GeezerSue

Calling the Auto Club instead of changing my own tires is taking the easy way out; buying fish at the market instead of going out to sea in a boat is taking the easy way out; my giving birth by c-section instead of just dying was taking the easy way out...but who am I to stop some fools from doing everything the hard way if that's how they want to live?

When I was pre-op, the first banded person I met had lost ten pounds her first year. (She said she changed her diet and lost more the second year.) And I've met people who've lost 100 pounds in a year or so. It is SOOOO individual, even without other medical issues. I wanted to add that for SOME people, time IS an issue. Not for you kids, maybe, but for oldies and maybe for people who have spent a long time being MO. I have a friend who had RnY surgery a little too late. If she had done it a year or two earlier, she might still have her knees. She has artificial knees because of what years of Morbid Obesity have done. In my case (and I hadn't been MO for very long), I ran to the ortho guy as soon as I felt the first twinge in my knees. He wants my excess weight gone NOW. (He was even excited as I went for a breast reduction, wondering how much weight THOSE puppies were.) Until I lose about another 25 pounds (I've lost 65+ post-DS) I'm to avoid stairs, excess walking, treadmills, and low chairs. The sooner I get the weight off--and the less I do in the interim--the more likely I am to keep my original equipment knees! Sue Old person.

You are NOT alone. White meat chicken (and turkey) can be the source of a major plug for MANY banded people. Along with bread, breading, bread crumbs inside of foods (such as meatloaf, crab cakes and such), rice, Pasta, leafy things (as in salads) and potatoes. (One of the meds my never-obese husband now takes gives hime a dry throat. So now that I can eat white meat chicken again, HE can't.) Depending on how you are with celery (and how much mayo you can handle) tuna sandwiches might work. Soups and stews (again, I'd eat around the potaotes), chili (like from Wendy's, but that might be part of a "soft food symdrome" behavior, so watch out), refried Beans (also known in some parts as Taco Bell's "Pintos and Cheese"), and the inside of many burritos. Do you know Cobb Salads? I have ordered Cobb Salads (if they are NOT tossed and they usually are not) and asked them to put the lettuce on one plate (because lettuce was NOT easy for me with the band AND because it's important to have access to the protein) and the other stuff on another plate. That leaves you with the Cobb salad "innards," which includes: tiny, chopped tomatoes; small chopped eggs; crumbled bacon; some chicken or sometimes turkey (probably white meat, so you have to eat around it); maybe avocado and crumbled bleu cheese. http://www.goodcooking.com/ckbookrv/ghouse_04/cobb.jpg

I saw this and wanted you to know that you are among friends. Evil little Easter friends, but friends, nonetheless: http://tinyurl.com/4pyos

Deevah...if you repost this on the main support board, more people will have a chance to see it and cheer you along. (And you will feel better sooner than you think.) http://lapbandtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

:lalala: Is someone talking?

Butch, Weight loss often causes back problems because we carry ourselves they way we did before the weight loss. Once I lost 40-50 pounds, I went to my friendly local chiropractor for an adjustment and some time on those machines that pound the crap out of your back. Not only did it help the problem, but later on, those visits (one or two) were just more evidence that I needed the panni.

Oh, Vera, I think it's more than the two of us!

One reason I didn't have RnY for my revision was that I was convinced I would eat enough to explode that little 1-2 ounce stomach I'd be left with. I've often made the same comment as Lisa about hunger. But here's another one. When some silly doctor tells me not to take something "on an empty stomach," I usually say something like, "Take a close look, Doctor, and tell me when you think I last HAD an empty stomach." Duh... Lisa, with your history, where for so long, food was your only refuge and there was so little of it...you should be praised for doing so well for so long. I don't know if anything makes the crazies go away. Get happy? Let's eat. Get mad? Let's eat. Get laid? Oh...well...a cigarette and a snack after. I do not eat well. I can make a FEW more reasonable decisions, because I don't want to have the runs in the morning and my new guts don't much care for products made from wheat flour. But the Reese's and the can of nuts barely stand a chance. I AM moving more and exercising...I wonder what the impact of that will be. Rambling...just want you to know that you have a CROWD of us who understand.

