Can you lose to much weight prior to surgery ? What if Opti works to well!

Morning all , I'm in early days of this life changing process,  my MO/GP finally approved my referral(She warns me it might take up a month to be actually submitted(Military likes to drag things out and requires rubber stamp from Ottawa) So I'm expecting anywhere from 1-2 years from this point to surgery.

My question is what if I loose a significant amount of weight before going under the knife? I'm a life long yo yo weight loss then gain victim, I'm currently hovering at 255-260 lbs and a bmi of 39.5-40 , I do have sleep Apnea, GERD and borderline HBP and a staggering amount of Diabetes, Heart Disease and HBP in my family on both sides.

I'm reading stories of people losing up to 30 pounds on Optifast, that would drop me below 35 BMI? Anyone been denied this late into the process? I'm concerned because my weight does tend to fluctuate .

Anyone else concerned about being denied so late into the process?

Your weight that approves you for surgery is what they look at, not the post optifast weight. You'll be fine. You've got the comorbidities, too so that will save your bacon. lol Don't worry about it once you're on the optifast, then you're golden.


breathe....

Thanks for the quick reply, I've been struggling with my weight my entire 16 year Military career and it's been a very tough decision to go ahead and request surgery, thankfully my MO/GP supports me 100% and even went so far to say she was proud of me for making this choice :)

I guess my next step is wait for her to actually submit the referral(She warned me it might take a  month to actually submit it , do to the fact I don't fall under Ohip and thru no OHIP billing number and the requirement for her referral to first be approved by the big wigs in Ottawa(The Military does lose it's drawn out processes)

So if I'm clear on this the baritric centers weight in is the final say or is it my wait at the time of the GP's referral?

Thanks again for your input, I've never met a kinder more supportive or knowledgeable group online.


Kb

My sister and brother in law are ex military, so i'm familiar with that from an outsider's point of view, anyway.  Good luck with that red tape!!

I believe that its the WLS centre's weigh in that makes the decision. So as long as you don't fall below 35BMI by that time, you should be ok.

This is a wonderfully supportive group. Very unique. I love being able to come here, and 50 people know exactly what i'm talking about when i post about a frustration or a success. It really is an invaluable support, that is for sure.

And we're all glad you found us.

Mon

LOL agree with everything Monica said!!

Hey, I had the same issue...wondering whether or not I'd then be denied if I lost a pile of weight before surgery. (wanted to lose weight with or without surgery)  My bmi at time of referral was 46.7 and by time of surgery was 37.3.  They just asked me if I still wanted to do it or just keep going on my own.. So after waiting 10 months I still wanted to go ahead with it.  They go by your original referral weight, well at least TWH does. Hope this helps.

I just had my nurse apt, and I had the impression that my weight at referral or at least orientation was the weight they would use.

well i was lucky, i lost a couple lbs and was 40.5 bmi at the nurse appt and she said, just on the boarder! your officially recorded, and any weight loss you have you wont be punished for. that being said I dont believe a surgeon would operate on someone with a bmi under 35....unless it was just from the 2 weeks of optifast prior to surgery

It depends on which assessment centre you are in. Some go by the weight on the referral, others go by the weight you are when you meet the surgeon to set a surgery date. Some will kick you out for gaining weight or for losing too much before your surgeon's appointment (Guelph and Ottawa respectively), but once you have a surgery date and start optifast, you have nothing to worry about.

Glad to see the ball is finally rolling for you!

I had the same question when I met with the surgeon.  He said that even if I loose a significant amount of weight on optifast, once off Opti  it would come back and I'd be in the same boat.

Any weight you loose with Opti is a bonus :) ... I only lost 10 pds on 2 wks of Opti.

Good luck with all the paperwork !


Amy