Mandatory to loose weight prior to surgery?

[Northern Mist 2]

Is the pre-op diet mainly to shrink your fatty liver or did the surgeon require you loose a certain amount of weight prior to surgery? or both?

If it's to loose weight - how much did your doctor require?

Thanks

[thebandedgirl 0]

Most (but not all) surgeons require a diet for 1-3 weeks before surgery to shrink the patent's liver. I was on a modified low-glycemic diet for three weeks before my surgery. Some people have to lose a certain number of pounds (I've heard anywhere from 10-30 pounds), some people have to go on Protein Shake diets.... It all depends upon your surgeon.

[meikobobo 0]

Is the pre-op diet mainly to shrink your fatty liver or did the surgeon require you loose a certain amount of weight prior to surgery? or both?

If it's to loose weight - how much did your doctor require?

Thanks

Can only tell you what my doctor said and that was the pre op diet was for the fatty liver problem. He didnt want to have to reschedual the op because he opened people up and found out that he wasnt able to go ahead because of the liver. He did warn me that in some cases even people who had followed the liquid diet scruplously still had to be rescedualed because of liver problems. Friend of mine who went to another doctor was told that she had to lose 20 kilos before he would consider operating as it was just too dangerous at the weight she was at. This was very frustrating for her because as she said ....if she could lose 20 kilos she wouldnt need a band.

[TSB 1]

My doc required 10% loss of excess weight. Toward the end of my pre-op phase I found out that if you didn't hit your target right on the nose he would still submit you for approval to the ins. co. If you lost less than 5% you would be required to go on a stringent liquid diet for a couple weeks prior to surgery to shrink your liver. Because I came very close to my 10% target, I only had to do liquids for the 2 days immediately prior to surgery + bowel prep just to ensure that everything was out of my system prior to surgery. I've heard that some docs/ins co(s) require a 6 month supervised diet. The pre-op diet requirements seem vary greatl from doc to doc and ins policy to ins policy.

[alicia3138 1]

My program requires us to lose 10 lbs to shrink the liver, and puts everyone on a 2-week pre-op diet consisting of 3 replacement meal shakes/bars and a small meal of lean meat and veggies.

[btrieger 21]

My surgeon never gave me a number. He just said that at 365 lbs my liver would be huge and that I should try and lose weight prior to surgery.

At the rate I'm going and with any liquid diet that may be required, I should be down 75 lbs when I finally have my surgery.