See everyone talking about the pre-op diet shrinking your liver. I've never had any type of surgery before and I also haven't had my consult yet....what is the purpose of shrinking the liver and how do they know it's enlarged? I never heard that before coming to this site.

Thanks!

The stomach is situated right behind the liver. When somebody is overweight, they hold a lot of fat in the liver and it makes the liver larger. In order for the surgeon to safely access the stomach (and not nick the liver or something) it is a good idea to try and shrink it a little bit by losing some weight.... It's not the most scientific of explanations but it's what my NUT told me, LOL.

-Bubbles

The stomach is situated right behind the liver. When somebody is overweight' date=' they hold a lot of fat in the liver and it makes the liver larger. In order for the surgeon to safely access the stomach (and not nick the liver or something) it is a good idea to try and shrink it a little bit by losing some weight.... It's not the most scientific of explanations but it's what my NUT told me, LOL.

-Bubbles[/quote']

Pretty much! They need to be able to safely lift the liver out of the way, can't do that if it's heavy with fat.

I've been diagnosed with fatty liver in the past through blood tests for liver enzymes, AST and ALT I think.

Being carb-conscious before your surgery (under 100g a day) for a week will substantially shrink your liver.

The surgeon's want to prevent the liver from being nicked (cut) during the surgery so that there are no complications.

The surgeon's want to prevent the liver from being nicked (cut) during the surgery so that there are no complications.

That's good enough reason to follow instructions and stay on that pre-op diet. Missing a little solid food is nothing compared with what happens if they do have complications because of an enlarged liver.

Here read this its what I found and read for more detail http://www.dbh.nhs.uk/Library/Patient_Information_Leaflets/WPR32630%20Bariatric%20Leaflet%20Pre-op.pdf

Thanks Sassypants, that is the most excellent explanation I've seen. Good resource.

Awesome. Thanks for the help everyone!