I haven't been to the seminar yet I go tonight, for those of you who didn't read my last post. I have been reading about having to thin out our liver...how the heck do we do that?

When you are overweight you have excess fat around your organs. When you diet, the first place the fat goes away is from around your liver. Most people but not all are put on a liquid protein diet for a week or two prior to surgery. That is the most effective way to shrink your liver quickly. Your liver is in front of your stomach and has to be moved in order to get the band in place, a fatty liver can be damaged or even make surgery impossible. I have heard of people that were opened up then closed with no band due to having a fatty liver.

Your liver shrinks when you are on the pre-op liquid diet. I know someone who was cancelled on the day of surgery because they did not follow the guidelines for the pre-op diet. Ask your doc what his protocol is before surgery and follow those rules.

Much to my great shame, I only "kind of" followed my doc's preop diet. I did lose 15 pounds in the 3 weeks but didn't shrink my liver enough and he did not place the band. So 8/11 was a sad day for me! I am rescheduled for 8/29 and believe me am doing EXACTLY what he says to shrink it; plus I'm exercising to help that along. I felt miserable when I woke up and it wasn't done, but lesson learned for me; I'll do what he says instead of what I think. I mean, I am paying the man for his skills, experience and expertise!

So just do what your surgeon says and you should be fine!

Is there any test for fatty liver ahead of time. My surgeon said that I did not need a preop diet because my BMI was not high enough. It is 43 and I have seen people with lower ones than that need the preop diet. I have lost weight since I decided to do this about 20lbs, and will continue to try to loose till my date in October. I hope this is enough. I would be devastated to be opened up and sent home with out the band.