Down side to WLS?

How with my BMI, can I find out if there are additional concerns without undergoing the surgery? I understand that everyone has the fear, anxiety, nervousness, but I feel that at 425 lbs I am too fat for surgery bc other docs have told me it is a danger for me to under go surgery when I had back surgery, knee surgery etc. Also where are the people who the surgery didnt work out well? Everyone says how wonderful things are, and I want to think it will be wonderful for me too, but I want to hear what it will be like if it's not.

I weighed 570 when I had mine and things are well on the way to being great for me. You have to have a positive attitude and ready to change how you live because it is a change that you will have to be willing to make. Best of luck. Lee

Hi..I was 538 when i had surgery. I was lucky everything went great....There is always that chance and you just need to look inside yourself to see if this is imortant enough to take the risk...Good Luck on your adventure!!!!

Hello Beth, My name is Sheri. I just had WLS on November 9. The day of Surgery I weighed 439 pounds. I actually gained 29 pounds before surgery when my surgeion wanted me to lose 20 to 50 pounds. The only thing I believe is different when operating on larger people is that it is harder to do the lap proceedure rather than open proceedure. I was afraid I was too big too, but that isnt' true. As long as you are basically healthy you should do fine. I can't believe how well I have done. One thing that made a difference for me was the fact that I was emotionally and mentally prepared, I studied everything that I could get my hands on. Books, internet, group meeting. I have to say that the group meetings are a great source. There are both pre-op and post-op patients there.....they can answer any questions that you may have....and others will bring up questions that you didn't think about. What made me finally decided is I imagined how my life would be if I didn't have the surgery and I didn't like the image that I got. I was becoming a hermit. I hated doing anything. I was embarassed how I looked and was tired of getting stared at and laughed at. In my mind, I knew the only choice I had to get my life back was the surgery! And if I had to.....I would do it again. I hope this helps you. If you ever want to chat, let me know. Sheri

Thank you Sheri and to everybody who has responded to my post. I have desided that WLS is what I need to do, and I have been reading everything I can about the types available. I've been asking questions and I guess I just want "sure things". I KNOW there are no 'sure things' so I will just proceed along trying to find answers for myself. You all have been very generous with your stories both good and horrendous....those of us considering the surgery need to be real and have it real since obesity IS a life or death situation for many of us whether we have the surgery or not. thank you, Beth