My name is Lana Humphries.  I am from Louisiana.  I moved to Tijuana and opened a recovery house for people to come to after having surgery.  I came and went to a hotel where there was no clear liquids.  I wanted a place that people could come to, to feel safe and at home.  I've been opened for three years now.  Dr. Ponce' is a very reputable surgeon and I've been told by people in the medical field that if they needed surgery it would be Dr. Ponce' they would ask for.  I would like to post that anyone who goes through Marlon Sanchez and thinks they are getting Dr. Ponce' is wrong.  Marlon bought the website Drjaimeponcedeleon.com and has used that to get people to come to Mexico and upon getting here to find out they are getting another doctor such as Dr. Sergio Quinones.  I am not saying anything bad against Dr. Quinones but I do know that Dr. Ponce' has so much more experience than he.  I've seen Dr. Ponce' in surgery and his eye to hand coordination is right on.  Marlon has asked for all the money to be wired to his brother's account who is acting as the accountant.  If anything happens which it has you will be lucky to get your money back.  I've heard of four people who had a refund coming to them and they are still waiting for it so be extra careful when sending money.  I am not a coordinator but I can get you in touch with someone that would be happy to help you and you would not have to worry about a deposit.  All is required as with most places here in Tijuana is a cashiers check or cash.  They will even take a credit card with an additional 4% for fees that are charged.  Marlon is a smooth talker but he is what makes people afraid to trust anyone here in Mexico.  Thank you and if you need further information about how to get Dr. Ponce' please e-mail me at [email protected].

Yup I have the gurgling tummy!!!!  And I am in absolute amazement at how much a person can still put out after not eating any solid food for 3 days!!!! (sorry for TMI).  I am glad that I'm not the only one having this issue though.  Everyone is telling me that they cannot believe that I can go to work and prepare a full dinner for everyone and not even taste it yet alone serve it to everyone and then sit down with my broth and a yogurt or glucerna!!!!  Have you found that  you're tempted by things???  I've had that a few times but I just remind myself of what the ultimate goal is and it helps me to keep with it.

I'm not positive, but I believe that a fatty liver may be one cause of an enlarged lived.

Today is day 3 of the liquid diet and it's going well so far.  I too have found that the no salt added broth is absolutely disgusting!!!!  I've been adding garlic and pepper just to give it some flavour.  Just wondering if anyone knows why it has to be the no salt added, seems like we're getting much less than the required amount of sodium here.  I didn't think of it before, but the carbs are kinda up there, Nooshin told me that my max amount of carbs was 130g/day and I'm getting 105g/day.  I asked the question on another forum about how this diet causes the liver to shrink and the general answer was that it reduces the toxins in your liver and those that it has to deal with.

Here's my diet: 2x Glucerna, 3cups 1% milk, 4x fat free yogurt cups, 1 scoop of protein powder and 2cups of broth.  I can also have all of the water, crystal lite, sugar free jello and popsicles that I want.

Yeah I just started it too...

I'm having some anxiety and fear of the possibility of my liver being too large for surgery, so I am sticking to this 100%.

Its weird when you look at this forum, it seems so many surgeons have so many different methods and requirements for the pre-op liquid diet. I am a little concerned because I have read that a low carbohydrate pre-op diet helps reduce liver size so its easier for the surgeon to work around, and the liquid diet Nooshin gives us isn't exactly low carb.

Here's what mine is for a day:

4 X Glucerna drinks

3 X packets 35 calorie low sugar yogurt

2 Cups of Skim Milk

2 Cups of Reduced Sodium Broth

1 Scoop of Protein Powder

Lots of Water

Now, being a relatively young male who has a pretty high BMI, I assume this will be a lot more than what most of you are alotted.

So far, I have learned that chicken broth (at least the low sodium kind) is DISGUSTING on its own. I have been adding about a teaspoon of low carb hot sauce, some potassium salt ("no salt") and some black pepper, and straining it. That gives me a cup of broth soup which I have twice a day.

Does anyone have experience or know if the diet worked in shrinking their liver adequately?

There was a study done in 1998 by a guy named Dr. Robert Fris in New Zealand, that showed that a liquid diet does reduce liver size in pre-op WLS patients.
You can see a synopsis here: www.springerlink.com/content/5n102728077q178r/

Basically, he put his patients on the Optifast Very Low Calorie diet and they managed to see significant reduction in liver size.

I feel like this liquid diet really isn't that hard to stick with if you drink enough water to keep you full and hydrated, but that this final liver shrinking is the last hurdle to climb, as I know my ultrasound showed a fatty liver (as it will in most adults who are obese or overweight).

So exciting for you two!! Keep us updated on your recovery Barb, good luck tomorrow!!
Rhonda