Anyone had surgery with a BMI of 33 or lower?

[NtvTxn 1,262]

I love this!!! I call it "preventive maintenence" - now I'll add insurance to the end of that!!!!!!!!!! Mine was $12,500. All in all, I think it's a great investment; think of all the meds, deductables and co-pays that we probably have avoided.

I had no health issues, not one. Now my low cholesterol is even lower, and my normal blood pressure is even lower!

I'd much rather spend $$ on cute clothes!!!

I started out with a BMI around 34. I don't consider it drastic at all. For some reason, I think RNY would have been drastic. I just look at it like I purchased a Portion Control insurance policy for $8750! :-)

AND I'm lovin it! food does not control me anymore.

[razn4 1]

ntvtxn,

That's a great way to look at it! I'm in the south Mississippi area. Yes I have found a surgen. He is out of Ocean Springs, Ms and practices at a Center of Excellence. I actually had another surgery set for April 13 (yesterday) with a different surgen but backed out because I didnt have a good feeling. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I've come to a point where I'm literally cutting out 3/4 of my stomach! I'm also scared of the recovery. I'm not looking forward to mopeing around the house for 2 weeks. I have kids and I want to keep everything funtioning as close to normal as I can. I've also heard a lot about people getting depressed after this, did you?

Bottom line is this.... I'm affaid that I'm going to be laying in bed one night, feeling queezy and in pain, saying ..... WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF??????? I mean, it's not like I can get my stomach back! Haaaaa!!! Last question, did you ever consider a lap band?

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Hey Razn4 - Love, love Mississippi!!! Actually we love the south.....we cannot wait to get back home. We'll be moving back to Texas as soon as our house sells!!! I'm glad you are going to a Center of Excellence, my family doctor stressed to me how important that was! I did some research, since I really had no idea what it meant, and found out that it's a big deal!!

Anyway....I DID consider lapband, but I have two friends that have had it, one friend had to have it removed within 6 weeks, she was having terrible problems with it. (it IS a foreign object in your body) and my other friend never reached goal and has since started gaining some weight back. People tend not to be as successful with the band....not to mention you have so much to do afterwards, the fills and all. This friend is thinking about getting a revision to the sleeve. Personally I LIKED the idea of having approx. 85% of my stomach removed.....doesn't that sound barbaric??!!! LoL

I do not have any food issued/addictions.....the forced Portion Control is exactly what I needed.

Recovery time for me was easy as pie. I didn't have any problems, but I am sure it because I did have a low BMI and zero health issues. I think those of us that start out healthy recover quickly! I went to Dallas for surgery and had to stay in Texas for two weeks for my one week and two week check up. The first week we were at my folk's house and the second week we rented a beach house in Galveston. What a great way to recover, huh??!!! We walked on the beach, hung out at star bucks, took short walks on the sea wall. Recovery isn't bad, i took a short nap every afternoon. I did not over do, but I was not at all bed ridden.

How old are your kids? Do you have friends or family around that can run them around if need be? You can drive as soon as you are not taking pain meds. (get a heating pad, it's better than any pain medication!) I only took pain medication AT NIGHT for the first week and only because it was uncomfortable to turn over from one side to the other. I cannot sleep on my back. I used a heating pad during the day when I was sitting around. The first week I'd walk around the house and even got out to go to Wal Mart once, just a short trip....but after week one I felt like getting out and about, we were glad to be in Galveston.

I never got depressed and I have never, EVER had one minute of "buyers remorse" that you hear about. I've never regretted my decision!!! I've lost 93 lbs, which is 30 lbs more than I started out thinking I would lose. I thought, "I'll be happy if I lose 60 lbs" - talk about underestimating how wonderful this surgery is, and what we can do with it!!!! My goal was this: Don't throw up and don't lose my hair! Yes, I'm from the south and we girls do have our priorities!! I accomplished both!! Go to Wal Mart and get Biotin NOW and start taking it, 5000 mcg, 1 per day!!!! I'm ten months out and I have been taking this since before surgery and have gotten 60 - 80 grams of Protein per day in since about week two. I know you're nervous.....but I am certain you will never go to your surgeon and tell him you wish you had your tummy back!!!

ntvtxn,

That's a great way to look at it! I'm in the south Mississippi area. Yes I have found a surgen. He is out of Ocean Springs, Ms and practices at a Center of Excellence. I actually had another surgery set for April 13 (yesterday) with a different surgen but backed out because I didnt have a good feeling. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I've come to a point where I'm literally cutting out 3/4 of my stomach! I'm also scared of the recovery. I'm not looking forward to mopeing around the house for 2 weeks. I have kids and I want to keep everything funtioning as close to normal as I can. I've also heard a lot about people getting depressed after this, did you?

Bottom line is this.... I'm affaid that I'm going to be laying in bed one night, feeling queezy and in pain, saying ..... WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF??????? I mean, it's not like I can get my stomach back! Haaaaa!!! Last question, did you ever consider a lap band?

[futureskinny 0]

Hi

I went to an info session at GBMC for surgery and it doesn't sound like they would even consider surgery for me. I have pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. I feel like everyone is secretly telling me to gain 10 lbs so I qualify. But, then they would want 6 months supervised weight loss which means that I would likely have a lower BMI and therefore not qualify. I can lose weight but I can't keep it off and menopause is a cruel thing! Any advice from those of you in the same boat? I just really feel like this is the right thing for me but it sounds like I need $20k and a backdoor surgeon to make it happen. I live near Baltimore if anyone has advice or referral.

