Is WLS right for me?

Hi Everyone,

I am one of the members that follows most of the post here, but never had a courage to write anything.  

I struggle with weight most of my life. I diagnosed with PCOS at 16 and as you all know it started from there. 

I was on pill most of the time, to control everything. after I got married I had fertility issues changed lots of doctors , used lots of  hormonal drugs, had couple of unsuccessful IVFs , and finally when I got pregnant I had sever type of gestational diabetes (I was on high dose of insulin). 

And never to say I was on restrict diet all my life. I am a emotional eater (volume eater) .

Now that I am 42, after two pregnancy, lots of diets and having trainer and chef. I am fed up and I really want to go for WLS possibly VSG. I forgot to say that after my pregnancies my Doctors told me that I will have type 2 diabetes in 3-5 years unless I loss weight???? I am 166-170 (my hight is 5.2). As I told them I can not loss weight anymore. It's been a battle and along the way I have gotten lots of other problems, back pain, knee pain, shoulder and neck pain and posture problem.

Last week I was in consulting session with a doctor and he pointed out that BCZ my weight is around 166-170 now (I am 5.2) I am not a good candidate.

My best weight is the range of 100-110 so I have about 60-70 lb to lose.

My questions are ,

1. Is there any one here that have been in my shoes (lower than 200 Lb) and wants to go or went for WLS? Who was your doctor? 

2. If Insurance does not cover, do other doctors in Mexico perform the WLS on person like me or not?

3. What kind of WLS am I good candidate for? VSG??or ??

Thank you,

Julia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you would have a hard time finding someone to operate on you since you only need to lose 60-70 lbs.  I realize it's hard to lose that much on your own.  But doctors balance the risks of WLS against the benefits, and so should you.  WLS is major surgery, of course, and while most people do well, there can be serious complications from any major surgery, including death.

I see you've tried lots of diets and trainers and stuff.  You say you are an emotional eater.  Have you tried working with a therapist to learn other ways to manage your emotions?  There is no surgery that will prevent you from being an emotional eater.  But therapy can help with that a lot.

Yes I was during and after my infertility and pregnancies, but it help a little and when some triggers me I can not control myself.

That being said, If I just go off of my diet, stop exercising  and eat whatever I want, my weight going to be higher than 200 in just a month or two. but is it really worth to gain weight to just go for VSG to lose them later?

Thank you.

Julia

No, it's not worth it to gain that much weight just so you can have WLS.

VSG won't control you or make you control yourself.  I really suggest working with a therapist to learn how to control yourself.

I know this probably isn't going to be what you were hoping to hear, but I don't think you are a good candidate for WLS at all.

Even if your current weight is 170 instead of 160, that only puts your BMI at 31 and 30 is the cut off between "overweight" and "obese". Every insurance policy that I've ever heard of that covers weight-loss surgery requires a minimum BMI of 35 (plus 2 comorbid health issues)  in order to qualify. At your height, you would have to be at least 195 pounds to qualify.

Also, at your height, 100 pounds would put you in the "underweight" category, so that definitely wouldn't be your "best" weight. Most people who have WLS (other than the lap band) can expect to lose enough weight to put them at the top or middle of the "normal "BMI range. That means that realistically you would be looking at losing 40 to 50 pounds rather than 60 to 70.  I know that carrying extra weight can cause a variety of issues, but having most of your stomach cut out (with VSG) is pretty drastic to lose less than 50 pounds, and the risks of surgery probably don't outweigh the benefits.

I second Kelly's suggestion to find a counselor who can help you deal with the emotional eating and change your eating behaviors. That's something you would have to do even with surgery, because the surgery doesn't just magically take all of our old bad habits away. In order to be successful losing and maintaining the weight long-term, people have to deal with those issues even with surgery. I know that you have the PCOS working against you, but if you work with the counselor to eliminate the psychological and behavioral issues, you can probably lose most of the weight that you need without surgery.

Yes, you can probably find a surgeon in Mexico who is willing to allow you to pay him to do a VSG on you, but it probably wouldn't be an ethical surgeon, and the very LAST person that I would want doing surgery on my digestive system would be one who is in another country and isn't ethical!

Lora

All of the measurements and weight that I mentioned comes from the doctor that I was consoling with a week ago.

Thank you.

Julia

If that doctor thinks that "underweight" is your "best" weight, then perhaps you should see a different doctor who has a more realistic view of what a healthy weight is.  It is just my opinion, of course, but expecting to get down to close to 100 pounds (BMI of 18) is setting yourself up for failure no matter what method you choose to try to lose the weight.

After everything your body went through with fertility treatments, two pregnancies, etc., you may have a "new normal" The 130s are a normal BMI for your height and as another poster said, the weight you are going for is underweight. I agree that no surgeon with ethics is going to touch you. Help with emotional eating and maybe with accepting a different "good weight" is probably better than surgery for you.

You have to weigh the pros and cons. I know several people who had WLS at a relatively low weight, because they needed help to control their diabetes. As a trade-off, they'll have to take vitamins and supplements for the rest of their lives, and they'll have to get regular lab work done to make sure they're taking what their bodies need. They'll also have to watch their diet forever.

One woman in particular I know had been diabetic for many, many years, and was having increasing difficulty managing the disease. Although she only had 68 pounds to lose, she opted to have the Duodenal Switch because it has the best stats for resolving or preventing diabetes. She's now off all medications for diabetes!

As you really suggesting that someone who will realistically only lose about 50 pounds consider the DS??

Lora