trans | SRS while Overweight? (Reply)

I looked through the tags and didn't see anything about this, so I figured I'd ask.

I'm beginning to research surgeons so I can get my ducks in a row and know what to expect. I'm lucky enough to have insurance that will cover insurance, but the stipulations and conditions and hoops I'll have to go through to find a surgeon already seems daunting. I also was born in Illinois; So, for insurance purposes and Illinois' stupid birth certificate laws (for now) I need to find an SRS surgeon in the United States for $20,000 or less. So far, I've found the major names of course.. Bowers, Meltzer, and Brassard (not sure if Insurance would work with Brassard), Reed (which from everything I've read is a big no-no), and Christine McGinn.

Here's where the problem comes in, and I have to imagine I'm not the only one with this problem:
I'm overweight. Now, to be fair, I don't -look- all that overweight, and I mainly carry my weight in my belly. My arms and legs are actually very toned. I'm about 5'8", and at last doctor's appointment weighed about 298. (Still don't look it though).

Just about every surgeon's information I've found have weight restrictions; Bowers site I believe states patients should be 210lbs or less, McGinn's states patients should have a BMI of 28 or less (which for 5'8" is about 170lbs. Get Real.)

I know that I can't be the only overweight MTF person in the world, and I know that there have to have been others who have successfully had SRS. I can't imagine surgeons would turn away clients based on weight issues alone.

So then, does anyone out there have any experiences with surgeons / surgery and weight issues? I'm willing to try to lose weight, but I don't think that trying to lose 100+ lbs in the next 1-2 years is all that practical, feasible, or realistic.

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