I am at the very beginning of my journey and have a couple of questions regarding the pre-op stage. Will I need to go on a diet plan prior to my surgery? I am trying to go through my insurance and am unsure of their requirements. Also if I do need to go on a plan, will my surgeon or dietician put me on one or is this something I will have to do on my own? Thanks!

Your doctor and insurance company will determine whether you need or what kind of diet plan you go on.

Most people do go on a diet in order to make their liver smaller. It helps to keep it out of the way during the surgery.

Your insurance company may want you to go on a diet in order to learn new eating habits for your new digestive system.

Good luck to you!

It depends; from what I've seen, most surgeons do have some sort of diet plan, though the length and what you can have are different depending on who you use.

I know a lot of insurances require some kind of weight loss before you can have surgery, but I paid for mine out of pocket.

When I went on my plan, my dietitian gave me a written out thing of what I could eat and when- 1 protein shake for breakfast and lunch, and then a small (4oz) serving of lean meat with 1 cup of veggies. I know some people have to do full liquid, and the time can range from 1 day to 14 days, or maybe even longer.

If you feel like starting early, good for you; just try to eat the things you'd be eating after surgery. It will be a lifestyle change.

I practiced eating slow and not drinking water with meals- that was the hardest thing to give up, honestly.

Good luck! ❤️

41 minutes ago, mcfluffington said:

Thank you both very much for the information. I have started a low calorie diet to try and ease my way into what's to come. I am hoping to get more information from my first surgeon appointment next week.

Yes you will need a pre op diet to shrink your liver and make surgery the safest possible.

I was given 800kcals (2 meal replacement products and a small low carb meal) as an example.

that will totally depend on your insurance company's requirements and your surgeon's requirements. Some require it, some don't. A lot of insurance companies (not all -- but many) require a six-month supervised diet. These usually have to be done with a dietitian or a physician. In addition, some surgeons require you to do a quick liver-shrinking diet before your surgery - usually for a week or two. But again, not all insurance companies and surgeons require special diets.

Hi, it depends where you get the surgery done. If you get it done through a center or hospital program their dietician will give you printouts to follow. Then every month until surgery, the dietician goes over your food log with you to see how you are doing. The diet is to acquaint you with how they want you eat after youve healed from surgery so that you Will know what to do already at home once healed. The dietician makes alot of healthy suggestions and i also found the biweekly support group somewhat helpful as well.

I see some others mentioning the preop diet. My program has this second diet only for when you have the second consult with the surgeon and you are a week from the surgery. This varies by program/center/hospital mine is bariatric advantage shakes one week prior to surgery and two weeks after.