#1--I have never tried this, but there are those who swear by papaya enzymes. If you try it, just take a little. #2--Eggs can be horrid, because they never really dissolve like other foods, they just chew into smaller pieces. #3--When THIS resolves, you'll probably want to do another two or three days on liquids, because the stoma is probably swelling a little in this situation, and stuff that went down yesterday may not tomorrow. (You didn't ask, but I'd probably cough a few times...not too far from the bathroom...and see if I could dislodge it just enough.)

I was afraid that "gone" was something more ominous. That's because I'm old and my mom is almost 83 and I'm always worried that one day she will be gone and I will have forgotten to ask her something or thank her for something or stuff like that and I'll be out of chances. So, I'm glad your mom merely left town. And she'll be back. That's a good thing.

Looks like it. I wrote: The difference between those bypass and banded patients who are not at goal, say, three years out, is that the bypass people lose down to goal or near goal and regain, and the banded people never lose much. I wrote that I was speaking of banded and bypassed patients who--three years or so post-op--were not at or near goal. I suppose I could have made it more clear, but I'm not sure how and I really thought it was pretty clear as I wrote it. (I didn't visit the links, because how many people, here, at one site, HAVE lost a lot of weight was NOT what I was talking about. I was, again, talking about people with band or bypass, who--a few years post-op were not where they had planned to be.) Couldn't agree more. On all your points. You should. ALL sites that are home to more than one procedure have their share of misunderstood facts, or misunderstood comments or self-appointed spokespersons for one procedure or the other. And disagreements, from time to time, are the rule, not the exception. Yes, we are all entitled to create our own opinions, although I would suggest that creating our own FACTS, is just bad form...and will probably be challenged. So, if you say, "I will not have anything more invasive than the band...just don't want it," you certainly have MY atta-boy. (And that and $2.75 might get you a cup of coffee.) But if you say, "I will not have that DS surgery because everyone who does turns orange and gets webbed feet," you might reasonably expect to hear from those who are in the mood to challenge your facts. Just as YOU might challenge someone you THOUGHT said that banded people don't lose much weight. Agreed. Indeed...and those were people who were always un-pissy. Some of us are just pissy in general, having nothing to do with which wls we are trying at the moment. I was pissy when happily banded, I was pissy when unhappily banded and I'm pretty pissy now. (Not everyone sees the glass as half-full; that's what makes this planet interesting.) Perhaps some people are perceiving my pissy-ness differently now that I'm unbanded. Or maybe they didn't know me back then. I STILL recommend the band for many people and provide as much support as I can, here and at other sites. What I CHALLENGE are outrageous claims with no basis in fact. I know that the newly-banded or the about-to-be-banded often perceive any negative information about the band as an attack on their dream. But they CAN choose to perceive it as just the other side of the coin. I have never suggested that the band doesn't work. I've simply pointed out that some people go into this propostion (not so much here, more so at another site) COMPLETELY unaware of what they are getting into and what to expect. And even here, as you can see from some of the questions asked by recent post-ops, some people make it clear that they know NOTHING about being banded. Too many people go into banding thinking that it's all pretty pink ponies and rainbows, with no problems. If they bother to hit the internet seeking out information, they deserve to hear the whole story. (And civilized, fact-filled debates for that matter.) Cheers, Sue

The difference between those bypass and banded patients who are not at goal, say, three years out, is that the bypass people lose down to goal or near goal and regain, and the banded people never lose much. (That's for those who are not at goal a while out.) They end up at the same place, but by different routes. (And that's the RnY, not the DS, which has a different average weight loss.) I agree, except that not everyone who has to have their band removed ends up with a stomach that is just "the same." Sometimes there is damage to the esophagus or the stomach. You are awfully young to try try something as drastic as the surgery I just had, anyway. There ARE risks...but at my age it wasn't like I was risking a long, healthy life. It was more of a trade-off between having five or maybe ten more BAD years, or taking a chance for ten or more GOOD years. I opted for the latter, but I don't think I would have done so in my twenties or thirties.

If you DO go to the ER, you might be able to get that endoscopy done a little sooner. Just make sure the doctor there knows you NEED it NOW. Then, if there is evidence of a big problem, you can get it addressed sooner. NOW...what might happen if you call the office that HAS scheduled an endoscopy and tell them that you're afraid you'll end up in the ER with someone else doing it and you were counting on their expertise in this matter...and is there ANY way you can get in sooner. And if THEY see a problem, they can send you to the band doctor sooner. From what I've read, the repositioning or removal surgeries are not usually a "do it now" kind of thing. But any change for the worse, like you've been dealing with, should be addressed asap, both for relief of symptoms and for your peace of mind.

