BMI 28 - anyone else with a low BMI have VSG?

Hi there,

First off, I realize that many think it's "crazy" for me to be considering VSG without a BMI over 40, 35 or even 30.

That being said, I'm considering it and was hoping to hear some other's experience who have go ahead with the surgery and had a lower BMI.

I realize many doctors won't perform the surgery if your BMI is below 30, however, there are some in Mexico that will.  Dr. Almanza is one of them, and a coworker just had it done and was extremely happy with her decision.  She has a friend who went to him, and her friend knows a few people that went through him.

Thanks for sharing any experience below.

Just my thought, but having major surgery for 20-30 pounds sounds dangerous. But do what you gotta do...

My high weight put my bmi at 32. Once I was preop dieting it dropped a little below 30. I raised the concern to my doctor. He mentioned something that stuck with me- that a diet was never going to get me to where I needed to be to be healthy. I didn't technically have any of the comorbidities so I was self pay.  I was in good cardio shape, but I could sit down and eat a full dinner then three bags of jelly beans. Diet and exercise weren't going to fix it. 

This weekend makes two months and I have no regrets at all

my I ask you a question? he did the surgery below a 35 bmi with no side issues? Would you mind letting me the cost? thanks Leslie 

sent you a message with all the details :)

My high weight BMI was over 50, so I can't answer your question directly. However, I can say that in my late 30s, when my weight started creeping up no matter what I did, I saw the handwriting on the wall -- it was going to get worse, and did it ever!

If you and your doctor believe that you're on an upward trend, weightwise with no other prospect available to avoid it, then having the surgery before it adversely affects your health may be a very good idea.

Good luck.

psychoticparrot

I was a self-payer with a BMI of 29, with Dr Cirangle in San Francisco. I had the surgery 5 months ago and am down 58 lbs (only 3 lbs away from my goal!).

I used to be miserable with terrible low self-esteem and am now confident, comfortable, love how my clothes fit, and am proud to be seen. I'm extremely happy now. The journey has been quite a bit more difficulty than I expected, but I would still do it all over again! My hunger never really went away (except for the first 3 or so hours of each day). Everyday I obsess about food (clearly I need therapy!). Food is constantly on my mind, which is NOT good for a sleeved patient. Because your stomach may not be able to hold much, but if you eat and snack all day long it adds up to an enormous amount of calories, so you must learn control! Plugging every bite I eat into MyFitnessPal app has been my saving grace. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn't just try harder when I was overweight, then not have to put myself through a surgery....but I tried desperately for years and nothing ever came off. it just kept going up up up I needed this push. 

I have NO sagging skin. I have never been nauseous. Although I feel extremely flu-like (for 40 minutes or so) if I eat too much bad food in one sitting (like ice cream or French fires)....but I quickly learned my lesson to never do that again! I think that's called dumping? 

I say go for it. It's your life. You only live once....might as well be happy living it! Good luck!

If you don't mind my asking, how much did Dr. Cirangle charge?

Thanks to both you and psychoticparrot for your encouraging comments.  It's nice to not be judged and told I'm not fat ENOUGH....

$17,500

included the surgery, hospital stay overnight (at a SF Bay Area hospital), all post-op follow up visits and a ton of protein mix stuff to help with the first month. Did not include any of the pre-op tests: (labs, EKG, upper GI X-ray series, psych eval, etc).

In hindsight, the vsg would have helped me when I was at my current weight back in the 80s.  If you feel it is right and you can afford it, go for it.