Too fat for top surgery

[CatHawk1453]

I'm currently too fat for top surgery. I'm 5'3'' and 198 lbs I want to lose weight but with my Binge Eating Disorder this is very hard, esp hard to keep myself down at a certain weight. I got all the way down to 175 lbs at one point but school stresses me out and now I'm back to 190ish (it fluctuates around that area a lot). Does anyone know the maximum weight/BMI you can have before surgeons start rejecting you? Or has anyone else gotten surgery while being on the heavier side? I'm also afraid of getting it and then having it look like >-bleeped-< because of getting it at a heavier weight.

[CallMeV]

I wasn't aware there was a weight limit? I dont know what country you are living in but is this maybe just a specific doctor's requirement? I know I've seen some before/after pics of some bigger guys who were able to get the surgery.
  I'm in the usa and I already know I'll be paying out-of-pocket for the surgery. I've been doing some research and all I've seen is that you need to be fairly healthy and have any mental health issues currently under control/being treated. I'm still in early days in my research but I really hope there isn't a weight limit.

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[CatHawk1453]

I wasn't aware there was a weight limit? I dont know what country you are living in but is this maybe just a specific doctor's requirement? I know I've seen some before/after pics of some bigger guys who were able to get the surgery.
  I'm in the usa and I already know I'll be paying out-of-pocket for the surgery. I've been doing some research and all I've seen is that you need to be fairly healthy and have any mental health issues currently under control/being treated. I'm still in early days in my research but I really hope there isn't a weight limit.

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My understanding of it after talking to my doctor about it (he specializes in Trans healthcare) is that you have to be under a certain BMI to get it done and that most surgeons will turn me down at this point in my life because of my weight. I'm clinically obese so my BMI is fairly high.

[Ryuichi13]

My understanding of it after talking to my doctor about it (he specializes in Trans healthcare) is that you have to be under a certain BMI to get it done and that most surgeons will turn me down at this point in my life because of my weight. I'm clinically obese so my BMI is fairly high.

I'm only a Paramedic, but from what I understand from talking to doctors during my career, "if you are over a certain BMI, anesthetic medicine needed to keep you asleep might not work as well for you (EEEP!) and/or when it comes to recovery from the anesthesia (in the recovery room), it would take a LOT longer for you to properly wake up.

Then again, it doesn't hurt to simply ask your doctor "why do I need to be under a certain BMI?" the next time you see your surgeon. 

Hope this helps!

Ryuichi

[Dena]

I don't know the answer but I would suspect they would like you to be no more than overweight and would prefer you in the normal range. If you're a binge eater, you might want to consider rationing your food either the night before or in the morning and limit your intake only to that. In my case, I do a lot of crock pot cooking which I divide up and freeze. This allows me to control my meal intake and prevent me from overeating just because it 's there. I don't need to lose weight however I can gain weight if I'm not careful.

[MeTony]

In Sweden you need to be below BMI 30 to be operated on. I have BMI 33. Need to lose 12 kg. Operation is a heavy motivator for me. I do weight lifting and power walk almost every day. I've lost 3 kg since new year. 12 to go.

Have you had help with your eating disorder? If you get help with that, you might get a better control over your eating and get a healthy eating habit and then you can lose weight. Binge eating as dangerous and severe as anorexia. But few people seem to know that. It's not a matter of will power or bad habits. It's a disorder of control.


Tony

[Linde]

One very important reason that surgeons don't lie overweight people on the table is the fact, that it is hard to suture reliably in fatty tissue.  Sutures tend to break out from such tissue.  Furthermore, fatty tissue has very poor blood supply and because of this, it tends to poorly heal.  Poorly healing issue with poor blood supply is prone to develop post surgical infections that might be very complicated and expensive to treat, and might end up with lots of ugly scars.

We always recommended that candidates for voluntary surgery should be as lean as possible!

[chance]

I am way obese, 5'2" 270lbs (give or take 5-10 any given day) and I had my top surgery 5.5 months ago.  I did have special consideration for the anesthesia but because I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine.  They probably would have taken consideration anyway because of my weight but I have not had any bad effects so far due to being overweight.  Of course I'm working on losing weight only to look a little in shape. 

I'm in USA and my weight was never brought up as an issue.  I brought it up myself and the doctor said if I was planning on the surgery ina year it might be worth trying to lose weight but it's not a problem for getting the surgery now.  This was a trans specific surgeon at a trans clinic in the hospital that has done/does several top surgeries.  Sure I would look better after losing weight but the surgery, recovery, and healing are going well.  I did have a couple weird looking bulges just below my armpits but they are almost completely gone now. 

That's my experience anyway

Peace
Chance   

[pastormel]

I just had top surgery two days ago. My surgeon didn't have a weight limit at all. He was very kind and excited for me to make this change. I'm 5'4" and weigh about 250 lbs. I'm also in the U.S.

Hope you are able to find a way forward!

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