About two years after being banded, I had a panniculectomy with rectus muscle repair. I had a complication (one of those resistant infections--had to be readmitted and on IV antibiotics for about ten days), but I was MO at the time and the supervising surgeon told me that the complication rate for that surgery on an MO patient is 100%. A year later, still MO, I had a breast reduction and he tweaked the panniculectomy a little to remove dog ears. My "wisdom" such as it is, is that the belly probably could have waited, had I been in search of perfection. What I went for at the time was relief from that hangy thing. But I'm glad I didn't wait for the boobs. It is NOT a painful surgery and the recovery goes pretty fast (all things considered) and I think I can get by with what I have even when I lose more weight. Also, I went to our daughter's (she wore a 36-J bra) PS for the boobs and the panniculectomy revision. I told him I didn't want to look like Paris Hilton, I wanted a more Rubenesque shape. He "got" that and had no problem doing the surgery on someone who was not at any "goal" weight. Good luck with this!

Mine was at my sternum, so yeah, I could have. Wanting to is a whole different thing.

Sounds a little defensive. I would just assume that, if anything WERE TO go wrong with your band, Benavides already knows it will not have been his fault. LOL That said, I've heard his name around bandster boards for a long time, and don't recall any negative comments about him.

I don't know if even that many need revising. It was just that HIS PRACTICE was 20% revisions to other approaches.

Not noodles. They have been the cause of many a problem. BUT...if you give it a day or two, you can put some spaghetti sauce and some cottage or ricotta cheese into the blender and make a pasta-less lasagna.

Do you live near a Jamba juice ( http://www.jambajuice.com )or similar place? They have interesting drinks and they add a free Protein boost and they can add additional protein if you pay for it. Many of us have found that the kind of hunger you're talking about can be helped with increased protein intake. This, too, shall pass.

I am not the spokesperson for anyone. And, even the most casual observer could figure out that someone is attempting to diss a few people. All about the facts, Sue

Oh, Megan...I forgot...yes the band is the STARTING PLACE for most of the civilized world...but a good number of them are removed, as well. When looking into band removal/revision, one of the better known European surgeons wrote back to me that 20% of his practice is removing bands and revising to RnY or DS. I think, though, that in many countries physicians hold the philosophy that, "when you get to the bottom of the whole, it's a good idea to stop digging." If the band doesn't show promise of delivering satisfactory weight loss within a reasonable period of time, they pull it out and go for something else. THAT part of the wisdom has been missing from the American approach, although some doctors are becoming more open about their willingness to try another method.

A lot of people reasonably assume that this study might have something to do with THEIR potential with wls. But there is a HUGE problem with that assumption as far as THIS study is concerned. THIS study was on MEDICARE PATIENTS ONLY. To get Medicare under the age of 65, you have to be very, very sick. Very, very, very sick. People at death's door are routinely denied Social Security Disability and, therefore, Medicare. So this study was NOT done on a random sample of the MO population, it was done on very, very sick people. For that group, the numbers aren't bad. Because withouth the surgery, more of them might have died. Another one of their stats, which I don't think you quoted, was how many wls people "needed" additional surgery within a year or two. Well, hello? Plastic surgery, anyone? I didn't need additional surgery (boob reduction, panniculectomy and revision) because I was sicker...I "needed" it because I was getting healthier. This study is probably valid for the population on which it was conducted, but I think that it just doesn't apply to most of us.

It isn't MENTIONED on the USDA website...where they have all the news releases... http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navtype=MA&navid=NEWSROOM ...and even the FDA was unaware... http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html But, for the record, I use sugar. I'm just not worried about...what is it?...18 calories or something, per teaspoon.

Doctors make up their own rules as they go along, it seems...but the INAMED instructions say nothing about beverages before a meal. On the schedule you mentioned, someone who slept eight hours and ate three meals would go without even Water for 14 hours per day...which is IMO a bit much, especially for people who are supposed to keep hydrated. I've HEARD that some doctors say no water before meals, but I've never heard of the science behind that rule.