Deetrix

My tale is a very common one..I was born into this life a normal size and weight; however, by the time I was about 6 years old I was wearing "chubby" clothes.  I went through Elementary school being called such names as "steam roller", and went through high school virtually dateless.  By the time I was a senior in highschool, I was fed up with being heavy (I was only about 30 pounds overweight but felt like I was huge so my self-esteem suffered)....I lost weight before going to college and actually wore a bikini the summer before my Freshman year (the only summer I was ever able to).  I felt great and kept my weight off for about a year.  I went crazy in college dating and carrying on but gradually the weight started creeping back.  I married right out of college, had a baby (but gained 70 pounds while pregnant)...I weighed about 238 the day I gave birth and lost about 20 pounds of this weight the 1st month after my wonderful daughter was born.  Through the years I packed on more weight, occassionally dieting and losing 50 pounds at a time, but I always put the weight back on plus some.  Now at 54, I weigh right at 275, have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteo arthritis and if I don't get some weight off, I'll end of up having knee surgery. I do have to mention that I've been on thyroid medicine for about 30 years as I have an underactive thyroid and this might have contributed to my weight gain but, let's face it, I LOVE to cook and eat.I've been doing some research on the various weight-loss surgeries and the lap-band is the one that I'm most interested in.  I've also been researching surgeons in Mexico and think I've settled on one, Dr. Arturo Rodriguez, in Monterrey, MX.  I'd love to hear from any of you about your experiences with Lap Band surgery out of the country,  your experiences with the surgeons in Mexico and subsequent follow-up care in the US.  I look forward to contributing to this forum and hope to make many new friends here.  Cheers!