Too impatient!!!

[Deedee302]

I have recently had my initial consultation at Luton and Dunstable, I am due to see the consultant on 22nd Feb and then the nurse on 13th March to discuss a milk diet. Can anyone tell me what to expect?

 

[Bling Babe]

Hi and welcome, I’m also with L and D and have just got a date for 27th March, I didn’t see the consultant until I had completed my 1 assessment period. My assessment was for 1 year and I begun my journey with them in June 2016 so it will be 21 months in total when I get my surgery, the assessment period depends on you BMI and any co-morbidities you may have. At my first appointment I saw a dietician, I was weighed and gave blood samples I was asked where I wanted to go with my journey as they also offer weight management without surgery at the end. I was given a food diary to fill in which you must do in an honest way I then went back 1 month later and was given the milk diet to follow for 4 weeks, it really wasn’t that bad to be honest as it takes away food choices, you have 4 pints of milk a day, flavoured with sugar free Crusha if you like, you also have 2 Bovril or OXO drinks a day, my favourite was chicken OXO in hot milk, these are to replace the electrolytes in your body, 3 small pots of sugar free jelly or 1 sugar free sachet of jelly, I made mine with some of my milk allowance oh and 2 sugar free chewing gums, unlimited sugar free drinks and plenty of water, you’ll pee for England ,,,,the reason for the milk diet is to prove commitment, show you can tolerate a high protein diet, help you lose 5% of your body weight which you must do to move on with your journey and at a later date, 2 weeks before surgery you have to do the milk diet again as it shrinks the liver so the surgeon can access all areas needed to when he operates.
After the assessment period I saw a general physician who assessed my suitable for surgery in general I then attended an MDT meeting and then I met my consultant/surgeon and anaesthetist.
let me know if you need any more info or you can search for my diary titled “I’ve only gone and got a date” somewhere in that is the whole years procedure but you can just ask me anything. Xx

 

[OkieGirl]

Hi ya, another L&Der here. There's not much I could add to Bling's post really.

I'm currently on my 3rd week of the milk diet and will be heading back to L&D on the 6th March. I kind of jumped the gun on starting my milk diet before I got my next appointment date and have decided to just carry on with it until I go back which will be 8 weeks by then (you can do it for 12 weeks in a row max).

Welcome to the forum and good luck!

 

[Deedee302]

Hi thanks for your reply, especially the bit about the milk diet that I am dreading!
I am from Essex so I did my tier 2 here and my
first appointment at L&D to start my tier 3 sounds pretty much the same as yours Bling but it looks as though I’m seeing the consultant before being out on the milk diet? I do have other health conditions so that could be why?
What happens when the milk diet is finished?(okiegirl ...8 weeks???? OMG! )
Are we given another plan to follow after that? I was given a good diary but the dietician told me to fill it out for the 2 weeks before going back to see her and I don’t know when that will be. I can imagine the consultant will be interested in seeing it! Xx

 

[OkieGirl]

Hi thanks for your reply, especially the bit about the milk diet that I am dreading!
I am from Essex so I did my tier 2 here and my
first appointment at L&D to start my tier 3 sounds pretty much the same as yours Bling but it looks as though I’m seeing the consultant before being out on the milk diet? I do have other health conditions so that could be why?
What happens when the milk diet is finished?(okiegirl ...8 weeks???? OMG! )
Are we given another plan to follow after that? I was given a good diary but the dietician told me to fill it out for the 2 weeks before going back to see her and I don’t know when that will be. I can imagine the consultant will be interested in seeing it! Xx

Honestly the milk diet, once you get over the initial shock of it, isn't too bad. The first week for me was difficult in that I still have to fix meals for my family. It made me mad and frustrated that I couldn't join them. Also, my brain kind of freaked out by not eating solid foods, but once I started realizing the difference between genuine hunger pains and head hunger that eased off considerably. I have been shocked at how infrequently I actually experience genuine hunger. Also, drinking lots of water helps a lot. The milk diet takes out any need to really think about food, which in some ways is nice and makes things easier.

Once you're done with the milk diet, they put you on a low calorie diet and you either have to maintain your 5% loss or lose more while you're on tier 3. They like to see that you've lost more though. The clever trick here though is that the amount of calories you are given is what you'll have had on the milk diet, at least that's what I understand, so you can look at that and know without doubt that you can live on that amount. I think if they had just chopped down the amount of food I could eat instead of having this break from solid food, I would have found that so much more difficult to work with.

 

[Deedee302]

Well, what a fortnight. My 15 year old was rushed in with appendicitis and my weight exceeded to max weight to sleep on the put up bed to stay over night. So I spent 2 nights in a chair pretending to be comfortable.
My surgery cannot come quick enough... I’m am so done with my weight affecting EVERYTHING!!!

 

[Maria61]

Well, what a fortnight. My 15 year old was rushed in with appendicitis and my weight exceeded to max weight to sleep on the put up bed to stay over night. So I spent 2 nights in a chair pretending to be comfortable.
My surgery cannot come quick enough... I’m am so done with my weight affecting EVERYTHING!!!

Hope your son is better now xx

 

[Emma1504]

Hope your son is doing better x