Any tips?
My surgeon will cancel the surgery if we are not at the weight he tells us to be for surgery. Knowing we could be sent home on the morning of surgery made it important to stick to the pre-surgery eating plan.
Other than that, it is just a matter of realizing that there is no food that he will never be able to eat again after surgery. Pre-surgery is the time to work on resisting temptation. The more he loses pre-op, the closer he will be to his long-term goal weight.
Real life begins where your comfort zone ends
IMO- alcohol combined with lots of carbs, like holiday desserts can make it very difficult for the liver that then would have to work very hard during the first few months.
There are snacks or desserts can can be better than others.
As for the family- supporting someone who is getting ready for WLS is important.
I often would grab sometimes if it is right there in front of me. Or when I see others eat that.
Teh worse way to show lack of support is family members or friends think it is funny to tease the person who should not eat some foods by eating those food and commenting that the person can't have it...
It happened to me shortly after my surgery, an EX friend teased me: " this is so good.. num num.. o you can't have that, would you like to smell it? ha ha ha"
She thought it was funny. I did not. I just walked away. My other friends were shocked. That and a few other things made me realized that she was not a real friend to me.
If there is food in the house that I really like but need to stay away from me, we keep it wrapped, or in containers, in cabinets. When my partner wants sometimes, he takes it out, take a serving and puts the rest away.
Some snacks that are OK for me, I also keep in cabinets or drawers, in bags or containers. When I want some, I get some, put the rest away. Then eat my serving. I also stop eating when i reach "I have enough" and either put what I did not eat back in my cabinet, or toss it... It's OK to do that.
Hala. RNY 5/14/2008; Happy At Goal =HAG
"I can eat or do anything I want to - as long as I am willing to deal with the consequences"
"Failure is not falling down, It is not getting up once you fell... So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again...."
The surgeon probably explained to your Dad that the reason for the pre-op diet is to shrink the liver to make the operation easier. Apparently sugar makes the liver hold on to water like a sponge, but if you severely restrict carbohydrates you can make the liver shrink, like squeezing out the sponge.
In addition to the risk of having surgery cancelled, as White Dove mentioned, there's the risk of them starting the surgery only to find that the liver is too large, so they can't reach the stomach safely and can't complete the surgery. Imagine waking up from surgery only to find that you went through all that for nothing!
I watched a New Zealand documentary on VSG, where the woman followed the pre-op diet faithfully and lost a good amount of weight. However, the night before the surgery she decided to have one last binge on chocolate. That made her liver swell, and the surgeon had great difficulty navigating around the liver, and nearly had to quit. Eventually he was able to complete the surgery.
The pre-op diet is miserable, I know. But after surgery I found life to be wonderful!
Lemon water or Orange water.. made by putting a slice or splash of OJ or Lemon juice in water... No sweetner. filtered water.. Tell your Dad YOU are proud of him taking this important step to regain his health. You love him and are looking forward to having him in your life and being able to do things together. Make a list of things you both enjoy and enjoy doing together. start with simple things like walking at the park... sweetpotato.
