I am having my sx here in az on Dec 5th. I start the "liquid diet" monday and am looking forward to the next step of this process. I am 5ft1 and 196 so i have about 90# to loose (that what they tell me) i would be thrilled with 75. I am private pay so needed to be SURE this was the answer. anyone with any suggestions for being successful with the protein shake and still feeding my family regular meals would be appreciated. also, am i allowed to have the turkey on thansgiving or is it really nothing? i thought maybe low fat protein might be okay??

The only one who can answer your Thanksgiving question is your Doctor. There is a very valid reason for the pre-op diet, and some have said that their Dr. has actually stopped the operation in progress, because the liver was not shrunk properly. Your Dr. would know how important that diet is to your particular case.

I would buy up as many quick cook meals as possible to make preparation easier. During these next weeks, with the pre op as well as the post op diet, finding ways to keep family harmony while adhering to your diet is going to be very challenging. The post op diet is VERY important to follow as well, you cannot eat anything, it will not allow you to heal properly. The weight in the stomach as it passes through can pull on the new stitches, and allow the stomach to drop, then the band is not held in place.

As for the families meals...if there are things they might like that would not be your favorite, now would be the time to fix them!!! It is just my DH and I, and he was so understanding, he lived on frozen foods it seemed, and never complained!!! Love that man! If your family will eat the TV dinners, buy some up...and let them know that this is a very serious issue, and they may have to do some of their own preparing of meals for the next 6 weeks or so. I don't know the ages of your kids, or whether or not your DH would be ok with helping more than usual, but it would sure help you out!! If not, make an advance menu of VERY SIMPLE meals, and stick to it. When you are not eating, you don't care if spaghetti sounds good or not, it's what's for dinner!!! As you recover and go onto liquids, you can have soup and sandwiches, and you can eat the soup. You can plan them meals that you can puree and eat, let them have beef stew, you can blend it to eat it as well.

You just have to drag up on all the willpower you have and put it to use...these hard times will pass, and you will be on your way!!!

Welcome to LBT---and congrats on having a surgery date!!

Kat