Finding A Surgeon

Good Evening Fellow Smorers Here, I sit wondering about the surgeon that I picked to perform my WLS. Yes, I know that he's a good surgeon, but as I looked @ the other people pages, he has performed surgery on, I notice that they all have lower BMI's than myself, and that is BEFORE the surgery. And although, I was told to lose 20 pounds, and I am afraid to say that I know, I gained (stress, emotional eating..blah blah) However when I met with the surgeon, he didn't say that he wouldn't perform the surgery on someone of my size. The only thing, he said was that I needed to lose some weight. So, I do believe that is the main reason that I have been so slow in getting my appointments because, I feel like a disappointment myself. However, the question that I have is how did your surgeon relate to your high BMI ? And did you have to search until, you found a surgon willing to perfom the surgery on you? My BMI is over 70 and it upsets me greatly.......anyway....I would like to hear what anyone has to say on the subject! *smoochies* ~NEVER SURRENDER~ ~T~

I think the major worry with SMO'ers like us is that we have a higher risk of dying on the table the higher our BMI is, if the doc is asking that you lose some weight I'd do whatever it takes to get the weight that he wants you at to operate, most likely you'll have trouble finding any doc willing to operate unless you are willing to lose the weight to get at the BMI that they are comfortable with. Sorry if that isn't helpful!

Dear Faith, I think most of the surgeons want you to lose weight before surgery with a high BMI. Mine told me 45 lbs. I lost 18 1\2 lbs. It also helps shrink your liver and makes surgery easier for the surgeon. Good luck, deb

Yeah my surgeon wanted me to lose weight and to go on a low fat diet. I did neither and was till able to have my surgery, but I definately don't recommend doing that.

T YOU HAVE A PIC BEAUTIFUL HON THE GIRLS R RIGHT MY SURGEON DOESN'T MAKE U LOSE WEIGHT HE JUST MAKES YOU START THE HIGH PROTEIN LOW FAT LOW CARB THING AND START AN EXERCISE PLAN THIS IS TO SHRINK THE FAT AROUND YOUR LIVER AND GET U IN THE BEST POSSIBLE SHAPE POSSIBLE B4 SURGERY IT ALSO SHOWS THEM THAT U R COMMITTED GOOD LUCK LOVE CANDY

T, First off.. you have a face!! A beautiful face too!! So nice to see you!! Okay.. I would suggest talking with your surgeon and his staff about your concern. They may have done WLS surgery on people with the same BMI as you.. You never know until you ask.. Voice your concerns, they may be able to put your fear as ease.. Not everyone who has WLS comes to this site.. So you cant judge a surgeon on that.. I have a couple great WLS buddies *****fuse to have anything to do with this site.. I met them through my surgeons support group.. If your surgeon isnt comfortable with doing WLS on someone with a BMI over "XX", then they should be direct with you about it. My surgeon asked that you diet and try to drop some weight, but it wasnt required. He looks at things differently then most. We did have to shrink our liver before surgery with a high protein, low carb diet.. Good luck! Make sure you keep us updated on things!! Amber

I asked my surgeon if he thought I was fat enough to have weight loss surgery. At that time I weighed 398 lbs. He looked at me and told me I was the perfect candidate for surgery. John

I wondered if my surgeon had experience operating on people my size (or close to it). So I asked her. You need to ask your doctor. If he's never operated on anyone your size, you might want to find someone else. I know it will add to the wait, but better safe than sorry.