I am freakin starvin!!

The most frustrating is the not gaining weight thing Clarian requires. The Dr gave me a weight loss order and I HAVE to maintain. I have an apt next week to meet with him for final apt and weigh in for him to submit me to ins. I am scared to death to eat..my last apt I was 2 lbs short of my "goal" weight and they would not schedule me to see him. I had to weigh in again the next week. Thankfully the next week i was at "goal" but then had to wait almost 2 weeks to be able to see him. I take pain meds for a pre existing arthritis condition and unfortuantly constipation is a big side effect. I have been taking ex lax ev night now for 3 nights hoping not to show any weight gain. After next week if I am cleared to proceed to ins approval I am still another 5-7 weeks out from surgery. I use to be able to drop 10-15 lbs easy when I was young now I am in my 50's and its hell. Did any one else go through this? I am having surgery BECAUSE I have trouble losing to begin with!!

Faye,

I went through Dr. Gupta at St. Vincent and she didn't require any kind of 'diet' pre-op. I know of others though who their surgeon wanted them to be on a restrictive diet to try to shrink their liver pre-op. You are the first one that I have heard of that a goal was set and if you didn't meet that goal, you were punished by not being allowed to see your doctor. Who is your surgeon?

You are right, it's alot harder now to drop those few pounds as we age. But post-op, as you get to walking & exercising, you will lose it.

If constipation continues to be an issue, try drinking a cup of hot tea: Smooth Move (Meijer's) or Dieter's (Wal-Mart). Either of these are excellent at doing the job overnight without having the cramps that laxatives can cause. Both teas are herbal.

Best of luck...
Sherri

I was told that this is standard for Clarian's program, that you must do a 6 month diet/excercise program and they will not perform the surgery until you meet the goal.

Did they give you a copy of the "Liver Reduction" diet? I followed that and lost 30 pounds before my surgery.  The first 2 weeks were the hardest - I would have killed for a carb!  And yes, it is harder to lose the older we get.  Good Luck!

My guess is that you are seeing Dr. Mattar.  I had him.  Had a 20 pound weight loss goal.  I know it seems hard, but if you stick to the liver reduction diet you can lose weight.  I lost 37 pounds preop from that diet and my goal was only 20.  I am now one month post op and I am now down 55 pounds from the first day I met with him until now.  I can't describe how much better I feel. Also, because I was forced to be on such a restrictive preop diet I had to deal with the head hunger issues as a preop, as a result I don't have much of that now.    I can only speak from my experience.  His reasoning behind the diet is twofold....one to shrink your liver to make your surgery safer and two...to show your commitment to the lifestyle changes necessary to make your wls successful.  It was very hard for me to see that preop, but now as a postop I understand how important it was and I am a big advocate of the liver reduction diet.  Dr. Mattar is top of the charts for his surgery.  I work for Clarian and every Clarian North employee that learned I had him all had the same resounding confidence in him that if they were ever needing any type of general surgery he is who they would want.   Best of luck to you!

Thanks everyone...I was having a 2am hunger/stress/anxious/too tired attack when I posted this thread. I am very thankful for my surgeon and the staff are wonderful..I would not go anywhere else if they gave me the option today. I am just ready for it to be over with and living alone I have no one to "vent"to! Thanks for your concern and taking time to reply to me and letting me let it out when needed!!!