Pre-Op Diets, Necessary Or Not?

I felt that the pre-op diet helped me to prepare for life after surgery. By the time I had the op, I was no longer salivating over other people's dinners!! I was so used to drinking milk after 2 weeks that I forgot what a lot of things tasted like and now that I'm allowed puréed food I'm rediscovering my love for vegetables and mashed potato rather than chocolate, biscuits and crisps.

I also dropped 15lbs in a fortnight which spurred me on a great deal!

I feel if you can't last 2 weeks (average) on a pre-op diet how the hell will you cope with the rest of your life after surgery?

Butterfly_lady said:

I feel if you can't last 2 weeks (average) on a pre-op diet how the hell will you cope with the rest of your life after surgery?

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I have to disagree there I'm afraid..... post op is so much easier to cope with as

1: there is no appetite to fight with
2: most things I am scared to try incase I do damage to my new sleeve or myself.

Much as I loved sweet things before I am very conscious of sugar content now incase it makes me sick & avoid like the plague, yet before just knowing it was bad for me wasnt enough of a deterrent.

GeMzY said:

I have to disagree there I'm afraid..... post op is so much easier to cope with as 1: there is no appetite to fight with 2: most things I am scared to try incase I do damage to my new sleeve or myself. Much as I loved sweet things before I am very conscious of sugar content now incase it makes me sick & avoid like the plague, yet before just knowing it was bad for me wasnt enough of a deterrent.

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Which is great and is the reason why so many lose so much. But appetite comes back. And as you become more familiar with your sleeve your fear abates. You get comfortable. And that's when the discipline of the preop has to kick in. Otherwise you go back up.

I KNOW I'm a black or white person and struggle to cope with 'grey' but to me it is a no-brainer.

You are about to undergo major surgery which carries risks. The liver reducing diet reduces the size and especially the rigidity of the liver enabling the surgeon to have clearer 'approach' to the operation site.

By not following a diet you are making the operation more dangerous for yourself and more risky for the surgeon.

I don't blame any surgeon that refuses to go ahead with a surgeon if on opening the patient up they find a rigid liver. Why should they risk their professional career for somebody who has not done what they have been advised?

I also think that the pre op diet was harder than post op. You don't feel hungry immediately post op. However, Yve is right, the desire to eat bad stuff does come back, but I personally am less likely to do this than before because I have lost 7st and absolutely do not want to put any back on. Also you cannot physically eat as much as pre op. But that alone won't stop you regaining weight, you still have to watch what you eat and make the right choices. There are still times when I have to acknowledge I have made bad choices. You still need will power post op!!!!

GeMzY said:

I have to disagree there I'm afraid..... post op is so much easier to cope with as

1: there is no appetite to fight with
2: most things I am scared to try incase I do damage to my new sleeve or myself.

Much as I loved sweet things before I am very conscious of sugar content now incase it makes me sick & avoid like the plague, yet before just knowing it was bad for me wasnt enough of a deterrent.

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I agree, for me the 2 week pre liver diet was the hardest part for me, after surgery you have a tool to aid you, before surgery you dont. By the time the hunger comes back you will of lost so much weight and changed your eating habits for so long that you should be determined to not put it back on, have more willpower and will have broken bad habits a long long time ago.

If keeping to a diet was so easy for us we wouldnt of had to have had bariatric surgery in the first place, of course some people will find it so difficult that they cheat by having a nibble of something. I dont think it makes them less suitable for the surgery though, everyone is different and I dont think you can be as black and white about it to say if you cheat on the pre op diet you wont be successful post op.

Yvessa said:

Pre-Op Diets, Necessary Or Not? | Uncategorized | Bariatric Cookery

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Yvessa, if you are going to post links, in line with the links policy below, please state why you are posting it. Maybe some detail on what the article is about too.

http://www.wlsurgery.com/news-please-read/137782-links-policy.html

Healthy discussions about articles, such as the one posted are fine but we need to know what we are clicking on

Thank you.

Apologies Mazza, my only intention behind posting it was that it comes up quite regularly as a question, and it was for information purposes only I try to stay out of these debates these days for many reasons

I am currently on a food based VLCD and find it empowering. Knowing the discipline of having an operation CAN stop me making wrong choices.

I'm on day 12 and lost 15lb it has spurred me on to see I can do this.

I have seen that some people haven't done a preop diet, but not sure how or why.

I am finding this easy and exciting the only downside is the tiredness. I want this op more than anything. Nothing is stopping me so I may as well enjoy the process xx

I you tubed a clip of how the liver is lifted during an op, seeing it visually helped me understand how important a preop diet is - anyone who is on or approaching an op should view one. Helps to see that you should follow everything to the letter xx

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There is a surgeon floating about that says NO to pre-op diets. He does not believe in them and would happily take you in the day after you have spent a month eating a KFC family buckets every day. (barf!) He may be very skilled as a surgeon, but I worry about the mental side of the service he has on offer.

Not only do I feel that this is dangerous from a safe operation point of view, but I do think that being prepared mentally before the op is one of the most important factors of this journey.

For me, the LSD was part of that mental preparation. I was the final step for me before going into surgery, it was the run up to the day my life, eating habits etc, everything was going to change and I felt that if I could not make it through 2 weeks of milk then I would find the road ahead very very difficult.

Not only did I understand the safety aspects of why I was restricting myself to Milk, but it helped me know that I had the tools to help me through the challenges that lay beyond the op.

It's Soooooo easy to fall back into bad habits, especially if like me, feeling hungry was never the issue pre-op, I grazed all day whether I was hungry or not. The LSD taught me about how food is really just a fuel and each meal does not have to be a wonderful assault on the taste buds.
Although I now try and make every one of my little meals tasty and delicious, I know that I have to keep in mind, front and centre, the nutritional value of everything I eat.

Totally agree. The pre op for me is a mental preparation and I'm grateful for it xxx

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GeMzY said:

I have to disagree there I'm afraid..... post op is so much easier to cope with as

1: there is no appetite to fight with
2: most things I am scared to try incase I do damage to my new sleeve or myself.

Much as I loved sweet things before I am very conscious of sugar content now incase it makes me sick & avoid like the plague, yet before just knowing it was bad for me wasnt enough of a deterrent.

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Lets hope you are right that the next 30 40 50 or more years are easier than 2 weeks

I havent had it yet, but through research looks to be a vital part of the journey for many!

I was lucky in that after 6 hellish months with a gastric balloon in the pre op was positively delightful and easy. My liver was pristine according to my surgeon. I agree with most of the comments above it does help you get the head into gear and if you can't do those vital few days of preparatory work then why are you doing the surgery?? As Yve and others say bad habits can and sometimes do creep back in if you allow them. Just ask some of the honest and up front members on here who have been there done it and thankfully recognised that they needed to get back on the wagon and fast.
I'm a huge dumper and yes it still stops me from trying things but that fear does lessen as time goes on. At a recent support group meeting the nurse there told us of a client who deliberately made themselves dump to get their food fix and then complained that they had stopped dumping?!? Why on earth would anyone want to do that?? ...beggars belief.
I'm quite hard line on the pre op diet. If you can't stick to it then WLS is not and shouldn't be for you and I make no apologies for thinking that.

I was banded a week ago today

I was so terrified of the surgery and the potential complications that I was prepared to do whatever it took to improve my chances of a great surgery

The surgeon acknowledged that my liver looked great, but it still had complications with an artery in my liver being cut and needing a repair. I have metal clamps inside me now. I just shudder to think what night have happened if my liver had not been in such good nick.

I actually followed the very low carb diet for just over two weeks nay post op diet instruction was for one week only

But then I'm a big feartie