Pre Op Diet - I'm twice as afraid

Good news first - approved by insurance, met with surgeon for first time today, and got my date (5/20)

Bad news - I knew a pre op diet was coming. Looking ahead in my COE binder I'd been bracing for 10 day's of protein shakes. 

Good news - I like protein shakes.

Bad news - my surgeon (an industry vet with RNY, LB, and close to 500 sleeves gave me the lecture about men carrying fat around, on, and in their organs. He told me about the value of shrinking the liver. He reminded me the smaller you are the easier the surgery - going under, waking up, blood clots, positioning you on the table, etc...

Worst news possible (other than being rejected/dying/etc... trying to be a little light hearted here) Dr. wanted to NEGOTIATE the 10 day window. I lost the negotiation and have 21 days of protein shakes to look forward to while living with my full size, ghrelin producing stomach :(

Other than being rejected for surgery or dying, the pre op was my biggest fear - 21 days :(

Here is hoping I don't snap at anyone or run into post op pooping problems while in pre op. 

Hang in there--you can definitely do this! And who cares if you do snap at someone? I mean, really? Would it be the end of the world? 

I don't have anything positive to say about the pooping problems--those suck, and I hope you don't get them. 

But go, you!!!

When my DD was sleeved they made anybody with over 50 bmi do 3 weeks.  She worked hard to come in under 50 as we have to buy the shake kit.  She was able to get below 50 but, they made her buy the three week program anyway.

They have since done away with the 3 weeks for over 50, 2 weeks for 40-49 and 1 week for 35-39.  I had to do the 2 weeks when banded at 47 bmi.  When I was sleeved last year they had changed to 2 weeks for every body as they found three weeks didn't make a difference.

Sorry to hear that your's does and you have to do 3 weeks.  If she could do it you can.

I did 3 weeks of liquids before my VSG. Honestly, I don't know why more people don't. The first couple of days are hard but then you just get in the swing of things. I dropped 25 pounds in those 3 weeks and it really gave me the kick start I needed to keep going.

Try to look at it as a positive thing. Okay..I know that sounds nuts but honestly there are more challenging things to do than drink liquids for 3 weeks. Mind over matter...you can do it. Many have and lived to tell. :-)

Best of luck to you

mind over matter, mind over matter, mind over matter...chanting my new mantra. I hear day 3 is the worst!

Holly cow....weeks of liquids seems like a long time. My BMI is over 50 and the doc only wants a few days of liquids. The doc said he used to require more but found that people were going into surgery being dehydrated. 

Funny how every practice is different. Mine has three surgeons and I lucked out and got the chief of surgery. He is really good. Well he makes anyone over a certain BMI do one week of shakes. The other ones do not. So I did it and when I told him at the prepping. He looked at me and said good that helps me know you will be compliant with the lifestyle changes.lol He said my liver was no problem after the surgery.

Three weeks of Optifast here, regardless of pre-op weight. And it really is easy. The first couple of days are tough, but once you get into it, it's a non-event. You grab, mix, and go. And it was so easy; it's much harder to come up with meals post-op than go the route of the pre-op liquid diet that you don't have to think about at all!

As for the pooping problems, our centre tell us right away: take 2 Metamucil capsules with EACH shake. So a minimum of 8 capsules per day (i.e., 4 shakes per day), but we could have gone up to 5 capsules per shake if needed to correct any problems with Opti-trots or with constipation. Metamucil helps both issues, so as long as we drank lots of water and got in our 4 shakes per day with Metamucil, we were good.

I lost 26 lbs in 3 weeks. Definitely a motivator when you see that sort of a jump in a few weeks. It's all worth it!

I had to do 2 weeks of liquids pre-op and it was super hard!  Before that, I had to do 2 protein shakes a day and 1 small meal for 2 weeks.  My only suggestion is variety, variety,variety.  Get lots of different flavors of protein shakes, get some that are pre-made and make some yourself.  I make mine with almond milk--see if you can add some PB2 for a different taste.  Get lots of different flavors of Vitamin Water Zero and try some different broths, like the Swanson tortilla and hot and sour soup flavors.  That helped a lot!  Good luck--you got this!

thanks for the suggestions!