11.28.2014

So it begins...

Today is the first day of my low-calorie, clear-liquid diet. My doctor wants me to be on it for 7 days before my surgery because it will shrink my liver. This is important because they will be lifting my liver during surgery, and if it's too big/ heavy it will be more difficult to move. Not all doctors require their patients to do a pre-op diet for this surgery, and I'm willing to be my liver is ok the way it is, but I'm not going to go against my doctor's orders. Ok, I did cheat once today but that's only because I wanted one *last* latte and I couldn't get one yesterday. It may be my last one for a long time (possibly ever?) because I've heard that caffeine can irritate your "wrap" (in this surgery they wrap your stomach around your esophagus.)

Here is what my official diet handout says (things I can't/ don't eat are crossed out):

*

Consume these items in moderation. They contain large amounts of sugar.

- 2 cups or less per day:
     * Gatorade, Powerade, juice (orange, apple, grapefruit)
 - 3 or less per day:
     * Regular popscicles, Jell-O, sugar-free fudgsicles
- 3 or less per day (any combination):
     * 1 cup of lowfat milk (skim, 1%, 2%, or lactaid)
     * 8oz light yogurt
     * 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1-2 per day:
     * Atkins shakes
     * Carb Solutions shakes
     * DO NOT consume SlimFast, Ensure, or Boost (these will be allowed on your post-op diet)

Consume these sugar-free items in any quantity:

- Sugar-free drinks like Crystal Light, sugar-free Kool Aid, diet soda, diet tea, black coffee, water
- Broth from soups (any flavor, no chunks)
- Sugar-free Jell-O
- Sugar-free popscicles

*

Now I suppose is a good time to tell you that I react very, very poorly to any kind of artificial sweetener so all that "sugar-free" stuff is a no-go. I gave an Atkins shake the ol' college try today and not only did it taste like milk flavored water (it was "french vanilla" "flavored") it made me feel even sicker than I was already feeling.

Right now it's only been 24 hours on this diet (and I even cheated with a latte) and I already feel like I'm going to fall over dead. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to make some bone broth and pick up a bottle of liquid vitamins. If I can manage to drive a car that is.

I wouldn't mind fast-forwarding to the end of the year right now.

Oh, and R did this the other night:


It's not like it's taken her her whole entire life to grow her bangs past her chin when the rest of her hair is halfway down her back. After living with bangs for the first 12 years of my life, I made a solemn vow when I found out I was having a girl that I would never give her bangs. Funny how the universe works sometimes.

5 comments:

  1. That diet sounds terrible. I don't know how you manage to be a stay at home mom with your health problems. I'm useless when I'm not well. <3 Erica Sturrock

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pretty useless as well. Nate picks up a lot, and by a lot I mean all, of the slack when he gets home from work bless his heart. I try and make sure Reagan gets food and doesn't destroy things during the day (the latter of which I usually fail at) and that's about all I can do.

      Delete
  2. Ohh man.. I feel for you on the haircut.. hopefully they will grow back faster than the first time?

    I have my fingers crossed for you that the next week goes super fast (some how) and that surgery goes well with an easy recovery.

    Have you been reading anything good these days?

    Jen
    Jen.amileamemory@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope it grows back faster too, haha. Ah poor girl. She's still my little cutie though. Just rocking the mod style for now! (We're using a lot of headbands.)

      I actually just read the Harry Potter series again for the sake of comfort reading. Now I want to marathon the movies!

      Delete
    2. She is still adorable- and hey- 'tis the season for headbands.. ;-)

      I'm jealous! I've been wanting to reread the series for years and never had the time.

      Delete