Preop diet support!

Hi - I just found this great forum and I hope to get some help on a few things.

1.). The preop liquid diet. I'm having a rough time tolerating the sweet protein shakes And this is hard! How did you get through it I have 6 days remaining

2.). This one has me stressed out. Surgery is scheduled on my birthday. That and the week of Christmas which is a huge family event. I will have a house full and haven't told any of them. How did you feel week after surgery? Will I feel well enough to participate in family gatherings? Christmas liquid dinner? How did you handle all the naysayers?

thank you!!!

I didn't have a pre op liquid diet so I can't help there.

Honestly, assuming no complications, the worst part of the recovery from surgery for me was being tired. I was off the narcotics fairly fast and was able to function well as soon as those were out of my system.

That early out, you have to stick to your post-op diet, whether it's your birthday, christmas or just the random tuesday. The initial phases are to make sure you heal correctly and that is critical; early out, you can cause issues and complications if you don't follow your rules.

I didn't have any naysayers because I didn't tell many people, it's no ones business unless I choose to share it with them. I have not chosen to share it with many, and not with anyone I didn't know would be supportive. If you're not comfortable sharing with the people you'll be with, just say that you're not hungry (and you won't be so that will be a true statement).

Good luck with your last few days of shakes and your surgery next week! As you progress, stop in to the menu threads and see what people are eating in the various stages and ask questions; there's lots of incredibly helpful people on these boards!

Thank you!

im so happy to get some feedback and suggestions. Any tips for post surgery? I'm worried about not getting in my daily protein.

My first week, I didn't have a protein requirement, it was all hydration (every plan is different).

Once I was on purees (after the first week), I had to supplement with protein water and protein shakes; my surgeon said the number 1 requirement was hydration, #2 was the protein count. It was probably 3-4 weeks before I was consistently getting 100% of my protein requirements in every day and a lot longer until I wasn't supplementing every day with shakes/water.

If you are a coffee drinker, once you're released to have coffee again, a good tip is to replace your whitener with protein shake; gives you a boost in protein and mixes up the flavor a bit. Don't buy a bunch of shakes or anything else because you may have different tastes after surgery; a lot of people get the Syntrax Nectar sampler as it has options that aren't as milky-sweet; including a decent lemonade! I also like the Celebrate 20 shakes. I have some of their savory options as well but haven't managed to get into those yet (see my note about not buying a bunch of things before hand).

It won't immediately be applicable but I highly recommend getting on the RNY menu thread, even just to lurk. When my sister was concerned that I would "never eat again", I just read her some of the vets varied menus and that helped; it also helped me on the days when I was sick and tired of the food stages. It's just a stage, it changes!

Also the worldaccordingtoeggface blog has recipes for every stage (the ricotta bake is a pretty universal favorite).

Hello and welcome!

1 - Unjury makes a chicken broth protein powder that's a good option. They also have an "unflavored" one that can be added to savory things like broth. But, really, the liquid diet just sucks. :P Sorry. I kept myself as busy as possible to get through it!

2 - I didn't tell people about my surgery pre-op, except the people who needed to know in case I died or because they provided a service that would be affected (partners, parents, brother, a few best friends, voice teacher, massage therapist). Post-op I told everyone and didn't have a single naysayer. Probably because I'm stubborn so people know it would have been useless. :) I recommend having (and practicing) a script for how to deal with naysayers if there are any. Captain Awkward recommends scripts that acknowledge you've heard a person and then changes the subject. The point of a script is that you do the same exact thing every single time.

Examples of this script could be:

Thanks for letting me know how you feel! Do you think we're going to have a white christmas this year?

Well, it's too late now! Can you believe they killed Tyrion off in Game of Thrones?! (Note to anyone *****ads this and panics: they haven't killed Tyrion, but my old example was "They killed Carl in The Walking Dead...)

It's good that I'm the one who had the surgery and not you, then! How about that [local sports team]?

The point here is that you pick a script and repeat it, word for word, every time someone makes a disparaging comment. Even if you feel silly, even if you're repeating it to the same person three times in a row, the idea is that they'll get a clue that this topic is not up for discussion.

As for the rest - a week post-op I felt okay and was off pain medication, but I got tired very easily due to having just had major surgery. I napped a lot. I wasn't allowed to lift things and the only exercise I could do (and was required/encouraged to do) was walk as much as possible.

And I love your suggestions for dealing with awkward questions!!! Perfect

THANK YOU! I've been struggling all week on whether to continue or postpone my surgery until after the holidays. But after a week on liquids, I'm not doing this again. LOL

I have major concerns about getting all my protein in early on. Did you constantly sip on protein shakes? Any tips?

For my preop diet I used skim milk to make the shakes less sweet. You could use water as well.

if your shakes are chocolate,add a teaspoon of plain unsweetened Hershey's cocoa powder. Add it to the protein powder and mix it in well before adding the liquid. It helps cut the sweetness.

Wow! The unsweetened cocoa did the trick. Thank you so very much!