My greatest struggle was my emotions. I was depressed which made me eat more, which made me gain weight and become more depressed. I lost hope and belief that I was worthy of anything or anyone. I stopped believing that I could ever be thinner. I would go through stages where I was motivated – would try a new program or diet – but would ultimately quit and gain more.

I think I held myself back mostly with my self-doubt. I began having back problems and shortness of breath which made exercising even more difficult. Also, I am an extremely picky eater – so often the diet plans would be for healthy food that I did not like. I had tried aerobics, step aerobics, swimming, T25 BeachBody videos, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, hypnosis, Atkins diet, South Beach diet, basic counting calories/fats, and many others.

After having the LapBand for about 10 years, I was tired of dealing with the constant food “getting stuck” pain or throwing up. My weight was getting higher and higher and I saw myself getting close to my pre-LapBand weight. I was yo-yoing up and down, really trying to exercise and eat better, but could never get below 200lbs. 

During a trip to Jamaica I was denied the ability to scuba dive because my blood pressure was too high - 3 days in a row they told me no. So I cried, ate and drank while others were out having fun. Within a couple of weeks of getting home I noticed the “stuck” pain and the throwing up was getting worse. It got to a point where I couldn’t keep down water and I was afraid that I had a slipped band or something worse. So, I looked up PSSC – who is now Eviva – and made an appointment. 

I was hurting, dehydrated from not being able to keep food or water down, extremely worried that something was wrong with the band or my stomach and I was depressed, feeling like I was a failure. I hadn’t gone in to PSSC (Eviva) for close to 10 years to properly care for my LapBand.I feared what could be wrong. I was introduced to Dr. Stewart who was so kind and caring. He went over my options and explained everything very thoroughly. I chose to have the LapBand removed and have the VSG done.