Liver Not Shrunk Enough?

I just read on another forum about a person who followed their 2 week liquid diet, lost almost 30 pounds during the 2 weeks but once the surgeon started the sleeve surgery, he found the liver had not shrunk enough so the surgery was cancelled and now the person has to do another 2 weeks of the liquid diet.      

I have just started the 2nd week of my liquid diet and I had not even considered this to be a possibility -  that even though a person follows the preop diet, the liver could perhaps not shrink enough?   

Has this happened to any of you?

Nope, but I stuck to my pre-op diet strictly.  My surgeon said I had a pretty liver. 

Hi Nadia,

    It may depend on your surgeon, I actually gained weight to get my insurance approval for my surgery and shortly after my approval my surgery was scheduled.  I was only required to do one day of a liquid diet.  During surgery, my surgeon had to cut my liver to get to everything. (I was also having my gall bladder removed)  It may be worth asking your surgeon what happens if my liver doesn't shrink enough?  I think every case and every surgeon is different about the liver thing.

I agree that asking the surgeon would be a good idea-- the person who will actually be doing the cutting would be the expert!

Some surgeons don't even do a liver-shrinking diet at all (mine didn't), so it would help to get his/her word :)

I think this strictly is dependent on the surgeon. I had the same concerns during the preoperative phase, which for me and my insurance was 6 months. I repeatedly asked every member of the medical staff what my chances would be of the surgeon having to divert from laparoscopy due to an enlarged liver and everyone reassured me that with my surgeons stats and the equipment used at that particular hospital that I would be fine. I was still wry and had convinced myself I would be cut open, especially once I found out that he required no preop diet. So with the only restrictions being liquid after noon the day before, and nothing after midnight, I forged on. And guess what? Everything went smooth. All that worry was for nothing! Just follow your surgeons direction, as they know what's best and try to calm yourself. It's a ride for sure, but I think our own anxieties are the bumpiest part!

Hmmm... that is odd in my humble opinion. I say that because some surgeons don't even require a liquid diet or anything prior to surgury. Not that it will hurt her to do another 2 weeks, but that must have been terrible to wake up to. 

I know what you mean...  This particular doctor I have, it seems 2 weeks of Diabetic Boost + 2 cup veggies (certain types) seems to be rule but I have read several posts of people not having to do that long but I always figured those folks must not be as big as me

Hi,  I haven't heard of any cases where the surgery was cancelled due to the liver not shrinking enough.  I don't think it is likely to happen to you.

I did a 3 month pre-surgery diet and lost 50 pounds before surgery.  I thought my liver would be in good shape by then, but the surgeon commented after the surgery that my liver was still very fatty.  I can't imagine how bad it must have been before the pre-surgery diet!  I'm just glad I had the surgery when I did.  My fatty liver was probably a serious health risk!

Best of luck with your weight loss journey!

Carol

I had to do the liquid diet for 4 weeks prior to surgery but they didn't tell me it was because I hadn't lost enough weight. They just kept changing how long I was supposed to be on it. B4 I was scheduled it was 2 weeks, then it changed to 3, then when I was finally scheduled it was 4. A long time to be sure, especially since after surgery I'd be on liquids again. I couldn't wait to use my teeth again! I think they mentioned that they recently changed the requirements for everyone  due to what the other patients went thru.

I think they were being overly cautious, which was a good thing. I hadn't lost much, if anything, on my Dr supervised diet., which was 4 months.

I only know one person whose surgery was changed (it wasn't cancelled; it was just converted to open surgery instead of laparoscopic) because of the size of the liver. This person was almost 400 pounds and the liver was very enlarged.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that some people may have livers that are much fattier and/or enlarged than others. If someone started out with an extremely large liver, it is definitely understandable that just 2 weeks wasn't enough time.

The second thing is that some surgeons don't believe that two weeks is enough to significantly change the size of a liver of someone who is MO or SMO.  My surgeon was one of those. She  also wanted patients to be as healthy as possible for surgery and therefore didn't require a liquid pre-op diet that would stress the body right before surgery.

Just stick to the diet you have been given and be assured that it does NOT happen on any kind of a regular basis.

Lora