Am I a candidate?

Bariatric surgery can give you health and happiness—and a new lifestyle. Because it does cause such a great change to your life, education about the surgery, your options and your candidacy is important. Potential weight-loss surgery patients need to make sure they are informed, and Key Bariatric Specialists is here to answer any of your questions.

Weight loss surgery is intended for individuals who are severely obese. Severe obesity is linked to a variety of serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and sleep apnea. A person is defined as obese if he or she has a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, and morbidly obese if he or she has a BMI of 40 or higher. BMI is calculated as a function of body weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. For obese individuals, weight is a serious long-term issue without an easy solution. At our weight loss surgery center serving Fort Wayne, Auburn, Huntington, Kendallville, Peru, Wabash, all of northeast Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, Dr. Dale Sloan offers a number of surgical procedures to provide patients with an effective means for overcoming obesity when diet and exercise are insufficient.

Qualifying for Weight Loss Surgery

In order to qualify for weight loss surgery, a patient must meet a number of criteria:

The patient must be severely obese
The patient must be generally healthy enough to withstand surgery
The patient should already have tried to lose weight in other ways (e.g., diet and exercise)
The patient must be prepared to commit to long-term lifestyle changes

For obese individuals suffering from co-morbidities associated with obesity, it is important to undergo a full evaluation as soon as possible. Failing to address obesity and related issues will almost certainly lead to serious health complications in the future, possibly culminating in a premature death.

Being Prepared for Weight Loss Surgery

Because Dr. Sloan and his staff pursue a multi-dimensional approach to weight loss, bariatric surgery is only one step in the process. It is important for each patient to realize before his or her procedure that achieving lasting weight loss involves more than surgery – diet and exercise, among other factors, will also be central to each patient's success. Life after obesity surgery will be very different. In particular, weight loss surgery patients must limit their food intake. After bariatric surgery, some patients find they are unable to eat certain foods. A positive aspect of bariatric surgery is that because the surgery involves restricting stomach capacity, post-bariatric patients will be satisfied with less food.