I seem to be the oldest person here.. I am 61-- I do not see the doctor until late June .. I am wondering if my age is going to rule out this surgery for me ??

Hi

I am also 61. I went to a seminar and had my first visit with the surgeon on Monday. I will need 2-3 psy. cons. sessions and 2 sessions with a nutritionist before they can schedule the surgery. I "only" need to loose about 80 pounds...but they want me to loose 10 before the surgery. See as they won't pass my paperwork into the ins. com. until I complete all the above, I am afraid I won't qualify as my BMI will be much too low. I guess it's an adventure, but I hate to spend $600 for the psy. cons. and then be turned down. My surgeon listed his age group at the seminar...ages 18-66 so I am thinking age is the least of it.

Good luck. This waiting is for the birds

Lois

I have already done psych & nutrition class--waste of .. Same EXACT info that I learned 2 years ago at UAMS weight loss program ( what a waste of time and money at UAMS).. But Psych was only $150 and Nutrit- was also $150.

My BMI is awful - 47 very scary

No, it's covered by medicare and that doesn't kick in for most until age 65!

I'm 54 and LOVE my band!

I have only Part A on medicare - it only pay for something if you are in a "HOSPITAL" not a surgical care unit or surgical center .

I seem to be the oldest person here.. I am 61-- I do not see the doctor until late June .. I am wondering if my age is going to rule out this surgery for me ??

Sorry I wasn't clear...my point was that if Medicare covers people age 65 and older, then apparently the surgery IS done on older people, so no, being 61 won't automatically block you from having the surgery.

Hi, I was banded May 21. I turned 65 in Feb. Two weeks today and I don't think I'm any worse off than someone 1/2 my age. Feel pretty darn good and all healed up already. Good luck to you.

My dad is 73 and was just banded. He's doing very well!

It depends on the motivations of your surgeon as well; my surgeon is interested in the long term health benefits, the reversal or avoidance of type 2 diabetes and other associated medical conditions; for his older patients, he assesses them very closely to see whether he honestly believes there will be a substatial long term health benefit and also assesses them on whether he truly believes they are able to put in the hard work required in terms of diet and exercise to make the band really work.

So from what I can tell, he doesn't say "no" automatically, but older people are closely scruitinised.