Hello All ! 
I need some honest opinions......just be nice :-)
My surgery is scheduled for 8/22/2012 - yay.  When I went to my frist appointment at the surgeon's office the Physicians Assistant said that I needed to maintain my current weight as I had quit smoking........you would think that would be easy right........not so much.  I have maintained for the most part but once I gained 5 pounds in a month and was able to lose 4 pounds of that prior to my second appointment.  My hubby and I just got back from our anniversary weekend and I got on the scale and almost pooped in my pants - up 8 pounds - wtf?  So of course I am freaking out - my pre-op class is this Thursday 8/9/12.......I am so worried that I will mot be able to get the 8 pounds off before my appointment.  The clinic allows a 2 pound gaion but can postpone surgery if there is more than that.  I did eat ALOT of salty food this weekend.  I am very sensitive to salt! 
So my question is - do I try and rip off 8 pounds in 3 days or just re-schedule the pre-op class for the day before my surgery (the only one that is available)?  Give my body a chance to get rid of some of this salt.  I don't want to have my surgery postponed.......
What should I do??  eeekkkk

Thanks in advance

~Ellie

What do you think you can do?

Not knowing your surgeon's protocols, all I can give you is my personal experience.

I registered for surgery at 244 lbs.
It took me a very, very long time to jump through all my insurance's hoops and get approval. Almost a year. By the time my pre-op orientation rolled around, three weeks before my surgery, I was told that they expected me to have lost at least 5 lbs since my registration. "No problem", I thought. Just to be helpful, when they gave us this information at the orientation, they offered to weigh everyone before we left and compare it to our registraion weight so we could see where we were. I expected to be well below my initial 244, but alas--I had actually gained 7 lbs.

I had spent a lot of time during the very lengthy approval process having "last meals" and saying goodbye to all my favorite things. And, like you, I had quit smoking. I guess it really snuck up on me.

So in the following three weeks, I had to lose not only the 7lbs I gained, but a additional 5 to meet my surgeon's expectations. I don't know if he would have actually postponed me or not if I didn't meet that goal. Probably not. But I wasn't willing to test it.

I was given no specific pre-op diet. He told me to stick to less than 1300 calories a day, no soda, high protein, low carb. I went a little extreme and whittled my calories down to 700-800 a day. I ended up losing 11lbs and had my surgery done at 233.

So, is it possible? Absolutely. Of course, I had three weeks. You have three days. Do you know for sure they will be weighing you at your pre-op class?

If they weight you at your pre-op class, you could explain your recent salt intake and ask that they reschedule you another pre-op class on the day before your surgery to reweigh you. This would give you some extra time.

Water retention can be fixed relatively quickly--stay away from salt, alcohol, and caffeine. With the heat everyone's been getting, go take some long walks and sweat it out. You can do this. Three days isn't much, and you likely won't be able to dodge the entire 8 lbs, but if it's water weight, you could shift a big portion of it.

Good luck, you can do it!

I think your self diagnosis is right on the money.  You ate out for every meal on your weekend holiday....didn't you?  Restaurant food is loaded with sodium.  You are really puffed up with extra water.  I don't know about you, but I have lost and/or gained 8 pounds of water weight in overnight.

Can you wait and see?  Drink lots of water, keep an eye on your salt intake between now and your appointment and see what happens. 

Try not to panic, I know it's scary to think your surgery date could be postponed.  Keep it together....be strong! 

Sara in Maui

I'm surprised you didn't get a preop diet but if it was me I'd protein up with shakes and cut carbs sugar etc and try to drop some of that weight. It will be good practice for after. Good luck and I've got my fingers crossed for you!

I agree with Darcy ...I would just add drink alot of water 12 glasses a day just to flush out the salt.  Lots of luck  

What I did was just dress very lightly ! i wore a tank top and leggings with very light flip flops 
to my last preop weight becasue I got my period and was bloated up about 5 pounds ! i drank a ton of water and a bottle of milk of magnesua and i just did shakes and liquids for the 3 days before my appointment I ended up being 1 pound under where i needed to be :) good luck ! 

Thanks Everyone!  I got on the scale this morning and I was down 5.  I am going to increase my water like a crazy lady - drink a protien shake with a 1/2 banana for breakfast, no carb lunch (tuna / chicken) - protien shake for snack and then a small high protien low carb dinner and so muich water my back teeth float!  I figure it will be really good practice for after surgery. 

I am also very surprised that my surgeon does not require a pre-op diet - I almost wish that he did so I can feel a bit more prepared.  He said he feels it is not necessary but I want to have my liver lookin good so it is not difficult to perform the surgery.

What time is your class? I usually don't eat or drink before I get weighed, and drink my protein shake afterwards! 
Also, your weight has normal fluid fluctuations during the day, and that may be why you "lost" 5 lbs overnight. To get the most accurate "dry weight", weigh yourself after you get up and pee/poop, but before you eat/drink in the morning.

Preop also(surgery day before you!) and have been in similar situation- I drank drank drank to get off as much water weightm avoided salt/carbs like the plague and dropped 4 lbs before weigh in- Are you able to explain you are retaining water and tell them you will come back to weigh in again the following week?? I know it varies by surgeon but worth a go-I dont think id wait until the day before class, too much can change in that time and better to get it out of the way now