Presurgical weight loss

My doctor has a 10% body weight requirement.

Is this pretty typical??

I see some people only had to lose 10-15 lbs presurgery and I wonder why it varies so much.  I assume it's just one of the requirements that varies from surgeon to surgeon?

25 lbs seems like such a long ways off!!! (pitty party here). LOL!!

Yup, it's typical. My surgeon's office is 5%.

They say it's to help shrink your organs and to show your insurance your commitment.

I'd also say it's typical, I know there are programs out there that do not have a weight loss minimum, but honestly, the 2 week pre0op liquid diet did it for me!  I had to lose 10 pounds, there was no percentage.  I lost 18 just on the liquid.  Good luck!

I have to lose 5 lbs and then do the 2 week liquid...I am DEAD SCARED of the 2 week liquid!

My doctor said I didn't have to do the 2 week liquid.  I was so happy I didn't ask why!!

I have to lose 10 lbs but that's it.

Why do they make some do a liquid diet and not others??

But what happens when you can't loose weight. That's my problem. I've been on an extremely strict diet by the WMC center here for 2 months now and have actually gained weight.  And I haven't strayed from the diet in the slightest bit.

 That's exactly why you need weight loss surgery!!  If your doctor can't see that, I don't know what to tell you.  If you've been overweight for a long time and have a crappy metabolism, it can be darned near impossible to lose weight on your own.

Talk to your surgeon, keep a strict food log and show it to him and the nutritionist.  Ask them exactly what else they want you to try?

You have my support and understanding... it has to be extremely frustrating!!

Kim

 Here's my surgeon's take on it... he doesn't ask anyone to lose weight pre-op, they just do a two week liquid diet leading into surgery.  He said that they found when they set a pre-op weight loss requirement that people starved themselves to get to the magic number.  When they hit the "magic number" and got their approval and/or surgical date they would immediately start up with the whole "last supper syndrome" and eat everything they imagined they would never be able to eat again.

With the mandatory pre-op weight loss, they were seeing patients with fatty livers and having a more difficult time doing the surgery.  With the two week liquid diet, their patients are pigging out up until two weeks pre-op, then buckling down for surgery.  Ergo, much easier to operate and not convert a laparoscopic procedure to an open one.

If your insurance requires it, there's not much you can do... if it's your surgeon, try talking to him about it.  Seriously... if we could all lose the damn weight ourselves, why would we need weight loss surgery?

Kim

Exactly... I wouldn't be trying this if I was able to loose the weight on my own. I have been trying, even with a doctors help for 25 years and I STILL have yet to get below 300. Which is why my doc in Georgia finally decided that surgery was the last option and only way to go. So now, here I am... I have 3 docs and a psych backing me up on this..now all I need is for Doc Kasper and insurance to approve me.  I really appreciate everyone here with the support to.

Good luck to everyone else with their journey as well....and congrats to those who have made it.

Hutch

If I remember correctly, I was told that I needed to lose 25lbs if I was to have RNY and 15lbs if I was having the band.  This was to help shrink the liver and help to make the surgery easier for the surgeon.

Each surgeon has their own requirements for different reasons.  I wanted the RNY, so I was required to lose 25lbs.  I only lost 23lbs but I was close enough that my surgery was performed (my surgeon told me that they would cancel my surgery if I had not lost the weight and I was shaking in my shoes at not hitting the 25!?!).

The Surgeon told me after my surgery that it was a good thing I had lost what I did, as my liver was huge and it did get nicked during the surgery and he almost decided to cancel the procedure (thank goodness for my nerves that he didn't!). 

Regarding the liquid diet, I tried losing weight on my own and had difficulty losing it in time for my surgery date, so I was put on a 3 week liquid diet.  It was prescribed by the surgeon, I think it was called HMR - I got it at the Lahey pharmacy.  It was tough to do, but I did (with minor slips).

Just keep a positive "I can do it" attitude and you will do great!

Patti