Hello all. I've got a guestion that has come up after doing a LOT of reading on here. I've noticed that there is a period of time that most everyone has to do a "liquid diet" pre surgery. I've had surgery to remove a kidney (gave it to a friend in a transplant) and knew that I had to be cleaned out pre surgery. Why the liquid diet for so long? What purpose does it serve?

1. Shrinks the liver to make surgery safer.

2. Gets weight loss started, making surgery safer.

3. Helps you and your doctor determine if you are committed enough to change the way you eat after the band is in place, which will be necessary for the band to be a success.

4. Gets your stomach used to much smaller meals.

Thanks, that makes sense now.

Thanks, that makes sense now.

The requirement, as best as I can tell, varies from one insurance company to another and Surgeon to another.

The only reason I did it was to shrink my liver.

and then the "regular" preop diet for a day or so....to "prep" for the surgery! :wub: Different docs require different diets (if any) of different durations! :wub:

I know my liver is enlarged because of previous tests so I asked my doctor about it last week. He put me on a 1 week diet consisting of 2-3 protein shakes a day with 4 ounces of lean meat and vegetable for a dinner. He stated that he was not overly concerned about my liver being too large because I was a smaller candidate for the surgery, but this diet would shrink it a little. I can even eat Thanksgiving tommorow as my last splurge.

Just do what YOUR doctor tells YOU, when the time comes.

I am partaking in a lower BMI study so I was not given very strick pre op instructions. I was told I can eat on Thanksgiving today (my surgery scheduled for 12/2/08) just not high fat...more veggies....ha ha I've been trying to stick to the all optifast but have been eating a lot today. I'm sure the pie I ate was high fat. I think it is a good idea to get the stomach used to smaller meals tho and to shrink. I felt great on the Optifast for a few days. Today my stomach is all bloated again. Hopefully the next 4 days I can stay on the Optifast and get my stomach smaller again...just so it won't be a totaly shock. This is really gonna be a change for me....I am a huge eater!