Are you a Candidate for Surgery?

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You are a candidate for weight loss surgery if you fulfill the following criteria based on medical indications:

• Your Body Mass Index is equal to or greater than 40 kg/m² (calculate your Body Mass Index)

– or –

• > 32 kg/m² with associated obesity related medical conditions such as:
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Sleep apnoea +/- CPAP machine
  • Joint pain (ankles, knees, hips, lower back)
  • High cholesterol and other lipids
  • Depression
  • You have failed to permanently reduce your weight using nonsurgical methods
  • You have an absence of endocrine disorders that can cause morbid obesity
  • You are psychologically stable which means
    • you do not abuse alcohol and drugs
    • you understand how surgery causes weight loss
    • you realize that surgery itself does not guarantee results

In addition, you should honestly and truthfully, be able to answer “Yes” to the following questions:

1. Are you convinced that your excess weight is a danger to your health or do you just hate the way you look?
2. Is your weight interfering with your everyday life, i.e. your ability to look after your family or enjoy your life?
3. Have you really tried to lose weight by modifying your lifestyle, such as dieting and increased physical activity?
4. If you were successful in losing weight, have you gained it all back?
5. Do you feel that you will never succeed in achieving permanent weight loss without weight loss surgery?
6. Are you willing to undergo a psychological assessment if your surgeon determines that this is necessary?
7. Are you prepared to modify your eating habits required by weight loss surgeries which reduce the amount of food that you will be able to eat after the surgery?
8. Are you prepared to face the altered body image induced by massive weight loss?