how do i know weight loss surgery is for me?

hi there,

 a bit about me, i have put on 120 pounds in 14 years of marriage. My weight now is 260, i am 5' 2. I have tried loosing the weight. I put on 60 pounds from having babies. The weight keeps increasing. I don't want my kids to have a unhealthy mom. I  want to feel better and have a better relationship with my husband. I want to do it for me. The challenge is I live in Japan on a military base and i meet resistance with my doctor who told me it wasn't worth the fight for insurance to try and get approval. I find this hogwash.  i feel if i had been able to do this on my own. I would have done it.  I am going to see the doctor,  so i can get a referral for the surgery to be done in the states I can stay with my mom.  Any advice in preparing for the journey of deciding weather or not WLS is for me. Thanks

The standard criteria is a BMI of 40 or 35 if you have comorbities.  You must be a petite thing if 206 meets that criteria. 

Valerie I have heard that they are starting to give the surgery to BMI's of 30. I met a person here in Texas who had the surgery and her BMI was 29 she did it primarily for the sake of her diabetes... But I would say that 206 very well could meet the criteria in between 5'5" and 5'9" is a BMI of 30 to 34.5 depending on how tall you are. I say that you have an excellent shot at surgery and you should definitely educate yourself more on the various surgeries. You may discover that you don't need the surgery and you can do it on your own. The biggest thing is fighting with the insurance companies on getting approved for surgery. You should make an appointment with a dietician before the referral they can give a report to the doctor that will help the referral process. 

If her husband is in the military and she is covered under his insurance, she has to have a BMI of 35 AND have two comorbidities to qualify for surgery. 

That's sad if someone who is serving our country has to have their family go through that... Still I hope the best for you...

So you think that military family members shouldn't have to meet medical necessity criteria like everyone else does?  That they should just do WLS on every overweight person who walks through the door and asks for it, regardless of how much they weigh or how long they have been heavy?

I think that the medical necessity guidelines are there for a reason, and that someone who comes in and wants a RNY but only has 60 or 70 pounds to lose shouldn't be given a RNY.

(and my name isn't Hilary...)

You missed my point.  It wasn't about having RNY specifically, it was about there being reasons for the criteria for "medical necessity" for WLS.  You are (apparently) advocating giving any WLS to anyone who wants it, no matter what their medical or psychological condition or history, and that, IMO, is not only  ridiculous but would be a violation of a surgeon's ethical obligations.

You want to give WLS to someone just because their obesity caused by stress/comfort eating??  And you really think that will work?!?  I'm guessing that you don't have any idea how many people who are stress/comfort eaters (and who actually meet the medical necessity criteria) get WLS but don't deal with the issues and then FAIL miserably at losing the weight and keeping it off.

Wouldn't it be nice to give them counseling so they could learn better coping skills?