Yikes! Kinda worried now...
On June 16, 2011 at 7:56 PM Pacific Time, flyingwoman wrote:
You might want to volunteer to do Opti or an extended VLCD to shrink the liver down as much as possible before the surgery.
My insurance requires a 3 month physician supervised diet for approval, and I'm not planning on going back to my old eating habits when that time is over in mid-August. So I do have plenty of time to continue to eat as healthy as possible and shrink that liver down!
I'm already down 17 lbs from May 6th which was a week before I started my diet, so I'm pretty sure my liver is MUCH happier than it was before. And like I said, I'm going to continue my "diet" after the 3 months is up. It would be really hard on me to go back to my old, gross eating habits then have to change all over again post-op. Just doesn't make sense, you know?
I'm not sure what you mean "Opti or extended VLCD." Could you explain, please?
I'm already down 17 lbs from May 6th which was a week before I started my diet, so I'm pretty sure my liver is MUCH happier than it was before. And like I said, I'm going to continue my "diet" after the 3 months is up. It would be really hard on me to go back to my old, gross eating habits then have to change all over again post-op. Just doesn't make sense, you know?
I'm not sure what you mean "Opti or extended VLCD." Could you explain, please?
Good for you - way to go! It can be tough to maintain the diet right through to the surgery... a lot of emotional tides can pop up as you mentally prepare. Strength to you for avoiding last supper syndrome.
Optifast is a liquid diet that many of us do as a pre-surgical diet. It's a four-shake plan totalling 900 calories. I did this for 4 weeks prior to surgery to shrink the liver.
VLCD is just a term for a very low calorie/carb diet that is common as a pre-op strategy as well. CLCD can be solids, controlled food plans, or liquids. Opti *is* a VLCD, just a brand-name liquid one.
In both scenarios the idea is to push your body into ketosis so that you are burning fat for energy. One of the first places the body will drain fat in ketosis is off the liver. Many surgeons have a pre-op VLCD strategy to do just that, and will require compliance to that for some time (usually based on your level of weight) before the surgery. My surgeon does Optifast, and mandated that I do 3 weeks of it prior to surgery. I asked to do more... I ended up completeing 4 1/2 weeks, wish now I'd done a full 6.
Good luck on your journey!
Optifast is a liquid diet that many of us do as a pre-surgical diet. It's a four-shake plan totalling 900 calories. I did this for 4 weeks prior to surgery to shrink the liver.
VLCD is just a term for a very low calorie/carb diet that is common as a pre-op strategy as well. CLCD can be solids, controlled food plans, or liquids. Opti *is* a VLCD, just a brand-name liquid one.
In both scenarios the idea is to push your body into ketosis so that you are burning fat for energy. One of the first places the body will drain fat in ketosis is off the liver. Many surgeons have a pre-op VLCD strategy to do just that, and will require compliance to that for some time (usually based on your level of weight) before the surgery. My surgeon does Optifast, and mandated that I do 3 weeks of it prior to surgery. I asked to do more... I ended up completeing 4 1/2 weeks, wish now I'd done a full 6.
Good luck on your journey!
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