pre-op liquid diet - Page 2 - ThinnerTimes

mistymee · 07-10-2008, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Withacy

Well, I honestly can't see the purpose in the thing. Maybe a couple days, to clear out the intestines. If they want you to drop weight before the surgery, why in such a dramatic way - why not take more time? And the idea that it shows you have the committment to stick with the liquid diet AFTER surgery is just dumb. It's apples and oranges! Sticking with a strict diet when you're just fighting desire and head hunger is not the same as denying yourself solid food when you're STARVING!

GOD I hope my surgeon doesn't try to do this to me, because, short of heavy sedation, I honestly think it will be a deal buster. OK, yes, I have actual psychological issues with fear of hunger - which I have worked on to the point where I've really cut back on my anticipatory eating. But throwing me off the deep end into actually being extremely hungry all the time? It will not end well.

It is to shrink the size of your liver, so that it is safer for them to operate.

I was allowed one meal a day, but two days before my surgery I had 'last supper syndrome' and it was a rather large meal of high fat, high carb foods and my liver was quite swollen during surgery, it then actually cracked in half and my surgeon watched it heal while she was operating.

My surgery lasted six hours instead of the usual two-three hours, and I was hospitalized for 5 full days instead of the two to three days and I was out of work for eight full weeks post-op.

I don't know what the long term effects will be from my liver cracking in half either.

Don't cheat on the liquid diets if your surgeon has put you on one. It is for a reason.

Withacy · 07-10-2008, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistymee

Don't cheat on the liquid diets if your surgeon has put you on one. It is for a reason.

I wouldn't lie to my surgeon about something so important. When I say "I don't think I can do it", I don't mean I'll agree to do it and then cheat. If the situation IS about my liver, I'll find out if there is any other way to deal with it, and if there isn't, and if the doctor is steadfast on fasting for 2 weeks, the surgery might just not happen.

And if it IS a liver thing, why isn't it universal? Why do some doctors do it and others don't - they don't seem to vary by actual patients, but by surgeon (some surgeons have all their patients do one thing or all do another)? And how do they know there's an issue with the liver when that's not even on of the tests?

chilidog's mom · 07-11-2008, 08:39 PM

I am on day 4 of my 2 week liquid diet. I thought it would be horrible and I would be cranky all the time. I know it is only 4 days in, but I am doing great. I get a little hungry sometimes, but I am drinking constantly and eating lots of SF Jello and popsicles. I hated the broth, it was disgusting. My husband made homemade broth for me and it was sooo much better.

I did not think I could be around people who were eating, but it does not bother me at all. The smells make me hungry sometimes. I am sick of Jello already, so I am going to have to lay off it for a few days. You just have to find something you can stand.

I figure that we are making such a huge difference in our lives and we are not going to be able to eat normal foods for awhile anyway, so you do what you have to do to make that change happen. I just keep thinking about why I am doing this, to get my life back, and I know I can do this.

YOU CAN TOO, YOU JUST HAVE TO SET YOUR MIND TO DO IT!

Remember, it is not forever.

amandak · 07-11-2008, 10:16 PM

See I'm only allowed the Optifast drink and water (and ice, which has been my saving grace), so I don't get to have the SF Jello or the brooth

I was I was allowed but the doctor said just this so I'm trying to stick to it I have only fibbed once and I'm on my 6th day of 23 days!

Withacy · 07-12-2008, 08:08 AM

Which just begs the question - if it varies so much, why is it really so "necessary"? And what part of it is necessary?

I just tried SF jello yesterday (with splenda, since I'm allergic to nutrasweet). It has to be one of the worst things I've ever tasted.

I have a FEAR of hunger. I've had to work very hard (and with medication, since there's an element of OCD in it) not to anticipatory eat. I don't binge. I don't eat massive amounts of food in a sitting. But I've had to learn how to let myself start to get hungry before I eat, and not try to keep myself "full" all of the time.

Just the thought of being THAT hungry, for a long period of time? We're talking full blown panic attack here.

I'm doomed to be fat and die young.

Grammy O · 07-12-2008, 09:34 AM

Withacy,

With that "failure" attitude you won't get far. Regardless of what the pre-op diets are for, it's what the doctor's want us to do and it is for a very very short time and it will be the last time that we will have to do something like this. I didn't think I could do it either, but you know what?....I can and I am. I am on my 6th day with 8 more days to go before surgery.

If you are sooo worried about having to do this, then why even have the surgery done? It sounds to me that you are not ready for such a drastic change and may never be ready if you can't do this diet for the last time!

I'm sorry if I am coming across too harsh, but I don't see what the big deal is when it means that I am sacrificing 2 weeks for the rest of my healthy life.

