BMI too low for surgery?

Hi everyone,

I've been starting the process over the last few months, and today I went for my nurse consult. Turns out that my BMI is 39.6, but since I have no co-morbidities, I will likely be ineligible for surgery because my BMI is not 40. I will know more in a few weeks when I see the doctor. So, I was wondering, is there anyone out there who was this close to the cut-off and still had the surgery? I am so disappointed that this option may now be ruled out for me.

I was very close.. My BMI was 42 and they told me I had better not lose much weight before surgery. I had started to change my eating habits months before and had lost some weight. I knew from past experience, that I would never keep it off. I had lost weight but ALWAYS gained it back and more. 

I was 245lbs in Aug2009. The day I had my RNY surgery in Sept 2010, I was 209lbs 

Talk to the dr. Tell him/her about different things you have done thru your life to lose weight and see what they say.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply! It's hard because I know that my weight will yo-yo, and that even though my BMI is 39.6 today doesn't mean that it won't be 41 next week. And I know that if I try to lose it myself, it will just come back (with more), so to be told that I likely won't be a candidate is so disappointing. 

You are so close. Drink lots of water before your next appt and eat a carb heavy meal too. That should put you over. 

My BMI WAS 36 with high blood pressure. My insurance looked at the past 2 years bmi dr. Visits and the surgeons office took out the ones where my bmi was below 35. My insurance also took my BMI weight at the consult with the surgeon and it didn't matter if i gained or lost after that initial appt. Also they tested me several times for sleep apnea turns out i didn't have enough episodes at night to be diagnosed but that is also a Comorbidity.

I've been ruled out for sleep apnea, (they're not sending me for the test), so I can't even hope for that as an extra reason. I'm in pretty good health (no BP issues, no diabetes, etc), but starting to get bad joint issues, although that doesn't sound like it counts for much in terms of qualifying factors. It's just hard--been getting my hopes up, making changes (I cut out pop completely since Feb and I had a MAJOR diet Pepsi addiction), and now I'm just so disappointed.

I'm not going to suggest you try to gain weight or anything that bad, but as another person posted drink a lot of water right before your next appointment. Or you could say you are a half an inch shorter if you are comfortable fudging things a little. If you're 5'6" and weigh 245 pounds your BMI is 39.5, but if you're 5'5 1/2" and weigh the same 245 pounds then your BMI is 240.1...It's all just a suggestion. Good luck! :)

Thanks! I'll try those suggestions!

Ive seen a lot of people like yourself referred to weight management programs or the optifast program. 

Is that run through the Bariatric centre?