Reassurance Needed From Poeple With BMI of 63 or Higher....

Hello everyone, Congratulations one everyone's success here and desire to be successful!!! I had my surgery June 27th of this year and soon my hubby will be too. He has a second part of his sleep study on August 29th and his psych eval this Thursday. We are at complete different ends of the BMI scale. I am a "lightweight" and started with a BMI of 42, he has a BMI of 63. I have been learning all I can about this surgery for four years for my husband, never imagining I would qualify. In that four years three of my friends had surgery and my husbands sister did also so we somewhat experienced it in person so to say. My husband went for his first consultation January of 2005 at the weight of 480lbs and at that time that doctor told him to lose 100 lbs and come back! You can imagine how frustrated he was. If he could lose 100lbs then I'd say he wouldn't be in the doctors office! So he just decided that was it no surgery for him. A month later, that same year he took sick and had a massive staph infection that caused endocarditis which went to his aortic heart valve and destroyed it. He now has a St. Jude's valve and takes blood thinners and blood pressure meds and has to for the rest of his life. Blood thinners, we thought for sure surgery was out of the question forever with that now! When he was sick he did lose 80lbs but now alittle over a year and a half later he's up to 530lbs. On a visit to our PCP our doctor asked me how I was doing on my journey. I had let her know I was just about done with my testing and was getting my date soon, she then turned to my hubby and said "what about you, you ever think of having it?" We were both taken back, we asked "even with his blood thinners and his valve?" She said absolutely! We'll just have you reduce the blood thinners and use the lovnox shots instead. I told her about the doctor who said to lost the 100lbs. (BTW he also told me to see a nutritionist for six months and come back, I ended up using another doctor). She shook her head and said for hubby to see another doctor, the same doctor who did her brothers surgery and also did mine. Well hubbys very close now to having everything done like I said but I have to admit I'm a bit scared. I think its because I came so close to losing him once already. I'm a bit scared because his upper body is so thick and I'm afraid they might have trouble. He's 6'5 and all of his weight sits between his hips and his shoulders in the frontal area.Some in his back but he's 70% belly, 20% chest, and 10% back. He's go no flab on his arms and his legs are twigs. He sorta resembles a meatball with tooth picks sticking out. I'm just afraid with all his weight concentrated in this section there's going to be allot of tugging and pulling and I wonder what that effect is going to have on his condition. The heart itself is in great shape but his valve issue makes me worried. He's with out a doubt a fighter, after open heart surgery and 32 staples in his chest he was back to work in six weeks to the day. His work, he jumps in and out of trucks all day loading landscaping supplies by hand. He was throwing around bags of cement and cement slabs his first week back!!! In the back of his mind I believe he wanted to prove to himself he was ok and still the person he was before, and I think that's how his weight sky rocketed too. He was eating great after his surgery, who wouldn't after such a life changing event but then he began eating the old things the wrong way and now he's suffering..... My surgery went off without a hitch and I love my doctor to pieces. He had me cracking up all the way into the O.R. and later in recovery. For me, I was not afraid one bit. I've had two abdominal surgeries before one open, one lap so I knew what to expect from both out comes. The day of surgery for me, I was feeing like a kid on Christmas eve waiting for Santa to come. Here's my request.. I really need to hear from people with BMI's close to or above my hubbys to hear how things went for you. My mind is getting the best of me and its making me so scared. On one hand I'm just as excited for him as I was for myself, but on the other hand I'm deathly afraid of complications. He's 34 and extremely active for a person of his size. When we met he weighed 375lbs. and that was 15 years ago. I can't imagine my life with out him... I just need some reassurance.... Thank You All.. Hugs ~Na-Dene~

Hi Nadine!!!! Welcome to the best place on the web!!!! Congrats on your loss!!!! I am a pre-op but I do have a BMI of 78 and I carry my weight like a man. All belly LOL I found a surgeon who does LAP on high BMI's and he assured me it is a lot harder work for him and it's harder on the patient BUT it is absolutely DO-ABLE... I also have no fear.. but I am also blessed not to have your hubby's heart trouble. I would think if the WLS and a cardio say he is a go then don't worry about it. He's young and strong and determined from the sounds of it. It sounds like you have a capable, trustworthy surgeon on your side. Good Luck!!!!

