GeezerSue

There is a LOT of information here and I'm sure I'll miss a few things I wanted to address, but: •"Failing" at the band--The definitions of success varies widely. Some studies are saying that the band delivers about a 51% ewl, some say 62%. (And, btw, the DS is closer to 75%.) We each have to decide what WE consider success. I don't have to get down to 128 pounds to be happy--which is good because I haven't weighed that since 1959--but maybe someone else does. If losing 50-62% of excess weight isn't going to feel like success to YOU, then chances are pretty good that YOU might consider the band a failure. •"Mixed Meetings"--I think that there ought to be a social time--to support and learn--and then each group ought to go off on its own. The leaders should be supportive of all the procedures. •"Carbon Filters"--Because of all the scare stories, I bought some. (My husband probably thought I needed them YEARS ago.) I haven't used them yet and no one has suggested that I do. I had no idea this applied to RnY people; I thought it was just a DS thing. •"The band is safer"--Well, yes and no. There are several takes on this. The band surgery is safer to be sure. But morbid obesity is not safe and if the band does not take someone out of morbid obesity, then the banded patient is not going to have a lower mortality rate than any other MO person. •"Nice, slow weight loss"--My orthopedic surgeon is pleased as punch, because the rapid weight loss has rapidly reduced my chances of having knee surgery fron the damage the excess weight has done. I'm STILL supposed to avoid stairs...but 25 pounds from now, I can climb those puppies again. •"My Aunt Jane's Uncle's neighbor's horse"--There are hundreds of thousands of RnY patients who are doing fine. We shouldn't have to dwell on those who are not doing fine to justify our choice. If the overwhelming majority of RnY patients were NOT doing fine, no insurance would pay for the surgery. (I still don't WANT the RnY...but I can find reasons why the DS is better for me and I don't have to mention anything I consider negative about the bypass.) •"Who-Has-What-Problem"-Last year, several dozen of us--band, RnY and DS--got together for a few days in Chicago. Since then, some of us have gathered in local groups and on a Las Vegas thing. Here's what I have observed: Nobody shat upon herself or others. Nobody had room-clearing farts. Most people who drank seemed to get drunk pretty fast. RnY people (in general) tasted stuff to see if it was too sweet, but ate most stuff. Bandsters (in general) had to avoid pastas and bread-y stuff. The restrooms were NOT full of barfing/dumping people. The DS'ers were the thinnest and ate everything, the RnY people were the next thinnest group and the bandsters--many of whom had lost a lot of weight as individuals--were (in general) NOT the thinnest group of people there. •"Disgusting bodily functions"--While banded, I produced the biggest, gloppiest, most viscous balls of goobered-up-slime...beyond what anyone could imagine. I'd make it out to the parking lot and have to spit that crap up. My husband had to pull the car over near bushes so I could barf it up without doing it in the middle of the street. And, I know I'm old and this is TMI for some, but my port was at the sternum and was in the way for some of my bedroom antics. And my reflux/bile/garbage in the throat thing was also a huge turn off for me as far as adult activities. I'm just saying, things are easier since my DS. •"Older bypass surgeries"--Those long-ago surgeries may have been a totally different surgery than they are doing today. The band may just be the very best thing that has ever happened to you. It may not. It is probably wisest to NOT put-down those who have chosen another path without REALLY researching that option...you never know when your own journey may just need an alternate route. I know there are those who say they would NEVER go with anything but the band. Their choice. MY choice is to NEVER be MO again...whatever road I must travel to get there.

These are somewhat scrambled, but once you get the hang of it... The procedure code (CPT) for the adjustable gastric band is (or WAS, if this isn't current) 43659, and the diagnosis code (ICD-9) would be whatever code goes with YOUR bmi plus the codes for any comorbidities. https://www.oxhp.com/providers/sell/inthedetails/gastric_surgery.html

Are aspirins a no-no? I took them once in a while.

