Am I a good candidate??/

[cindyroo 0]

Hi everyone! And it is sooo awesome to see everyone losing so much weight!! You must feel great and very proud!:wink2:

I am 49 and for most of my adult life i have been overweight. I am 5' tall and currently weigh 183. And that is up from 177 last month. Such is my life and weight loss and gain! At my largest, I weighed 225 and that was when i was hypothyroid after I had RAI done. I have been euthyroid for about 7 years now but recently had to switch from Armours Thyroid which is a natural hormone to a synthetic. It seems to make me hungrier and I am gaining despite eating Atkins. :lol2: I have been on Atkins for 3 years now, with my doctors good graces, and CANNOT lose anymore weight. Talk about a stall! :yikes: That 177 last month was my smallest since I can remember.

But I was wondering and know some of you can tell me - if I want to lose 60 pounds and keep it off, would that be considered enough weight to lose using the band??? Will the docs just look at me and laugh? :tongue:Or do some of you only have that much to lose in the first place? My primary and my endocronologist both have my Atkins journey in my medical files.

Sorry that was so long but i am really curious. I will have to get a second mortgage to pay for it as my insurance does not cover the surgery. So you can bet I am going to research this to death! :tongue2:

Thanks and nice to meet everyone!

cindyroo

[Humming Bird 275]

At 5' and 183lbs, that makes your BMI 35.7 (body mass index)

I think most surgeons say they will not do lap-band on anyone with a BMI lower than 40 unless you have other major medical conditions that are caused by obesity.

These medical conditions are refered to as co-morbities.

There are many people on this site who had low BMIs and got the band. I hope some of them juup in and help you with your questions. When I started my BMI was 41 and I had no medical conditions and take no Rx meds. I was a candidate just simply because of the high BMI.

I found looking at different surgeon's websites helpful too.

Edited November 16, 2009 by Humming Bird
corrected numbers

[kiz 1]

Medically speaking, I couldn't tell you if you're a good candidate, but using Humming Bird's calculation, your BMI is high enough that many (maybe most) surgeons would consider you a likely candidate for WLS. If you have health insurance that covers WLS, you may have to show that you have one or two co-morbidities to have your surgery covered since your BMI is below 40. If you're self-pay, as I was, I just had to have a BMI of over 35.

[cindyroo 0]

I have been treated for hypertension for years - take 2 medications for it. And my triglycerides were 526 about a year ago! Would those two things be considered co-morbities? I have luckily escaped the sleep apnea. What happens if you have a fatty liver? I know I will have these questions answered tomorrow night but I was curious.

Thanks!

[cindyroo 0]

I have been treated for hypertension for years - take 2 medications for it. And my triglycerides were 526 about a year ago! Would those two things be considered co-morbities? I have luckily escaped the sleep apnea. What happens if you have a fatty liver? I know I will have these questions answered tomorrow night but I was curious.

Thanks!