Body mass index, or BMI, is a reliable indicator of weight status for most people. BMI is used to screen for potential health problems based on weight category. You can use the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) BMI calculator to calculate your BMI and your corresponding weight category.

To qualify for bariatric surgery at Baystate Health, you must have a BMI of 35 or higher with a comorbidity or 40 or higher without comorbidity. Comorbidity means that you have another illness or disorder in addition to obesity, like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, or fatty liver disease.

Baystate Health’s bariatric surgeons perform both laparoscopic gastric bypass (Roux-En-Y) and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy procedures. 

Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass (Roux-En-Y)

In a laparoscopic gastric bypass, the surgeon makes small incisions, or cuts, in your abdomen. Through these cuts, they insert a small camera and the tools they need. Then, they create a small pouch from your stomach and connect this pouch directly to your small intestine. And finally, the surgeon closes your incision.  

After your surgery, any food you swallow goes into this small pouch of stomach and directly into your small intestine. Food goes around—or “bypasses”— part of your original stomach and small intestine, and as a result, your body doesn’t absorb a portion of calories and nutrition from what you’ve eaten.  

People who have this surgery lose up to 60% of their excess weight in the first two years after the surgery.

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

With a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, about two-thirds of your stomach is removed. This procedure leaves you with a stomach that looks like a thin tube or “sleeve.” After surgery, any food you eat enters this sleeve.  
 
People who have this surgery feel full after eating small amounts of food. They consume fewer calories and lose up to 55% of their excess weight in the first two years after the sleeve gastrectomy.

What you eat before and after your bariatric surgery is a very important part of your weight loss journey. Your Baystate Health dietitian will help you understand your new eating requirements in detail. 

You'll start eating immediately after surgery and gradually move through different stages of eating — from liquids to soft foods, and finally to solid foods. These stages help ensure that you’re eating safely and getting the right nutrition. 

After your surgery, you’ll need to take a complete multivitamin and calcium supplement daily, for the rest of your life. 

Talking with the Baystate weight loss team, as well as our support groups will help guide you through the lifestyle changes you need to make.