moon-child
Hey, My story is probably similar to most. I've been overweight for as long as I can remember. My mother says I was a failure to thrive baby and she had to feed me half & half to put weight on me as an infant. That was probably the end of my "skinny days". 
I've gone broke trying all the diet plans out there and have had minimal success. I have longed for a solution for so long and was starting to think I would spend the rest of my life fat and unhappy. I looked into getting weight loss surgery and found out quickly that my insurance company would not cover the surgery. The saddest part of that is I work for a hospital and have their private insurance, and they do these procedures every day. I still can't believe they will take the money for a surgery they refuse to provide for their employees! The Dr.'s office told me if I wanted to pursue the surgery (I was looking at roux-en y bypass) it would cost $30,000!!! OMG! Since that was out I started looking for other options. On a whim, I went in search of alternatives. I found several sites that spoke about getting it done in a foreign country. I was really hesitant at first, but after a lot of soul searching and price quotes I decided to take the plunge. I found Dr. Alvarez who practices in Piedres Negras, Mexico. He had great testimonials and was just 3 1/2 hours away from me. Not to mention the surgery was 1/3 of the price all inclusive!! Sum it all up...I had my surgery on October 6, 2008! I decided to go with the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. I am so exited that I did this and can't wait to see how it goes. I know that the hard part starts now. I have the tools I need to succeed and the confidence to get it done.
Wish me luck!!
