Fatty liver

Berry · March 8, 2007

I have a fatty liver. If after my 2 wk pre-op diet my liver doesn't shrink will they do the surgery?? If during my surgery and my liver is still fatty, will they continue with the surgery?

marjon9 · March 8, 2007

Most of us have a fatty liver. If you were told you have a fatty liver that does not necessarily mean that you are different from everyone else here. We all have that problem. The pre-op diet is intended to help reduce it. This apparently works most of the time as evidenced by the fact that doctors do a lot of these surgeries and almost never stop them because of too much fat on the liver. However, it can happen that the doc stops in the middle of the surgery because he or she can't reach the stomach. I've heard of it a couple times. So, when the time comes, do try to stick with your pre-op diet.

The odds are very good that your liver is not that much different from everyone else's around here, and that the surgery can go forward with no problem. But, it must be said that every once in a great while this there is a problem with too much fat on the liver, and the doc stops the surgery.

LapBandit · March 9, 2007

I agree with Marjon, my surgeon said basically the same thing. Just follow the pre-op plan and you should be OK. I was told that severly reducing fat and sugar intake during the pre-op diet were the two main objectives toward helping reduce liver size.

amourette · March 9, 2007

My doctor said he was concerned about my fatty liver after the op and I followed the strict diet for two weeks before hand, only cos I thought I might die on the operating table if I didn't........was still a shock to learn though and a big wake up call!:cry

yukaputz · March 9, 2007

Yeah I had a fatty liver too. 5 sonometers to large. My surgeon wasn't too concerned about it, he said do the two week liquid and everything will be fine. Then my butthead pcp go wind of it. Decided I needed to see a gastroenterologist, the gastro sent me for a full blood work up, all the of the tests came back normal but come to find out the lab forgot to test me for hepatitus a/b. Now they want me to go back for another blood test (mind you, I'm 3 days away from surgery now) or have a biopsy done while my surgeon is doing the band. All the while I'm telling them I don't have hep, my wife of 10 years was screened for all of this 6 months ago for fertility treatment.

I ended up blowing off the gastro and not returning the phone calls. Some may agree, some may not, but I am a firm beliver that you have to control these doctors and use common sense with your health care or the doctors will run amuck. If you have ever had to work them professionaly in a setting where your not a doctor, you quickly realize that common sense is something is generally lacking in the medical profession. The end result was that after my two week liquid diet, my liver shrank, my surgeon said it was perfect and that my surgery was textbook.

panda · March 9, 2007

Well, my surgeon's office told me at the one-on-one interview that when he says "you need to do this, cut back on that, don't eat any of those" to do it. I was told that if you get through your pre-op diet and he gets in there and doesn't like the way your liver looks, he will not hesitate to sew you up without the band.

The surgeon didn't say that personally, however he did stress (and explained with a diagram and everything) that a fatty liver is no good. He wont' be able to lift the liver like he has to to get to our stomaches (me and my mom are doing this together - same day 4/2). He's had us working on cutting out the sugars/sodas/carbs for over a month (look at my stats, it's already working!).

He explained that EVERYTHING we eat goes through our liver in the digestion process. When we eat a meal (but especially a very high carb meal) our liver blows up/expands. The liver has 2 choices, the first is to send the carbs/glucose on to the muscles to be used for energy (exercise). If after so long that doesn't happen, your liver can't hold all the carbs/glucose any more and it will turn them into fat so that the liver can go back down to normal.

He then went on to say that when we stop eating so many carbs, there's not a lot of glucose to use for energy, so the liver will PULL from our fat reserves, change it from fat back to glucose, and send it to the muscles to be used for energy. He said if we add exercise to that equation, it'll work even faster (he's only asked for 10 min a day of exercise from us!). I haven't added the exercise like I should have, and I've already lost weight. I'm not big on math problems, but I understand this one and knowing that if I don't do one part of the equation correctly, I won't come to the right answer really clicked with me.

I may not have explained that fully, or in enough detail, but the way he explained it FINALLY made sense to me why carbs were a no-no. There was a reason for it besides "your body can't handle them, you're not allowed"...ya know? I've done better this time staying low-low-low carb than ever before because I'm SO desperate to make sure I don't do anything to mess up my surgery (fear of him not putting the band in cuz he can't get to my stomache cuz my liver is so fatty).

I know the pre-op diet is supposed to take care of that, and I'm sure it would be sufficient, but I'm a paranoid type and I've been working on it since January. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. And I think i'll be better off post-op because of it (already having those practices in motion..ya know?).

Anyway, I wish you all the luck in the world, I'm sure you'll be fine if you stick to your pre-op diet :clap2: