How long were your preop diets?

[Circus321 58]

My surgery was canceled due to weather 😣. I’m trying to get it rescheduled for March 8th but their office has been closed since they cancelled my surgery 2 weeks ago so I can’t reschedule it or ask them any questions. If I can’t get it done March 8th I’ll have to wait until July because of work and I’d hate to have to do that. I’m scared that’s what’ll happen though because that’s barely 2 weeks away from now and I won’t have time to finish the preop diet if they require the 2 week liquid diet like many I’ve seen on here.

Anyway... how far in advance did you schedule your surgery? How long did you have to do the preop diet? Thanks!

[catwoman7 10,846]

I worked in education at the time (I'm retired now), so I had to wait until the end of the semester to have it - so it was three or so months for me, but that was a special situation because of my particular job. My pre-op diet was two weeks long.

[Circus321 58]

I’m an educator too so I’m in the same position. March 8th is the start of spring break. I don’t want to take sick days so if I don’t get it then I’ll have to wait until summer break :/

[Recidivist 1,141]

Mine went quickly. I saw the surgeon for the first time in December 2018 and was originally scheduled for surgery in late February 2019. However, it was postponed to early March due to my surgeon's schedule. I did only the two-week liquid diet right before surgery.

I had done a 6-month medically-supervised diet program from January to June of 2019, which I viewed as my last chance to lose the weight without surgery. I managed to lose 20 pounds, all of which was back by December. Fortunately, that program counted for insurance purposes.

Edited February 15, 2021 by Recidivist

[RickM 1,747]

IIRC, my surgery was scheduled a month or two out, but that can vary from practice to practice depending upon how busy they are, and now we have Covid getting in the way, and if you were cancelled due to weather, that's another complicating matter - so it's really anybody's guess in your case.

Pre-op diets also vary markedly - we didn't have any other than the day before surgery - but most typical is a week or two for those that have them. Those that do them can also waive or modify the requirement if scheduling dictates, and depending upon the patient's situation (have you already been dieting for insurance purposes, is your weight on the "moderate" side, have you had a clear liver ultrasound, etc.)

If your surgery was just cancelled, then I would expect that you already would have known about whatever preop diet requirements that they have, and they would remain the same.

[Circus321 58]

On 02/15/2021 at 00:18, RickM said:

IIRC, my surgery was scheduled a month or two out, but that can vary from practice to practice depending upon how busy they are, and now we have Covid getting in the way, and if you were cancelled due to weather, that's another complicating matter - so it's really anybody's guess in your case.

Pre-op diets also vary markedly - we didn't have any other than the day before surgery - but most typical is a week or two for those that have them. Those that do them can also waive or modify the requirement if scheduling dictates, and depending upon the patient's situation (have you already been dieting for insurance purposes, is your weight on the "moderate" side, have you had a clear liver ultrasound, etc.)

If your surgery was just cancelled, then I would expect that you already would have known about whatever preop diet requirements that they have, and they would remain the same.

They didn’t give me a preop diet, just “lose as much weight as you can before surgery” and I was supposed to talk with a dietitian 2 weeks before surgery for specifics before and after the surgery but they never called and then cancelled the surgery. So I’m not sure what they’ll want me to do

[kellym1220 472]

It all depends on the surgeon and I think also how much weight you have to lose. I had a "fairly" low BMI (I was self pay in order to get the surgery with my BMI). My surgery was cancelled 6 days into my two week liquid pre-op diet. I called and told them I would take any date and do it as out patient, if necessary. They didn't hold out a lot of hope, so I had a great weekend of mexican and italian food, then they called on Monday and said I could have the surgery on Thursday, so I told them what had happened and they said "Just no more cheating!" And it was fine. I would do what you can to stay on track with what the surgeon originally told you and then plead your case when the office re-opens. Good luck!

[HealthyLifeStyle 351]

5 hours ago, kellym1220 said:

It all depends on the surgeon and I think also how much weight you have to lose. I had a "fairly" low BMI (I was self pay in order to get the surgery with my BMI). My surgery was cancelled 6 days into my two week liquid pre-op diet. I called and told them I would take any date and do it as out patient, if necessary. They didn't hold out a lot of hope, so I had a great weekend of mexican and italian food, then they called on Monday and said I could have the surgery on Thursday, so I told them what had happened and they said "Just no more cheating!" And it was fine. I would do what you can to stay on track with what the surgeon originally told you and then plead your case when the office re-opens. Good luck!

18 hours ago, Circus321 said:

My surgery was canceled due to weather 😣. I’m trying to get it rescheduled for March 8th but their office has been closed since they cancelled my surgery 2 weeks ago so I can’t reschedule it or ask them any questions. If I can’t get it done March 8th I’ll have to wait until July because of work and I’d hate to have to do that. I’m scared that’s what’ll happen though because that’s barely 2 weeks away from now and I won’t have time to finish the preop diet if they require the 2 week liquid diet like many I’ve seen on here.

Anyway... how far in advance did you schedule your surgery? How long did you have to do the preop diet? Thanks!

I was "lucky", I guess. I did not have to do any pre op diet at all. I only had to stop drinking diet coke.