Does this sound reasonable to you?

I met with my surgeon today to get my protein shakes for the 10-day liquid diet that I start on Thursday (great timing, huh? LOL), as my surgery date is Dec. 6th.  While there, I asked him what he realistically thought my goal weight should be (I'm in my early 40s, female, 5'6" and currently weigh 273).  He said he thought 180 would be about right.  That seems kinda high to me, but maybe it's reasonable.  Would love input from any vets out there on this.

Thanks!

Kelly

That seems high to me, I would ask a few more questions.  Why does he think you will not reach normal weight?  What are his statistics with the sleeve?  How many sleeves has he done and how long has be been doing the sleeve surgery?  What size boughie does he use?  How tight does he make his sleeves?  How close to the top and bottom of the stomach does he cut?  These are just a few of the questions I would want answered before I would let him touch me.  The sleeve is not standardized and every surgeon does it differently.  This means that the results are not standardized either.  You want to understand what you are getting before the surgery.

It doesn't seem HIGH to me because that was MY goal weight.  Just go into this with YOUR weight in mind and don't settle for anything less then that, but keeping a realistic look at your life once you have struggles etc.

You can do it and kudos on your surgery date!

MS Shell

 I am 5'7 and my original surgeon set goal weight was 180, but as I get closer to that I can see that I need to go lower, so I talked to him at my last appointment and we measured my body fat % etc and talked about it and both agreed that 160 would be better. I will get closer to that and then decide if it's enough or if I want to go lower. 

Just b/c you set it now does not mean it's set in stone.

I am 58 years old and 5'3" and my doctor set my goal weight at 141, but for my height and build I should be 120.  I, however, am looking forward to achieving the goal he set for me and when I reach that I will decide if I want to lose the additional 20 lbs.  I have set small goals for myself along the way.  I usually set 5 to 7 lb goals and then when I reach them I feel I have accomplished something.  Looking at my weight loss as a whole seems such a big task but when I break it down it becomes easier.  So go for the 180 and then see how you feel.  If you are still feeling that you need to lose more I am sure you will.  Best of luck.

My goal is set for 200. I know I will still be overweight at that weight (I'm 5'9") but it's waaaaaaaaaay better than where I am now. Once I get closer I will re-assess, but for now I'm ready to start rocking this sleeve! Good luck to you. And we must remember, we control what goes in our mouths and how much we get up and move....not the doctors.

I'm 5'3, 36 years old (next week) and my goal weight, set with my doctor is 140. I think that maybe 180 could be your first goal and then set another later. Just something to think about from one ****atoo lover to another.  :-)

I just did my consultation.  I am 5'6 and was 281lbs on the visit and the surgeon told me I should get down to 155lbs.  I'm in my early 30's but I'm not sure age is a factor.  Before I had my daughter I was down to 165 170 and 5'6 and that was a comfortable weight for me.  I was wearing between a size 10 and 8 jean then. To be honest I will be very happy to just be under 200 but Im going to try my hardest to reach 155 or at least get very close to it.

I did a quick BMI check and at 180 your BMI would be 29. That's overweight - no longer obese. For a lot of docs all they strive for is to get you out of the obese range and they have done "their" medical duty. My doc is very clear about the fact that if you get down to a 29 bmi the surgery is "medically successful", however, he prefers you get down to a bmi of 25 or less. Seems there is a difference between personal success and medical, statistical success. I'm going for a personal goal. As I get close to it, I'll evaluate whether it's a reasonable goal. Who knows, I may change my mind and want a weight that's a little higher.

I always get a bit suspicious when a doc downplays the performance of his procedures - does he not have confidence in his work, or does he lack confidence in his patients' ability to follow through? It may be realistic by the averages that say that the VSG will produce something in the area of 70-75% excess weight loss, but there are so many variables going into that figure that it seems to be counterproductive to downplay a patient's prospects from the very beginning.

My goal weight is on the high side because that's what my body composition dictates; even at that, when I saw the RN a few weeks ago, when still about 20 away from goal, she thought that my goal of 190 (and a BMI of around 27) would make me too skinny. So, if your doc is using any body composition figures for you (did they weigh you on a body composition scale, or do other measurements to determine your fat mass/percentage?) then the higher figure might be reasonable if you are particularly muscular to start with, but if you are a more normal composition for your starting size (with a lean mass more in line with a "normal" person of your height) then your doc does seem to be underplaying your goal and isn't doing you any favors.

How you will fare with this is up to you - if you are the kind of person who will accept your doc's word and be happy meeting the goal he sets for you, then he isn't doing you any favors by underplaying it; however if you take it as a challenge to beat him and show him that you can be "normal" too, then you can do well despite his "advice".