I have a 3 week Medifast diet before my surgery next week and I have 3times that I have broken down to eat. Cheese & crackers etc

should I worry? It is so hard not to eat.

I think you're human. I can guarantee if I'd had to do a liquid diet I would have cheated. I am not strong like that.

Try not to, of course, but a couple of indiscretions is not going to be life and death.

I did not stick as well to the pre-op diet. I don't think it made a big difference. So far I am okay a little sore but don't think that had to do with the pre-op diet. Try to hang in there I will say having done the liquids before the surgery is helping me now. All I can do is liquids.

Good luck and hang in there!

I'm so glad this post was started--I'm only having to do a week of liquid protein and I cheated on my first day! Today is the second day, and it's still not over yet. I have no idea how I'll get through this week!

Hello!

My doctor told me that if I didn't follow the pre-op liquid diet - there may be a chance that the liver would not shrink enough for the surgery to take place. If the liver is in the way -- she cannot get to the stomach. She also said that if she gets in there and this is the case -- I will still be charged for the entire surgery -- but not the lap-band device. I think this is a scare tactic but whatever it is I think it will color my take on the pre-op diet when I start it in a couple weeks.

Oh, how am I going to do it? It fear it will be like a heroin addict going cold turkey -- that is how addicted I feel to food!

Blessings to you!

Hi I was banded on 6th October and I didn't do the pre-op diet. I had the advice from a friend who had the procedure 2 years previously. My doctor didn't mention anything about whether there had been any issues because of it.

cheers!

I would hate to take that chance. I only stuck to it for two weeks because I had that threat hanging over my head and I did pay out of pocket.

After two weeks I had dropped 7 pounds and had stuck to the diet to a T .... and it was very hard!

My surgeon told me afterwards that my liver had reduced in size... they know these things.

It could possibly make the surgery unsafe if the liver was in the way.

Be strong YOU can do it!

Whisper

I was told the same thing. If they get all of the stuf ready and the liver is still too large, it can hinder or stop the surgery, and I would have been charged for the procedure. That in itself was enough for me to stay very strict on my pre-op diet. My surgery was 4 hrs long due to scar tissue from previous abdominal surgeries, and my surgeon said that after talking to other dr's that they all would have stopped and not finished it. She saw how dedicated I was to the pre-op and went thru with the banding. Cheating a little isnt the end of he world. Just get back on track quickly and you will be ok. After all, we are human.

Remember that the better we stick to the pre-op, the easier the liquid portion will be after surgery

...but I will try to keep my eyes on the prize and persevere.

Dave01-- you are doing fantastic! Which band do you have?

Jim

Jim, I have the 10cc band. So far 6cc of fill and am going back the 13th for some more.

I found that when I wanted to eat pre-op,I walked instead. Didnt always work, but most of the time it did....Dave

If you guys really can't follow the pre-op diet, then I would STRONGLY suggest that instead of just "cheating" and having whatever, you call your surgeon and discuss the situation with him. Tell him you can't be compliant, and maybe he will negotiate a different program with you. I've seen it happen many times. If you do that, your surgeon can still set your food threshold at something that will produce the results he's looking for.

Err, or "she" of course. My surgeon is a he so I have that association.

The "diet hell" doesn't stop there, because after surgery there are 6 more weeks of "diet hell" that are much more important to follow. Good luck it is only 8 weeks, out of your 39 years. Following the post-op diet I have never felt better, because my sweet and junk food cravings are gone. It is totally worth it to work the program. Good luck. Get you slip up out of the way now, because you can't slip up later.

I am in day 2 of the pre-op! I have absolutely followed it to the letter. I will not cheat as this is so important to changing my way of life for the better. I have not been hungry at all, however I do have the want to eat just from the addiction of food. I was told that this pre-op diet will shrink the fat around the liver which can mean the difference of laproscopic surgery to open surgery. Be Strong All and See Ya Liter!

It's hard to stick to that pre-op diet. I must admit...I had my surgery 9/26 and I didn't stick to it well..ok...but not perfect. I was worried I was going to cause a problem in the surgery but he did it in less than an hour with no complications. No problems. (he didn't say so anyway:rolleyes) He coulda had to move a monstrous liver for all I know...j/k.:eek Anyway..just do the best you can for your start and try not to worry if you weren't perfect.

Hi Dave,

I was banded on 9-18-07 and my surgeon mentioned that I had the new third generation band. Do you know if that means that the band holds 10cc's instead of the normal 4 cc's? I am asking because I just had my first fill and I didn't think about it when I was there, but he put in 3 cc's and I really don't feel that much restriction. I am hoping my band holds more than 4 cc's or I may be in big trouble. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

sincerely,

Peggy (down about 26 pounds since pre-op diet started),