I am having the lap-band surgery with my hubby on Dec.8th. We got it approved thru Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

We've been on a 700 calorie diet for a week now and we have a week to go. One diary, one fruit, two protien, and three veggie servings per day.

My question is - what effect does cheating (say on a day like Thanksgiving) have on your liver? I mean...ONE day? Anyone actually know? I mean, I know the importance of the pre-op diet etc...etc... I just want to know if one day is going to make a difference.

I cheated on my preop diet. I lost 15 pounds anyway. My liver was too big for the surgery. I came to in recovery to be told that they couldn't place the band.

Don't cheat any more. Yes, depending on what you ate today and how large your liver is, one day CAN make a difference. Don't mean to depress you, just being honest.

Isn't is crazy how every doctor orders the pre-op diet differently? My surgeon has me on a two week Optifast (four shakes, one bar) diet and I'm allowed raw veggies and/or fruit. My surgery is Monday the 1st and I admit to having cheated a few times in the last two weeks. However, I can tell I've lost at least five to seven pounds anyway.

BTW...blending one of the vanilla shake mixes with 3/4 cup of cold Water, two ice cubes, and a cup of frozen blueberries is *almost* just like ice cream. (Yeah, girl...keep telling yourself that...)

Dayum!! I'm hungry!!

It is crazy how much this varies. I'm only allowed 3 optifast and 2 cups vegies. I'd love a piece of fruit. I am starving. I have nibbled a few times but haven't had any sort of breakout like having a "real" meal or anything. My surgery is 8th Dec so I still have a week of this to go. I don't know if I can last

The preop diet is very hard, no doubt about it. I hate to tell you this though, but the postop diet is even worse once your hunger comes back. Learning to stick with it and muscle through the unpleasantness is really important right now. Restless Monkey is the only one I have heard of waking up without her band due to an unshrunk liver, but it is proof that can happen. But there's more reasons for that diet than just shrinking the liver. Its breaking old habits, getting the stomach used to less food and letting you know before you have this surgery whether you can do what you need to do to protect your health after the surgery. I doubt one cheat is going to hurt you, but I have to be honest. We all know once you say "ah, just one won't hurt", its easy to rationalize another. And after the band is on in particular that can be disasterous.

I would call your surgeon and let him know what happened to be honest. It will keep you accountable and let you know if you need to delay your surgery or reassure you, one or the other.

It is very different for every surgeon. From what I have researched here on this site, it looks like weighing less going on an operating table is always a good thing. I think that in the case of bariatric surgery doctors know people esp. us are going to cheat so the stricter the rules the less one is going to cheat. My surgeon said that in the thousands of LB surgeries he's done he only came across one person with a liver too big and she was only a 40 BMI. Better to err on the side of caution tho!

Oh and don't forget as important as a low fat diet is now ....drinking at least 64 oz of water if recommended to flush out liver! Drink water constantly now!

Hi Gently: I see you were just banded! Congratulations! Can you please tell me what it is like when you are post op? I was thinking, always hoping for the best, that I won't really feel like eating post op. Especially because of the swelling and the shrinking of the stomach!? Is this not the case? When did you start to get your hunger back? I am terrible at following rules actually....hope I am doing the right thing. I don't want to call my after care people yet, because the secy. always over reacts to everything and I'm afraid she will cause me anxiety. Thank you for your level headed advice !

Hi Gently: I see you were just banded! Congratulations! Can you please tell me what it is like when you are post op? I was thinking, always hoping for the best, that I won't really feel like eating post op. Especially because of the swelling and the shrinking of the stomach!? Is this not the case? When did you start to get your hunger back? I am terrible at following rules actually....hope I am doing the right thing. I don't want to call my after care people yet, because the secy. always over reacts to everything and I'm afraid she will cause me anxiety. Thank you for your level headed advice !

Hi there and thank you.

I did not want food at all for about four to five days after surgery. On day five, I definitely began to get hunger pains...the likes of which I have not felt in a very long time. I do, however, have good restriction, so can only eat a small amount at a time. Since I am on liquids I eat whenever I am hungry and get full really fast. I am doing great in the loss department. I am on the eigth day postop now, shopping, doing housework, working full time and living life normally and without pain, but with a lot more control over my food issues.

Best of luck to you...feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

I wasn't very hugry either the first four days or so, but even though my hunger is coming back, it's a strange sort of dulled hunger. It's not ravishing or like if I don't eat something right NOW I'm gonna be sick, but it is tolerable, thankfully. But that's just me.

Maybe it's my tattoo workin'. lol

I would just recommend to get back on track and remember that the pre-op diet helps you and your doctor. A smaller liver makes it easier for the doctor to do the procedure, so get back on track and stay focused. You can do it, because we have done it.

My surgery is on December 5th and my surgeon didn't even put me on a pre-op diet. He didn't say I had to do anything strict. I'm wondering why now since most everyone on here has talked about this. Please advise.

Thanks, Laurie

My surgery is on December 5th and my surgeon didn't even put me on a pre-op diet. He didn't say I had to do anything strict. I'm wondering why now since most everyone on here has talked about this. Please advise.

Thanks, Laurie

If that's you in the picture, my guess would be that you're not overly overweight and your surgeon isn't too worried about an enlarged liver.

Lucky brat. :thumbup:

I couldn't bear to cheat on my pre-op! I've come SO FAR to finally get to have this surgery... been wanting it for, I don't know, 4 years... when my doctor said Optifast only, that's all I do. Then again, to satisfy insurance, (and to prove to myself I could do it), I have worked my hiney off since beginning this journey on March 28, 2008, to lose what I have so far. I LOVE to cook, and this Thanksgiving holiday was no exception - I cooked for folks at the office, and I spent today cooking and entertaining out-of-town guests. Not once have I even licked my finger... though, rest assured, the temptations were there!

My sister, who is banded, and her boyfriend, who had gastic bypass, both told me I should eat turkey, dressing, etc., on Thanksgiving because this was my last opportunity to do so. However, they are not my doctor. Call me anal, but I am a rule follower, and, like I said, I've worked too hard for this for anything to get in the way. (And I have plans for the rest of the month, so I don't have time to reschedule my surgery, and Cigna was very particular about the date range for my approval).

The demons we battle (and face it, we all have them or we would never have known about this website) will always be there, and this "tool" will not conquer them alone... Think about it. Would you go to "battle", face your enemy, and hold your sword out in front of you, throw it at them, or lay it down, expecting that to be what it takes to win the war?

Stay focused, keep your eye on the prize - a thinner, healthier you - you can do it! We all can! :thumbup:

Thank you for giving me hope of quick return to work. I am in beginning stages of banding, thinking, hoping, praying, consulting and one worry was recovery time as I have a new job with not a lot of PTO built up but a very understanding boss and a sit down job. You made me feel much better about this part of the banding.

Thank you so much Gently, your recovery is truly an inspiration and the way you work the band into your life if remarkable. Keep up the good work!

Kudos

M