Hello,

I was scheduled for my Gastric Bypass on August 13th. Everything was on track and I made it into the OR for the surgery to begin. Next thing I know I'm in the recovery room and my surgeon tells me they could not proceed because of the condition of my liver. Apparently my fatty liver disease turned into Cirrhosis and my surgeon felt he could not proceed. He said that he would have proceeded with a gastric sleeve instead but we had not discussed that so he of course could not proceed.

They did a biopsy on my liver and determined it was early stage cirrhosis and no cancer thank goodness. My hepatologist suggested a I get a second opinion on weather the bypass is still a viable option for me.

I have a follow up with my current surgeon in two weeks and I am in the process of setting up an appointment at John Hopkins in Baltimore to get their take on things. I am still hopeful that we can move forward but what a roller coaster! 6 months of hard work prep, navigating through all the pre-op testing and getting all my post-op diet stuff organized to hit a wall on the OR table!

Anyone out there with similar liver complications?

Ugh! So frustrating! So sorry that happened! Your doctor was just looking out for you but I cant even imagine the disappointment. Glad you have a hepatologist. Definitely a good place to start. I think 2nd opinion from another surgeon might be a good idea. And I don't want to derail you but I just wanted to pass on what little I know on the subject...

My aunt had fatty liver / Cirrhosis and she proceeded with bypass (back in 2010). Her doctors advised her liver was pretty far gone at this point, so they did the bypass as a last ditch effort to get the weight off. (This is really before sleeve was widely practiced.) She was a diabetic and while she did lose weight, she didn't really follow any of the food instructions and she stayed sick. Knowing what I know now, I think she was dumping constantly. I am very sorry to say that she passed away 3 1/2 years after surgery, but I really don't think the bypass had that much to do with it. It was more that she didn't change her lifestyle so her diabetes got worse which upped her insulin and therefore made her liver worse, etc.

Fast forward to this year and my mom has been very worried she would have liver issues (also diabetic) and she has asked several drs but they never did anything. Finally got a new dr and they did an ultrasound and sent her to a hepatologist who told her she had Cirrhosis. She was telling dr about her sister (my aunt) and the dr said that they used to think bypass would have a positive result on cirrhosis but now they have found that it can actually make it worse and strongly advising her not to pursue weight loss surgery.

Seriously not trying to discourage you at all. Just wanted to advise what I knew since it was recent. I think seeing someone at Johns Hopkins who seems to be at the top of their game for research is a great idea. Plus if your hepatologist didn't seem that concerned about it, then maybe my mom's dr was just more conservative. Hopefully you can do some more research and others from here with similar will give some advice. Keep us updated!