Hi- I just had a question to throw out there. Do they consider you a candidate from your first appt weight, or your final appt weight? I'm losing alot in the months before surg, but will they cancel me if my BMI goes below 40? I know it seems rediculous to have the band when I am losing by myself, but I really need that tool to keep it off! What do you think???

Hello Bandme, there is no harm in asking your bariatric center/surgeon that question. It's a reasonable question really. I know my doc asked me to lose 10 pounds prior to surgery because they wanted the liver in the best possible shape so it would be smaller and easier to get out of the way of placing the band. Has your insurance carrier already approved the surgery? I ask because I know I wasn't weighed the day of surgery so how would they know that day? Preop I was weigh but that was a week before surgery. Anyway...good question to ask so ask it of your surgeon or at least the staff that works with him. I wouldn't think they'd cancel it though. Good luck with everything

I was told that they do not weigh you again. Your first weight is the weight they send to your insurance co.

I was weight at my consultation with the doctor to see if I qualified. Then after the surgery at my first check up, of course, everytime after that too. But not between my first appointment and the surgery date.

Good luck and congratulations on your weight loss before surgery.

They actually encourage you to loose weight!! So don't sweat it!!!

im going to agree with everyone here...

i was weighed when they first saw me then the day of my surgery. its a good thing to lose some weight before surgery and you really should if you are on a pre-op diet. for a lot of people with the band it's not the losing part, it's the keeping off part.

best of luck to you!

I have been a yo yo dieter all my life and I am very good at losing large amounts of weight. So I posed this very question to my surgeon and he said he uses the weight from the consulation.