Why aren't herbal teas allowed before surgery?

That makes no sense at all. If coffee is allowed then tea should be as well. So the surgeons office normally allows tea but obviously the dolts in Sudbury don't. Personally since the surgeons paper said you were allowed it I would do it. She just doesn't want to go against Sudbury. Nothing good ever seems to come from Sudbury LOL

No, it's not Sudbury; this is a paper I got from my pre-op visit at St. Joe's.  It's part of the list of what to do to prepare for surgery.  Sudbury got on my nerves too, lol. So much of what we did there seems unnecessary; the same info could have been provided online.

St. Joe's must have changed then as it never used to say that.  Still makes no sense to me although some herbal teas may have things in them that will thin the blood but they could at least name the ingredients so people could at least check the ingredient list.  I'd still not worry about it as you can see from this thread alone, almost everyone used herbal teas.  Optifast makes you damn cold all the time and those nice hot teas make you feel so warm inside.  I love coffee and drank lots of that too but drank tons of herbal tea all evening to avoid caffeine.  Wait til your follow up in Sudbury if you want to talk about a waste  LOL

I'm guessing they'll weigh me and ask what I'm eating.  It kills me that there's nothing medical done there at all.  It's a long drive, but not as bad as traveling to Toronto.  Still a pain in winter though.

You don't have to go in person for follow up, they offer it all by OTN except I think the 1 month follow up they want you there in person.  I'd not waste my time driving there unless you had to or you wanted to go shopping or something.

For warm beverage alternatives, I enjoy lemon juice in ho****er. And I've had ginger too, just a few pieces of fresh ginger in ho****er, it's yummy and cozy. That's is, if you enjoy ginger.

I love ginger tea made with fresh ginger.  I just assumed I'd have to give it up as it's an herbal tea, and they said to quit all teas when I called.  Lemon is a fruit so that should be fine.

Ginger can thin the blood so you may want to limit it to a few cups per day and maybe give it up a week before so you don't have bleeding issues.  I was told before to stop ginger even in cooking prior to any surgery due to this.

I'm surprised to hear this.  Herbal teas were the only thing that gave me sanity going through Opti.  Maybe you can find a decaf non herbal tea instead?  Like an apple cinnamon or pomegranate?

I have apple cinnamon and I asked about it (and peppermint, licorice spice, and sleepy time, lol) and was told to stop all teas 14 days before surgery.

I'll make do with hot lemon water, and broth, and I'm going to go get more Crystal Lite and see if any of them are good in ho****er.  The raspberry/blueberry is not good in ho****er; bleah.  LOL.

I really just wanted something hot in the morning so the hot lemon water will do just fine.  For the rest of the day if I want something hot I'll have a cup of broth. 

Thank you all for your great suggestions and helpful advice.