BMI 55 and over

What is happening with these folks?  Are you told you can't have surgery until you lower your BMI?
Can you share your info?

Thanks.

This is sooo true. OHIP has made it mandatory that if a patient's BMI is 55 or over then the surgery is to be cancelled or postponed until the BMI is lower.  I had surgery on Feb 10th but had got a call from my surgeons office 2 days before surgery.  They said that they had gotten this notice from OHIP and since I had a BMI of 55 my surgery would have to be postponed.  Thank god I had been on Optifast because with the weight loss from that my BMI was 53 so surgery went as planned.  

Cheryl

Wow. I don't really understand OHIP.  As far as I know, Ottawa still can refer OOC for BMIs over 55, so I am not sure why other centres are not doing the same thing.

Congrats on getting your BMI lower and on your surgery.

 HUmber had a note posted in some room i went in on the day of my surgery saying no surgery if BMI over 55...i asked about that cuz the nurse kept saying my BMI was 56 but it wasnt...the computer there wouldnt register my BMI being 54..so they had to go with the number from december a different nurse then told me that the no surgery for BMI 55 clause doesnt apply there anymore.

teh Nut miscalculated my BMI- said it was 39, when it was 36. Double check their numbers.

I was talking to my Dr's office this morning and not informed of this.  Could it be that the "Centres of excellence" are the exception?

God I hope you are wrong.  I just checked and I would have to lose another 57 lbs to be under 55.  Not good.

That's what I heard too. It's because the centres of 'excellence' aren't capable of coping with patients that size, plus there's a high level of risk. Seems to me that OHIP are trying to make the surgery appear to be very successful.

The rules state that if you're over 35BMI with co-mobs or 40BMI then you're eligible for the operation. If you're over 55 I would try to go through the appeal process to get a more 'reasonable' surgery date.

Hi cindyloubear,
Yep!! This is pretty much accurate.
I had my 1^st Group session appointment on October 6,2009 (BMI 61.4) and the second one October 15^th with the dietitian and I was then advised @ that time that they would not be able to preform the WLS on me as yet be/c I needed to loose weight; my BMI was too high!!..I was completely devastated & shocked!!.. I was there be/c I needed help - and then to be told I needed to loose weight!!.. Unbelievable!!   Toronto Western @ that time was just starting the New Program - and this was the rules that came down from OHIP. 
Toronto Western scheduled me appointments with the Dietitian's and the Psychiatrist - to help me loose the weight.. .. finally, on Tuesday January 5,2010 - After a long challenging battle and a 30lbs weight loss (BMI was 56.8); I was officially approved for my WLS!! I then was on Opticrap for 3 weeks .  My surgery date was Monday February 22, 2010 - My BMI as of Tuesday is now 53..

All the Best!!
God Bless,
Ange