Surgery next Thursday, Starting Liquid Diet Tomorrow

[TvanV]

I will be having my DS with Dr. Esquerra on Thursday, March 9 and have to start my liquid diet tomorrow. They say I can have broth, SF Jello, and 24 oz of plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt a day. Anyone have recommendations on how they arranged their liquid diet to make it less of a chore to stick to? I'm already thinking that mixing the jello with the yogurt might be the way to go, so the yogurt is sweeter and there's more bulk.

I can't believe that this time next week I'll be switched! Thank you all so much for all you write in these forums and post on YouTube, it's been not only helpful, but calming.

 

[Clematis]

I drank Unjury protein chicken broth and Nutriwise/Healthwise protein soup. SF Jello. No yogurt. (The fine print said DRINKABLE plain yogurt and well ICK)

There is nothing fun about the pre-op clears. All I can tell you is it will be over soon and the same clears post-op will be more than you will want, believe it or not.

 

[TvanV]

Yeah, I emailed and asked them about the no sugar/non fat drinkable yogurt. I could find non fat, but only low sugar, that's when they said to just do the regular non fat Greek stuff.

I have some regular broth and some Unjury flavorless protein powder, so I'm going to cobble those two together and see how I do. I also got plain gelatine so that I can flavor it with various Mio type drops. The pre-packaged sugar free flavors are pretty limited.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Didn't have a pre-op diet.

Mentioning that so you don't hurl yourself off a bridge if you occasionally "slip."

 

[TvanV]

No bridge flinging. Got it.

 

[countryham]

Good luck with the surgery TvanV.. Welcome to the club!

 

[galaxygrrl]

OK, well, I ignored the pre-op diet. Yep, I know, I should not be posting this, but I went to Dr. Esquerra and said screw it and ignored the diet. BMI was 46

 

[Spiky Bugger]

No bridge flinging. Got it.

Just noticed...your surgery is in less than a week. My unsolicited and unprofessional advice is to plan to REALLY stick to mostly liquids the last, say, at least three days. IOW, if you decide to do a Last Supper binge or some other nonsense...don't do it during the last few days before surgery.

My gut goes south for DAYS after general anesthesia, so starting out empty is always a good idea. And, from the TMI department, I need to start bowel prep WAY BEFORE the recommended time. I was that way before the DS, it's worse now. And I believe that @southernlady is on a simlar Slow Response track. My pre-op bowel prep for the DS barely started working and I felt that a few more hours would have made life easier.

Good luck.

 

[Clematis]

Echoing Spiky Bugger, I wouldn't want "stuff" in my bowels going into surgery. Not that one needs an enema -- if one does the clears, there shouldn't be any solids in there. Morphine/opiates for pain slows movement in the bowel to a crawl or stops it all together. I wouldn't want to be constipated immediately post op.

(That said, I know of some here who were not only non-compliant, but binged their way to Mexicali and lived to tell about it. Some people have gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel and lived to tell about it, too. YMMV)

 

[Clematis]

Oh and half the time Mexicali sends an instruction sheet that says after pre-op tests the day before, you can go eat a regular meal! I asked Nina about this and she said NO, that's for VSG people only. (I didn't get the last meal sheet. Just more Unjury chicken broth.)

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

When I wad there for my pre-op tests and blood draw, etc. I was saying how HUNGRY I was and Yolanda told me to have a light lunch and a light evening meal. My sister and I went to one of the restaurants st the hotel and I ordered grilled chicken, that came with a small portion of I think rice and a wonderful hard dinner roll. It tasted so good! I had a small bowl of tortilla soup later. Up to that point I had faithfully followed my pre-op eating orders (confusing as they were)!

 

[TvanV]

Thanks, everyone.

I'm being really, really good with my pre-op liquids. Anesthesia, nausea, and I are old enemies from way back, and I don't want to give it any more fuel than is absolutely necessary.

Surprisingly to me, I didn't ever have any desire for food funerals. I had a moment or two in the grocery store where I contemplated a bag of Double-Stuft Oreos, but realized that it was all psychological and I didn't actually want to eat them, just to have them on hand. I also bought a bag of potato chips, ate maybe seven of them and then pitched the rest.

I think I just have my mind so set on doing this right, that I don't want to sabotage myself before-hand. Plus, I keep telling myself that nothing says I can't have a bite of something after I heal. I think knowing I'm not completely denied for the rest of my life helps.

 

[galaxygrrl]

Echoing Spiky Bugger, I wouldn't want "stuff" in my bowels going into surgery. Not that one needs an enema -- if one does the clears, there shouldn't be any solids in there. Morphine/opiates for pain slows movement in the bowel to a crawl or stops it all together. I wouldn't want to be constipated immediately post op.

(That said, I know of some here who were not only non-compliant, but binged their way to Mexicali and lived to tell about it. Some people have gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel and lived to tell about it, too. YMMV)

I did only eat soups 24 hours before surgery for this reason. They were very clear with me the night before, only clear broth.

 

[galaxygrrl]

Thanks, everyone.

I'm being really, really good with my pre-op liquids. Anesthesia, nausea, and I are old enemies from way back, and I don't want to give it any more fuel than is absolutely necessary.

Surprisingly to me, I didn't ever have any desire for food funerals. I had a moment or two in the grocery store where I contemplated a bag of Double-Stuft Oreos, but realized that it was all psychological and I didn't actually want to eat them, just to have them on hand. I also bought a bag of potato chips, ate maybe seven of them and then pitched the rest.

I think I just have my mind so set on doing this right, that I don't want to sabotage myself before-hand. Plus, I keep telling myself that nothing says I can't have a bite of something after I heal. I think knowing I'm not completely denied for the rest of my life helps.

Just as an FYI, you'll be able to eat Oreos and potatoes chips when you heal. And you wont want to eat them before you heal. To me the difference is you just can't as much and you really need to do protein first.

You'll do great!

 

[TvanV]

Thanks, galaxygrrl!