Hi! I'm new the forum. I am in the process of possibly have the gastric sleeve done. I'm 5'6" and my BMI is 33. I weigh 213 (at doctor I was 210). My question is, is VSG to drastic for me? I know I need to do something. I've tried every diet, pill selfhelp book... Nothing. Just gain for the past 5 years. I'd be paying out of pocket and Dr approved surgery... Just wondering if anyone else was close to my same situation....

thanks

[futureskinny 0]

Hi

I went to an info session at GBMC for surgery and it doesn't sound like they would even consider surgery for me. I have pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. I feel like everyone is secretly telling me to gain 10 lbs so I qualify. But, then they would want 6 months supervised weight loss which means that I would likely have a lower BMI and therefore not qualify. I can lose weight but I can't keep it off and menopause is a cruel thing! Any advice from those of you in the same boat? I just really feel like this is the right thing for me but it sounds like I need $20k and a backdoor surgeon to make it happen. I live near Baltimore if anyone has advice or referral.

Hi! I'm new the forum. I am in the process of possibly have the gastric sleeve done. I'm 5'6" and my BMI is 33. I weigh 213 (at doctor I was 210). My question is, is VSG to drastic for me? I know I need to do something. I've tried every diet, pill selfhelp book... Nothing. Just gain for the past 5 years. I'd be paying out of pocket and Dr approved surgery... Just wondering if anyone else was close to my same situation....

thanks

[jjinWA 511]

I have not seen an ins plan that covers under 35 BMI. Usually it is set at 40 unless high risk factors exist such as high blood pressure, diabetic, etc, then the threshold is set at 35 BMI. Not sure if you did the surgery in Mexico what requirements they have.

[woo woo 872]

Have you checked to be certain that your insurance covers surgery? If so, and you are 10 pounds shy of the 35 bmi or 40 bmi, you can either gain the weight or gain a few pounds and wear your heaviest clothing/shoes/etc to get weighed at your consultation and also scrunch down when they measure your height.

Doctor's offices can't come right out and say this to you, but that is the answer to your question.

The other option is to self pay and not gain anything.

[jjinWA 511]

I think the reason I had to show proof of weight previous two yrs is my ins companies way of preventing fraudulent weigh ins in the current year. A lot of ins companies requires this proof.... Some even further back then the 2 years I had to provide. You should probably check that out for sure.

[futureskinny 0]

I really appreciate your replies. I am willing to self pay but it sounds like the surgeon at GBMC doesn't entertain the idea of surgery if you're <35. I think I will speak to the insurance company. The surgeon wants $450 just to have a consultation with me (is that normal?). This is a very reputable program so I guess that is to weed out the ones who aren't committed?

[#1grammy 0]

Have you checked to be certain that your insurance covers surgery? If so, and you are 10 pounds shy of the 35 bmi or 40 bmi, you can either gain the weight or gain a few pounds and wear your heaviest clothing/shoes/etc to get weighed at your consultation and also scrunch down when they measure your height.

Doctor's offices can't come right out and say this to you, but that is the answer to your question.

The other option is to self pay and not gain anything.

[New Beginning7171 2]

Hi Razn4 - My stats were pretty close to yours. I am 5'6.25" and weighed 223, I actually weighed 221 but was on vacation when I headed to the seminar and by the time I showed up, I'd managed to put on 7 lbs. HOW does that happen? Anyway, 223 is what was recorded!! I lost it as soon as I got home, so I got to count it as part of the 23 I lost pre-op! <img src='http://cdn.verticalsleevetalk.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' /> My BMI was 36 Heck no, it is NOT too drastic for you! I promise, you'll look back and KNOW for a fact that having sleeve surgery was the best decision of your life. All the WW meetings, if you did that, the diet pills, which screw up our metabolism, I did Optifast, self help books, I saw a nutritionist.....and I lost weight!!! Three times I lost fifty lbs, several times I lost thirty. I could drop twenty lbs in ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!! Each and every time I gained it back, over the course of thirty years I gained more and more. Until I found myself sitting in the waiting room of a bariatric surgeon. I looked around and was the smallest person in the room.....but that didn't mean I shouldn't be there. Just like the larger people, we'd all been doing the same things, some of us just had more to lose than others. I had NO health issues, I considered this preventive maintenence!! All of a sudden, it's fun to go shopping, I LOVE IT. Just wait........where are you? Have you chosen a surgeon???!!! Ask me anything, this forum is great, so many people, we're all here for you!!! Good luck!!

Enjoyed reading your post. I'm havering surgery on June 13th and my BMI is 35.2. I an tired of the roller coaster ride. Any suggestions please share. Very excited!!!

[Noragretz 28]

Hey there I am also doing surgery with a 34.5 BMI at this time. I am trying to gain a few pounds right before the liquid diet. I am self paying, and to do that I am going out of state. It appears Florida, Texas, and Nevada have the lower "all inclusive" prices. I was attempting again to lose weight when I made the decision that I can lose it again for the same result - gain it back. So i had lost 5 pounds... now I'm trying to gain it back. The Doctors office I am choosing says that they do them with BMI's >30.

I am going with Dr. Umbach in Las Vegas. My insurance has an exclusion to anything weight loss related, so I'm self pay no matter what.