What happens at the subsequent appointments?

Your surgeon will check that all necessary information and reports are available and have been evaluated. He will discuss the results and reports of various investigations with you. He will discuss with you if your require any intervention / treatment before surgery to improve your health. He will then discuss the various options available to treat your obesity. If you are willing to undergo surgery then he will agree with you a date for the procedure.

Appointment with a dietician:

This will be arranged with a specialist bariatric dietician, if and when appropriate.

Pre-operative liver shrinkage diet

• Many people needing obesity surgery have a large fatty liver, which can cause difficultly for the laparoscopic surgery
• Therefore, before your operation, it is important to follow a special pre-op diet to help prepare your body for the surgery
• This diet is low in dietary carbohydrate and fat
• This diet will encourage your body to use up glycogen stores (carbohydrate that is stored in the liver), thus helping to shrink the size of your liver
• This diet should be strictly followed for at least 2 weeks prior to surgery. It is essential to follow this diet; otherwise the liver could bleed heavily during surgery or there could be injury to organs. If this happens, the surgeon may have to do open surgery, instead of a laparoscopic procedure or even postpone surgery
• You should use this period of time as a great opportunity to kick-start your weight loss and also to help get into the habit of eating a healthy diet
• If you continue to eat this way after the surgery you will manage to successfully reach your weight loss targets
• Also the more weight you lose before the surgery the better, as it helps to reduce the risk related to surgery