Laparoscopic surgery

Hi everyone I'm new to this process and have some questions. I had my 1st informational meeting yesterday  and I was told that in order to have gastric bypass done laparoscopic I would need to have a BMI of 50 or under. I wondered if this was just my doctor or if other people have been told the same thing.

Every Dr is different. My BMI was 64.

I was circus fat when I had my initial consult with my surgeon.  He asked me to lose 10% of my weight, and using Optifast, I lost 20%.

Even so, he kept thinking he'd have to do open surgery because I carry my weight up front.  Turns out that not only did he do it lap, it was a textbook surgery.

It depends on the surgeon and what he or she is comfortable with.  My surgeon was not comfortable operating on me at 500+ lbs, yet several people on this forum have had surgery at that weight without any problems at all.

Good luck!

Kix

It definitely depends on the doctor.  My doc will do lap on a patient as heavy as 600+ lbs.  I was above 400 lbs when I had my surgery and when I asked about the chance of it turning from a lap to an open surgery, my surgeon confidently told me that would not happen.  His confidence gave me all the confidence in the world I had picked the right surgeon.

It depends on the doctor - my BMI was in the 70s when I had lap surgery. When I consulted with him my BMI was 83 and he said he'd estimate a 50/50 chance of doing it lap. You may want to investigate around for a surgeon who has more extensive experience doing lap on the largest patients.

Am new to this forum but I got my date yesterday (November 5) and am excited.
My BMI is 58 and my doctor is doing my RNY laparoscopic.
So it must be just your doctor.
Mine just said I should lose 10 pounds before my date.

I am so glad to have found the BMI over 50 forum!  Thank you to whoever mentioned it on the main board.  My doctor won't do surgery until my BMI is under 70 and I'm almost there.  He is planning on doing laproscopic not open.  He is comfortable with doing it if I get below 70, but does not want to take the risk over.  I am just planning on losing as much as possible presurgery!  The lower the better, a headstart to after surgery.

My BMI is over 80 and my surgeon told me the morning of surgery he wasn't sure if he could do me lapo or not because most of my fat is in my belly! He was hoping he could and was able too do it lapo which I was delighted about! :)