Wanted to know if most people we able to lose in their diets that was ordered by the docs. If you don't stick to it then do u not get it or if u succeed then do u get it. Do you have to prove you can diet or do you have to prove you can't? What if you bmi gets to low?

Thanks,

Rene

Hi Rene,

Its my understanding that mostly those that are above 250 should be on a pre-op diet. I may be wrong. But not everyone's doctor orders this. This diet is to reduce the fat on the patients liver - to make it an easier recovery and safer operation. It has NOTHING to do with "proving" we can diet - besides, being banded is a way of dealing with food, not a diet!

IF your BMI gets too low by the pre-op diet, then I would suggest that WLS may not be the answer you are seeking for weightloss. THis has not been an issue in the past.

Good luck!

I did not do a pre-op diet I was 247 dont think any of the doctors a umass worcester ma do one just depends on the surgeon

My Dr. did not require me to do a pre-op diet, he only has his patients who have a BMI of 50 or over to do it, that is what I was told at the time of my surgery. I have a male friend who was just banded 3 weeks ago by the same surgeon I used and he had a pre op diet but did not stick to it very well and was still able to have his surgery.

Are you referring to the doc-supervised diet requirement by most insurance companies or the pre-op diet some surgeons prescribe to shrink the liver?

My insurance accepted my Optifast attempt from years ago as my doc-supervised diet and my surgeon didn't require a pre-op diet.

Nancy

394/275/180

My doctor is asking me to lose weight prior to surgery to make the liver smaller. I'm really having a hard time with it, though, because I'm falling for the "but this may be the last itme I can eat (fill in the blank)". I don't have a date yet, so I am hoping to be able to get my act together in time. My dr. never said that if I didn't lose he wouldn't do the surgery, though. I currently weigh 265-ish. My sister had the surgery last month, but she barely qualified and she was not told she needed to lose anything.

Colleen

Hi THank you all for your replies!! My bmi in under 40 BUT i have the comorbidities. One obesityhelp when i posted this most said it has to be medically supervised as I was asking about TOPS. SO I think my liver part is ok.

Thanks,

Rene

Hello All-

Dr. Horgan in Chicago requires all patients go on a 10-14 Clear liquids diet(and no that doesn't include gin and tonics!! My first thought!)

It helps to shrink the liver so the operation is easier and can help prevent nicking the liver? He will not perform the surgery if you gain 1 pound- this has been a challenge for me because- I weighed in many months ago (Dec) and that had to be the weight I used for pre surgery- anyway it took awhile to get approved and so by the time they scheduled me I had gained 6 lbs. since Dec!!! So I had to lost at least 7 lbs before surgery- I'll tell you what- the liquid diet did that and more- I think I've lost about 12 lbs. from the 10 day liquids-

My surgery is tommorow am at 6:30- I'll let you all know how I feel when I'm done. YAHOO CAN"T WAIT!!!!!

Hi everybody. I'm new to this board. My dr wanted me to do the Atkins diet pre-surgery. After about a week, I ended up with the worst diahrrea (?sp) and cramping I've ever had. Didn't watch my diet as much as I should have, but ended up losing 11 pounds pre-surgery. I've lost another 9 since I had the surgery.

Banded 6-2-05

I didn't do the supervised diet, although he wanted me on one. Because I was on steroids, I actually gained weight before surgery. Dr. Watkins just patted my hand and said not to worry.

As asked my doctor specifically if I had to diet before surgery and he said no (I have a BMI of 47). They wanted me to "try" to lose weight and not to gain weight but it wasn't a limiting factor.

I think it depends a lot on the surgeon and the health of the patient. I'm a very healthy fat person so that may have played a factor in this.

I have one of the lower BMIs - and my Dr. still has me on a two week preop diet. I don't have an issue with a fatty liver, but he still has me on this diet. He is not concerned about me losing too much weight either.

2 shakes/day that he gave me and some healthy regular meals, also no drinking for 7 days prior.

A lot of it depends on your surgeon. Many people aren't even given a pre-op diet. I was banded with about 6 other people, and half of them ate piles of Mexican food the night before surgery (bitches, hahaha.) Everyone else had different pre-op dieting instructions. One gal was on a liquid protein shake fast for several weeks. I was simply told to eat low-cal for one week, then fast 24 hours before. I did okay for a couple days, then binged bigtime. I was worried they'd turn me away, but the doctor just said, "don't worry, Honey, this Band is going to help you."