I am new here and just had my consult today and set my surgery date. I will be getting the sleeve done on March 3rd. I teach school so I am trying to not be off from work too long. This date works into my spring break holiday. Many of you have mentioned going on a liquid diet before surgery. I know I will be getting more information but is this normal or is this just because your insurance is requiring it?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Every doctor you come across will have a different pre-op diet. You'll need to follow what is recommended by your doctor and nutritionist. Mine was three shakes a day, plus one meal with Protein and veggies. Depending on BMI, some patients only need three days of liquids. Lots of factors.

I had ten days of pre-op liquids.

I will have a 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery as well. According to my required support group meetings and research I've done myself, this is required to help patients shrink their liver. With it being close to the stomach, the smaller it is, the easier it is for the surgeon to get in and do what they need without any interference.

I had two weeks of high protein, low carb, low calorie diet as per my surgeon's instructions, but it was not a liquid diet.

Every surgeon has a different plan, so you won't know for sure what to expect until you find out more about your specific program. The purpose of the pre-op liquid diet is to shrink your liver, which sits on top of your stomach. Shrinking your liver makes it safer and easier to move out of the way to preform the surgery. My pre-op diet was 15 days and consisted of 3 protein shakes and one green salad with calorie-free dressing per day.

I did two weeks. Not insurance required...surgeon required for me.

I had my appointment with the nutritionist today and was happy to learn my pre-op liquid diet is not all liquid! Yay! I was so nervous! I will have 2 protein shakes a day, 2 snacks and a protein and veggie dinner. I can't say I'm excited to get started but I am relieved! I hope this helps for anyone who was freaking out like me ????

The diet is to help reduce your liver since it is so close to your stomach also some may need to lose additional weight depending how much they weigh. I was on a 10day protein liver reduction diet. 4 shakes a day and a 1/2 cup of non starchy veggies. Along with clear liquids!

Edited January 14, 201610 yr by jboys83

The pre-op diet is required by surgeons, not insurance, as has been pointed out here.

The purpose is to shrink your liver. Your liver stores sugar in the form of glycogen. Whenever you diet or fast you actually burn this stored sugar in your liver first over a few days before you start to burn fat. Additionally, most morbidly obese people have what is called "fatty liver disease", in which fat begins to accumulate in the liver itself. The results are that the liver of a morbidly obese person are usually significantly larger than what is normal. The liver is extremely fragile and easily damaged. So for safety reasons and to minimize complications surgeons require pre-op diets designed to shrink the liver and make surgery easier for them. As an added plus it will give you a jump start on your weight loss and you will have the benefit of already being over your carb withdrawals prior to surgery. Additionally, those who do the pre-op diet tend to lose more weight than those who do not. It's not uncommon for a person to lose 20-25 lbs or more on a 2 week pre-op diet. I lost 25 lbs on mine.

My pre-op diet was:

Week 1

Water, sugar free Tea, Crystal Light, etc.

All the chicken broth I wanted

Sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles

2 Protein shakes a day (Breakfast and lunch)

dinner was lean, unbreaded meat on a bed of greens

Week 2

The same as week 1 except that dinner was replaced with

a Protein shake. So 3 Protein Shakes (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

I did not do one ounce of exercise and still lost 25 lbs.

Be warned though. The first 3-4 days of your pre-op diet are hell. You will go through carb withdrawals. You will have a headache and be irritable. You will likely feel dizzy and feel like you are going to faint. So take it slow. After about the 4th or 5th day you will find that you feel back to normal as your body has cleared out all the carbs.

My doctor is having me do it for a week, but some of his patients do it for two weeks. I think part of it depends on the type of surgery you are having done. He says it is done in part to have your stomach and everything all cleaned out and ready for surgery. I still don't know what all Is included in my liquid diet because I don't start it until Monday. I hope mine is the kind that allows for dinner, lol.

Thank you everyone. I was told today no preop diet required. When I go in the Friday before that may be updated though. I am just rolling with whatever comes.