Has anyone had surgery cancelled because they didn't lose enough weight pre-op?

I had my band removed earlier this year and my surgeon required that I wait 6 months before getting VGS. My doctor also required me to lose 5 pounds before this surgery, but I've only lost 3 pounds and am terrified that my surgery will be cancelled tomorrow. I know they want you to do this because of fatty liver, but I am very frustrated because I gained 25 pounds over these 6 months after having my band removed and now weight 225, so I just feel that waiting this long was counter productive. Five pounds seems insignificant since I have about 100 pounds to lose.

Hello,

I have not had that problem, however I do know people who have been cancelled the day of surgery for not keeping the weight off.

If you are supposed to take medicine to make you go bathroom before surgery, that helped me lose 4 lbs before surgery the next day.

Good Luck

My surgery isn't until 10/22, but my weigh-in is 10/17, so I hope to lose the last 2 pounds by Monday.

I don't know if I have to take any meds before surgery, but will find out tomorrow.

Thanks.

How long did you have to lose the 5 pounds? Most of the time if a surgeon wants you to shrink your liver they will put you on a liquid diet. There is a chance they wanted you to lose the 5 pounds to see if you can do the work required to lose weight after the surgery. You will only know when you see them tomorrow, every surgeon/program is different. Good luck.

This is the general practice of this particular surgeon. All her patients have to lose 5 pounds no matter how overweight you are, which doesn't make any sense to me. I am sure it is not because they want to know if I can lose the weight because I've done it before with the gastric band.

Try a sal****er cleanse. It's not the most pleasant thing in the world however I lost 4 pounds in one day. Not to mention it's actually good for your colon especially before going in for surgery. I've been doing it twice a year for the past 6 years. (Jan. & July) I feel great afterwards. Google it and educate yourself on it. Btw, if you do it, make sure it's on a day that you have nothing to do and you are at home all day. Guaranteed you'll be in the bathroom for hours. For me typically no more than 4 to 5 hours. Good luck!

"There's little doubt that, in most cases, a sal****er flush is effective in the short-term at cleansing the colon by causing bowel movements. Still, there's no scientific evidence that a sal****er flush detoxes the body or removes so-called waste buildup and parasites from your digestive tract."

https://www.healthline.com/health/sal****er-flush

Bottom line: this may make you lose weight because you take a giant poop. But it's not a health miracle and (generally) your colon doesn't need any extra help.

It works really well for me.

Just a suggestion based off my own experience.

I just saw a post from someone who had scheduled surgery and actually been anesthetized (sp?) taken to the OR and had the main incision made. But her surgeon found her liver still too big to operate safely and closed her right back up. She was told to lose 25 pounds and re-schedule. Her surgery is coming up soon, but her original attempt was back in 2010 and she has gone eight years since that original try.

So yes, surgery can and is cancelled due to lack of pre-op weight loss. And it can be cancelled right up until the time they actually open you up and have their first look at your insides. Best bet is to lose exactly what they ask you to lose or more. Second best bet is to keep them posted on a daily basis if necessary as to the status of your weight loss if you're struggling.

I understand your frustration, I really do. But you're likely beating your head against the wall. Surgeons have the last word. Their first priority isn't to complete an elective surgery. It's to keep you alive.

I was glad my surgeon did not require me to lose a particular amount of weight. Especially because I even though I lost 5kg (11 pounds) and followed the post-op diet to the letter, I gained 3 kg back before surgery (probably water weight). So if there had been a weight loss requirement, I probably would have failed. That would have been pretty unfair, and counter-productive. As it turned out, I lost 15 kg in the first month after surgery, which was significantly more than my surgeon expected. I'm sure at least some of that loss was due to my pre-surgery diet.

In addition to making surgery safer, however, there is another good reason to try to lose weight prior to surgery. It gives you an opportunity to identify your personal triggers for bad eating habits, and develop a plan for how you're going to deal with them post-op.

For example, I discovered that the main reason I made poor food choices was that I was tired after work and didn't want to cook. I knew that surgery wasn't going to make me love cooking or meal prepping, so I needed a plan. Unfortunately, I live in a rural area and there weren't many good options for pre-prepared food at my local market. So before surgery, I went looking for better grocery stores that weren't too far away. I found a lot of healthy options in both fresh and frozen pre-prepared dishes. Instead of meal prepping, I simply buy a week's worth of prepared food. That might sound expensive, but because I eat so much less with my new sleeve, that my food costs now are about the same as they were before surgery.

I also developed a plan for how I would deal with stress. I bought myself a lovely assortment of herbal teas to relax with. I also find cuddling with my cats is a great way to de-stress.