Thinking OF Getting Lapband--Mexico $6,000

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Well I am really discouraged right now. Since trying to lose weight I have gained more weight....about 9/10 more lbs than when I originally started with. I am only 5'2 and now weigh 209/210lbs. When I joined this forum I was exactly 200lbs. I have been trying and it is not working. I am counting my calories and walking most days for about 2 hours. I just dont get it. I have been gaining weight every year for the pxast 5 years.

I have been serious about my weight loss for the past year but I never lose any weight.

Years back I was on medication that really messed up my metabolism. Its soooo slow now. I am thinking of getting the lapband. I just look so horrible at this weight. I feel horrible as well. I try and try to no avail.

There is this one place in Mexico that charges $6,000 for the entire cost of the surgery. It includes the cost of the hospital stay afterwards and even includes transportation from the hotel to the hospital. I live in Southern California so it is not that far from me. The clinic was featured on the Oprah show so I know its not just some weird and dangerous place in Mexico.

I should have the money by Jan 2011..and am now close to just going for it. I am so discouraged and dont think I can do it on my own. My family thinks this is ridiculoys because they think its dangerous and a waste of money. They dont understand why I want to spend so much money on this. But for me it makes sense. I am only 28, and I feel like I am 45 with the extra weight! I should be having fun and going to the beach and enjoying myself. I have not been to the beach in years because I will not wear a bathingsuit if you paid me. Ive thought of this procedure last year when I was under 200 lbs. Now I wish I would have gotten it done already and not waited another year and now weigh even more. The number keeps going up, not down..so that is what makes me think this case is urgent. Its not getting better. I am so discouraged.

Any advice? Suggestions?
 
JMS28 said:
Well I am really discouraged right now. Since trying to lose weight I have gained more weight....about 9/10 more lbs than when I originally started with. I am only 5'2 and now weigh 209/210lbs. When I joined this forum I was exactly 200lbs. I have been trying and it is not working. I am counting my calories and walking most days for about 2 hours. I just dont get it. I have been gaining weight every year for the pxast 5 years.
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This is so strange because my mother, approximately your measurements, has been wanting to get lapband surgery too, also in Mexico and for about the same cost. From a daughter's point of view, I've been telling my mother NOT to do it. I just don't think surgery to lose weight is worth it. There are so many things that can go wrong with any type of surgery and I would never want to risk my mother over something like this. Then we're talking about another country where safety regulations are very different from the United States. I live in Texas and also close to Mexico and I have gone to Mexico for other type of prescription medication. So, it's not like I'm anti-Mexico (I'm also Mexican, not born there, but my father was), but I do recognize that I don't know too much about how they work over there and I wouldn't want to take places in a foreign country that I still wouldn't want to take in my own country.

So that's my perspective. Of course my mother, who for the moment is listening to me, also has her way of looking at things. She's a very active person and I myself can't believe she's overweight. She has a full time job, is always on the go, and actually eats pretty decently. So I've never understood why she can't lose weight. Any time I get into a phase of wanting to lose weight, she's right there wanting to walk any day of the week, at any time. She'll use the treadmill at home, she'll go for walks in the park. So she tries really hard and yet hasn't been able to lose weight. I don't have a medical degree, but I would think that if someone were a good candidate for this it would be someone like my mother, who is relatively healthy (in that she does exercise daily, she does eat right, she does work, ect).

What my mother and I established this summer is that we would dedicate the next three months (June, July, August) to losing weight and that I would help her out with her diet (because that is definitely her weakness, even though she does tend to eat better than I do). We will be as dedicated as possible and if she can't lose a rational amount of weight (we both want to lose about 30lbs to start off with) then she will get the lapband surgery.

So maybe you should try something like this. Try one last time to lose weight naturally, but get really focused on it. Research diet, get on some type of program (even here for free), and then if you still can't lose weight, then maybe this is an option for you. But I would say that if even a part of you still believes that you can lose weight naturally, then do it. Make a goal and reach it, because any kind of surgery to me spells danger and you don't want to be putting yourself in danger.

I found this comic strip online that seems pretty apt for this situation:


A lot of people feel they don't have "time" to make an exercise / healthy lifestyle plan work for them so they'd rather run to a surgical alternative or just forget about worrying about their health at all. So, it begs the question, if you don't have time to get healthy, do you have time to give up your life completely?

Just my 2 cents...

~ Emi


PS: I started a weekly challenge for June 2010. It starts officially today, so if you want to join, you can go here:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/club...ht-loss-challenge-please-join.html#post704709
 
Hi Emi

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I dont understand how some people can seemingly do all the right things and still not lose the weight. I guess that is hte big problem I have. I have not lost weight for the past 5-7 yers. Not one time (unless you count the time when I was sick and lose a few pounds here and there) but other than that, nothing. My sister is overweight and she was able to lose weight last year (30 pounds to be exact). She gained it back because she went back to eating bad foods, but still the point is that she is able to do it. She has it in her, and she knows how, and she has a record of losing then gaining. I have only gained, gained, and gained over the years. I dont get it. I had my thyroid tested and it is okay.

I do worry about the lapband because I do know that a lot of people get it done and then lose weight but end up putting it back on. I dont want that. Thats a waste of money and time. The past few days I have been eating well...not craving sweets, I did not have cookies or ice cream or anything super bad. So maybe I do have it in me to try again. I might take your advice and try once more and see what happens.

