Animalrescuer18 Report post Posted January 14, 2018 I haven’t had surgery yet. Hopefully it’ll be the end of March when I have it. I’m excited and at the same time I’m wondering what it will be like to only have fluids for 2 whole weeks before surgery! That is what my surgeon requires in order to shrink the liver. I would love to hear from others. Is it super difficult to have no food for 2 weeks? Not to mention, only liquids will continue for a while after surgery. I know I can do it!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ktallon Report post Posted January 14, 2018 For me the first 3 days of the liquid diet was the worst and then i seemed to be okay although my surgeon required a 4 week liquid diet prior to surgery. I am not saying its peaches and cream but in the end you white knuckle through it because of the end result (successful surgery and weight loss) 1 Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael_A Report post Posted January 14, 2018 10 minutes ago, Animalrescuer18 said: I haven’t had surgery yet. Hopefully it’ll be the end of March when I have it. I’m excited and at the same time I’m wondering what it will be like to only have fluids for 2 whole weeks before surgery! That is what my surgeon requires in order to shrink the liver. I would love to hear from others. Is it super difficult to have no food for 2 weeks? Not to mention, only liquids will continue for a while after surgery. I know I can do it!! First of all, go into it with the mindset that YOU GOT THIS. YOU CAN DO IT. No problem :-) If you approach it with lots of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, it will make life harder. I had to gradually eliminate food and was on all liquids by about 6 weeks before surgery. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't super hard either. More annoying than anything else. There are still plenty of things you CAN have usually- flavors in your water, protein shakes, lots of tasty herbal teas (and maybe black depending on your program), sugar free jello and popsicles, etc. Broths are usually ok and that' nice because that's where your "savory" will come from when you're sick of sweet. But ultimately it's just a small bump on the rest of a pretty great road. Also don't count the time after your surgery, because you will feel completely differently about things at that point. 3 Chefman77, Animalrescuer18 and Cheesehead reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Readytobeme Report post Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Animalrescuer18 said: I haven’t had surgery yet. Hopefully it’ll be the end of March when I have it. I’m excited and at the same time I’m wondering what it will be like to only have fluids for 2 whole weeks before surgery! That is what my surgeon requires in order to shrink the liver. I would love to hear from others. Is it super difficult to have no food for 2 weeks? Not to mention, only liquids will continue for a while after surgery. I know I can do it!! I have to do it for 4 weeks before surgery. I have done it before and it truly was not that difficult once I withdrew from the carbs. This time I am cutting way back on carbs and caffeine ahead of time so that it may at least not be as bad with withdrawal symptoms. After a certain point I lost most of my appetite when I did the Optifast diet in the past. Hopefully it will go the same way for me this time. WE CAN DO THIS!!!! WE WILL DO THIS!!!! Edited January 14, 2018 by Readytobeme 3 Lankyliz, Chefman77 and Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael_A Report post Posted January 14, 2018 2 minutes ago, Readytobeme said: and caffeine ahead of time Oh YES, @Animalrescuer18 I highly recommend you take this advice. Caffeine withdrawal is a pain to deal with ON TOP of everything else you'll be dealing with. I would get stop taking it in a month or so ahead of the all-liquids phase, assuming your program says you have to be off coffee. 3 Readytobeme, Animalrescuer18 and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Animalrescuer18 Report post Posted January 14, 2018 45 minutes ago, ktallon said: For me the first 3 days of the liquid diet was the worst and then i seemed to be okay although my surgeon required a 4 week liquid diet prior to surgery. I am not saying its peaches and cream but in the end you white knuckle through it because of the end result (successful surgery and weight loss) 4 minutes ago, Michael_A said: Oh YES, @Animalrescuer18 I highly recommend you take this advice. Caffeine withdrawal is a pain to deal with ON TOP of everything else you'll be dealing with. I would get stop taking it in a month or so ahead of the all-liquids phase, assuming your program says you have to be off coffee. Good idea!! Thanks again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Animalrescuer18 Report post Posted January 14, 2018 12 minutes ago, Readytobeme said: I have to do it for 4 weeks before surgery. I have done it before and it truly was not that difficult once I withdrew from the carbs. This time I am cutting way back on carbs and caffeine ahead of time so that it may at least not be as bad with withdrawal symptoms. After a certain point I lost most of my appetite when I did the Optifast diet in the past. Hopefully it will go the same way for me this time. WE CAN DO THIS!!!! WE WILL DO THIS!!!! Good idea on cutting back on carbs and caffeine! YES, WE CAN DO THIS!! 2 Readytobeme and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lankyliz Report post Posted January 14, 2018 I start on two week pre op of 3pints of skimmed milk and two low fat yoghurt a day .....will let you know how it goes ... Planning to keep myself as busy as possible ...going to spring clean the house and do extra shifts at work and prep for te sheep lambing 2 Animalrescuer18 and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheesehead Report post Posted January 15, 2018 I found quitting caffeine was better when I switched to a couple of iced teas then went totally caffeine free. I tried kicking my Diet Pepsi habit cold turkey several times but caved to the horrible headaches. I was drinking more than 2 -2 liter bottles a day (that’s what I carried to work). So thankful I quit a couple of months before surgery., 2 Animalrescuer18 and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Readytobeme Report post Posted January 15, 2018 6 minutes ago, Cheesehead said: I found quitting caffeine was better when I switched to a couple of iced teas then