GeezerSue

No, I don't still have my band...well, I DO, but it's in a baggie in my guest room. (I show it to visitors.) Since my revision, I've lost about 90 pounds and my BMI is about 33. It hasn't been this low in DECADES. But I want to lose another 30 or 40 pounds...thirty sounds more attainable right now. (I'm one of those "big-boned" girls who really IS big-boned. When I got out of basic training in the Army, my BMI was around 24, which is close to the top of the "normal" range and I wore a size 8 wedding ring. Not a dainty girl, I. so I'm not shooting for tiny...)

Because I was experiencing problems, the removal was a no-brainer and something insurance even covered. My local band doctor--at the so called "Center of Excellence"--had never removed a band. So he wouldn't have been my choice for THAT reason. In fact, he was so inexperienced at band-related problems, that he wanted me to go to a support group meeting so I could hear from others what life with the band was like. My first eight months with the band was relatively perfect...so I already KNEW how it should have been...and how it used to be...and how it wasn't anymore. Duh...

If her BMI is low, I HOPE she doesn't find a willing surgeon. Does she understand that she will not be able to ENJOY eating junk with the DS? She can eat a taste of this and a taste of that alright...but if she sits down and makes a bag of cookies disappear today, she'll have so many bathroom trips tomorrow that she will for SURE have baboon ass. And it ain't pretty. Send her to OH to visit with us there. I can eat things I couldn't eat banded, for sure. But I cannot live on junk. It would tear up my bowels!!

If you have control issues--and I do, so I get it--I'd REALLY spend more time considering the surgery and not worry so much about the surgeon. Let me give you my oft-used example of why. One day, three of us wls patients were joking that we'd like to find a Krisy Kreme store. Deal is, the banded woman would have slimed and PB'd, the RnY woman would have gone into dumping syndrome...both right then, and right there. I now have the DS. I can eat the stupid doughnut. Later tonight my belly will growl...tomorrow I'll have two or three extra trips to the bathroom and stinky poop; but right then, right there, I am the one who gets to determine whether I eat the damned doughnut. That is the nature of MY mental state. I no longer feel "controlled" by some impanted demon that doesn't let me eat the lousy doughnut. And I don't have to worry about getting into bed FIRST and THEN eating the doughnut like my (insane?) RnY friends who want the doughnut ANYWAY occasionally do. But, if band is your choice, then you need to understand that the literature suggests that there is a positive correlation between frequent adjustments and problems...and it would probably be not only ill-advised but perhaps unethical for your surgeon to indulge such a request. IMO. Actually, your request tells ME that you are a VERY LIKELY someone who would "eat around the band" and then wonder why it wasn't working. (Edited to add the following...) For me the band was "a diet with a choke chain." The longer I had it, the less control I had. If you are ALREADY trying to find a way to eat what you want when you want, you may need tolook at a surgery that will let you be you and still lose weight. The band requires that you do things "the band's way."

Glass half full vs. glass half empty? When I look at your sig line, I notice that you have been banded for 14 months and have had three surgeries IN ADDITION to the banding surgery. That isn't to say you're not doing a bang-up job, because you apparently are. I'm just saying that not everyone is prepared--financially, emotionally or physically--to spend thirty or forty thousand dollars, have four surgeries and still be heavy enough to qualify (with a couple of comorbidities) for weight loss surgery a year later. For example, I have an orthopedic surgeon who excitedly asked how much weight I'd lose with BREAST REDUCION surgery, because my knees are becoming damaged and he wants to stop that ASAP. So what those docs are basing their opinions on is the DATA...such as that available at PubMed...and their experiences. What else could they ethically use?

I'm thinking it's an American thing...especially related to how medical funding is handled. One of the long-time banding doctors I contacted in Europe thought I was joking when I asked if he had revised the band to other options. Seems that fully 20% of his practice is removing bands and revising to something else. I'm still struggling to reach a personal goal...well, I'm not exactly struggling...more accurately, I'm sitting here :ranger: eating whatever I want whenever I want :hungry: and not exercising and wondering why I'm not there yet...so...I guess I have this vague inclination that there is another weight I'd rather be...and wondering how hard I have to WISH for it to get there. Right now, I'm thinking I should be working on a Plan B.