The cartoon ad is very funny, and you are right, its very fitting for the topic at hand. I will also check out your thread. Thanks for you reply :) Hopefully something will give. I know that a lot of times right when we are ready to give up that is when we need to hold on even more since the next time could be a breakthrough that could lead to the results we want.
 
I think the thing about surgery that people don't get is this...while it may change the size of your stomach...it does not change anything in your mind. Your attitude and desires are still the same as before the surgery. Its still going to be a mental challenge for you. Your not just going to wake up and say "oh....wait....no, no I dont' want a cookie again"
 
Korrie said:
I think the thing about surgery that people don't get is this...while it may change the size of your stomach...it does not change anything in your mind. Your attitude and desires are still the same as before the surgery. Its still going to be a mental challenge for you. Your not just going to wake up and say "oh....wait....no, no I dont' want a cookie again"
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Exactly.

The problem is that we don't know when to say no, and we don't know how to listen to our hunger cues. We keep eating past the point when we get full, and that is why we gained weight in many cases.

You get the surgery, and it makes your stomach smaller. So, the idea is that you will feel full faster, right? Well, it takes 20 minutes to get a 'full' signal from your stomach to your brain. You are likely to keep eating past this signal, even when you get the surgery done. And if you are not careful about how much you eat, your stomach will stretch back.

I don't really think the surgery solves anything, i would suggest hiring a personal trainer and seeing a dietitian with your money instead.
 
JMS28 said:
Well I am really discouraged right now. Since trying to lose weight I have gained more weight....about 9/10 more lbs than when I originally started with. I am only 5'2 and now weigh 209/210lbs. When I joined this forum I was exactly 200lbs. I have been trying and it is not working. I am counting my calories and walking most days for about 2 hours. I just dont get it. I have been gaining weight every year for the pxast 5 years.

I have been serious about my weight loss for the past year but I never lose any weight.

Years back I was on medication that really messed up my metabolism. Its soooo slow now. I am thinking of getting the lapband. I just look so horrible at this weight. I feel horrible as well. I try and try to no avail.

There is this one place in Mexico that charges $6,000 for the entire cost of the surgery. It includes the cost of the hospital stay afterwards and even includes transportation from the hotel to the hospital. I live in Southern California so it is not that far from me. The clinic was featured on the Oprah show so I know its not just some weird and dangerous place in Mexico.

I should have the money by Jan 2011..and am now close to just going for it. I am so discouraged and dont think I can do it on my own. My family thinks this is ridiculoys because they think its dangerous and a waste of money. They dont understand why I want to spend so much money on this. But for me it makes sense. I am only 28, and I feel like I am 45 with the extra weight! I should be having fun and going to the beach and enjoying myself. I have not been to the beach in years because I will not wear a bathingsuit if you paid me. Ive thought of this procedure last year when I was under 200 lbs. Now I wish I would have gotten it done already and not waited another year and now weigh even more. The number keeps going up, not down..so that is what makes me think this case is urgent. Its not getting better. I am so discouraged.

Any advice? Suggestions?
Click to expand...


Maybe it's not what you want to hear, but I think if you were to go ahead with it you'd be risking your life, your health, and your overall well being.

210lbs is just not fat enough to justify this kind of risk in my opinion. The surgery itself is very high risk, and there are many complications associated with it.

Maybe if you were 400 lbs and in serious danger of dying from your obesity, that kind of a risk would make sense. And if you're doing it in Mexico for a reduced price, you might have an even higher risk of complications (not to mention what if you go back to the US and need serious follow up?).


If you have a very hard time restricting calories, have you thought of exercising a lot? You can burn ~600-800 calories an hour from semi intense cardio. If you exercise for 3 hours a day, that's 1800-2400 calories. (Though it's very important to start slowly and work up to that amount of exercise, or else you could injure yourself). Also lifting weights and increasing your muscle mass will help you to burn calories at rest.

I'm also in my 20's and obese, and have been for nearly 5 years now mostly as a result of medication that makes me want to eat everything in sight. But this May I decided I would make a serious change, and I cut out 100% of junk food from my diet. It was very hard to do this at first, but since then my taste buds have readjusted and I don't even crave it anymore. I have no issues walking by pastries and icecream and saying no. And before that, I was so powerless over it that I was the kind of person who would eat an entire cake in one sitting all the while knowing I shouldn't be doing it, and I would continue eating even if I got sick.

I am telling you this because even if you have many things stacked against you like medication that makes you hungry, like an addictive personality, like asthma (which actually has improved for me because of exercising), you can still do it. And it would not carry the serious risks of surgery.
 
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I had lap band surgery in Feb of this year, and have already lost 66lbs... I feel better than I have in years, my medications have ben halved and I am able to be active again...I have gone down 3 dress sizes in 6months. Sure, I still have the conditions that got me here, the 3 different arthritis, congestive heart failure, non existant thyroid gland to mention a few- BUT, they are easier and more able to be managed these days. Without the band, I would be dead by now. So...I thank the surgeon who performed the operation, and Optifast for helping me to keep within the protein and calorie range required for the surgery to work. in a war like this, against ill health and obesity, we are entitled to use whatever weapon or tool we believe will help us achieve our goals.
For me, weight loss surgery was my ONLY option, regardless of what others may think or believe, and I am more than happy I took the step. It is truly said, one can not judge another until one has walked a mile in his moccasins.
 
Go for it only if you will take it seriously. It does work -- only with the effort you also put in. You still have to eat healthy and exercise. It's not a "fix-all" and it does take time. Why do you have to go to Mexico to get it done? Is it just cheaper?
 
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