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.

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.

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.