I wanted to respond and tell you that when I had my surgery, My BMI was 70.6. I had to have the surgery open. I think I did well. I had some things happen. I was given too much medication at the hospital the day after surgery and they had to give me narcan and changed my pain med. I was not able to lie in bed for about 3 weeks, that was annoying and frustrating. From the day of surgery everything improved for me. I did not have any complications to speak of. I had a little infection a few weeks after surgery on my incision, I was able to use antibiotic lotion to make sure it did not get bad. I can understand your concern about your husband, but if I can have this surgery and do well, then he can too. I know he has some medical issues and that makes it more scary, but the doctors know his condition and I think if they thought it was too much of a risk, then they would not do it. Trust his surgeon and know that he will be fine. If you have any other specific questions, I would be happy to answer them. Best wishes Erin

Hi, I believe my BMI was 89, I was only 5'3 my doctor told me I was one of the highest BMI he had done...because of my height. I was not on blood thinners at the time. However, I have just stopped taking coumadin after 18 months, and am still on plavix...so I understand your concern as I am looking to have future surgeries, and had a device placed in my heart to close a tiny hole in January, which they believed was allowing clots to travel to my brain causing mini-strokes...I say all this because I am still willing to take the risk for a revision in order to lose more weight since my weight puts me at a greater risk for another stroke. My BMI is only 51 now, but with everything else, I am considered a high risk patient. Best wishes to you and your husband...have him visit here also if he'd like! Sarah

Hey Na Dene, Glad to see you on our board! I totally understand where you are coming from about worrying. It is a major operation and serious one at that. I am five four and was 397 pounds. And my bmi was 67. My doctor done my RNY lap. And I was so glad. I was fortunate to be this large for twenty years or more and not have alot of health issues. I take paxil for panic attacks. But my parents both were deceased by the time I was fifteen from heart attacks. So when my doctor started to put me on high blood pressure meds. I said oh no. Aint going down that road my moma was on. She was a very heavy set woman all her life. I had no complications and hit the pain button one time while there in the hospital. Came home after one day and even slept in my own bed. But I see your concern. Just make sure you have a very good doctor and do your homework which im sure you have done and things will be fine. Its normal to worry about our loved ones.... Hugs Marge

greetings na-dene wonderful to meet you. just wanted to share my stats with you like the others have done. i'm 49 yrs old, 5'10" and weighed 463 the day i had surgery, making my bmi 66 at that time. 18 months later, i'm down to weighing 200. i had my rny open and the only problem i experienced was a portion of my incision pulled apart. it took several weeks to heal, but it did and all is fine with it now. i wish all the best to you and your husband. please keep us informed as to how he does. deb

Nadene, I had a BMI of 64 when I went for my surgery consult. I was 6'1'' and 490 lbs. I lost 20 lbs before surgery. Getting WLS was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I am so grateful to God for leading me to my surgeon, and for leading me to the DS. It's 6 months later and I'm almost down to 300 lbs. I've lost 164 since surgery!!!! I've lost a small man..lol. I feel much better then i did, and i'm able to move around a lot beter then i was able to prior to surgery. The summer before my surgery, I went to VA. with my family. It was miserable for them and for me. I couldn't keep up, i could barely walk, i sweated like a pig, we went to a water park and I couldn't do anything except go in the wave pool, because i was afraid i'd get "stuck" in the slides. Have your husband email me if you want, and if not, just let him know that life after surgery is great. BTW what kind of surgery is he having? Scott

My Doctor never asked me to lose a pound before surgery. They did encourage me to walk and move more, just to help my body get ready, but they never made me lose weight. My BMI was about 74 pre-op. They were also able to do mine lap. Good luck with his surgery. It will be the best thing he ever did. I felt the same way you did on my surgery day. I was actually EXCITED for this.

I had a BMI of 69 before surgery. I am 8 months post op today and down 110 pounds. I have been fortunate to have had zero problems medically post op. However, for me, slow weight loss post op was a huge drain on me mentally and emotionally. Sending big hugs your way. Huggs, Ruth