How, and why did you decide to get surgery?

My husband was receiving physical therapy for a back injury that he got. The doctor there said on his last appointment, "You know you need to lose weight, right? I have a great bariatric surgeon that I could recommend."

Now my husband and I have always struggled with weight. I said I would go with him to the first consultation. I was assuming that he would get a lap band. We both decided to get the sleeve that night. His surgery date is scheduled for June 4, and mine is scheduled for June 20.

How did you come to your decision?

I have wanted this surgery for 4 years. I had started making plans, but other health issues came up. I took my husband to dinner and just told him that I was just plain sick and tired of being sick and tired. So, he said to find a new primary, because the one I had was telling me to go to Optifast and not have surgery. I know how to lose weight; I just can't keep it off.

My new pcp was excited and congratulated me for wanting to take charge of my health. When I see him, he tells me over and over how proud of me and whatever I need ( insurance wise ) he will take care of. In fact, he knew of my surgeon being one of "the best".

I have gone back in forth in my mind about surgery. It clicked that this was best for me when I reconciled in my mind that I would survive if my current relationship with food ended, but I may not survive if my current relationship with food continues. Once I was okay with "breaking up" with food, everything else clicked into place for me.

I had researched and my PCP suggested I go see a local Dr. and attend a seminar....(of course NO INSURANCE)...I went to the seminar...then when I had saved $900 I made an apt. with him. He took my $900 and sent me to see a physciatrist $250 (to make sure I wasn't crazy and couldn't handle the surgery) Then he gave me some lab sheets $275 and set me up for a $400 sleep test...well this was all Pre-Op...$1825...then he tells me I will need to pay him $13,000 and the hospital will be a separate charge (all of this was initially for a Lap Band Not the Sleeve)....

I gave up at this point.....I could never come up with another $20,000 for Hospital and doctor to do the surgery...so I let it go another 3 years and gained another 56 lbs...and allowed my BMI to grow as well.

I have a girlfriend in the same town as me who had had the lapband done by Dr. Aceves in Mexicalli...she raved of his professionalism and care and the care and compasion of his entire staff. I then began to research the doctor myself....My sister (who is bi-lingual) lives 15 minutes from Mexicali, my mom is right there so she could come help care for me if needed....so for me it was alot of different elements that made me choose Mexico....

The hospital was clean, smelled clean, and the nurses were wearing whites and were way put together professionally. They all treated us American Women as if we were Godessess....I myself loved it...Would choose to go back 1000 times again and again....

For about 5 years I told myself, "If I cannot lose X lbs this year, I will think about having weightloss surgery." That started around 2002, before it was very common at all. At the time the only procedure really known to me was RNY and I saw that as an absolute desperation move. Then around 2004 I heard about the lapband and started looking into it. Had lapband surgery early 2006. I knew going into it that chances were it would not be with me forever, so shortly after having it put in I started researching Plan B.

Lost a ton of weight with my lapband and thought that maybe if it ever had to come out, I could do it on my own. Well, it had to come out, and I couldn't come close to maintaining my loss. I've never been able to maintain for the life of me. So about 4 hours after finding out about my lapband slip, and my surgeon telling me he did not consider me a candidate for re-banding, I was on this site looking into sleeve, which had been looming as my most likely Plan B (DS being the other, I still don't care for RNY or plication or any of the more fringe procedures out there). It took me about 4 days to come to the realization that I didn't want another lapband. At first I did, but realistically, I just kept seeing myself in the same place on a 5 year cycle, so I opted for more permanency.

I haven't made up my mind yet. I have been losing slowly and haven't been super active/motivated on it but it has been coming off. I am inbetween potential long-term risks of the surgery vs. potentially short-term benefits (i.e. potentially being thin for a short term period at the long term risk of vitamin deficiencies). Now, before someone jumps in, the 6 year data is showing 70% EWL at year 2 and as low as 50% EWL at year 6. 50% is still 50lbs for a 100lbs need, so not bad, but is that worth it, especially if I can get to that point on my own? That's where I start flip-flopping. My real desire is for a larger sleeve (like 2 cups or 70% of stomach) with the potential for revision. I just feel that would stave off a lot of issues but the surgeons seem fixated on less and less stomach. I don't want to end up with no stomach or RNY if something does go wrong 20 years from now. Vertical banded gastroplasty was the sleeve of the 70s/80s and a lot of those ended up reversed with people having serious health issues. I don't want to end up in that category with nowhere else to go. Sorry to be a downer, but these are my real thoughts.

I self-paid for a lap band out of state ten years ago. I lost thirty pounds in four months, and then I had a weird fill and had no restriction. This led to a year of me getting fill after fill after fill--while I was insisting I had no restriction-- and basically being ignored by my surgeon who was saying everything was fine. Grr.

For about eight years I kept that weight off, but lost nothing else and had no restriction. When both my knees went out and I was diagnosed with arthritis and my mobility went down the crapper, I started putting on weight again. I finally made an appointment with the surgeon here, hoping that maybe he could figure out how to get my band working. Unfortunately they did some tests and confirmed my band was completely defective and they couldn't get it to work. He suggested I have it removed and either replace it or do a different surgery. As a self-pay patient, though, I decided that I couldn't afford it at that time.

A year later and now not only am I gaining weight, but I am breathless walking across the room because I'm so sedentary with my knees. Enough. One home equity loan later....here I am, praying that when I get my date and have my surgery that everything goes smoothly, because this is taking my last thin dime. lol.

In 2006, after 3 years of infertility I lost a baby. When I went to an OB he told me that the best treatment for my infertility was weight loss. I had heard this before but tried everything. My PCOS was getting worse and I feared I would never have another child. He listened and believed my attempts (which was a first) he prescribed a diet drug. It worked. I lost 30 pounds in 6 months and landed in the hospital with colitis. When the gastroenterologist told me I would never be able to go on another diet drug, I asked him what do I do about weight loss he said that I should have weight loss surgery. I wasn’t ready to hear it then. I had two children one in 2007 and one in 2009…then I was ready! I was at my all time heaviest at 226.5 (although I think I might have been a little higher just refused to weigh). My neighbor had just had rny. I thought that is the route I would go but after God closed the door to the first and second surgeon I saw my surgeon who recommend the sleeve. I researched and researched and decided that this was the surgery for me. No looking back NOT once…