I went last week to a free seminar and the consultant told me I would probably have to lose weight before surgery. I am currently 5'6" and 360 pounds at a BMI of 58.1. She said I would probably need to be down to a BMI of 50 for surgery. I have heard of people much larger having it done so I was surprised. Does anyone know if this is true, and also would it be due to the surgeons preference for surgery safety issues or could aetna have something to do with it? How much would I need to lose to be down to a 50 BMI?

It all depends on the doctor. Some require a certain amount of weight loss. Others are comfortable that you will lose weight on the preop diet.

I was 340 when I started this journey (I had already done my 6 mo supervised diet the previous year and gained weight). I only lost 2 lbs on my preop diet even though I didnt cheat and my doc didnt say anything to me.

When I started this whole process back in january of this year I was 440 with a BMI of around 58. They told me the only thing holding me back was i needed to be down around 400 for surgery, not because of the doctor or insurance, but because of the equipment in the hospital is only designed for up to 400. I started a diet then and when I went in for my preop on September 28, I was 400. I started the liquid diet the 1st of October and when I went in for surgery on the 11th, and discharged on the 12th, I was down to 380. It all depends on doctor and insurance is my guess.

The first seminar I went to they said their policy was a minimum of 5% body weight loss presurgery. There was a moan that came from those in attendance. I ended up going to a different doctor and he required a 10% body weight loss. Since my surgery was postponed for other health reasons I ended up losing closer to 17 % body weight. My nurse explained hat your belly area is like a suitcase the more fat you remove the easier it is for them to work in there.