Hello all!

Before you come at me sideways with your remarks realize this is simply what happened and I do realize that I should have done much differently. Hindsight is simply what it is... Hindsight. So save it!

My surgery was on Thursday the 25th of February. It was actually moved from the 18th of February because I was sick and told my doctor I wasn't able to follow the diet accordingly. He moved it back a week. Still even when I felt better I didn't follow it like I should.

I was to be on shakes 3 times a day for two weeks prior to my surgery. I only got a few shakes I'm per week and for the rest of my meals I was not only eating what I shouldn't have been but I was eating worse than how I ever eaten before. Of course I didn't want to tell my doctor the truth because I wanted to just get it done as I figured it would be much easier to follow the post op diet.

Man I had wished that I got my surgery pushed back. I ended up with a ton of internal bleeding. I vomited blood shortly after my surgery while I was in recovery. My vitals were out of control and they had to call rapid response. Turns out I lost a litre of blood and I had to go back under surgery again to fix my issue.

While the surgeon didn't say that not following the diet caused such complications, I know that if I had choice again I wouldn't even think about going off the preop diet. The pain and scare from internal bleeding was so unbearable I wouldn't wish it on anyone and for what just a little extra junk food?

All is ok with me now. I had to stay in the hospital a couple of days longer than normal but I'm out and following my diet as I should be. So if you're reading this and you're preop and you're tempted to go off your diet... Please don't make the same mistake I did. My medical team was amazing but I put myself at such great risk just to get some junk food in. Please share any thoughts or questions!

Thanks for sharing your lessons learned.

It is hard to know if there is a cause and effect but I guess we all want to do our best to minimize risk of problems.

What I don't understand is why some surgeons make the preop diet so difficult. ... for purposes of liver shrinking a couple of weeks of low carb does the trick, I am grateful I wasn't expected to live on shakes for a month preop (some surgeons protocol ).

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Brave to tell your story and inspire others to follow the diet! Good luck on the rest of your journey

Glad you got over the hurdle. We all do self destructive things sometimes. Happy you're on the mend.

If it makes you feel better, it is highly unlikely that your issue was caused by your eating unless the bleeding was a result of a cracked liver. Internal bleeding during this procedure doesn't really have much to do with your diet and it is entirely possible you would have had the same issue if you had followed the diet, assuming of course your problem wasn't oriented around the liver. Given this though, I would say to take the fear you feel and use it to make you very motivated to follow the post- procedure diet.

I think for some, it's only natural for people with an unhealthy relationship with food to be hesitant in giving it up. The best part is that you learned the lesson and it won't hinder your results. The best to you!

thanks for the post. i am pre-surgery and having hard time losing the 20 pounds before surgery. (only 11 to go). The night after I met with surgeon and was approved for the program, my hubby took me out for prime rib, and all the trimmings with drinks and dessert. I thought of it as a last hurrah. dumb. gained 3 pounds. now i have more to lose. but i did lose 4 since then. it was valentines day weekend but still no excuse. good luck to you!

Thank you for the advice and I will definitely follow my pre op diet. Take care.

Thanks for the post and motivation! I'm on day 5 and lost control; I'm back on track for last 7 days before surgery. [emoji56]

I didn't have a pre op or "liver shrinking" diet at all, so I doubt your complications were from that. But yes, your call to follow your own particular surgeons orders are absolutely correct. Hope all is well.

Thank you for sharing your story.

Thanks for telling your cautionary tell. Its should be a good reminder for those that haven't embark on this journey yet that if you can't get through the pre-op diet then your gonna be in for a world of difficulty come post op. Further more your rate of success is going to greatly decrease. If you want the results of weight loss surgery and limits you chances for issues afterwards then follow the plan? It sucks, but its there for very good reasons.

I had no issues with the pre-op diet after the first 48 hours past I was good. And I did no Protein shakes at all. It was all sugar free Jello and beef/chicken broths for 10 days. Till this day I can't stomach Jello at all.

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As someone who works in surgery on a daily basis, I doubt your lack of compliance with the diet caused your perioperative complications, unless it was related to your liver being fatty, which would have been reduced a little if you followed the diet accordingly. But I'm glad you used it as a wake up call that you need to listen to your surgeon and follow his directions accordingly.

It is logical to reach this conclusion but I know of no peer reviewed study to support this hypothesis,do you?

I had a two week liver shrinking diet - low carb. I did well in t he sense of the low carb but I only lost 8# and really struggled. I have been very successful post op. Of course that doesn't prove anything either... as one story does not research make.

Thanks for telling your cautionary tell. Its should be a good reminder for those that haven't embark on this journey yet that if you can't get through the pre-op diet then your gonna be in for a world of difficulty come post op. Further more your rate of success is going to greatly decrease. If you want the results of weight loss surgery and limits you chances for issues afterwards then follow the plan? It sucks, but its there for very good reasons.

I had no issues with the pre-op diet after the first 48 hours past I was good. And I did no Protein shakes at all. It was all sugar free Jello and beef/chicken broths for 10 days. Till this day I can't stomach Jello at all.

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Oh my, I'm glad everything is ok now. Some tough lesson are made for hard head. But dam. That's scary, I hope everything will go smoothly for u now. Welcome to the club. :-)

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Thanks for the warning post! I am pre-op without a date yet, and haven't been doing that well lately. I did my mandatory 14 day trial full Fluid diet, and felt really good toward the end of it. Since coming off I've not been doing so well, and making poor choices. I am going to turn it around starting tomorrow, and will make sure I follow my pre-op diet to a T. I hope that you are feeling better now and have no ill lasting effects from your experience.