Hi. I am in day 4 of 1 week preop full liquid diet. I'm starving. I want to gnaw on my arm I'm so hungry. And I am finding I'm extremely depressed. Depressed that I need this tool to live a normal life. And worried. Worried that I still won't find a way to happy at a normal size. Obviously I have many concerns. Any encouragement would be helpful.

It is completely normal to be absolutely miserable during the pre-op. Day 4 was probably the worst for me and then I kind of got "over the hump" and settled into it (grudgingly) for the remaining 10 days (mine was 15 days).

I am not going to sugar-coat it. These next few weeks are going to be some of the hardest of your life. I'm sure you are experiencing a lot of anxiety and stress about the upcoming surgery on top of dealing with the misery of the pre-op diet.

Once you've had the surgery, the recovery is not a lot of fun. You will be sore, tired, thirsty, and very emotional. You need to just focus on living one minute to the next in this little stretch here. There are a lot of things you will need to do to stay on top of... your sipping, your Protein intake, your Vitamins, and your walking. So focus on those things and doing them when you need to be doing them. It will seem like it drags on FOREVER, but then in a few weeks, you'll look back and not be able to believe how far you've come.

Hang in there! And no matter what, hold onto the knowledge that it WILL all be worth it in the end and you WILL feel normal again. I promise!