as of monday they had reached more than 71000 inge explains when damage is done to the area of a part of the brain called the basal medial hypothalamus it can wreak havoc on the patents metabolic system before the surgery she weighed 51 pounds alexis mother jennifer shapiro said after the surgery her daughter was gaining two pounds every week even on a strict diet of only 900 calories a day she cant keep up for a whole day without taking a nap inge said that along with the physical health toll that results from hypothalamic obesity there is a mental and social cost for patients i will say by the time these teenagers get to me shapiro said her daughter can no longer play with her brother or sister and had to be homeschooled this year due to her lower energy level and bullying at her school she is also very excited and she wants to do it the removal of a benign brain tumor in 2011 resulted in damage to alexis pituitary gland and an area in the hypothalamus part of her brain that affects how her body perceives signals from her digestive system the family is raising funds online to help get alexis medical treatment ill say from the start is we dont have enough research on the topic and were trying to bring more understanding on how gastric bypass can work said inge officials at the insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment doctors stumble on potential bariatric surgery alternative as a result alexis is always hungry and has gained 140 pounds in two years due to her ravenous appetite and her decreasing energy level she cannot do the things she used to love they gain weight so quickly because their energy output systems are not in sync at all said inge alexis family said they have decided they want to go forward with the surgery and currently are raising money to help with medical costs mans 300 pound weight loss success story she said that shes no worse off than she is now inge has studied how gastric bypass can help people with alexis condition and runs an electronic database of patient information partly funded by the national institute for health for people diagnosed with hypothalamic obesity although inge says the area is no bigger than a grain of rice if damaged it can mean that the brain starts to get extra hunger signals from the gut that it incorrectly interprets as a need to eat more food she doesnt have any adrenaline either theyve gone through so much in their own lives i think a lot of soul searching happens before they get to my office inge estimates it will take roughly 50000 for the surgery and a year of postoperative recovery and checkups i do not remember at all any kind of fear factor with her said inge of meeting alexis to discuss the surgery