Do you think I'll qualify?

I've been doing tons of research latley about doing either lap band or RNY. How strict are they on the requirements? I almost make it, right now I'm 18 years old and have a bmi of about 39.7, I am about 100lbs overweight, I don't have any comorbidities accept deppression and severe lower back pain. The clincher is there is tons of family history....diabetes on my moms side, blood clots on both sides, heart failure on both sides. Do they look heavily into family history. The heart failure is especially worrisome to me, my father died about 6 months ago when he was 55 of a heart attack, he was not remotely overweight, he was actually jogging at the time. Also dads bro died at 42 of heart failure, grandmother at 34 of blood clot, mom has blood clots, aunt has diabetes, mom's grandfather died at 42 of heart attack? Does anyone have some idea if this is enough for me? I have my first appointment with pcp on friday to discuss surgery (so nervous). The thing about it is my doc has lost a lot of weight, prolly over 100lbs, I don't know if she has had bariatric surgery or not, but if she hasn't she would be the type to say do it the old fashioned way....and don't get me wrong, I have tried and succeeded and then failed many times over, if she says that and she doesn't give me a reason as to why she won't reccomend (don't weigh enough, etc...) besides that she's personally against it what else can I do?

Well for what it is worth i would first see if you have insurance to get any of the precedures done. If you do have the coverage then seek out a bariatric center for weight loss make an appointment with thier enternal medicine Doctor. after he gives his blessing then they will set you up with a surgeon or tell you that you do or donot qualify. If you can travel here to Texas there is UTMB center for weight loss management. They are great. you are very blessed not to have any problems with any comorbids i hope that you will be able to have the surgery. i will have mine on june 5th. my wife is having the surgery on the same day. You can e-mail me anytime I will write back so give it a try. Hope that I helped it is immaterial what the pcp says if you go to a weightloss center they will evaluate you and decide if you qualify.

I had a VBG and lost 90 lbs the first six months. Now I personally think 90 lbs is a very good success and must have been doing something right. I started out six weeks on baby food. Once I progressed to solid foods, I had a very difficult time keeping certain foods down. Things like tuna and chicken, because they were dry meats. It hurt so bad that the only relief was to let it come up. I tried chewing them more, but still, I could never get them down. I had to quit eating them. But it was too late, because my staple line ruptured, and my doc says it's because of the vomiting. So try not to vomit if you can help it. I have now gained about 60 lbs back and am waiting on insurance approval for a revision to the RNY. Like the guy says in the previous post, try out some different healthy foods, and chew, chew, chew. If it were me, I would start from the basics with soft food (maybe even baby food), then work your way back up to solids, only adding a little at a time until you can learn what you can eat. As for the exercise, not only is it healthy for you in so many ways, but it also helped me digest the harder-to-digest foods. I guess the movement made stuff go down a little easier. From what I have learned, some people do well with one type of surgery, and others do well with another type of surgery. I've known lots of people that have done very well with the VBG and is still keeping the weight off. They weren't even as concientious about what they ate as I was. Then there are those, like me, who didn't do well with the VBG and had to have a revision. I find it very hard to believe that they were all at fault. None of the surgeries are cure-alls. They are only tools. Since the VBG is what you have, then you're going to have to learn how to use your tool.

Piper; Your insurance will be able to tell you their requirements to approve WLS. Most of the time it's a BMI of 35+ with at least 2 co-morbs or a BMI of 40+. However, your insurance may require you to do up to a 12-month physician supervised diet before they'll approve you. They will also likely require a history of all your previous diet attempts, how long you stuck to the program, how much weight you lost, etc. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your father. My dad died 12 years ago at age 46. He was obese, diabetic, with a heart murmur and high cholesterol. I was 22 when he died. If your PCP isn't supportive to the idea of surgery, you could find a doctor that is. Personally, I don't recommend that, but it's an option. If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me. Blessings, Jennifer 253 / 178 / 137

I've looked up my insurance online, it covers lap rny but not lap band, If I get approved I will do lap rny if not I will pay out of pocket for lap band. The requirements are bmi of 40 or over with no comorbs, or 35 or over with at least one co morb. I want this so bad, my mom is very supportive she thinks it would be great. Even if I'm not approved by insurance I am still determined to have this done. I've been seeing a psychologist for the last few months to help with grief counseling do you think I'll still need to go to a seperate psyc eval?

My wife was similarly close and both her doctor and insurance approved it. I would think your biggest hurdle would be the insurance rather than the physician. With my surgeon, my qualifying weight was determined when I went in for a visit to essentially declare that I wanted the surgery and start the process. If your visit was merely a consultation and they didn't weigh you, nothing's official yet. I'm not advising you to purposely gain weight prior to an official weigh-in, but a BMI difference of .3 is likely only 2-3 pounds. Our bodies fluctuate in weight at least that much throughout the day. If you are going in for an official weigh-in, drink plenty of water ahead of time. Wear heavy clothes if possible. That will probably be enough to get you over 40.