I can hardly believe my date is July 2nd! Emotions are moving between excitment, stressed and trying to keep track of all the "checklist" items for my home to run smoothly while I'm in the hospital (pay bills, premake dinners for my son, etc.). The worst is the pre-op diet. I started Thursday and thought I was going to pass out from hunger! Friday was a bit better and Saturday was a breeze in comparison. My nutritionist provides a modified liquid diet which I have been following, but today was the worst, hungry, tired, irritable, and a killer headache. Have others experienced this and does it get better?

Yep, I was hungry and irritable the whole preop. Had a wicked headache for three days. Day 14 was the worst for me mentally and physically...I was SO hungry. But it's just part of the process so I sucked it up and focused on the big picture. This whole thing is way more mental than physical and your preop stage will seem very insignificant in a few months.

Yup. You'll live and it's worth it. It sucks, but you can and will survive.

It WILL get easier, we promise! Keep your eye on the prize!! Good luck!

for ME, the first three days were absolutely the worse, then on day 4 it seemed my hunger just disappeared. it was still a challenge after that, but at least my guts weren't knawing at me the entire time.

During my pre-op I had to deal with my birthday, my daughter's birthday, multiple graduation open houses, a HUGE midwest festival in my town, work parties, and a mini-vacay with the family.

ALL of these things involved huge amounts of food that i would normally have eaten 2-3 plates of. it DID bother me, but I knew i didn't have a choice and just kept focused. i had a few emotional moments along the way too, many tears, but I made it.

you will too. good luck!

Can you have Vitamin Water Zero or Powerade Zero? I drank Vitamin Water Zero, it seemed to help with the headaches and fatigue because it has electrolytes in it. I drank so much of it that I can't even look at it now....lol.

The first 4 days are the worst, like others have said the hunger really does seem to diminish after that. Try some hot beverages too, they seem more satisfying....chicken or beef broth sipped from a mug.

You've got this!

I mstart a week from Today on my Pre-Op..... New here, looking forward to it, I've been told the presurgery diet is the hardest thing.... Thinking about starting it early, been told the better the pre-op diet is followed the better the recovery.... I'm hoping for 1 weeks and back to work... Sorry, my operation is July 9th, I've been told going in starving, after the surgery will need to be reminded to eat..... I find that intreging cause I've never been reminded to eat, only reminded to stop.....

for ME, the first three days were absolutely the worse, then on day 4 it seemed my hunger just disappeared. it was still a challenge after that, but at least my guts weren't knawing at me the entire time.

During my pre-op I had to deal with my birthday, my daughter's birthday, multiple graduation open houses, a HUGE midwest festival in my town, work parties, and a mini-vacay with the family.

ALL of these things involved huge amounts of food that i would normally have eaten 2-3 plates of. it DID bother me, but I knew i didn't have a choice and just kept focused. i had a few emotional moments along the way too, many tears, but I made it.

you will too. good luck!

Ditto...I had surgery in December and had to deal with a bridal shower, a birthday party at a Thai restaurant, and 2 Christmas parties on my preop. I just drank my shake before going and drank ice Water at the parties.

Thanks for asking this question. My pre-op diet doesn't officially start until July 1, and I'll be on it for three weeks before my surgery on July 22. However, I've started incorporating more liquids into my diet now (i. e., substituting broths and soups for what I normally would eat). I'm freaking out a little about doing that for three whole weeks, but my mindset is that it's just part of the process and will be worth it in the long run. It's wonderful to read input from so many others about their struggles and successes during the process. It's very encouraging.

The headache was hell. We had broth for Thanksgiving. All of us sleevers have gone through this and it is a distant memory. The fun is losing weight after the sleeve. I was at the store 2 days after surgery and in the mall 5 days after surgery You won't be incapacitated that much so just keep your meal planning simple. I took one pain pill at home 24 hours after surgery. It was 10 times easier than my husband and I expected. Good luck!!

Thank you all so very much for insightful, and knowledge based responses! I sincerely appreciate you taking the time from your day to show me support, provide tips and advice and listen to my "cyber whining" !!!

Yes, the headaches are terrible and I find that something hot helps, tea, broth, or Soup. My NUT also allows 3 ozs of lean Protein for those like me that cannot tolerate it. Fortunately, I baked some fish and weighed out and froze the serving sizes prior to starting this so I'm good in that area and practially licking my plate to get every morsel of fish!

My EKG came back slightly abnormal yesterday and my PCP sent me to see a cardiologist today who repeated the EKG and followed with a stress test...results were in normal range, so he is clearing me for surgery. The hospital also requires a pre op education class that I went to today that only confirmed the magnitude of what this procedure is going to do and why it's important to stay on track with the pre op diet as well as the post op transition eating for success.

It's been quite a day! Oh yeah, almost forgot, had my pre op bloodwork this morning too, and the tech had to do some things to get the veins to cooperate...never has that happened before...

Thanks again for weighing in and July 2 can't get here quickly enough!!!!

It wasnt that bad for me. Here is what I did. Three 20 grams of protien shakes spaced at 7am, 10:30am and then I would see how far I could go usually to about 3pm for the last shake. Drink them as slow as possible. I could make one last 30 to 40 minutes. Three shake for me = 480 cals. I got a total of 880 cals a day. Balance = 320 cals for dinner. Ate dinner around 5 to 5:30 pm. It consisted of 2 table spoons of low cal salad dressing, about a quart of salad 9more if needed) and about 4 to 5 oz of the meat of my choice. Ended up right about 900 cals. Close enough in my book. I lost 22 lbs in 7 days in which one day I was on the road and didnt follow the plan. Ate about 2500 cals on my one off day.

I am so shocked at all the different pre op diets... My Dr. Is so strict he has said if you don't follow it to the letter, call him and we will move the date.. because if he gets in there and my liver shows I have not followed his plan.. He will not do the surgery. I am have finished day 2 and have had no physical hunger but a little emotional hunger.. His plan is 6 shakes a day, pulse SF jello and drinks ( none Carbonated) chicken and beef broth. Hope your days get easier.

I am so shocked at all the different pre op diets... My Dr. Is so strict he has said if you don't follow it to the letter, call him and we will move the date.. because if he gets in there and my liver shows I have not followed his plan.. He will not do the surgery. I am have finished day 2 and have had no physical hunger but a little emotional hunger.. His plan is 6 shakes a day, pulse SF jello and drinks ( none Carbonated) chicken and beef broth. Hope your days get easier.

I'm on my 2nd day of the pre-op diet, and so far I've been fine. I'm allowed to consume 800-900 cal a day of a prescribed program w/ a variety of foods I purchased from the hospital. I get to choose from several items that are really quite tasty. I have a bag of dry cereal (120 cal worth), or some oatmeal for breakfast. I choose from 3 snacks a day (they have also been good), not to mention my entrees. My problem is portion control! I was full at dinner time, but seriously could have had a 2nd helping.

My surgery dTe is 7/7, I'm very anxious to be on the other side.

Started my liquid diet today and I'm noticing that i want to eat but I'm not really hungry. Does anyone know if you are able to chew sugar free gum? I forgot to ask my NUT.

No gum, mints or hard candy after surgery. If you inadvertently swallowed you would have a terrible problem!!!