I can deal with being deprived of my daughter's 5th birthday cake, ice cream and food from her party last Sunday. I can also deal with being ever so slightly hungry at times. BUT, what I am having the hardest time with is having NO energy! NONE! I want to sleep ALL THE TIME! The last two days I have not been able to get up to take my daughter to her preschool.....ugh! Please tell me this goes away after surgery when I might get to eat more!??? PLEASE!

Warmly (and very tired),

Leslie

I worked as a CNA for the whole time when I did my pre-op diet. I mostly stood for 8 hours. I was surprised that I didn't have any fatigue that many people complain about. I'm sure it will probably get better when you get back on regular food. :scared2:

What are you eating? You should be getting lots of Protein through Protein shakes or lean meats if they are allowed on your preop. After day 4 you should have lots of energy. Most people have headaches and fatigue and intense hunger Days 1-3 but these go away.

The purpose of the preop diet is to shrink your liver. It stores glycogen and it is replenished by mainly carbs. When you do a low carb diet, the glycogen gets used up and your liver shrinks. You also lose weight, but that is reeally not the goal. So make sure you are getting plenty of lean protein.

My preop diet allowed two protein shakes (beadkfast and lunch) with about 30 grams of protein each and lean protein (chicken breast, tuna in Water, shrimp, fish, turkey breast, eggs) and low carb veggies at dinner (broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, celery, lettuces. spinach, green Beans, summer squash). I personally ate far more than 4 ounces of protein each evening and lost 23 pounds before my surgery. After day 4 I was not really hungry and my energy level was very good.

Hang in there. It will make your surgery much easier if you do shrink your liver. :scared2:

it's funny how different doctors have different pre-op requirements. I didn't have a pre-op diet at all. I Had my consult in July and went through the process of doing the nutrition and psych eval. Once they got the auth from the insurance company I was scheduled for surgery. I was allowed to eat right up until the day before surgery. I thought that was odd myself too. But My surgery was on a Thursday and I had my last "hoorah" that sunday then went on Liquids for my own pre-op diet. I felt I wanted to be cleaned out so that my nerves didn't make me feel sick!! I was ready so nerves were not even an issue!!

Just keep thinking you'll feel better very soon!! You'll be bursting with energy!!

From reading here in the forums I have found that my pre-op diet is really a lot more extreme than most on here, but I am one of those anal type of people that follow the directions to a tee....I think it must be the nurse part of me!

I can have 1-2 Atkins shakes a day. All the sugar free (SF) Jello, SF popcicles, broth and Crystal Light and SF Kool-aid I want.

In moderation I can have 1/2 cup cottage cheese a day, 1 cup of skim milk a day, 1 No Sugar Added Fudgecicle a day, 16 ounces of juice a day.....and that is it.

Thanks for replying everyone! I hope to get some energy back after surgery!! I will keep you all informed!! Thanks again!

I am right there with you!!! I am on day 2 of my 2 week pre-op liquid diet and I'm dying!!! I feel like my stomach is about to start eating itself!! I'm allowed 4-5 protein shakes, all the sugar free jello, pudding and popsicles I want and water. I have NO energy, I'm starving, I'm having terrible headaches and I'm grumpy!!!!! I'm hoping and praying that it gets better as I go along.

Good luck to you!!