Teens can get WLS at our local children's hospital but it's at the end of a very long process for the entire family and there is tremendous support for everyone on the journey.

An alternative is the drug Topomax which helped my son lost 120lbs in a year when he was 15. He has kept 100lbs of that off for 3 years, so that counts as a success in anyone's book. The caveat to this is that it doesn't work for everyone.

Thanks for being a good sibling.

I'd look online to see if there are surgeons that do excess skin removal using your insurance near you and also ask your bariatric surgeon for a referral

. He/ she needs to document rashes you may have rubbing and chafing and so forth . Taking dated pictures and sending them to your surgical team will help you get insurance approval faster . But honestly you should have no problem with what you've lost ( CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! )

If you're near NY City I can refer you to an amazing bariatric surgical team who are experts in getting instant insurance approval for not just bariatric surgery but excess skin removal too ... PM me if you like

That's a really tough scenario, no matter what. At 15, she doesn't have the maturity level and total comprehension to deal with it effectively. I've seen people a great deal older than 15 that couldn't handle it.

Are there other possibilities such fat camps, schools, etc available?

Weight loss surgery gives about two years of being able to lose weight and maintain the loss. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You need to be mature and responsible enough to take that opportunity and use it to change you life. At 15, that is not going to happen. There is about a 99% chance that your sister will go through the pain and depravation of surgery, lose about 100 pounds, and then gain it all back with more. The last thing a 15 year old needs is weight loss surgery.

She needs to learn how to eat properly and how to get enough exercise so that she burns off the calories that she does eat. The only way to help her is to encourage her to change her life. The whole family should learn to eat healthy foods and engage in lots of physical activity. If weight loss surgery were a permanent solution, then I would encourage it. I know the difference. I lost weight with surgery and if I don't keep up with my diet and exercise, I will quickly gain it all back.

If your sister and mother are determined to do this, they will find a doctor with who will take their money and do it. All you can do is try to be there for her when the surgery magic wears off and she is stuck in a body that has learned to be a super absorber of calories. That is the longterm effect of the surgery. Your body gets less food so learns how to use the small amount it does get to gain back the weight that it feels it was cheated out of,.

How tall is your sister, and which surgery are they looking at? 100 kg (220 lbs) is heavy but there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, especially in someone so young. Does she have other health problems that are aggravated by the excess weight? Has she tried conventional weight loss methods?

Good for you being a caring sister and looking for information. She's lucky to have you!