Josephine · 07-12-2008, 09:40 AM

Withacy honey, I understand that you have a psychological issue with feeling hungry, but this is just something you'll HAVE to do, sedated if you have to. Have the psych write you an Rx for xanax for the couple weeks or days you'll have to do it. You've put in too much work to not finish it. You know if you screw it up, you could die in the OR. A lot of people who have problems are the ones who pigged out the night before. You've gotta follow your surgeons advice. We'll be here to listen to you cry and bitch the whole time, promise!

Ann Bird · 07-12-2008, 11:05 AM

I just started my 2 day liquid diet this AM. I know I will follow it but I will be having some challenges...a bridal shower for my daughter today and guests for dinner tonight. I don't want to stop doing my regular things because of not being able to eat....food has always been a big part of my life, especially being part of a Italian family. I am definitely thinking of food and what I won't be eating anymore. I am also thinking of getting rid of my diabetes and getting healthy.

It is wierd that everyone has differ lengths of time for our pre-surgery diets. I am glad we can share and compare.

MiladyB · 07-12-2008, 11:07 AM

Withacy, there are several reasons for the pre-op diet.

First and foremost, is with every pound lost before surgery it decreases the chances of complications during surgery. The longer the pre-op diet the more weight you will lose. Specifically its complications with your heart and your lungs. That is just a matter of fact. You can ask any doctor if being overweight increases your risk of complications during surgery. I strongly suspect that 100% will tell you "yes". We all go into this surgery at high risk. For myself, at least, I wanted to be the healthiest that I possibly could be in order to make this surgery as safe as possible. I felt my life was worth doing that.

Secondly, the pre-op diet will decrease your liver size. Statistically you will find that there is a very large majority of patients who are morbidly obese who will have fatty liver disease. The more overweight you are the more that chance increases. Yes, there are tests that can be done to check that before surgery but usually that is a liver biopsy which brings its own set of possible complications. I think if you would ask your surgeon how many large livers he has found when he goes in to do surgery, you would find that it is a VERY large percentage. Even with patients who have done the 2 week pre-op diet. If you go into this surgery without shrinking your liver you run an increased risk of bleeding from your liver. Only you know if you are willing to take that chance with your life.

Thirdly, if your liver is too large the doctor may not be able to do the wls lap. The liver has to be moved out of the way in order to do the surgery. If your liver is too large the instruments may not be able to pick it up. The only way around that is having to do your wls open...which is maybe an option for you if you can't do the pre-op diet. But you do have to realize that having the surgery open will increase hospital stay, recovery time, risk of a hernia, risk of infection, increased pain.

For doctors that don't require some kind of pre-op diet to shrink the liver and to make the surgery safer...well I would make sure I found out, how many surgeries they have done, if their practice is a "Center of Excellence", how often they end up doing the surgery open, what their complication rate is and what complications they saw, length of hospital stay and their mortality rate.

For myself, I had to do a 2 week pre-op diet. It wasn't total liquids but it was a total use of a bariatric weight loss product. It wasn't easy. I'm not going to tell you that it was. But I knew going into it that my surgery would be canceled if I didn't stick to it, I ran the increased risk of not making it through the surgery if I didn't stick to it and I increased the chance of having to have my surgery open if I didn't stick to it. For myself, I decided that my life was worth doing this right. After all being healthy and living life was why I made this decision in the first place.

Withacy · 07-13-2008, 08:02 AM

I honestly may need xanax to do this.

I could do a heavily restictive diet much better than an all out liquid diet - that's what has me panicing.

And I'm not going to pretend to accept this from my doctor and then say to myself "it isn't necessary, I'm going to cheat". Like I said before, I'm not going to lie to my doctor. Heck, if I just meant to cheat, I wouldn't be in panic mode would I? And if you knew me you'd know that if I ate a cookie three days before the surgery I'd break down in a sobbing mess and confess all to my surgeon. (OK, "sobbing mess" is an exageration. But the rest isn't.)

I'm not afraid of not eating. I'm afraid of hunger. I've gotten to the point (with help and meds) that I don't eat for fear that I will BE hungry. I've been very prepared for what the after-surgery situation is going to be. We've worked on it, a lot - and I will be ok. But this is out of left field - no one prepared me for it, or told me about it - it's just being sprung on me out of the blue, and yes, I'm panicing.

We all have different issues and different reasons for being the way we are. And the best any of us can do is work on them. I know I have mental health issues, I've battle them since I was a teen. And it's more than just weight. And while it's easy to flippantly say that I should just suck it up or that I'm not ready for the entire process, I don't think that's fair. People who have medical conditions sometimes have to do extra things in preparation that a person without those conditions doesn't have to do. Mental health issues are no different. And I have done that, with my therapists and doctors. It's just that a new complicating issue has been raised HERE that no preparation has been made for. Anyone who has ever dealt with people who have mental health issues - no matter how small or large - knows that preparation is key.

And it may be that my situation will not be that extreme, though I have a tendency to never let an opportunity to worry pass unutilized.