WorldTraveler

I have been struggling with my weight since I was eight years old. I had childhood asthma and allergies and was placed on Prednisone (steroid) for years, which led to weight gain, mood swings, early puberty and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I have been on some sort of diet/weight control and/or exercise program since I was 13-the first time my mother dragged me to a Weight Watchers meeting. I was the youngest one there and completely humiliated.

I have been considering WLS for the past 10 years and finally feel ready and confident to pursue the gastric sleeve after 27 years of dieting, losing and re-gaining. The most successful I have ever been was with Ideal Protein-I lost 50+ pounds and kept it off with considerable amounts of work for about a year and then after a series of miscarriages, the old habits returned, the exercise went away and I started gaining the weight back.

I'm battling with it now and basically sick of the cycle. I am looking for a tool to force portion control while I am working on my emotional eating.

Aside from PCOS, Hashimoto's (auto-immune low thyroid) and joint aches, I have no health issues associated with obesity, and my BMI is below 40, so my insurance has denied coverage for this procedure. I'm so frustrated because I have a long history of obesity and the battle is constant.

I am now saving for medical tourism in Mexico and am hoping to have the procedure over Memorial Day 2014.

I have been/continue to research and read everything I can about gastric sleeve prep, pre- and post-sleeve life, emotional eating and risks and complications.

I feel very good about this decision and am looking forward to being sleeved with positive, lasting results.