I’m a large lady. I have been my entire life. Part of what makes me nervous for surgery in two weeks is my size. Did anyone find there were more complications with those with higher BMI?

What was your experience pre and post-op? Was anyone a smoker at this size and quit for surgery? I have not been a smoker for long but it worries me that it may complicate things even with stopping before surgery. What was your weight loss like at a higher BMI? What was your pre-op diet and how long? Thanks !

8 hours ago, istytehcrawk said:

I'm 424 now (BMI roughly 74 I think). I started out in a program that wouldn't do surgery on anyone over a BMI of 60, but I switched to a different program that doesn't have an upper limit. I asked about that at my introductory seminar and was told they've done the surgery on people with BMIs in the 80s and 90s. So it all depends on the surgeon, but many are well acquainted with working on the larger among us.

Hi and welcome to the boards! It isn't so much that you "can't" have surgery with a >60BMI. It's more that you need to make sure to choose your surgeon and new tool wisely. Make sure to ask your surgeon how many people he/she's operated on in the past year with BMIs >60? Ask if it will be an open or closed procedure. Ask about the surgery type. Ask about their success rate/complication rate. If it were me, I'd be sure to go with a Center of Excellence surgeon, team, and hospital--but I'm a wieny that way...I'd mainly want to know that my doc has great comfort/skill in operating on someone towards the higher BMI spectrum. Ask about contingencies: what happens if he/she gets in there and that there's "not enough room" to perform the chosen surgery--then what happens? Will the surgery change to an open procedure? Will you wind up with a different procedure?

BTW, most docs are gonna wanna see some weight loss. They're gonna want to know you can go the distance, are serious about changing food relationships and sticking with a diet program. They're also gonna want to reduce your bulk to increase the space they have to operate and to reduce your liver. So you may have to lose 5-10% of your weight or more. My insurance company only required I lose 5% of my total weight. My doc said 10%. I've lost 10% from the date of my first weigh in with the surgeon. I think I will have surgery either next month or in early March.

Edited January 4, 20188 yr by FluffyChix