We've all had such different experiences! Jack, MOST of what you listed, I could not eat because the band would not let me and later because of esophageal damage. The food just bounced around in the esophagus. Before the damage, I COULD eat a chicken stew kind of thing...it became a mainstay around here. But NEVER a sandwich, because NEVER any bread except for a max of two bites of heavily buttered (oops!) crust from sourdough. NEVER anything called chowder, if it contained potatoes. NEVER any raw tomotoes. But I have an "issue" (not with you, Jack...not with anyone in particular) but with the promotion of the band as a healthier and more natural way to lose weight. I'm convinced that far fewer people would opt for the band if they first read about all of the changes...many of them rather drastic...that some banded people have to endure to keep the band. The band isn't always just about smaller portions. It CAN BE about leaving in an implant that causes a LIFETIME of reflux and places the patient on a LIFETIME of reflux meds to treat something that would just go away if the causative agent (the band) were removed. To me, that's like walking around with a rock in your shoe and treating your foot for cuts and bruises and infections when all you have to do is get rid of the rock. It can be about not ever again eating a salad or an orange or not ever sleeping lying down flat. It can be about horrific slime wads and having to barf in public places. And, as some long-time successful banded people I know are dealing with, even after YEARS of being model banded patients and following the rules and making rather bizarre changes, a slip or erosion can come out of nowhere and at least one more surgery is required and--for many--the weight starts piling on as a result of being freed from several years of severe eating restrictions. So, HollyB, IMHO, YOU did not fail. For some people--and I think it's a small percentage, the band is a "piece of cake" (pun intended since with the band I could never have had even a bite of cake.) For others, it is a problem that causes SOME weight loss but...all things considered...the juice ain't worth the squeeze. Another consideration is time. As I was deciding to have my band removed, one of the factors that I considered was that I was 58 years old and looking at my mother, now frail and in her 80's. What if the band caused NO more problems for me...for ten or twenty more years? And then what would they do with me if I had a slip or erosion...at age 68 or 78. I didn't want to spend my waning years drinking Ensure because I was too frail for another surgery.

There is a school of thought that more fills and unfills lead to complications. That said, there is at least one band doctor who does his own fills and unfills so he can pig out at Bariatric Conferences. Go figure. I don't know if cost is a concern, but a trick like that would have cost me around $2000...a grand for the unfill and a grand for the refill, if I did it in town.

I can't speak for anyone else, but when I would say something like the "eat bad foods" comment, it meant I could not eat grilled fish or canned tuna or broiled chicken or a salad or an orange, or most vegetables, etc. And, when you go through months or YEARS of not being able to consume much-- survival being a pretty strong drive--you consume what you can. When we would go out for dinner (which we do a lot), I could have a few spoons of Soup, but not my fish (we live at the beach and our favorite restaurants are fish places.) But I found I COULD add cream and sugar to the coffee and get a FEW calories for dinner. I could even have a slice of key lime pie if I didn't eat the crust. When you are routinely HUNGRY because you CANNOT EAT solid food, you eat what you can.

Karel, About ten weeks post-revision, my esophagus began to "fire up" and start working again. It was a huge relief. I hope you get there soon. Sue

Oh, my :omg: ...where to begin...if the bypass were all that dangerous, no reputable surgeons would be performing it (and they are) and the insurance companies wouldn't be paying for it (and they do.) I'm not sure what those "long term complications that cant be reversed" are...and I sure haven't read about them in the medical literature. Perhaps you can enlighten me. The band isn't "less invasive" because of those alleged "long term complications that cant be reversed"...but because it is less INVASIVE. I had my band for three years. I don't know that barfing and sliming and being unable to eat solid food and having a non-functioning esophagus is "a much healthier way to lose the weight" than just eating NORMAL food...which is what I'm doing now. Finally, the claim that "the band is a great tool and u will lose wieght if u work hard along with it," is a specious claim. The band will work for some people and won't work for others. I hope your journey continues to be as trouble-free as is has been so far.

