[counselor23]

Doc- How come I have to lose weight before I have the surgery?? The main point of me having the surgery is because none of the other diet or exercise programs that I have tried have worked. I just want to start feeling better and hearing that I have 6 months of prep is really frustrating!

[DocSanae]

Welcome to the board, thank you for joining us.
I hope you'll find lots of good info and support here.
As for your Q, lots of people wonder, so I'm linking you to a previous thread where the same Q was asked.
Oxymoronic Question

(((((((HUGS))))))) May your journey go well.

[fr1endly2]

HI just wanted to tell you the reasons my surgeon had me loose weight pre op. HE required 10 percent.

1. Reduces the fatty liver size so that LAP sugery becomes safer.

2. Reduces complications (my surgeon feels its a proven fact it reduces complication rates bases on his patient statistics)

I think its better that my surgeon required this of me. I know personally i would have been in the last supper syndrome and proly easily could have put on another 20 lbs in the surgicial clearance stages. THIS was 25 less
pounds for me to loose post op and got me off to a great weight loss start also!!!!
I know many during this phase told me to get another surgeon that didnt require this. PEOPLE would tell me time and time that if i was able to loose weight and stick to a program i wouldnt need the surgery but for me this wasnt true. IT got me into a fat burning mode pre op. I dont regreat having to do this even if there were times preop i struggled to get this weight off but i did it!!!!
YOU can too!
hugs!

[rozzy345]

I think surgeons are all different, my doc does not require a certain amount of weight loss or dieting except for the 2 week pre-op liquid diet. Her reason for this is to shrink the liver and to reduce fatty enzymes.

[beckers3]

In my case it was not the surgeon that required the 6 month diet prior to surgery it was my insurance company! and I'm really glad hey did. It has helped me get some really tough monkey's off my back, like PEPSI and chocolate! I had 6 months to ween myself off. The 2 week liquid diet right before surgery was a killer though! That my surgeon required.

[Robbin]

The first surgeon I went to see requird at least 15 to 20 pounds off in the 6 month period before surgery, and I went up and down through the holidays and easter....ohhhh. I ended up gaining 3 pounds after all was said and done. The ussual for me.
He would not do my surgery, he told me he did not trust me., OUCH.
I understand the reason as Lisa described and knew that it was for my best health interests. I was devistated and I found another surgeon who thought the exact oppisite and did my surgery 3 weeks later. I could not wait any longer. He was very strict as well but in diferent ways.
Looking back on things I would have done some things diferently but I can't and now need to work a little bit harder to keep losing. It is a wonderful feeling though when you can do things you could not do this time last year. I cannot get enough done, especially outside when I can out there.
I wish I had lost some weight before my surgery but I didn't. It would have been so much better for me.

Good luck, robbin

[Jerry]

Hi...I guess Im in the same boat as you are...except my family doctor wants me to lose wieght before I see my sergeon in June. He says because I have other problems like High BP , diabetes and very high colesteral and who knows what else is wrong with me , that I need to be in the best condition I can , just to make it through the operation.
Also Doc maybe you can confirm this for me...I read on the internet that on a scale to 1 to 10 that a heart bypass was rated at a 10. 10 meaning the most severe, and a gastric bypass was rated at an 8. I was just wondering if that seemed accurate to you?

[DocSanae]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Also Doc maybe you can confirm this for me...I read on the internet that on a scale to 1 to 10 that a heart bypass was rated at a 10. 10 meaning the most severe, and a gastric bypass was rated at an 8. I was just wondering if that seemed accurate to you?

Hm, that's the first time I heard the risks related that way, but yes, that is reasonable.
Consider, if you need a heart bypass, obviously, your heart would be in poor condition, especially if you'd already experienced a myocardial infarction.
Gastric bypass means you are severely overweight, which in itself constitutes a risk, and along with it, many people needing weightloss surgery have comorbidities--conditions like hypertension, diabetes mellitus(be it type 1 or type 2), dislipidemia(high cholesterol and/or high triglycerides and other lipids), respiratory problems ( e.g. sleep apnea and asthma), liver dysfunction as defined by fatty liver that are made worse by the excess weight. They all are individual risk factors in themselves for surgery and anesthesia, even for those who don't carry excess weight. Obviously, the more risk factors you have, the risk with surgery multiplies. So, even if all the drs realize the benefit of the surgery, and also realize that you can't get down to healthy weight by yourself, they are going to want you to be in as good a condition as possible by asking you to control your weight in one way or another prior to surgery.