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Did you go on a diet before surgery



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Hi all

I've finally made the decision to get banded - my sister got hers 3 years ago and I've put it off because I had to save up for it as I don't have insurance. Now I'm ready.

Anywho, all the research I've done it talks about the 4 week diet before surgery. Is this only for people with an enlarged liver?

My friend is getting her band early Feb and she was talking about having to do Optifast for 4 weeks but when I asked my sister, she didn't do that. She said she ate like a pig the night before and didn't do any sort of diet before hand.

So would this just come down to the surgeons preference for the pre-surgery diet? Who had to diet and who didn't?

Thanks.

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when I first went for the consult my Dr. was doing a low calorie, low fat diet for two weeks before surgery. By the time I was scheduled for surgery, it had changed to Optifast type diet for 2 weeks prior, but I dont' know they changed it and they just told me to stick to what I was told when i first came in.

I did have to be on Clear liquids for two days before surgery.

My starting BMI was just at 40 and my pre-op bloodwork showed my liver function was normal, which would help to indicate I did not have a fatty liver.

A fatty liver can be reduced quickly with the pre-op liquid diet and the liver can get in the way during surgery, so that's why Dr's want patients on it, plus it jump starts the weight loss.

Just follow the Dr.'s instructions and you'll do fine.

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Hello,

It seems every Doctor is different on pre-op diets. My Doctor has me on a two week liquid diet. Mainly this is to shrink the liver to make the procedure easier and safer.For my two weeks, I can have Protein Shakes, Jello, chick and beef broth, sherbert,sugar free pop sickles. I am on my 6th day and doing ok so far. Find out what your doctor recomends.

good luck in your search.

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Soriminah- My doctor and his staff told me that I could eat ANYTHING I wanted up until midnight the night before surgery and everything went well.:)

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Hi all,

My Dr. had me do a clear liquid diet a week (5-7 days) prior to surgery to shrink my liver.

Be careful with broths, if you use boullion it can give you bad craps and diareaha (SP? ) .

Sorry for my spelling.

I coudl drink any low/no claorie liquids. I could also have saltines if I got too bad.

Good luck.

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My doc told me to lose 23 lbs to shrink the liver. I ended up losing 34 by eating low carb and exercising a ton. I also wanted to exercise to be in the best shape I could be for the surgery. I was glad I did, too, because it was easy to recover.

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Your doctor will tell you what he wants you to do. They all seem to do something different when it comes to the pre AND post op diets.

Mine required 1 week of liquids. I did 2 weeks and I'm glad I did. It detoxed my body of the carbs, sugar, and crap, jump started my weight loss (I lost 14lbs), and just made the transition after surgery so much easier.

<O:p

Best of luck to you!<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

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Every doc is different..... mine is now doing one and depending on your BMI is how long you have to do it.....

I put myself on a liquid Low Carb diet 1 month prior to surgery because I had went on a major farewell to food tour and gained between getting insurance approval and the actual surgery date...... I did LC Protein shakes and ONE meal of either tuna or eggs........ I lost 19 lbs and it was the jumpstart I needed into bandland

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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