If Jessie Ventura and Ahnold can get elected, why can't Kinky?

Not a life-long committment, just for the weekend. I'm going to go through these juvenile posts and put the names of those I consider to be major sources of discord on "Ignore." Because of this action, I'm going to have a relatively Bullshit-free holiday weekend. I encourage y'all to do the same (we don't all have to choose the same irritants, each of us is free to pick their own irritants)...or whatever YOU think will make YOUR visits here more pleasurable. Ciao... Sue

Patriot definition, please? I'm pretty sure that those who are standing around waving flags and yelling "Viva Bush no matter what!" think THEY are patriots and I'm the enemy appeaser. But I--opinionated, liberal, feminazi atheist that I am--walked out of work one day and enlisted in the Army. So, who's the patriot? Sue PS--I enlisted to DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION...all I had to agree to do about the moron in the White House was agree to follow his (legal) orders.

It is not my intention to insult those who voted for him...I voted for Nixon...twice. But, there comes a time when you have to deal with reality. Even if it means admitting you were dead wrong about someone or something. I think that a lot of people who believed that he was a decent man are quietly disappointed. That begs the question, are they going to fall for the NEXT line of BS handed out by the NEXT snake oil salesman, or are able to say something like, "You know those people I don't like? Maybe I should listen to them this time around?" It isn't going to happen for many. Years ago, Donahue was interviewing some sweet, obviously low-income, not very well educated old lady who was upset at the Jim & Tammy Faye thing and instead of being concerned about the kajillion dollars those people had conned out of the believers, she was upset that Tammy Faye mentioned that the dress she was wearing that day cost "only $35." The old lady was outraged that anyone would spend that much on a dress when she made her clothes herself for much less. So she wasn't going to send them any more money...she found ANOTHER crooked tele-evangelist to send her money to. It was sad. But you know...I think there is a good percentage of America whose only contact with others is Home Shopping and religious television. They believe...and do as told by their "friends." If Home Shopping is selling flags and the religious guys are telling them that Dubya has protected them from a bunch of brown people who were gonna blow-up the Piggly Wiggly...well, what do we expect?

Any doctor/hospital who/which doesn't test a 300-pound-patient* for sleep apnea prior to ANY surgery should, have his/her/its license suspended while he/she/they go take a class on how unnecessary deaths can be prevented. The test is a ROYAL PITA, but necessary. Sue *especially if the patient is apple-shaped...but even with pears.

Esophageal dysmotility, here. And some esophageal dilation, too. Miserable way to "live."

Greg--good point. I never thought of people who wanted the band out "for no reason." ~~~~ The supplement thing kind of pushed a button for me. On the NIH website some moron wrote a blurb that said that DS patients have to "eat special foods" and "take special Vitamins." I wrote them and asked them to DEFINE "special foods," since I'm a native Engish-speaking college graduate with an SAT English score of 740 and I don't know what that means. (Idiots. WTF are "special foods?") We DO take "special vitamins," though. My multivitamins have a special form of Vitamins A,D, E and K because DS people don't absorb much in the way of fats or oils and those vitamins are usually delivered in an oil base. Here's my pre- and post-band regime: daily multivitamins and Calcium, and an occasional Protein bar. Here's my post-DS regime: multivitamins and calcium, and an occasional Protein Drink (maybe two or three times per week.) While they are absolutely essential--like B-vitamins are to my Mom post-colon cancer surgery--my missing some of these now and then will not send me into some sort of desperate medical condition. It would take sustained deprivation to accrue damage. In fact, I'm probably getting in LOTS more protein now than I was while banded...back then I had trouble eating meats and eggs and all.

