Just wanted to let everyone know what almost happened to me. My doctor told me to do a low carb diet for 10 days prior to the surgery. My definition of low carb and his definition of low carb happened to be very different. I flew into to Denver to see him the day before my surgery. He asked me "did you have any bread, pasta, rice, etc in the last 10 days". I said yes, because I had eaten some of those things, but not much. I thought I was doing an overall, low carbohydrate diet. That is how I lost the 50 lbs before surgery, so I thought I knew what I was doing. Anyway, he really meant NO BREAD, NO PASTA, NO RICE, not just a reduced amount. Anyway, he suggested that I go back home and diet for 2 weeks and come back. But I didn't want to come back again for the surgery. I thought it would be alright so I went forward. He said if he got in there and the liver was too fatty, he would stop the surgery. I didn't want that because I was self-pay and would have to pay for thingd all over again. Luckily, since I had been dieting for 11 months, my liver was fine. But it might have turned out so much worse. So just heed your doctor's advice on the diet. DON'T CHEAT! DON'T CHEAT!

Congrats on getting your band!

Congratulations on your band and good luck and much success.

I didn't have a pre-op diet per say. I had to eat VERY healthy with lots of lean meat/fish and fresh veggies for two weeks, there was no restrictions on carbs and two days of liquids before surgery. that's it. I didn't have any problems. I asked my doctor about this, and he said it was more important to him to have his patient nutrionally healthy and strong in preparation for surgery. It helps the healing process progress faster. Weeks of liquids just weaken you. He also said, he wanted the surgery to be easier on the patient, not easier on him. The fatty liver poses a problem in surgery, and it makes it easier on the surgeon for it not to be there, but he was more interested in my comfort and ease, not his. No offense to anyone, but that's what he said.

There are quite a few examples out there of people who didn't think the doc would know the difference if they followed a pre op diet or not. They ended up going into surgery, the doc would take a look at the liver and close them up, no band. They were sent home to follow the diet and told not to return until it was done.

I was reading one of Dr. Ortiz patients who related a conversation between Dr. Ortiz and his nutritionist. The nutritionist was not big on making people stick to the diet. One day he called her into OR to see what he was looking at. A fatty, slimy, difficult to manage liver. He told her she was making his job too hard. From that day on she changed her tune about people following the pre op diet. She learned her lesson when she saw it with her own two eyes.

It makes a huge difference, it can mean the difference between complications or no complications as well as getting a band or being sent home to do it the right way. It can also mean having to resort to an open procedure vs. lap so recovery is months vs. days.

If people want a band and weight loss enough, they'll do anything it takes.

My doctor is in Denver (Dr. Kirshenbaum) and he had me on a low-carb pre-op diet for 2 weeks as well. At my pre-op he was asked me the same question, luckily, I had not eaten any bread, rice, or Pasta. He did tell me on the phone the day before I started the pre-op diet that if I did not follow it and my liver was not surgically ready, he would sew me back up and reschedule until I had done the 2-week diet the way he prescribed it.

You are right, it is imperative to follow the doctors orders. Congrats on getting banded.