I only have a 5 day pre-op diet, is this normal??

[Sandiegojill]

Hi Everyone,
I have my surgery in 15 days and my surgeon told me that I only need to do my pre-op liquid diet for 5 days. Is this normal? I keep hearing other people who have to do it for 2 weeks and I'm worried that my liver won't be "shrunk" with just 5 days. Anyone else have their pre-op diet for this long??

[kcallis]

Every doctor is different. Like me I have protein shake in the morning and for lunch and a small meal with protein and veggies (no carbs) for two weeks. IDK if it's to do with your BMI or what. But you will find that a lot of people here have different pre op diets. Some may only have to be on pre op diet for one week, others 4 weeks. Hope this helps!

[Bella66]

Jill,
My physician only put me on a low fat, low carb diet for 2 was before my surgery. No liquid diet was required at all. I asked him why that was, he said its according to what the patients BMI is, to what kind of preop diet they are given. My BMI was 41 ....weighed 258 at 5'7 .

But I still done a 48 hours liquid diet by my own choice two days before just in case. If he's only requiring 5 days liquid, if you're uneasy with that then maybe do a week low fat low carb before that to help prepare your body?

Good luck sweetie!!!
Becca

[cheri k]

I only had to do it 4 days, as the MD said I wasn't that big. I had the surgery 2 days ago. When I was discharged form the hospital yesterday, he said everything went very well as my liver was "tiny", so he new I stuck to the diet.

[Think]

Yes, it sounds like your doctor knows what he is doing, I have read about a wide range of diets here and on other forums, so you will be fine. You can always do more if you wish to, but definitely not less.

[Msvetrn]

I only had 3 days Liquids. Its because of your "low" weight. :-)

[vickybeads]

I too only had 2 days of clear liquids prior to surgery. You'll be fine.

[newyorkboy]

I was on NO liquid diet prior my surgery but i lost around 20 lbs before surgery

[annakharrison]

Every Dr. is different. Mine says that it is due to BMI. I was only required to do liquid after 10am the day before surgery. Don't worry about your liver. If it hasn't shrunk enough they will make an additional incision to raise it, mine is just below my breast bone. You will do great! I'm 6 days post op and have lost 21lbs (not counting loss prior to surgery). Good Luck and welcome to your new life!

[Sleeved38]

I have my surgery on the 29th as well and all I am required to do is drink clear liquids starting at noon the day before. Of course she wants me to lose as much weight as i can before by watching what I am eating. I started about 3 weeks ago making ALOT of changes and have lost 11 lbs so far I think they all are different based on you! Good luck to us on the 29th!! What time is your surgery?

[parisienne]

My dr talked to me about this..there are a few things to think about. First of all the tendancy to go out and splurge on stuff you think you won't be eating ever again can mean you get an extra 10-15 lbs in the weeks leading up to the surgery...and since you only will lose around 60-65% of the total you need to lose, teh idea of giving your body a head start vs. addding on a dozen more pounds makes sense...secondly you may have heard of foie gras...the french rich goose liver...well that means fatty liver and we are often prone to fatty liver disease...if you are really overweight you may have a fatty liver ..which means when he goes in and tries to move your liver to get to your stomach, the liver is hard to move aside and it can make your surgery more difficult. He told us in our preop class that if he can't move teh liver aside easily he could stop the surgery and not do it. So the idea of a week or so of preop has a lot of good basis. Having said that, the main reason I am (doing it though he only wants me to do it for three days preop ) (I am about 17 days out am getting sleeved july 30th) is to practice and get used to the restriction....so that by the time I get to the after surgery days I have already got some experience in doing it...good luck!

[Mem]

I only had to have clear liquids the day before my surgery also. I was diabetic then (no longer...hurrah) and they were mindful of that. Everyone is different. God Bless...Mem

[yankegal]

it has a lot to do with the dr. and your size. I only had to do it for 2 days, a person that has a lot more weight to loose has to do it longer because of the size of the liver. You will be fine. Don't worry and good luck to you!