Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Back on the Horse. Pre Operative Dieting

Surgery is back on... Wednesday, March 28, 2012 which means the pre-operative diet is back on.  The joy!  Thankfully, I didn't fall off the wagon too hard after surgery was cancelled so jumping back in has been relatively easy.

Actually, it's not too tough of a diet. For the 3 weeks prior to surgery, you follow a high protein diet.  It calls for one 8 ounce protein shake for breakfast, another for lunch, a high protein snack at mid day- such as a Greek yogurt then a pretty substantial, protein focused dinner and finally another protein shake for an evening snack.

 Last night I had a 6 oz tenderloin steak, 1 cup of steamed broccoli, a 3 ounce baked potato, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, and 2 cups of salad. <--- That's a ton of food when put in front of you. Plus all the water, Crystal Light type drinks, decaf teas and decaf coffee one can drink throughout the day.  For the past 7 months I average a minimum of 100 ounces of fluid per day.  NO SODA! 

Honestly, that was the hardest part for me.  Regular soda, specifically, Wild Cherry Pepsi was my daily vice.  I drank it in the morning- hey, most of you drink coffee for your morning kick, I drank soda. I drank it all day long, I very easily put away a 2 liter plus every day.  I rarely drank water, maybe a glass a week.

Soda becomes a forever nay-nay for various reasons post op, the most important reason is your new little stomach, all 3-4 ounces of it, cannot tolerate carbonation of any sort. I never minded flat soda, but I can't let that become part of my thought process going forward.  Soda is the debbil, all that high fructose corn syrup killing you slowly.

Finding a protein that agrees with your taste buds is itself pretty difficult, 99% that I have tried either tasted disgusting or smelled wretched.  Factor in gastric bypass patients absorb whey protein isolate the best post-op, your choices actually drop significantly and the cost rises dramatically.  Protein powders are not cheap!

Week 4 I switch to just liquids plus 3 protein shakes.  The final two days is clear liquids- bouillon soup and some jello (as long as it's not red colored).  The whole process culminates with the ever loved "bowel cleanse".  Sadly, I was in the midst of said bowel cleanse when I was cancelled last time.  I have asked the surgeon, should she need to cancel me again, to please call before noon so I can save myself from the torture.

The purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver, making laproscopic access to the stomach/intestine area more easily accessible.  It's really important to follow the diet to the T as some pf the complications can include your liver literally cracking in half, going from a laproscopic procedure to an open one- meaning a 7 inch incision down the center of your stomach and a much longer surgery and recovery period, or even surgery cancelled while you lay on the table totally out.

On the way down side of the pre-op diet is it raises your sugar levels.  Being a diabetic, it's a bit scary.  This morning I tested 137 when first awake. Rarely, if ever, does my BG break the 80 range.  On the plus side, from the moment I awake from surgery, the odds are with me that my diabetes will CURED.  GBS has an 80% cure rate for type II.

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