Tish5632

I wasn't overweight at all until 20 years ago and I gave birth to my daughter. Within a year of her birth I developed PCOS (Poly cystic ovary syndrome) and the weight piled on, along with many other symptoms. As a matter of fact, I had trouble gaining weight during my pregnancy with her. At my post-partum visit 4 weeks after giving birth, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 110 pounds. (I'm 5'1"). PCOS is incredibly difficult to deal with. Weight seems to be added on to the body like a magnet attracts metal. Anyway, 20 years later (and one family addition - son, Nick, born 2000) and my weight is 207. It had gone as high as 220 in May 2009 when I decided something had to change. Our family loves going to theme parks and my husband and I are roller coaster fanatics - but at that weight, theme parks got painful. The people from the park working the rides would make me get into a "dummy" coaster seat to make sure the belt would fasten around me. AND, they did it in front of ALL the other park guests. It was mortifying. The reason I decided to have the LapBand is that I knew I needed help to lose the weight. My parents had both undergone gastric bypass surgery and they both nearly died. Both had extreme complications both physical and psychological, but thankfully they're okay now for the most part. EXCEPT that they both get nauseated EVERY time they eat, they frequently vomit after eating, and they both suffer from "dumping syndrome", which is no picnic and they're on SS disability directly related to the bypasses. I still have one child living at home who needs me, I couldn't risk being that ill post-op or even dying like at one point we thought they both might do. The LapBand seemed to be the right choice for me. My insurance won't pay for any type of weight loss surgery - it was specifically excluded by my husband's employer, so I knew it would be self-pay. I work in the medical field and I'm very cautious as a general rule. I couldn't afford to pay the $$$ that it would cost to have it done in the states. SO, I did A LOT of research and finally decided on Dr. Ariel Ortiz and the Obesity Control Center in Mexico. Still it was $7,000.00 out of pocket, not including airfare, but I could afford it. I had it done 7/3/09 and I couldn't be happier. Dr. Ortiz and the OCC were awesome, and that's something I rarely say about healthcare personnel. I received top notch care and I would recommend him to anyone considering LapBand.