BMI, or body mass index, is a calculation to assess your weight-height relationship and make a preliminary determination of underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. Enter your weight and height to calculate your BMI.
Body Mass Index Chart
BMI
Weight Status
Below 18.5
Underweight
18.5-25.0
Normal
25.0-30.0
Overweight
30.0-40.0
Obese
40 and Above
Morbidly Obese
Gateway to long-term weightloss... Gateway to a NEW YOU!
At Heart of America Bariatrics, we understand that potential patients have a lot to choose from in deciding who is going to do their surgery and where they are going to have the operation. There are many advantages to choosing us over others. First of all, we are a small practice. I am the only surgeon in the practice. So, when you have your history and physical examination, when you have your operation, when you are recovering after surgery, you are going to see me. I am going to take care of you. Once I do surgery on you, you are my patient for life. Also, when you come to the office for adjustments or for followup care, I am going to be the person to do that. Along with the smaller staff, we do have a very personalized care, so when you call us on the telephone, more than likely we are going to know exactly who you are. We do not have to pull a chart and figure out what we did, when we did it. We are going to know who you are and we are going to be able to address your personal needs.
I was born and raised in Galion, Ohio. I got my medical degree from New York Medical College in 1989. I did a five-year general surgery residency in Newark, New Jersey. Once I finished my general surgery residency, I immediately went in a private practice and when I started out, I did a whole lot of different types of surgery. I did a lot of vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, trauma surgery, and general surgery and as the years went by, the types of surgeries I most enjoyed doing were the laparoscopic surgery and bariatric surgery.
Now, I moved to St. Louis in 2003 and once I moved here in St. Louis, I became a fulltime bariatric surgeon, meaning 95% of the time all I do are weight loss surgeries and the types of surgeries I perform. Well, I do a lot of Lap-Band procedures. I have done over 500 Lap-Band procedures. I also do laparoscopic gastric bypass. I have done over 300 of the laparoscopic gastric bypass procedures. I do an occasional revision of other bariatric procedures and I still do a lot of advanced laparascopic procedures. Now, I am a fulltime bariatric surgeon and also I have gotten my Center of Excellence designation from the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and lastly I still am a Board-Certified general surgeon.
He has been great. He has been very supportive, very helpful with everything.
Between Dr. Wagner and his staff with Sarah and everybody here, I would recommend that you go ahead and take that chance as a lifestyle change because you will be happy that you did it.
Hi, my name is Dr. Van Wagner. Welcome to our website. Take a look around. We have a lot of great videos. We have a lot of information about bariatric surgery. After you look through all that, hopefully we will be able to sign you up for one of our free educational seminars. If you have any additional questions or any other information you need, please give us a call or e-mail us.
