Max weight for RNY surgery??

Hi everyone!!

I finally met with my surgeon a few weeks ago and he acted concerned about the amount of weight that I carry in my stomach and that he would not be able to use enough gas to blow my stomach up.  I'm 393 (as of today...399 when I met with him) and he wants me to lose another 15-20 pounds so he can do the surgery.  I know that there have been much larger folks who have had this procedure done but I'm really concerned about the way he acted.  Can anyone ease my mind and share your experiences???  I would greatly appreciate any words of encouragement!  Michelle :o)

Different surgeons have different backgrounds, training and skill sets.  You always want a surgeon that is comfortable with the work they are going to be performing.  If they aren't, you are the one at risk. 

Many doctors do perform surgery on patients that are heavier, but again that's related to their personal comfort level.  I was 374 the day of surgery but my surgeon has done surgery on people that weighed a lot more.  He also has tons of experience and works at a Center of Excellence.  Equipment can factor in to this too. 

My advice would be to 1) lose the weight , which is also in your best interest because you will need to shrink your liver for your safety.  I was 398 when I met with surgeon and was told I needed to lose 30 lbs before surgery - I lost 24 and he was pleased enough with that.  But my stomach size and previous adhesions did make it difficult and the surgery took almost 4 hours.   Or 2) seek another surgeon that may be more comfortable with your body size, preferably at a Center of Excellence.  
 
I wish you the best of luck.  You are in a very challenging stage of this process.  Let us know if you have any questions.

-Dawn

I just wanted to let you know that I've seen alot of surgeons and got alot of rejections but I just kept on keeping on---I live in Missouri and ended up going to Indiana to have my surgery.  No one in my state would do surgery on me because I was over 450lbs.  I tried 5 other states and finally found Dr Margret Inman in Carmel Indiana at St Vincent's Carmel Hospital.  She had no quams about doing surgery on me and has preformed surgery on people larger than me--I was 557lbs the day of surgery.  I had lap RNY and no complications--she's awesome!!  I had one surgeon tell me if I lost 200lbs that he'd do surgery on me--I told him if I could lose 200lbs I wouldn't be here seeing you--needless to say I was pissed.  Just keep you're head up---it's a hard long journey but so worth it--I'm now 6 months out and have lost about 200lbs--I feel wonderful and would do it again in a heartbeat.  I wish you the best!!

~Angie!

oh I wanted to add that I didn't have to lose any weight before surgery or go on any diets--not even a liquid one--the day before surgery I was scheduled to get a trachetomy (because of my sleep apena) and the day before that I had my last supper--needless to say it was at a buffett.  Also that my surgeon was a trama surgeon before she went into bariactrics and she didn't blink an eye when she looked at me the first thing she said was I'm pretty certian that I can do a lap on you--I said if not please feel free to open me up--she said trust me I don't go out of my comfort zone, if I feel I need to I will.  She is awesome!!!  And she too works for a Center of Excellence.  Again best of luck. 

Angie - sounds like you had a wonderful surgeon.  I so glad you persevered and found her.

-Dawn

thank you very much Dawn--no one ever said the things in life were going to be easy--but the best things are worth fighting for I can tell you that

I weighed 465 before the liquid diet and 430 on the day of my surgery.  The dr. never suggested that I was too big for him to operate on.  In fact, I was the one that was worried about it.  I asked *every* person that I met that was going to be doing something to me during that surgery (my surgeon, the nurses, the anestisiologist(sp)).  EVERYONE told me that they felt comfortable with their tasks at hand and that they had operated on people much larger than me.  That comforted me, although I wondered who they operated on that was bigger than me - not because I didn't believe people could be bigger because I was headed on a path that was leading there - but if there are so many people bigger than me out there - how come I never see them?

Anyway, if that dr. doesn't feel comfortable, keep looking.  You will find one that does.  I don't think that it should be TOO difficult to find a dr. that feels comfortable doing surgery on someone around the 400lb. mark.

Feeling comfortable with your surgeon is of the utmost importance.  Keep looking until you have that feeling.  It will make all the difference in your nervousness and confidence.  I wish you all the luck in the world and look forward to hearing all your news and updates as you begin this journey.  HUGS  Jeanine

I clicked on your doc's link and he's a member of the american society of bariatric professionals.  But out to the side showed a list of other doctors in the area that also performed WLS. 

I was 371 at surgery and carried the majority of my excess weight in my lower abdomen.  Don't get me wrong, the fat was equally present all over my body, but the lower abdomen was just nice an juicy!  My doc said I was an excellent candidate because of how I carried my weight. 

He required a 5-day liquid diet for me to shrink my liver because the liver sits on top of the stomach and they have to use a retractor to move it out of the way to work on the stomach.  The liquid diet helps to shrink the liver so it's not so large.  It gets larger and larger as we gain more and more weight because it's the body's filter and we tend to put a ton of crap in our mouths when we are SMO. 

Anyway, make sure you do your due diligence with your doc and check his stats and his credentials.  Your comfort level makes a huge difference with your anxiety.  There's no one in Albuquerque who can perform the surgery?

Take care and keep us posted.

It is scary. You have to find a doctor that you are comfortable with. I weighted 465 pounds on the day of my surgery. My doctor didn't have a problem with me being that heavy. 
Am down to 302 pounds as of yesterday.  I felt very comforable with my doctor. I think that is what matters.

Leaha Patterson