Why are some people not required to do a 2 week pre-op liquid diet?

Apparently, most of our energy stores are in the liver in the form of glycogen. Many obese individuals have a very fatty liver. A distended, energy storing liver can get in the way of surgery, expecially if the surgery is intended to be laporoscopic. By using a very low calorie diet before the surgery the body is forced to access and use up at least some of the energy stores which are causing the liver to be so big, and as these energy stores are used up the liver necessarily shrinks. This makes laporoscopic (keyhole) surgery more of a possibililty - less scarring.

I was warned before I was given the diet that if I could not follow it there was a possibility that the operation would require a laporotomy (split open straight down the middle) instead of laporoscopy (keyhole surgery).

Maybe the people who don't have to use the liver shrinking diet have surgeons who don't do the op laporoscopically?

Edited March 14, 201016 yr by Ohm

I didn't have the preop diet and mine was done laparoscopically. It must just depend on the surgeon and also maybe the experience.

I'm not required a pre-op diet. One more visit to the nutritionist at the beginning of April and my stuff will be ready to be submitted to CIGNA. It has been a VERY LONG road. Won't have surgery till the end of May...have a trip planned at the beginning of May so I will have to wait. Whats another month after going thru all this since August 2009?

I had no pre-op diet, and mine was also laparoscopic...

I read in one of the many WLS books I bought as I researched this (and I don't remember which one specifically) that some surgeons swear by the liver-shrinking diet, but that there is (according to the author) very little data to back up the practice.

Of course the author stated that you should do whatever YOUR surgeon tells you to do. :thumbup:

Happy Mom, are you getting enough Protein with your shakes? I find that I am not very hungry which really is surprising. But I have 1 cup of soy milk with my Protein shake which adds more protein. Also I have creamed Soups in between the three shakes. If I get lightheaded I drink 1 cup of Gatorade.

I get about 25g per protein shake. I do two of those a day and am allowed a can of vegetable chicken Soup for dinner. I can usually get about 10-15g in the soup. That puts me around 60g a day right now. The dietitian admitted that it wasn't "ideal", but it is only for two weeks. Afterward they insist upon 70-80g a day.

OMG Happy Mom that's less than 600 calories a day no wonder you are starving. I was told I can have between 1000-1500 calories a day. I average about 1000 and I haven't been that hungry.

I was given a choice...3 weeks of low-carb or liquid diet. I did the 3 weeks of low-carb and so glad I didn't have to do the liquid diet. But now that I am pre-op, I have to do the liqiud thing for 3 weeks. So far things are going pretty good. I am just glad I didn't do the liquid before this that would be 6 weeks of liquids....I don't think I could have taken that.

I'm on day 7 of 19 days of protien shake diet. I'm starving!!! I have to have two meals as protien shakes and one meal with 4 oz. of protein and green veggies, and one cup of fruit a day. It is not enough, let me tell ya! I started on March 12th and the surgery is April 1st. I am so hungry it's not funny. Many, many times during the day I wonder if it's worth it. Yet, I am plugging along. My bmi was 47 so I guess that's why I had to do the liquid diet so long. I wish I had you guy's doctors! LOL