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Gastric Sleeve Surgery Without 2 Week Pre-op Diet?



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Has anyone had the Vertical Sleeve surgery without doing the complete 2 week pre-op diet to shrink the liver? I was supposed to already have my surgery date by now but my insurance is dragging along a bit and I am concerned about running out of time. I am supposed to be relocating and starting a new job on the 1st of January but the longer it takes to get a surgery date the harder it will be for me to cram everything in before I move and start my new job.

So my question is, has anyone on this board had the surgery without doing the full 2 week pre-op diet? I'm just curious. I know everyone will say to just slow down and take my time but I don't want to lose this job opportunity.

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Your BMI is around 40, like mine was and I did not get a pre-op diet at all, THANK GOD! There are quite a few others on this board. I hope it all falls into place for you!

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My husband did not really do a pre-op diet. The day he was suppose to start, they called with an opening for surgery in 2 days so he only had one day of just a clear liquid diet then surgery. His BMI was close to 40 at the time and he was fine-no complications at all. Good Luck.

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No two week for me. 2 days total liquid diet. First day (today) I'm allowed full liquids, tomorrow will be just clear liquid. Good luck to you!

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I did not do a pre-op diet other than the usual day before surgery thing. It all depends on what your doctor wants to do. There's lots of variation in doctors' practices - some require a couple weeks or more of liquids, some a couple weeks of restricted calories and/or carbs, some require a specific amount of weight loss pre-op, some have different requirements for different patients and some have no particular pre-op diet requirements.

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I also didn't do any kind of a pre-op diet, I could eat up until 8 hours before surgery. My surgeon told me I didn't need to take the magnesium citrate that the surgical service automatically prescribed, which thrilled the heck out of me!

When the surgery was approved my surgeon sent me a very sternly worded letter, stating that if i had any weight gain between then and the surgical day, the procedure would be delayed. Since I had to get through Thanksgiving I tried to be a very good girl, and ate lightly the last few days before the procedure (Cereal & milk, Protein bars, etc).

I was told later that my liver did look like it had some evidence of Fatty Liver Disease and he took a biopsy while he was doing the surgery to rule out anything else. Losing weight is the best treatment for FLD, he said. I haven't gotten any more phone calls from the hospital so I'm assuming all is well.

I'm kind of glad that I didn't have to do a pre-op diet because I think those that did seem to be getting sick of liquids and Protein shakes pretty quickly, and might be tempted to advance their diet too fast. I actually like the way my Protein shake tastes. :tongue2:

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24 hour pre-op for me. I have surgery on Monday. My surg tech told me 2 days clear liquid, but my surgeon told me that i could start it on Sunday. So that is what I will do. I ate light today (soups and sandwiches, had a couple Cookies with the kids after decorating the tree) and will be ready for liquids tomorrow!

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I didnt have it either Ijust fasted the night before and everything was great!

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My hubby and I are both sleeved.

My surgeon doesn't make us do pre-op. The only thing our surgeon required was clears for 24 hours before surgery. I have the video tape of my surgery and he exclaimed that my liver was gorgeous.

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My Surgeon requires 10 days prior to surgery a High Protein, low carb, low fat diet, with min. 3ltr of water/day. Day before surgery Clear liquids only.

My surgery is on Dec 22. Being a foodie I know it is going to be tough for me so I have started on this diet from today, hope in 4-5 days my body will understand and adjust so that I remain on course in last 7-10 days

He also said quit smoking at least 45-30 days prior to surgery as smoking leads to higher risk of post op complications. Now this one is really difficult, but trying had only 1 since morning... ah.... why bad things are so easy to pick and they stick with no efforts:)

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I think it just depends on the surgeon as I'm pretty sure no one would do the 2 week pre-op if they didn't HAVE to! :banghead: My surgery date is 12/27 and I just need to do liquids the day before, but my surgeon does require all patients to lose a minimum of 10% of your excess weight prior to surgery.

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i wonder if it makes any difference to our healing process with how we behave before surgery. say being able to eat normally till 24 hours preop vs. eating low carb for a week vs. fluids only for a week.

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My surgeon said he didn't originally have the pre-op diet requirement, but changed his policy when a patient gained TWENTY-FIVE pounds in the two weeks before surgery by having a non-stop food funeral. The doc didn't have a weigh-in policy before surgery at that time, so he didn't find out what the patient had done until after the procedure had to be converted to an open surgery because the liver was too heavy to lift out of the way laproscopically. Now he doesn't require weight loss before two weeks out, but he will not do the surgery if you don't lose some weight during those final two weeks. He did say he includes vegetables on the pre-op diet, which I haven't heard anyone else mention.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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