Good Morning,
I am new to the group and considering surgery after several failed attempts to keep my weight off. Has anyone here been approved for surgery with a BMI over 30 but less than 35 with underlying conditions like severe arthritis pain and high blood pressure. I have my evaluation today and I am afraid that they will tell me that my BMI isn't high enough.
Hi Barb & welcome to the group.
Look online for "comorbidities bariatric surgery" or something like that. You have two comorbidities that you list, and you may have more. For instance, carrying extra weight can damage your joints in your hips, knees and ankles. If you don't have diabetes, being overweight can lead to that. Fatty organs don't work as well as normal ones, so a lot of your bodily functions can be diminished, including your ability to burn calories. Liver damage can be fatal. Kidneys can shut down. And don't get me started about intestines and your colon, including colitis and hemorrhoids. People have died from bleeding in the colon and the pockets of ilia that can capture bacteria and cause a more widespread infection.
Obesity shortens life, not just because it leads to heart disease, but because all that fat and inability to flush out bacteria from ALL your organs, which are connected to each other in so many ways. If you search for comorbidities, you may find lists that have symptoms you've noticed but didn't know were related to fatty organs.
The only requirement my surgeon listed for me was that I was more than 100 pounds overweight. Your doctor or surgeon will screen you for the many dangers hiding in being obese. I'd start with a visit to your doctor and ask for a referral to a bariatric surgeon. They'll screen you, too, and you may be surprised at how much danger you're in from carrying too much weight. Your life expectancy can be drastically shortened, depending on how much excess weight you're carrying.
The BMI is just one factor, but it's the easiest calculation to make because it's just a simple multiplication of height and weight on a chart. Ask your doctor for a referral and then you can make an informed decision before taking the next step.
