Hi Everyone!

My name is Cammy and I'm getting banded on July 29 the Surgical Weight Loss Centre (or SWCL), in Mississauga Ontario by Dr. Cobourn.

For the two weeks before the surgery I have to be on a liquid diet (along with a few minor vegtables) with MediTrim. I'm so worried that I won't be able to do it. :tongue_smilie: I'm the type of person that is never full. Especially if I don't have carbs. So a diet drink along with a few celery sticks scares me... I feel like I'm doomed to fail... you know?

Dr. Cobourn is so nice and tells me that after a day or two the MediTrim will make me feel full but still... he's a thin guy I'm a big woman... so I was wondering if anyone in my shoes tried the MediTrim? How it is? Did it make you feel full?

Please help! I'm worried I'm going to fail and I haven't even started. :thumbdown:

Sincerely,

Cammy

I didn't do meditrim, but I did have a simlar diet. I cheated. They couldn't place the band because my liver was too big. It is amazing how that can motivate a person, the shame, the misery....

so I promised PROMISED my doc I would do exactly as he said if he'd give me another chance. He did, I did, and I got the band just fine. Let me be a horrible warning...just hang in there. It's only for a short time (2 weeks is NOTHING! most of us can do anything for 2 weeks!) and you'll be through it. Post op you'll have liquids for a while too, but that is to let you heal. So stick to it. We did it; I know you can too!

Hi Cammy! I am going to have my consultation with Dr. Cobourn this week.... how is he as a surgeon?

Have you checked out the patient forums on the SWLC page? All the people there are patients of the clinic and they are a great resource! I am hoping to be in your shoes very shortly :tongue_smilie:

I have heard that the meditrim is not pleasant, but there are lots of little tips for making the shakes easier to drink. Some suggest sugar-free syrups, others suggest using baking extracts and almost every post I have read says to use lots of ice. The most common complaint is that the meditrim is the most difficult part of the whole procedure. If you've gotten this far in making your dream come true then I have faith that you will get through these next few weeks of hell! The key, from what I have read, is to follow the meditrim advice very carefully. Any extra calories beyond the recommended will knock you out of ketosis and you will really feel hungry. So it sounds like it is only the first few days that your body feels hungry as its not in ketosis yet. After that.... its just the taste of the shakes! Good luck! I hope to see you on the SWLC forum soon and hear about your amazing journey!

Cammy,

I'm on Day 2 of my pre-op liquid diet. It is hard believe me. I didn't think that I could do it either. But so far it's not been as bad as I thought it would be. I am hungry and you will be too. But we have to do it.

The reason they make us do it is to shrink the liver. It lays over the stomach. The diet shrinks the fat out of it so that it is small enough for the doctor to be able to move it out of the way with his laproscopic tools and put the band around the stomach. If we don't do the diet then they have to use a regular open incision. The doctor has to have someone physically lift up the liver so that he can put the band on the stomach.

When they explained that to me at the doctor's office it gave me the resolve not to cheat on my diet. I don't want my liver to have to handled anymore than it has to be.

Good luck! I'm pulling for you! It's hard but you can do it!

I feel your pain. I just learned I have to do three weeks of the bunny and beverage diet, and I have some serious reservations. If I just sat in my cube all nice and quiet at work it wouldn't be so bad, but I can work 12-14 hr days doing field work and I have visions of me flaking on the floor. Not good for client relations to drop on their floor is it?

I'm going CIBO instead of SWLC (they're closer) and they didn't specify exactly which shake we had to go with, but they gave a short list of recommended. You get told exactly what to take? What happens if that particular shake doesn't do it for you?

I have found out that so many surgeons have a different approach to this pre-surgery diet... We know that it is necessary to shrink the liver, and if it's too fat a surgeon will either not do the surgery, or you end up having open surgery. What is confusing me (I will be banded 7/21) I am required to go on a low fat diet, which I am on right now. I am doing it very faithfully. When I got my surgery date, I asked several people, including my nutritionist, and some others in the office, that I had a fear of my liver being too large, and I would like to go on the liquid diet (crazy me), but they said no. They all assured me if I stay faithful to the low fat diet, I will be fine. I asked why do so many surgeons require the liquids, and the possibility is that they know many will not adhere to that and will cheat. .I am going to remain faithful as to what my surgeon requires, that's all I can do. I wish you all the best as we travel this journey together. It is very exciting and I am sooo ready.

I know how you feel but you WILL be ok. Just keep yourself busy and mentally prepared. my surgery is Friday, liquid diet of Glucerna and broccoli or lettuce for 10 days now. Clean out yourhouse now of all tempationgs and have the right things on hand - sugar free jello, sugar free ice pops. It makes the differnece. I will admit I cheated once and I sabatoged myself - definately not hungry. Good luck and know you can do it. it will be worth it.