Did anyone have to lose a LOT of weight to qualify for surgery?

[MaureenVA 35]

This was a punch to my (soon to be smaller) gut. I knew that I'd have to lose 3% per insurance guidelines....but in reality, I need to lose like 17%. That seems overwhelming at this point.

[2muchfun 8,927]

17% of what? Your current weight, excess weight, weight to get down to overweight? What's "reality" mean?

Still, that's just ridiculous! If you can do that, why would you need surgery?

[MaureenVA 35]

17% of my current weight to get down to a BMI that our surgeons are comfortable operating on. Reality=just how out of control I have become. I'm honestly ashamed.

[emilees_mom 43]

I have to lose at least 25 lbs to gety bmi down. The dr said its for my safety that they have found people with bmi over 60 could have complications

[angierue 214]

I've got to lose 38lbs, which translates to 10% of my current body weight.

I was floored when I weighed in at the clinic and was 380.5. I new I was heavier than I've ever been but I had no idea I'd become that large.

I'm down 8lbs so far but it's been extremely tough. I was down 11 but went to a three day music festival last weekend and drank and ate terribly.

I've got a 3 day trip to Vegas for bachelorette party the end of this month too.

I'm trying like crazy to have the surgery by the first week of November. Otherwise I'll have to wait until next year and I really don't want that.

It's frustrating because I'm staying well under 1800 calories a day, usually around 1100, but it's not coming off as quickly as I feel like it should be.

But I'm trusting my doctor. If I need to lose these 38lbs to make the likelihood of complications less then I'll do it. I'm going to go when more hardcore after Vegas.

If anyone wants to follow me on My Fitness Pal, I'm angierue on there as well.

[B-52 7,113]

I never understood this...I had to undergo a 6 month pre-surgery, medically supervised diet program.

When I inquired why, it was explained to me this way....

In order to qualify for surgery, I have to prove I have made every attempt at loosing eight the traditional way, and that all those methods did not work for me...which was the case. But me saying so was not good enough. It had to be documented by someone with some credentials....thus the 6 month program, run by a medical professional where progress notes, charts, statistics where accurately kept. Then this can be submitted to insurance proving, on record, that I did indeed attempt weight loss, and failed.

I did the program, and sure enough like every other program I have been on, I did great for the first 3 months or so...then I started to cheat, and then eventually the whole thing collapsed....and by month 5 It all started to come back again....

The people at the weight loss center were upset at me, but the people at the surgical center simply said it is not about the outcome, it is just something on record for the insurance co. to look at.And what had happened in that 6 month program is a good example, a snapshot, at my life of dieting and failing...proving surgery was indeed the only viable solution and the last resort.

If I was any good at dieting and weight loss, I would not need surgery....

Not telling other people what to do, just saying how it was for me, my insurance, and it was 5 years ago so things may be looked at differently today.

I also had to do the liver shrinking pre-surgery diet, which I started 2 weeks prior to my surgery, but that was something else...

Edited September 18, 2014 by B-52

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I know it seems overwhelming, but take it little bits at a time. Set small goals for yourself and get started on your first small goal. I lost a fair amount of weight pre-surgery, mostly by going low carb, high Protein, and logging everything on myfitnesspal. I also set up regular weigh-ins and check ups with my doctor - that helped keep me accountable!

And I found the book The Beck Diet Solution to be very heplful with changing my behaviors and thought patterns around food. It gave me a lot of great coping skills and I still turn to it and the lessons I learned from it.

One thing I will say -- don't waste your emotional energy on being ashamed. You should be proud that you are now working towards the most effective way to lose weight and get healthy. You are not in denial -- you are working towards change. Good luck!

[hopeful one 86]

I have to go thru a 6 month supervised weight loss program, so far I am in my 4th month and am down 19 lbs , but they never gave me a certain amount. This was my insurance, my surgeon first said to try and lose 10 more and then they changed it and said Just do not gain any back before surgery. I have been doing some lo carb and I should be thru my 6 month program around the mi of November, I keep telling myself if I am down 40 lbs. by Dec. 1 I may not do the surgery, my nurse at the surgeons office said 97 lbs is the average I could expect to lose so I am loading my cabinets with lo carb foods this weekend and have gotten and tried several recipes and we will see what happens.I wish all of you the very best of luck, I love reading your stories even the ones who have a backset here and there, it just keeps us pre-ops alert as to everything. I have my PSHYC appointment and my NUT apt on the 26th then back to my surgeon on the 30th so we will see, my nerves are really playing mind games with me. I think the 6 months is to long to have to wait, that is just what I feel for me personally but on the other hand it has really give lot of time to research all of this, and I have really been doing that. Good Luck to all.

