Welcome back! 

Life has been pretty hectic as always, but I did not want to update this blog until I had a surgery-related update to share with you all. I am happy to announce that I had an appointment with my bariatric center this past week and another one with my nutritionist and that they have scheduled my final appointment with the center for mid-October. They explained that at that appointment I will do my final weigh-in and that they will then issue a referral to my surgeon's office. I guess I am not yet officially approved by my insurance, but at least things are happening and I am moving in the right direction. For the longest time I was at a standstill, especially due to COVID, but I am beyond ecstatic to be moving forward in this journey. 

During the appointment with my nutritionist, she created my Pre-Surgery Meal Plan, which I am sharing below. Once the referral is sent to the surgeon, and my insurance approves the surgery, I will then be scheduled for the said surgery. This particular diet will start 14 days prior to the scheduled surgery.

The nutritionist explained that the liquid diet will help with the shrinking of the liver. Apparently as you gain weight and fat, the size of the liver also increases. The liver shrinking diet is suppose to do just that, shrink the liver, which makes it easier for the surgeon to access the stomach and perform the surgery (see diagram below).