I put a lot of this on another thread, but I thought it might be good to start a new thread for this issue.

My BMI is just under 35 and I have no co-morbidities. My BMI has been consistently between 30 and 35 for over ten years despite many temporarily successful dieting and exercize plans. I have minor weight-related problems such as back pain, lack of energy, and skin infections where the folds of flesh overlap. Type II diabetes runs in my family, though I don't currently have that condition.

In the US you have to have a BMI of over 35 in order to get banded, but I've been reading medical articles about recent studies on lap band surgery for patients like me and they are promising, with complications similar to other types of elective surgeries (even getting your wisdom teeth out carries risks of complications). I don't think the risks of complications are any higher than they were for my two C-sections. Still, I'm sure it will take years before the surgery is approved by US government authorities for people with a BMI between 30 and 35 who have no major co-morbidities. I've heard that in Mexico some doctors are willing to perform the surgery on patients in my category, but while I would seek out such a doctor because he's free from the restraints of US government regulations, I'm also concerned about the quality of care that I would normally be assured of by those very same restraints.

Comments? Is there a really good doctor in Mexico that I can check up on somehow, who is willing to perform a lap band on a patient with a BMI of about 34?

Now, some of you with a very high BMI or serious co-morbidities may be thinking that I'm 'too thin' for the surgery and I should go out and do diet and excercize or learn to be happy with my size. I have two responses for that.

1. My family history shows that if I stay this weight for the rest of my life, which is likely given the number of times I've tried to lose weight and failed, I will develop Type II diabetes and severe joint problems. My cousin lost an eye to diabetes. My uncle lost a leg to diabetes. My mother's joint problems are so bad she can't walk more than a few minutes. I know I'm headed in this direction. I don't want to wait until things get this bad before I can have the surgery, especially since the surgery is less risky on a younger patient.

2. I'm big enough to experience a lot of the social problems obese people face and I'm tired of that. Obesity is absolutely a social problem and one that I want to resolve in my own life.

I'm working on my computer at a coffee shop. One of the baristas just brought me a cup of Water with the comment, "the baby needs some water". I have no baby with me. Obviously she thinks I'm pregnant and is concerned that I'm drinking coffee. I didn't think I looked pregnant in this top. I don't think its the top. I think its the belly. This is the third time in the past six months someone has thought I was pregnant. I always throw away the top I was wearing whenever this happens, but it keeps happening again.

This is the type of thing that makes me think - "money be damned, I'm getting the surgery now if it sends me into bankruptcy."

Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana did my surgery and i was i think bmi 33 - 5'2 183lbs. I've been as high as 240 and as low as 125 and have yo yo'd all my life - whether you have 50 or 150+ to lose - the issues (emotional, etc) are the same. I have rec'd much discrimination from other higher weight bandsters (although not on this site) but in a local group i belong to. Dr. Ortiz does not take this surgery lightly by any means but he understands the issues of obesity and will definitely discuss surgery with someone of you bmi. For me the results (weight loss) have been slower then most but i am content with the lifestyle changes the band has forced me to make and i know in my heart - this is my last chance - nothing else (diets, pills, etc.) would have worked for me because the issues are too deep - the band has forced me to slow down, chew, - it has helped me to make better choices, etc. It's a tough road but one that I think will work. Best of luck to you.