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Hello all! I have been coming to this site for almost 4 months now and have gained alot of insight throughout my insurance process. I was approved by Aetna 2 weeks ago, and just met with my surgeon this past Thursday. He says I have to lose 20 pounds in the next 3 weeks. Since I gained weight during the insurance phase he wants to have me do pre-op for a total of 4 weeks. My surgery date is April 17th- so he'll meet with me the week prior (April 9th) to check on my progress and make sure I stuck to the pre-op plan, or else he says he'll move the surgery date up. I understand this is for my safety but ugh... It's soo tough!

I have a severe headache and find that when I'm at work I don't think about food as much since I'm super busy, but at home now on the weekends is so tough. I'm told to have a protien shake for Breakfast, eat a piece of lean meat for lunch, and a protien shake for dinner. Is it ok if I eat other high protien foods? Like eggs? or cheese? Or should I just tough it out and do nothing but the shakes?

Help.

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Oh man....I can so address this, because I was supposed to do the preop diet for three weeks and mine was almost exactly like yours, except I had shakes for Breakfast and lunch, and the lean Protein for dinner (with up to 1 cup of low carb veggies...no peas, for example).

I "cheated" (I'd done Atkins before so I had more chicken, I ate beef, I used butter on my veggies, i had some cheese etc) and lost 15 pounds and did NOT get the band because my liver was too thick! So i did EXACTLY what my doc told me for 2 1/2 more weeks. I didn't expect to lose too much since I'd already lost 15...WRONG I lost 17 pounds in that 2 1/2 weeks and got my band that time.

SO....do exactly what your doctor says. Yes it's long, but worth it. If you HAVE to eat something more, call and ask him what if anything you can have. My doc told me I could have 2-3 Protein Shakes a day so sometimes I used that 3rd one as a snack (during the time I did what he said to do).

Trust me....coming to in recovery and being told by the nurse "you didn't get the band dear your liver was too big" is something no one should ever have to face.

Do what your doc says. Time will pass and you'll be glad you did.

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Thank you, today was a little easier- the headache is still there. I have had some sugar free Jello as a snack, which made it easier, but have been sticking to the 2 shakes and high, lean Protein for lunch. I haven't stepped on a scale yet, I'm just hoping it's gone down at least a little! This weekend's been TOUGH!

I appreciate your feedback... It prevented me from eating anything else. I am determined to have my surgery on April 17th, as scheduled, no matter what.

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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

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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
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