I have been jumping through hoops (ok, waddling) to get everything ready just to get an appt with the Bariatric Surgeon and finally was able to have my primary Dr fax my Ht. Wt and BMI over to the surgical center......where they told me that my BMI was almost 21 points over what they accept.  This is the 2nd one in a row.  I asked her what I needed to do and she said, real smart, "Looks like you need to lose weight!"  Well DUH!  Why else would I be trying to get an appt with a Bariatric Surgeon?  I am so frustrated.  I am almost 48 years old and I have a little girl who is almost 8....I have an awesome husband and almost 6 grandbabies...I WANT to lose weight, but every single diet I go on, once I am off of it again I gain all the weight back + another 30-50 lbs for my troubles.  I have a BMI of 75.7 and am desperate.  I know that I am too sedentary, but I am so big that it hurts everything on me to even walk...not to mention that my heart pounds like it is going to come out of my chest and I feel like I am going to pass out due to shortness of breath.  Does anyone know of a good. reputable surgeon who does surgery on people with high BMI's?  Or how can I lose a lot of weight pretty quick so that I can qualify for the surgery?  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

It angers me that you have been treated so badly by office persons IN a WLS office! I hope you will hand write a note to the doctor and tell him HOW she was curt and rude to you. It's NOT acceptable, and I'd bet he has NOT told his staff to be like that to anyone.
IF you address the envelope to him and on the front put
"personal and confidential" they usually don't open those...unless his wife is the Office Manager.
If I were you, I'd search Obesity surgeons and superobese. It should bring up all the surgeons who do WLS on people with higher BMI's.
If I can help you in any way, find me.

Jumping in here because I so agree with mooksmom.  I cannot BELIEVE someone in a bariatric office would say such a thing.  Actually, I do believe it, I just don't want to.      =(

Please, please take the time to hand write a letter (keep a copy) to the doc, and do mark it confidential.  I would actually attempt to call the doc as well and/or talk to him in person.  Hell, I'm ready to come talk to him in person MYSELF, and slap the b*tch who talked to you that way.  Just give me directions to that office, (lolj/k.  kinda.)

Hang in there.  I have a friend who got the sleeve first and lost enough to then have the second part of the DS.  She also ended up not needing to have a second surgery, she was able to lose enough with just the sleeve.  So there is hope.  Do you have a Bariatric Surgery Center for Excellence nearby?  They should be able to help you (hopefully that is not who you contacted) or  really, any doc who does the sleeve would prob work with you.

Good luck.  Stay determined and don't let brainless dipsh*ts get you down.  There is a surgeon out there for you - you just have to do a little extra legwork to find them.  Please keep us  posted.

 That is a really good idea....I had not thought of the "personal and confidential" thing.....I am still not past the hurt feelings part good enough to be in the "mad and the devil and not going to put with it anymore" stage.....but when I DO get there.........lol

 Oh, I almost forgot......this WAS a Center Of Excellence.........

I remember when I was required to take the pre op classes they mentioned that they sometimes preform the sleeve procedure on paitents because it is less invasive to get them down to a safe weight so that they can then do the RNY. Just a thought but not sure how to go about it.

Hi there , I just had RNY gastric Bypass Jan 18 2011 . I started the weight loss program 6 months prior to that due to my insurance requirements.My highest BMI was 73 and I was miserable .My surgeon wanted me to get down as close as I could to a BMI of around 60. And in those 6 months before surgery I did just that with the help of his staff.I went on a pill called Phentemine . It worked wonders ,and also I started drinking protein drinks. I lost 90 lbs before he even did the surgery.Now being 3 months post op i am down 155lbs . It has not been an easy read for me post op  but things are getting better.WHere are you located?Im in Chicago but my surgeon is right over the border in Indiana.He is an amazing Dr. Any other questions please feel free to message me ;)

 I am in West  Georgia...about 30 miles from AtlantaI don't even know which one would be best for me.....I was thinking lap-band because it is the one that has the lowest risks, but then I kinda hear a lot about it not having a real high success rate, either.......I don't know......they wouldn't even give me an appt to meet with the surgeon and discuss what I need to do until I get my BMI to 55......

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT  A LAPBAND...NOT AT YOUR BMI.  It isn't that it "doesn't have a real high success rate," it is that, for BMIs over 46, it's an almost guaranteed failure.  I'll put in a link for you to read later.

And you might need to meet Jessie...a wonderful young woman who, I think, started where you are.



Okay, you have a wls that is not prepared to deal with Super MO patients...so let's talk about how to get around that.  And you might want to do your OWN homework on what surgery you want, since many insurance companies are limiting people to once in a lifetime.

What kind of poilicy do you have?  What does it say about wls?  can you copy it online and past e it here so that the lawyers and doctors and such in the house can tell you how to get what you need?

Whatever you do ...nothing yet and NEVER--at your size--the band.


Oh...here's the article:

Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2009 May-Jun;5(3):310-6. Epub 2008 Oct 7.

Failure of adjustable gastric banding: starting BMI of 46 kg/m2 is a fulcrum of success and failure.

Snyder B, Scarborough T, Yu S, Wilson E.

Department of Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To determine the body mass index (BMI) located at the fulcrum of success and failure in a prospective study conducted at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. On average, our patients whose percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) was >50% at 1 year had a significantly lower BMI than those with <30% EWL.

METHODS: We prospectively collected the weight loss data for 430 patients who had had an adjustable gastric band placed. We stratified the %EWL within 1 year for patients with a BMI of 30-59 kg/m2. A line was generated for the %EWL over time for BMI groups of 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 kg/m(2) and compared with the average %EWL over time. The y-intercepts of the resulting four lines were graphed against the average BMI for each group.

RESULTS: The generated y-intercept line had an R2 of .9237. Using the equation of this line and the known y-intercept for the average, we solved for x, resulting in a BMI of 46 kg/m2. Patients with a BMI <46 kg/m2 had a 50% EWL at 1 year, and those with a BMI >46 kg/m2 had only a 33% EWL at 1 year. The %EWL between the groups was significantly different at all measured intervals (P <.0001).

CONCLUSION: A BMI of 46 kg/m2 identifies those at high risk of failure to lose a significant percentage of excess weight after adjustable gastric banding and *****quire closer follow-up. Furthermore, patients who have a BMI >46 kg/m2 should be advised that their weight loss might be suboptimal at 1 year.

 Thanks........that does kinda put a different cast on the lap-band and my BMI.....and who is Jessie?  I would love to meet/speak to someone who started out where I am........