Worried about preop diet.

[Darkstarwon]

After reading so many posts I'm starting to think the preop diet is harder than anything. Sounds like the majority have to do 2 weeks with only liquids. How do you do It??? I go 5 hours without food and I've got the shakes, weak and lightheaded. I've tried meal replacement shakes and after about 2 days I can barely get them down. Bleh 😫 Afraid I'm doomed before I even start.

[anderspv]

A lot of it is psychological. Try to not only do sweet shakes. You can do broth with pureed veggies and other stuff like that. The whole idea is to shrink you liver so the doc can have an easier time getting to your stomach. Believe me.....Suffer through it and your life will be SO MUCH BETTER after. I am 5 and a half months post op and I am down 93 pounds. I have not felt this great since I was in my 20s.

[Sandra3]

The first three days are a little hard. But it's important to follow your surgeon's pre-op diet because it's made to reduce the size of the liver and the liver is lifted during the surgery, to give access to the stomach. If the liver is too fatty it can be damaged during the surgery, or in some cases if the surgeon realize the diet was not done correctly he can cancel the surgery.
I was worried because my liver was in bad shape so I did follow all my instructions.
My diet was two shakes per day plus a dinner made of fish/chicken and non starchy veggies. No more coffee.
After three days of carb withdraw I was ok. Drinking a lot helps a lot too. Good luck!

[Donald G]

I made it through the 2 week preop diet by constantly looking forward to what the reward was going to be. I will also be honest and say I cheated and ate a regular meal on one of the days during it.

[ghost_ryder]

I started about two and months before surgery and slowly changed my diet. I started replacing on meal a day with a shake (breakfast) then a couple of weeks later a replaced a second meal a couple of times of week. Then I built to replacing two meals a day every day before altering my dinner in the final two weeks. That meal was a lean protein (1 serving) and veggies. Its the serving size that will get you. I guarantee it is smaller than your current serving size(mine was). I had no real issue with the change but my made my own shakes and I like them. I still do shakes a couple times a week, at least.

[DesertGal]

Like ghost_ryder said, I have been on the surgeon's pre op diet since end of December and have lost over 21 pounds. Protein shake for breakfast, 2 oz of tuna in a small salad at lunch, protein bar for a snack, and 2 oz of chicken and steamed broccoli for dinner... sometimes with one slice of Dave's Killer multigrain Bread. And if I feel like I need something sweet, I'll have a dannon light and fit vanilla GREEK yogurt with 1 tbs of PB2 (peanut butter powder) stirred in. It's working. In the beginning I was hungry after dinner but I guess my stomach has shrunk some.

[Christie13]

It really depends on your doctor. I had 6 days of 2 shakes and a meal with lean meat and veggies. Then 3 days of all liquids. Nine days total as my approval came through and I had lost some weight already in the months leading up to it. Broth and creamed soups were what was the most comforting to me during the liquid days. It is soooo worth it. Just remember how important the liver shrinking diet is.

[harleysmom]

I am 10 days out from surgery and failed miserably on the pre-op diet. I didn't take it serious but after reading all of your comments I realized how important it is to stick with it. Starting tomorrow I will be on it and strict as possible. I hope I will be okay and that it is not too late to make a difference ... yikes!

[Darkstarwon]

Do they do a CT or anything to check the liver size? How do they know if the liver has shrunk or do they just go by the pounds lost?

[Kindle]

Do they do a CT or anything to check the liver size? How do they know if the liver has shrunk or do they just go by the pounds lost?

Most of the time, they go in, see your liver is too large and close you back up. Meaning you wasted all that time and went under anesthesia for nothing. Or, a less responsible Doctor may go ahead with the surgery, and risk lacerating your liver or making a poorly shaped/sized sleeve because of decreased visibility with your liver in the way. Either way it would be a hell of a lot easier to just follow your preop diet as instructed.

If you are having doubts, you need to have a serious sit down with yourself, or better yet a therapist, to figure out your level of commitment and address the basis of your food addiction before moving forward. Because believe me, the long term changes you need to make and a lifetime of maintenance is far, far harder than a two week preop diet.