I am being 1000% Truly honest with you here, and PLEASE note this is the same thing I would tell ANYONE regarding WLS regardless of their goal weigh. So here goes....

First off, I don't know if you would qualify for the sleeve, generally the BMI requirement is 40. I know they will do it for people who are under that if you have some 'comorbid' symptoms such as high blood pressure or diabetes. I don't know if hypertherodism (sp?) is one of those symptoms, but it generally has to be a health related illness that is directly due to being overweight.

Also, just an FYI, even with VGS you may not get to your ideal weight as there are often people who dont, even if they were not morbidly obese to begin with as with the sleeve people tend to lose about 60-70% of their excess weight.. I know many people in my support group who had either VGS or RNY and lost 60 or 70 pounds, not everyone loses 100 or 200 pounds.

That being said, I'm not a naysayer per say I just think, having gone through it myself IMO it really should be solution only for those who really need extreme medical intervention. I dont think this is for everyone and I tell that to people, I often wish that I could have dealt with my weight and health problems in a more traditional way before they got so bad that my BMI reached 60!!!!! and I had diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I got to a point that the weight loss (over 150 pounds) became too overwhelming for me to be able to do on my own.

I recommend that you do research and find out the pros and cons of this if this is something that you are really interested in. I really dont think this is a solution for everyone and I hate when people, especially those in the first two years of the "honeymoon" phase preach about it and tell every overweight person to get WLS. I believe that despite what I say or other on the forums this is your choice, as this a VERY personal decision. I just encourage anyone who is interested in considering WLS to get ALL the information and option before they make their decisions.

AND PS a 16 pound lose in 5 month is pretty good, thats an average loss of over half a pound a week. :happy:

No, you are not crazy for considering WLS. I am your height and have spent my entire adult life struggling with my weight. I've lost weight several times, but gained it back sooner or later.

When my weight got close to 300 pounds (286 was my highest weight), I made the decision to have surgery. I did not want to have surgery, but nothing else I have tried has been successful for me long term. I was literally going to eat myself to death. After choosing a surgeon, I had to complete a six month medically supervised weight loss program required by my insurance company. Next was lots of tests and lab work. It was not a quick or easy process.

I lost 14 pounds prior to surgery (sleeve), which was just about a month ago. Since then I've lost 17 more pounds and am down to 255. I'm not losing weight as fast as most others that have had the surgery, but it is more than I could have done without the surgery. Like you, I have hypothyroidism which can make weight loss very slow.

If there were any other way for me to lose weight and have a chance to keep it off long term, I would have done it. There are no guarantees that this surgery will be a permanent solution. Many people that have WLS eventually gain part or even all of their weight back. Its not magic, just a tool.

Lee91356 makes many very good points in their post. I am in the "honeymoon" phase of my surgery and would still caution anyone considering it to do their research. Read as much as you can about it. Check out the forums and see what life post-surgery is like. Ask lots of questions... there are many people here that are willing to help and support you.

The decision is a very personal one. No matter what you decide, I wish you all the best.

Pre op I was 270 on 2/1/12 and am 5'4". By surgery day on 6/11/12 I was down to 223. Yes I had lost 47 pounds on my own with the help of MFP but I knew if I didn't have the sleeve surgery I would fall off the wagon and never get to my goal as what has happened many times in my life. The surgeon goes by the weight you are on the first time they see you. Depending on your insurance and the surgeon you have to fall within a certain BMI to even had WLS. I was told by my surgeon three weeks before my surgery date I was one of the smaller paitents he had. I am still glad I had sleeve surgery. I am 145 today and want to get between 130-140 as my own personal goal weight. I would have never lost this much weight on my own without WLS. Yes I did good on my own loosing 47 pounds in about 4 months but that is the story of my life, loose it...get off track...gain some of it back.... and repeat.
You have to do what is right for you. WLS isn't a magic wand. You have to still work to loose the weight and it ain't easy those first three months right after surgery. I don't regret my sleeve surgery at all.
Good luck!

I agree with lee19356. And let me add that my surgeon's office has a non-surgical weight loss program. With just 81 pounds to lose, that kind of a program might be a better fit for you. If I had of gotten serious with the weight loss at 81 pounds over, I would have done the non-surgical method. Bottom line is, you and your doctor need to determine what's going to work best for you. Surgery or not, it's all tools. How successful we are at losing and keeping it off is ultimately up to us. No magic bulletts anywhere.

I don't think you'll have any trouble finding a surgeon willing to do it, but you're very likely to have to self-pay - I did. I'm 5'8", started at 245, so a little heavier than you for my height I'd say, but not a huge amound. I'd managed major weight loss 3 times in my life, but could never KEEP it off, which is why I decided on surgery.
I went to seminars on bariatric surgery at several different hospitals in my area to get a sense of the options, the research, the risk, and the cost - they were all willing to give me hard numbers on costs for self-pay patients.

I started off with a BMI of 54 and with uncomtrolable high blood pressure. I couldnt even make it thru the grocery store without extreme pain in my back and becoming out of breath, along with a laundry list of other weight related issues.
I cried and was soo upset with myself for getting this big - I had to mulitate my body because I couldnt control the food that I was constantly stuffing myself with.
If I honeslty though that I could loose close to 200 pounds without the surgery I would have!
I honestly feel that this is for extreme cases of Obesity or other serious health issues that are related to weight.

I agree with what the others have said, make sure you find out your insurance company's requirements. If you don't qualify under their requirements, make sure to check around on how much you will have to pay out-of-pocket. Some folks have gone to Mexico and paid way less.

How perfectly sane of you. We all went through the agony of indecision about yes or no to surgery, use this energy to drive your research so that you are well informed about EVERYTHING both positive and negative before you make up your mind. I am not regretting having the sleeve one bit, however I agree with many other VSG-ers, it is not a magic bullet- you CAN eat your way out of the sleeve and it will never be a cure-all. I also see a food psychologist to deal with the head issues as these will always lurk in the background. A close friend recently had the sleeve even though she had a BMI under 40 - she has a bone condition which made her excess weight super-painful and dangerous and so it was an easy decision for her. Already after 10 weeks her pain is under control. However, that was HER and everyone's situation is different. Good luck with your journey, whatever you decide to do.

I stated at 212lbs, and I am 5'6", along with sleep apnea. My surgery was 1/9/2013, after struggling with my weight for years, had always been able to manage. At 49 post op hysterectomy 2005, just kept going up and up. I would do it again, not easy my love for food was such a big social part of my life. Here I am 27 lbs down and looking forward to being healthy. I eat now to live, instead of living to eat.

I am 5'6" and I was 210lbs with sleep apnea. I got the VSG last March and insurance paid for it. I asked my surgeon if the procedure was really going to be worth it for me. Since I only had 60-65 lbs to lose and the statistic I saw was that patients lose 55% of their excess weight which for me was only about 30 lbs. He told me that I would lose all of the excess weight and I did. So, no regrets at all. I am glad I got the surgery and it was definitely worth it.