paid later I'm ready! I start my liver shrink diet in 2 wks then Sept 10th it's show time!!!

Did my Pre-Op testing today....7 vials of blood, 2 chest xrays, an EKG, good bit of paperwork & my copay paid later I'm ready! I start my liver shrink diet in 2 wks then Sept 10th it's show time!!!

September 10th here! I'm SO ready!

I love reading this! You & your accomplishments are an inspiration! I'm soon to be sleeved!