went totally caffeine free. I tried kicking my Diet Pepsi habit cold turkey several times but caved to the horrible headaches. I was drinking more than 2 -2 liter bottles a day (that’s what I carried to work). So thankful I quit a couple of months before surgery., I was drinking about the same in diet mountain dew. Only 1 cup of coffee a day. The DMD has proven much harder to give up then the coffee. I am almost there though. I just gradually weaned myself down on it. I might drink an 8 oz glass every other day now. So far, so good. 4 Cheesehead, Chefman77, Animalrescuer18 and 1 other reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheesehead Report post Posted January 15, 2018 2 minutes ago, Readytobeme said: I was drinking about the same in diet mountain dew. Only 1 cup of coffee a day. The DMD has proven much harder to give up then the coffee. I am almost there though. I just gradually weaned myself down on it. I might drink an 8 oz glass every other day now. So far, so good. I tried giving it up before so since I had 6 months I cut back then went to iced tea. I didnt like hot drinks (coffee or hot tea). After surgery all of a sudden like iced coffee. I couldn’t tell the difference in caffeinated or decaf coffee and tea. In the winter I drink hot coffee but it’s more to warm up from the inside out..I also find coffee helps aid things in the constipation department. 3 Animalrescuer18, Readytobeme and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Readytobeme Report post Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Cheesehead said: I tried giving it up before so since I had 6 months I cut back then went to iced tea. I didnt like hot drinks (coffee or hot tea). After surgery all of a sudden like iced coffee. I couldn’t tell the difference in caffeinated or decaf coffee and tea. In the winter I drink hot coffee but it’s more to warm up from the inside out..I also find coffee helps aid things in the constipation department. I agree with that statement. I drink my one cup of coffee per day with my Miralax. It does help a great deal. I drink iced tea with meals (southern thing) so I have always liked iced tea. Of course that may change post op. These days I am mostly drinking water. Plus I stopped drinking with meals a little more than a month ago. Edited January 15, 2018 by Readytobeme 2 Chefman77 and Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheesehead Report post Posted January 15, 2018 5 hours ago, Readytobeme said: I agree with that statement. I drink my one cup of coffee per day with my Miralax. It does help a great deal. I drink iced tea with meals (southern thing) so I have always liked iced tea. Of course that may change post op. These days I am mostly drinking water. Plus I stopped drinking with meals a little more than a month ago. This old yankee used to love sweet tea with sweet n low or Splenda but now drink unsweetened, if on vacation I mix it with sf lemonade, it’s not bad, hubby likes it that way. Yep, that no drinking with meals really was a hard one for a while... 2 Animalrescuer18 and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lankyliz Report post Posted January 15, 2018 On 14/01/2018 at 3:21 AM, Readytobeme said: I have to do it for 4 weeks before surgery. I have done it before and it truly was not that difficult once I withdrew from the carbs. This time I am cutting way back on carbs and caffeine ahead of time so that it may at least not be as bad with withdrawal symptoms. After a certain point I lost most of my appetite when I did the Optifast diet in the past. Hopefully it will go the same way for me this time. WE CAN DO THIS!!!! WE WILL DO THIS!!!! ABSOLUTELY! ! love your positivity Readytobeme 2 1 Readytobeme, Animalrescuer18 and Chefman77 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CheeringCJ Report post Posted January 15, 2018 I was nervous about it but it wasn't as hard as I thought! The first 3 days were difficult (and I had a headache and was hungry and cranky inside but I knew this was what I wanted so I was going to push through it) and by day 4 the headaches and cravings were gone and it got easier. I still didn't eat dinner at the table w/ the family which I missed but that would have been too hard. The weight started flying off so it was easier to stick with when I was SEEING such a drop on the scale every day! You CAN do it! 1 Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BringItOn Report post Posted January 15, 2018 I’m just finishing my 2 weeks pre. Surgery tomorrow. I cut out Diet Coke pretty much over the last year so caffine was not an issue. Thanksgiving and Christmas was pretty much a daily food funeral, but much enjoyed. Also a daily fruit smoothie with protein has been a daily habit for some time so that has helped. Keeping my husband fed has been hard, lots of freezer ready stuff. Smells are hard, but I’ve been strong. Super hard to pass up goodies at work! My greatest admiration for those of you feeding young families while on your journey. 1 Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TammyP Report post Posted January 15, 2018 8 minutes ago, BringItOn said: I’m just finishing my 2 weeks pre. Surgery tomorrow. I cut out Diet Coke pretty much over the last year so caffine was not an issue. Thanksgiving and Christmas was pretty much a daily food funeral, but much enjoyed. Also a daily fruit smoothie with protein has been a daily habit for some time so that has helped. Keeping my husband fed has been hard, lots of freezer ready stuff. Smells are hard, but I’ve been strong. Super hard to pass up goodies at work! My greatest admiration for those of you feeding young families while on your journey. How exciting! Tomorrow is your big day! Please check in when you can and let us know how everything went! Pre-Welcome to the Loser's Bench! 2 BringItOn and Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cinwa Report post Posted January 15, 2018 1 hour ago, BringItOn said: I’m just finishing my 2 weeks pre. Surgery tomorrow. ............. I'll be thinking of you tomorrow - there'll be a warm spot waiting for you on the losers bench. 2 BringItOn and Animalrescuer18 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Readytobeme Report post Posted January 16, 2018 8 hours ago, Lankyliz said: ABSOLUTELY! ! love your positivity Readytobeme The only way that we are going to succeed is to keep a positive attitude 2 Animalrescuer18 and Lankyliz reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites