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Only water for 5 days



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I was banded 12-3-08 by Dr. Kwon of Tri State Bariatrics. The surgery went well, I went home the same night, and I'm feeling good with only some soreness at the port site.

My eating instructions are clear, ONLY Water or diet iced tea or no calorie crystal light, at a rate of 1 oz per 20 min, until the post-op appointment. The post-op appointment is on 12-8-08, which means I am taking in ZERO calories for five days.

I'm not complaining and I have every intention of following the guidelines but everyone I speak to questions the wisdom and "healthiness" of those guidelines. My sister and my friend who are banded had completely different recommendations and are doing well about 18 months post op.

What do you folks think?

Thanks,

- Hal

Edited by hlenoble

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Personally I find it impossible to believe!! The human body NEEDS nutrients (especially proteins) to heal!!

My post-op diet includes two high protein/low sugar shakes (Worldwide Pure Protein/35 grams Protein per shake), greek-style yogurt (14 grams protein), Tomato juice, ff/sf jell-o, ff/sf popsicles, low-fat cream Soups thinned down with non-fat milk, and all the Water I can take. This lasts two weeks until after I go to my surgeon for follow-up.

It continually amazes me how every doctor or program differs on this kind of stuff!!

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I agree. You are seriously going to be dragging after a few days on zero calories. I was only taking in 300 a day for the first week and I was very shakey and weak by the 5th day. My doctor only required clear liquids on Day 1. Then modified full liquids for 3 weeks, which was basically 2 oz of liquids (which included low-sodium broth as well as fruit juice mixed 50/50 with water) every 15 minutes. In addition, I was to drink 2 oz of a Protein drink every hour.

Good luck sticking with your doctor's requirements. If it was me, I think I'd have to double or triple check to make sure I couldn't also have broth or something with a few calories in it. As it is, take it easy and don't be surprised to feel the effects. Take care!

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I am not a doctor so my opinion must be taken with a grain of salt . . . but this doesn't sound healthy to me either. I am not sure that you are going to be feeling your best by the end of day 5.

Your body has just gone through major surgery and Protein and healthy calories will help you to recover faster. I had Isopure clear pre-mixed Protein drinks and broths in the early days.

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Geez .. that is very extreme .. I hope the doctor did not get his license out of a cracker jack box. ..

I would verify with my regular PCP if he thought this was good/acceptable.:tongue2:

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Very extreme, but it is your doctor's orders, so you will need to contact she/he to see if they are willing to modify the order.

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At least it's only temporary , stay strong and call the office if you're feeling badly. I see that compared to other practices alot of Tri-state's requirements are stricter. A few days of missed calories and Protein isn't detrimental.

Best of luck to you; I was your neighbor that day- the first surgery done that morning.

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I was banded 12-3-08 by Dr. Kwon of Tri State Bariatrics. The surgery went well, I went home the same night, and I'm feeling good with only some soreness at the port site.

My eating instructions are clear, ONLY Water or diet iced tea or no calorie crystal light, at a rate of 1 oz per 20 min, until the post-op appointment. The post-op appointment is on 12-8-08, which means I am taking in ZERO calories for five days.

I'm not complaining and I have every intention of following the guidelines but everyone I speak to questions the wisdom and "healthiness" of those guidelines. My sister and my friend who are banded had completely different recommendations and are doing well about 18 months post op.

What do you folks think?

Thanks,

- Hal

In my opinion,that's WAY extreme. I wonder what the reasoning is ?

Congrats on being banded though !!:thumbup:

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This is just a thought but I would maybe ask the Doctor if he would at least allow like the special K Protein Water. I'm not a medical professional but they always preach about getting enough protein and such. I'm afraid you're going to end up feeling really weak and run down.

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Thats odd. I would think doctors would want you to get SOME calories. I was on broth, Water, and Jello ONLY, for my first three post op days. Then I was told I could try the opti fast shakes I have, and to not have more than three a day, until my appointment (next week, 12/10) I don't think I could go five days on just water. While i wasn't hungry at first, I was pretty shaky on just broth and water and jello.

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I'm on board with everyone else, that is extreme! Your body needs fuel so that it can heal from the surgery.

You think that you could at least do Clear liquids so you could have some broth. I was able to have broth, sf Jello, sf popsicles for the first 2 days and then I could start adding small amounts of Protein shake to start upping the calories and Protein I was taking in.

You might want to check with your dr office if you are feeling weak and run down to see if you could add some nutrients. Congrats on the band!

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I too think that is very extreme. The one thing my doctor's office stressed was that although I was on clear liquids, I was still to try to get some calories in for healing. I was allowed sf Jello and sf popsicles along with my broth and crystal light. I would never tell any one to go against their doctor, but I will say that is the most extreme post op diet that I have ever heard of. If you haven't already, you might want to take that week off so that you aren't so weak at work. I wish you the best.

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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.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        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💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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