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Originally Posted by cnvh
I am starting the process of pursuing WLS (going to the hospital's info session on Thursday, woohoo), and in reading over the hospital's literature and website, it states that they do the lap procedure for people whose BMI's are between 40-50. This is quite disappointing to me, since I had thought I would be a good candidate for lap-- I have never had any abdominal surgeries before and thus no scar tissue, and I'm still pretty young (30) and aside from my weight, am in pretty good health. BUT my BMI is about 57. The thought crossed my mind to pester for an exception, but upon further consideration, I think I'd be better off letting a surgeon do whichever method he/she thinks is more appropriate!
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I agree that letting your surgeon make the call is the best choice, but it doesn't hurt to ask about it. My BMI was 59 before surgery and I had 2 previous abdominal surgeries and my surgeron still performed the lap process. He said it also has to do with the size of your liver. Your body stores excess carbs in your liver, so people with a high BMI tend to have large livers. Your liver is in front of/on top of the digestive system they are trying to get to during surgery and if it is too enlarged it makes the process more difficult and more likely to have complications. He had me go on a high protein, extremely low carb diet for two and half weeks before surgery. No fruits, no veggies, nothing with sugar, no bread, pasta, or rice products of any kind. Basically, I was allowed to eat meat (which I don't care for), cheese, eggs, and carb smart peanut butter. Not a healthy diet for long term use, but it forces the body to use the carbs stored in the liver in order to maintain blood sugar levels, thus reducing its size. Of course each surgeon has their own peculiar quirks based on personal experiences, so they can decide best what is right for you.