I got the band for MOST of the reasons mentioned. I had it removed because it was messing up my esophagus. No offense to anyone in particular, but I DO wish that people who have NOT lived through banding complications would stop suggesting that it's a piece of cake to just take it out or move onto another surgery...as though the band is totally harmless. It can be harmful. On another site I frequent, a member (identifying info removed) who was hoping to have a revision to the gastric sleeve wrote this: I went in last Tuesday to have my eroded band removed and convert to a vertical sleeve with ____. The long and the short of it is the erosion was BAD, the entire band except for the buckle was eroded in to my stomach and parts of my diaphragm, liver and colon were stuck to my stomach. The Dr couldn’t do the sleeve because of all the complications did I say I had a big hole in my stomach, well I did the size of a silver dollar? He had to convert to open after about 2 ½ hours because he just couldn’t get my stomach free from my colon with out getting his hand in there. We had another person here who lost bloodflow to her stomach...and was facing the possibility of having no stomach at all...from the band. When YOU are the person living through this crap, it isn't as simple and harmless as it looks from the outside. Yes, RnY people get the band over the RnY. And banded people revise to the RnY. And band and RnY people revise to the DS...and the DS people? Well, that's one reason I went there the second time around. Percentage-wise, they seem to have fewer revisions. There are complications with ALL weight loss surgeries. when we choose our surgery, we are simultaneously choosing a set of potential complications. We should help others understand that going in the door.

Anyone here ever read about the Bulwer-Lytton contest. The 1983 First Prize--the first one on the list--remains my favorite. http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/lyttony.htm

I don't think so...and Sister Mary Angela, my expert on this topic, is nowhere to be found.

Are these really analogies? I thought that the comparison of two things using the words "like" or "as" was a simile. First, Australia is no longer a continent, now this! I'm too old to read anymore.

You're probably right, Telly. (Not that it will change my response, ofcourse.) But I just remembered an incident in a Las Vegas luggage shop. I wanted a lock replaced on an old piece of luggage. The salesclerk mentioned that the suitcase was old. I agreed with her. She emphasized that it was old. I again agreed with her. She loudly pointed out to a co-worker and that person's customer that the luggage was old, rolling her eyes in amusement?...disgust? Who knows. Then she said, "Don't you want to just get a new suitcase? I got THIS ONE and it's so much nicer than this old thing. I just don't know where we're going to find a lock for this OLD suitcase. Why I haven't seen one of these in years." I finally couldn't stand it any longer. "Maybe someday when I get a job in a luggage store, I'll get around to buying a new suitcase, too...but right now, I'm too busy traveling to settle down and get a job. Just my bad luck, I guess." You know...she didn't even GET it. Stupid, snippy salesclerk.

Well...I can see that a number of you prefer to take the high road. I like it down here where I am, because it's less crowded. I can be nice as can be to skinny people. I just can't be nice to STUPID people who work in retail and cannot comprehend that not every woman who walks through their doors is shopping for herself. They don't make that assumption when I go into baby clothing stores or the men's clothing areas of department stores and they probably don't make similar assumptions when I pause to look at a skateboard helmet or a Sawzall. If it were even the store owner who didn't want fat folks clogging up the aisles and scaring off skinny shoppers, I'd have to excuse it. It's HER business, she can run it into the ground anyway she wants. But, I've been shopping at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills adjacent) and it's AMAZING how many people who work there for--one can only assume--less than stellar wages, snicker at people who actually HAVE $300 and change for not wanting to SPEND $300 and change for a freakin' HOODIE...and they want to laugh in your face and tell you that it's really a very reasonable price. Hello? Have you SEEN your paycheck? Have you NOTICED how close to your credit card limit you are and how much further into debt you go every month? Stupid, snippy salesclerks just piss me off. Skinny is cool. I don't mind skinny at all.

"Oh, those little numbers are SIZES, are they? Oh my...I thought they showed the IQ of the person whose career high point would be selling one of them while making minimum wage. My mistake..."