I'm scheduled for surgery on Sept 1st in Monterrey. I have not been told to be on a liquid fast prior to surgery. The instructions say to eat lightly the day before & not to eat after midnight. What is the benefit of fasting prior to surgery? Someone enlighten me please! Thanks!

Hi Krista

I'm going on Aug 31st. I just started a three week liquid fast (optifast) today. I'm being banded in Canada. The doc says the fast is to shrink my liver, so that it is easier to move during the surgery.

All I can say is, thank your lucky stars that your doc isn't forcing you to drink this awful stuff!

That is strange. You would think he would want me to fast considering my size! 295 lbs. - not that I want to

From what I have read here over the last few weeks every doc is different. Some want you to "cut back" some wanted others to do south beach or atkins. Others, like yours have no pre op diet at all. Like i said before, count your lucky stars! hee hee

My surgery centre (3 surgeons) have all their patients do a two week OptiFast diet (shakes, soups, protein bars), to shrink the liver, making access to the top of the stomach easier. I belive it also reduces the risk of the liver being accidentally damaged or cut during the surgery. Remember it's a keyhole surgery, so retracting large organs out of the way of the "work zone" would have to be tricky!!!

I am told that there is a list of allowed vegetables, and limited fruit while doing the fasting. Also they've said that there's no caffeine or sodas for the 2 weeks pre-op (and some time post-op too???), as this helps the liver, stomach too - so I'm cutting back now rather than go cold turkey in a few weeks time when I start the pre-op program.

I'm not looking forward to the pre-op stage, but figure I'll make it through the 2 weeks because of the new life once I'm in the band! Heck - I've done worse diets in my life!!!

Some surgeons require a fast for patients who weigh over 300 pounds and others request it of all patients. The purpose is to shrink the liver and most pre-op fasts range from 1-2 weeks requiring the patient to take in 40-60 grams of protein a day via protein shakes.