►Note: Not all patients are candidates for the Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass. Patients ideally should meet the following guidelines.
► Communication Access: You must have a reliable Email address that can accept "attachments." Note: It is Very Important that you DO NOT use your work email address. You can expect to receive a high volume of very personal email at the address that you send us. You need to have a personal email address and not a work email address.
► Preoperative Screening Information: You must complete the online patient information form. http://clos.net/patinformation.htm
► An Age between 16 and 55 is ideal but we often review the cases of older patients on case by case basis and in many patients age up to 81 yeas or old have been approved for surgery. (Older patients need to demonstrate that they are very well motivated, very well informed patients that have strong support of both their family and their physician(s).)
► A BMI of 40 kg/m2 or above, or a BMI of 35 to 40 kg/m2 with comorbidity, (A good rule of thumb is a body weight of over 100 lbs above your ideal body weight.) Rarely we consider patients of lower or higher body weights.
► A body weight no more than 350 lbs.
► Patients must presently be working, either in or out of the home (Patients that are Students or Housewives can meet these guidelines if they are mobile and able to be active. Disabled and wheelchair patients are generally not good candidates for the surgery.)
► No history of previous obesity surgery. That is we do not accept patients that have had previous vertical banded gastroplasty, “stomach stapling”, Roux-en-Y or other types of previous weight loss surgery. (We are no longer accepting patients for revision of other types of weight loss surgery.) WE DO offer revisions for failed LapBand surgery.
► No history of major abdominal surgery. (Some operations such as appendectomy, gallbladder removal and a few other operations such as hysterectomy may be acceptable.)
► No history of alcohol abuse or drug use. The patient must sign and notarize an affidavit that they are not using narcotics alcohol or sedatives! No Dilaudid, Fentnyl, Klonopin, Xanax etc. We have found such patients to be profoundly dangerous and poor candidates for surgery!
► The patient must show evidence of a strong, supportive and stable family structure and have the documented support of their immediate family.
► The patient must have a
supportive personal physician (family practice or internal medicine) who
will:
Support the patient’s desire to undergo Laparoscopic Mini-Gastric Bypass
► Perform a detailed, meticulous and complete preoperative evaluation,
► Agree to be actively involved in the postoperative follow up with CELOS.
► No history of major psychiatric illness.
► If the patient has had depression, the patient and his/her psychiatrist must have a plan in place with their psychiatrist for the diagnosis and management of depression post operatively.
► No history of:
► Recent Prednisone Therapy for Any Reason
► Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE)
► Rheumatoid Arthritis
► Other Collagen Vascular Disease
► Patients need to have a documented commitment to participate in a postoperative exercise program
► Evidence that the patient can work with CELOS and staff by following directions and communicating in a timely manner.
► Documented commitment to maintain the initial postoperative and yearly long-term follow-up with CELOS to decrease the risks of complications such as ulcers, vitamin, mineral and other nutritional deficiencies.
► You must have appropriate financial resources to cope with the costs associated with the surgery itself and you must be prepared to manage the post operative period in the event of a problem or complication