Liquid Diet and drinking with meals

My surgeon doesn't require a liquid pre-op diet either. Just low carb and low cal to shrink the liver (his practice indicates at least 80g protein and not more than 800 calories a day for the two weeks prior to surgery). His dietician said some people do liquid just because it is easier to make sure they are getting in enough protein while staying under on calories and carbs but there was no "magic" about it having to be liquid.

As others have said - the rule about separating eating and drinking refers to solid food. While you are on liquids (clear and full) all you are doing is drinking. I didn't start the 30 minutes before/after rule until I started pureed food. And my surgeon/dietician didn't say it was because of "stretching" the pouch or sleeve. The before rule was so that your sleeve/pouch had room to hold food so that you could get enough solid protein in and the after rule was so that you didn't flush the solid protein out of the sleeve/pouch before digesting it.

My diet is that exactly but they started mine a month and a half before my "date". Hey I see you're in PA, did you go to Magee by any chance? Maybe our surgeons are partners.

I didn't have a liquid pre op diet, actually there ware only four days between my surgeon visit and surgery so I was on only on the 1200 calories pre surgery diet for a few days. I do not have a fatty liver.

I didn't drink anything else g or half a nd hour after drinking much shakes but I think the no liquids before food rule started once I was eating mushy food.

Thank you AggieMae, and you got quite lucky with that speedy gap between the surgeon and the surgey. I wish I would have been that lucky lol

I never did drink a protein shake. I had to lose weight to shrink my liver is all. At first it is confusing. In the beginning your 'meals' are pretty liquid anyway. My surgeon at Mayo never said I had to wait 30 min but I was lucky as I never did drink with meals. The best advice is do exactly what your surgeon and primary tell you to do. By the way I am 14 years post op and below goal. Good luck and I wish you all the best

That's AWESOME! Congratulations and thank you.

I think that in the beginning since all you're doing is drinking there's no need to wait or differentiate between your meals if it's just liquid & your drinks like tea or water etc. It's all liquid.

However when you move past the liquid stage you'll have to wait at least a half hour after you've eaten your meal to start drinking liquids again. I never waited the 1/2 b4 a meal to stop drinking, but always waited the 1/2 hour after.

The pre-op liquid diet is just a way to get people to shrink their liver by staying low carb/low calorie. Eating low carb/low calorie would do exactly the same thing.

Liquids aren't a meal though, they are liquids. You can drink protein shakes and drink water, it doesn't matter.

The only reason not to do it post op is just because you are swollen and might not have room for your protein or you might drink too fast and feel pain.

Drinking 30 minutes before and after comes with purees on.

When I was given my tray of food in the hospital I was "eating" and drinking at the same time. Protein shake and jello are not dense protein.

lol lots of great responses with excellent information! lol And nobody "jumped down your throat"! lol

I didn't have a two week pre-op liquid diet. I was on all liquids for 24 hours pre-op. Whew! lol

Post-op I was on liquids for ten days (sugar-free Carnation Instant Breakfast), then moved on to pureed food. Luckily, I had no problems getting liquids down, so when I wasn't drinking my shake, I was sipping water all day. Made lots of trips to the bathroom because I had to pee lol! Very important to stay hydrated lol. Surprising how many people end up in the ER getting IVs because they didn't drink their water.

Always a good idea to educate yourself, so keep reading as much a you can. EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS. THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE BETTER! .

Best of luck to you!