[lisacaron 5,075]

Many insurance companies require that 6 month supervised diet. Which is great for their documentation that surgery is indeed necessary, and it's also a good thing for "us" because we know even if we thought we knew before that surgery is the way to go for us.

I have seen some who did not need to be on that 6 month program that second guessed through their approval process if surgery was the right choice or if they should just try to lose weight on their own first. So I get the 6 month diet requirement.

I also understand where the doctors are coming from by asking you to lose at least 10% or some % of your body weight prior to surgery. It's for your own good, it's healthier for you to have such an invasive surgery if you are not at such a high BMI, unless you have a surgeon who is an expert at operating on patients with high BMI's. If that is not the case then it's best to either find a doctor who has operated on patients with high BMI's regularly with success or try to be compliant and lose the weight prior to the surgery. In the end..the good thing about the weight you lose prior to surgery is that after surgery you won't be gaining it back again and your that much closer to your goals

I know you can do you it! Come back here any time all the time for motivation, accountability inspiration or what ever you need! These forums are full of people that have been and are just where you are, and want to help you and themselves get to where we all want to be! Healthy & Happy!!

[2muchfun 8,927]

OK, I get it now. This is aside from whatever the insurance company dictates and is prior to your pre-op diet to shrink the liver?

Doctor knows best! It sounds like the mortality rate or the risk of major complications rises when you BMI is over 60? Have they offered any medications to assuage hunger.

The bright side to this is that people with BMI's over 50 carry a lot of Fluid with the excess body fat. We've seen many forum members drop 50-75 lbs in a few months and much of that was excess fluids. Good luck and please follow your doctors advice. Your future may depend on this short diet.

tmf

[emilees_mom 43]

OK, I get it now. This is aside from whatever the insurance company dictates and is prior to your pre-op diet to shrink the liver?

Doctor knows best! It sounds like the mortality rate or the risk of major complications rises when you BMI is over 60? Have they offered any medications to assuage hunger.

The bright side to this is that people with BMI's over 50 carry a lot of Fluid with the excess body fat. We've seen many forum members drop 50-75 lbs in a few months and much of that was excess fluids. Good luck and please follow your doctors advice. Your future may depend on this short diet.

tmf

This is exactly what my dr said to me. And you are right sometimes extra heavy people lose Water weight pretty quick. But the 6 month supervised diet coincides so I figure I have 6 months to lose 25 lbs at least. Now don't get me wrong I am ready for this journey so I immediately came home and jumped in with both feet, and in a week and a half I am already down almost 7 lbs. so I just figure I don't have to race to the 25 lb finish line, gives me something to work on during the 6 months of nutrition classes that is required. The more the merrier as long as it keeps going down!!

[terrydumont46 1,954]

I had to lose 5%of my body wt, just for the fatty liver problem. and that was so hard. I can't imagine going through what you have to. the way I did it was going on a carb free diet. I also watched calories.kept it at 1000 cal a day. I wish you lots of luck.

[MaureenVA 35]

Great news, everyone! I'm an idiot!

My insurance company has 2 surgeons in this area. An older, more established surgeon (with a longer wait list) and a younger, newer surgeon (with quicker surgery dates). Turns out, that only the younger surgeon has a BMI restriction. I happened to be at her info session...asked the question...got her answer....freaked out. Then I called the Bariatric Nutritionist to discuss another matter and asked her to explain the policy to me. She, of course, confirmed I'm an idiot. Surgeon 1 has no restriction!

Of course, I still plan to lose weight....hopefully more than the 3% (or is it 5%?) that is required by my insurance company. But that's WAY less than the 17% I thought I was facing!

[Kiki2004 24]

Whew! I sure am glad you're an idiot! If not I would be screwed cuz my BMI is higher than yours!

I have my initial appointment with the surgeon on Monday so I am interested to hear how much he will want me to loose.

And just like anything worth doing, I think you need to be "all in" or you will not get the desired results...so I will do what they say, when they say and how they say....I may not like it, but I'm gonna do it!

Edited October 31, 2014 by Kiki2004

[Quest4TheNewMe 225]

I was required to lose 10%.