Not true. A patient has to lose the weight the doctor tells them they must lose in order to do the surgery. They don’t have to go the extra step to hire a one on one trainer and truly make the commitment, that is a choice only they can choose for themselves. Many patients make the half hearted attempt because their family is pushing them or their friends are pushing them or they have an unrealistic goal because of a competition or they want to get married but not because they really want to change their life and be healthy. It is all a game to get the doctor to do the surgery so they can make their life easier not better.
If they want to make their life better they have to make a long term commitment. They have to choose to do the surgery in order to have a long and healthy life and not just to look better. It is a life altering decision but it will only be so if the patient chooses to make it so. If the bad habits are more important and comforting to the patient than the concept of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy life itself then the surgery will have no benefit whatsoever and it is a waste of effort, money and time.
The doctor does not set a patient up with a trainer. They will however have a therapist and a nutritionist on their team to “clear” the patient for surgery. That does not mean that the therapist nor the nutritionist is “working” with the patient. They are just evaluating the patient and advising them. More than that, the patient has to take matters into their own hands. If they are truly serious about getting healthy they have the options to seek out a real support system and make serious changes in their life. If their goal is to lose weight in order to have the surgery they will do so and then hope the surgery will do the rest. In which case they have a 50/50 chance of success. If their goal is to get healthy and therefore they will do whatever the doctor tells them to reach that goal, they will most likely have a greater chance to reach their goal.