Pre-Op Diet

Dec 01, 2010

I'm one week away from surgery! Woot!

Day three of the pre-op diet and I'm FINALLY getting used to it. I was so hungry the first day, I thought seriously about how many carbs might be in a box of kleenex. And, friends, I was crabby. Just ask anybody I met that day. My tummy was growling and so was I. My poor husband. Sorry, Honey. At least I already eliminated caffeine and carbonated drinks a few weeks ago. I can't imagine giving it all up at once. He might have taken a mind to leave me!

Here's what that pre-op diet consists of:  ALL the vegetables you might dream of eating, four ounces of lean meat, 4 cups of 1/2 percent or fat free milk, preferably mixed into protein shake mix...sugar free jello, sugar free popsicles, no calorie drinks, and low sodium broth, unlimited. I find that getting in the required 50 gms of protein a day is no problem. Oh, by the way, the list of what you cannot eat is enormous. No fruit, no fruit juice, no bread, rice, crackers, cereal, potatoes, starchy vegetables, cake, cookies, pie, granola, peanut butter. I gotta stop - I'm getting hungry again. You get the idea. VERY restricted diet.

This is a ten day diet meant to shrink your liver prior to surgery. It is also shrinking my tushy. I've lost five pounds in two days! Also, if you're in the market for great tasting protein shake mix, I recommend Jay Robb brand. You can find this online or at GNC. It's zero carbs, no fat, and it tastes really good. Not gritty at all. Also, Click makes a good tasting Mocha and you can get this at GNC as well, although it has fewer protein grams than some others.
 
A helpful list of things you might get before your surgery date comes: 
Chewable vitamins

GasX strips for gas pain

a heating pad

a kitchen timer to help you remember to drink every hour after surgery

liquid tylenol (taking pills apparently becomes an ordeal after this surgery)

adhesive gauze pads for redressing your wounds at home - band-aid makes a good one

Tiny silverware, found in the baby section, can slow down your eating

lip balm for the inevitable dry lips you always get in the hospital

Lastly, if you find that constipation is a huge problem, and it might be, miralax is a good stool softener and mixes well into drinks, but make sure your doctor/surgeon approves this before you take any

PS. be sure to bring along your sense of humor to the hospital. Your family and friends, not to mention the nurses, will thank you for it!

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