Hi Layla,
I think everyone is scared when they first find out they have cancer - it IS a scary thing. So unknown, and facing the unknown can cause a lot of fear.
So when you get scared, step back, take some very deep breaths (good oxygenation helps fight fear!), and refocus on the here and now.
What's here and now is that you have to have surgery. So start getting ready for it, one step at a time. You've got a week to work at building up your immune system so that you'll do well during and after surgery. You've got a week to work on detoxifying your body, so that it doesn't have to work so hard to do that after surgery. You've got a week to learn a little more about what you need to do to have the best recovery after surgery. You've also got a week to let all this other preparation bring peace to your heart - and yes, that is doable, because you will be going into next week knowing that you have been proactive on your own behalf!!!
If your dr or surgeon (or whoever) did not give you specific nutritional preparation instructions, call and ask if there is any particular thing(s) you should be eating and/or drinking to get your body as prepared as possible for this surgery. They may or may not recommend something. If they don't, then you're gonna have to wing it, but that's not too hard.
Normally I would recommend you try to drink some green tea, but you're having surgery on your liver - that's an organ very rich with blood vessels, and green tea can prolong bleeding times. Best you avoid all kinds of tea between now and surgery. Same thing with soda pop - NOT a good choice right now - really loads the body with phophorus and nasty by-products and you don't need that.
Best beverage is water - plenty of pure, fresh water - as much as you can drink, unless you're on a fluid restriction.(64 - 80 ounces /day) Just make sure you're getting enough sodium and potassium so you don't get water intoxicated. (You can get an OTC potassium - usually comes in 99mg tabs. 1 or 2 of those a day would do - as long as you aren't on another potassium supplement. If you're on a diuretic, talk to your dr about flushing out your body with water before you start drinking a lot.) The water's gonna make you pee a lot - but that's ok.
(Decaf coffee is ok, too, but not a lot - it is dehydrating, even without the caffeine.)
Fruit can help clean you out, but you gotta be careful cause cancer loves sugar. (I don't know that you're gonna get enough in a week to do a lot of harm, but to be on the safe side, you need to limit to certain fruits.) Fructose is a safe sugar to use when you have cancer, cause it actually helps in the process of killing cancer cells. Citric acid is another immune system booster and cancer killer. Citrus fruit is high in fructose and citric acid, so try to eat some every day. Pineapple is an excellent choice. Apples are good cancer killers, but high in non-fructose types sugar, so limit to one (or two) a day - eat the seeds, also. If you have access to fresh concord grapes with the seeds in them, have a handful for breakfast every morning. Make sure to wash and rinse them well, and also make sure to chew up and swallow the seeds. (Yes, they and the apple seeds are bitter - the compound that makes them bitter is also a cancer killer.) The grape meat itself is a wonderful colon cleanser - you need that too. If you can't get the grapes, get some 100% concord grape juice frozen concentrate, and have 6 ounces of it for breakfast. Tomatoes are also high in citric acid and have lycopene which is wonderful for the immune system, but don't do tomato more than once a day because it is very acidic, and you don't want that right now.
If you use artificial sweetener, especially aspartame, you need to not use any in the next week. If you need a sweetener, get some crystallized fructose if you can - health food stores and some organic aisles in the grocery store carry it. If not, use a little bit of honey - not a lot. (Best not to use aspartame or artificial sweetener after surgery, either.)
Colon cleansing is REALLY important right now. Among the very best colon cleansers are cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus - also very good for the kidneys, kale and spinach - all good for the immune system too): whole grains - whole wheat, buckwheat, brown rice, oatmeal; and legumes (beans, lentils, peas.)
Avoid milk - cheese and a little bit of yogurt are ok, but minimal just plain milk for the next week. If you can get some flax seed oil (preferably organic with lignans - Barleans is a great brand) - take 1 TBSP/day - you can put it in the yogurt, or if you don't like yogurt, use 1/2 - 3/4 cup cottage cheese. Do your flax oil/yogurt or cottage cheese in the morning with your concord grapes for breakfast. You can have some toast or some crackers if you need more food to carry you through to lunch - just no other sugar.
If you've got a good multiple vitamin with minerals, make sure you take it every day (with food.) If you've got a vitamin C supplement, use it. Other important supplements are Vitamin D-3, vitamin E, vitamin A, Niacin, riboflavin - any type of a vitamin b-complex supplement will do. Take some zinc - 50 mg a day - this one's important! get some selenium 200 mg and take it once a day.- that's important, too.
Get some exercise, every day. Low impact, aerobic exercise - walking or slowly climbing stairs is great. Doesn't have to be strenuous, but enough to get your heartrate up a little, and at least 20 minutes. make sure to take a lot of really good deep breaths while you're exercising - getting oxygen to all of your cells is vitally important to detoxifying and strengthening them. Even if all you can do is sit in a chair and raise a book up and down with each hand/arm - that's fine. It will release endorphins the same as any other kind of exercise, and that will help your sense of well-being.
If you need to cry, go ahead. The shower is a good place for that - helps relieve tight muscles while you relieve pent up emotions!
Make sure you've got at least one good support person to help you get through this week, and who will be there for you after your surgery. (One person in addition to whoever will be taking care of your young 'un, if possible.) I know you're concerned about your 12 year old - but kids that age can be a lot tougher than we give them credit. Be honest with her. Ask her help in getting you ready for this surgery and any treatment that might lie beyond. If she can exercise with you, that would be great. she can also remind you to drink plenty of water - stuff like that will involve her in the process, and will start getting her used to the idea that mom's gonna need some help to do stuff for at least a week or two you come home from the surgery. (i had a friend who had mastectomy for breast cancer and 2 adolescents at home. I got her 13 year old daughter involved in helping her with post-op stretching exercises - really helped both of them cope!)
As I said, if you get overwhelmed, step back, deep breaths, refocus/regroup. Don't try to borrow any trouble from tomorrow - today's got plenty of worries of its own. But you can work your way through them, one step at a time, one breath at a time. If you ask any cancer survivor how they got through the tough times, they're very likely to tell you: one step at a time, one moment at a time. Take care of what's in front of you right now, and the future will take care of itself.
I'll be hoping to hear next week that you're doing ok. I'm like lots of other people on Cancer Compass - LOVE to do the happy dance when someone else has a victory! So I'll be lifting you up towards that victory. (Don't push too hard after your surgery to be back to using the computer - if you don't feel like it, the 'puter will wait. You need to make sure you are taking good care of YOU!!!)
Sincerely,
Tre