Heather_in_Alabama

At my highest weight I was 363 lbs. I went to visit a dr in January of 2008. I started the 6 month required dr supervised diet in December 2007. The gastric bypass scared me too much that I didnt even consider it. I did a lot of research and really wanted the gastric sleeve. Unfortunately my insurance would not cover that so I settled and decided to have the lapband surgery. I lost 63 lbs doing the diet so on the day of surgery (August 26, 2008) I was down to 300 lbs. I have the Realize band. I have not had a lot of trouble with my band like a lot of others I see. It did take me a while to find the right amount of fill for my band which is currently at 8.25 cc. My dr and nurse are both amazed at the amount of weight I have lost as well as the amount of fill in my band. I am the only female in their office that has lost 200+ lbs with the band and I am also the only female they have seen that has that amount of fill in the band. I initally lost 208 lbs and went from a size 28 to a size 8! And I went from 363 lbs down to 155 lbs. Then I got pregnant! I had to unfill my band and I gained 85 lbs. I was horrified. 4 weeks after my daughter was delivered I went back and got my band filled again. I have lost 45 of the 85 lbs I gained but I can not for the life of me get these last 40 lbs off no matter what I do. I have noticed in the last year that I have been "stuck" more often than not and I have vomited more than ever! I fear that my band has slipped, however I no longer have insurance and can not afford to pay out of pocket for any tests etc. So my plan now is to visit Mexico and have my band removed and the sleeve put in place.