It has been pointed out to me that my comment to Dody lacked the "context" that Dr. Pleatman's comment to Dody--which I quoted--contained. And that MY comment was insulting because of the lack of context. Therefore, I am editing to add context. I am not only appalled at the inaccuracy of the Mexico-bashing that has been offered--by someone with no experience at having surgery in Mexico--I am offended by the negative comments regarding Mexican surgeons, Mexican hospitals, and Mexican pre-op procedures. It would be just as offensive to me if someone--with absolutely no experience at all in utilizing Italian surgeons or Italian hospitals were engaging in bashing Italian doctors and Italian hospitals, without ever having used either. I suspect it's because I'm Mexican-American and Italian-American. But I am also offended because the statements have been so far out in left field, that it would take an Iditarod team to track down their alleged sources. To wit: the comment I quoted below. This was not written in order to attack Dody as a person, but to attack the relentless onslaught of misinformation she has presented as fact, as pointed out by Dr. Pleatman and others. I certainly have no grudge against Dody and have no interest in upsetting her. But I DO have an interest in challenging false, misleading, inaccurate statements, especially those which hit a little too close to home for comfort. Dr. Pleatman wrote: "You should preface all your remarks with the disclaimer, "I'm not a doctor and I don't know what I'm talking about." link: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16279&page=3&highlight=what+I%27m+talking+about You might want to add: "And I've never had surgery in Mexico, either."

Megan--do you have the LapBand or the MIDBand (or the SAGB)? I've known of several people banded in France--with the MIDBand--who were fed solids from day one. But those are bigger, softer bands. Or...if you were on solid food early on...do you suppose the French doctors use a technique that is more forgiving?

This may seem a little gruff, but someone should say it: NO...without Protein you were weak. And you can get Liquid Protein. I'm sorry, but your deciding that soft food = a pork chop just defies logic. It's too late to decide not to get the band. But it is not too late to decide to stop playing all the games that got you MO and to follow the instructions. If you want to get rid of the problem, you probably need to go BACK to liquids. There are canned Protein drinks which aren't bad, some people like powders, there are even juice places which add a protein boost to a beverage. But you have to stop eating solid foods unless you want REAL problems...and if those show up, you'll be going a lot longer than a week without solids. You have most likely irritated the stoma (if you don't have stuff stuck there) and it will need at least three days on Clear Liquids and then a week or so of full liquids before you move to soft foods...which does NOT include a pork chop. You have made the ddecision to get the band, now make the committment to give it a chance to work. Good luck!

Summary: He didn't know he was marrying a fatty and you didn't know you were marrying a shallow moron. Solution for you: YOU can lose weight. Solution for him: Missing--he will still be a shallow moron. Take care of yourself and get GOOD legal advice.

I know someone--I went with her--who had her port removed and a new one replaced and she drove home...like three or four hours worth of driving. Was not, according to her, a huge deal.

When it was first explained to me...a long time ago...I was told that the band was touching a nerve that signaled the brain that there was pain in the left shoulder and that it would go away. Good News: For me that's how it worked. Bad News: For a friend, repeated surgeries and eventual band removal were needed. The current theory is that her surgeon "nicked" the diaphragm during the original surgery and that it will never completely return to normal. Other Good News: Most stories are like mine.

Taking the capsule apart isn't necessary and isn't going to solve the problems caused by NSAID's. #1--to swallow a capsule, let it sit on your tongue for a while until you can feel it begin to soften. JUST BEFORE it dissolves, you can swallow it with some Water. #2--The problem with NSAID's is not the swallowing of them or how long the drug is in the upper part of the stomach. The problem is that the CHEMISTRY which causes NSAID's to work also thins the mucous layer of the stomach, leaving it susceptible to other problems. (Have you noticed that after the NSAID's came on the market, so did Prilosec, Aciphex, Nexium, etc.?) Bottom line IMHO, NSAID's should be avoided by anyone who can manage it because they cause other problems. (And, because my cousin--a judge, a smart man who was successful and should have known better--drank a least his fair share of his beloved chardonnay, the Tylenol he took for flu symptoms was all that was necessary to compromise his liver, land him in a nursing home for six months and then kill him at age 57. Every drug has its risks.) Good luck. Maybe weight loss will lessen the pain.

Over the years, I have read of several people who NEVER needed an adjustment. Good luck! Sue

The surgery should go okay...my band was implanted when I was almost 56 and removed when I was almost 59, HOWEVER... now that I have lived with esophageal dysmotility, I don't think this surgery should be performed on any older person who has not undergone manometry to check on esophageal functioning PRE-banding. Because the functioning of the esophagus can be compromised with age and/or with obesity and /or with the band, an older fat person should know going in if he or she already has problems with that issue and make the decision for--or against--surgery based on the results of the testing. IMHO

http://tinyurl.com/f6whe

A few comments from ANOTHER previously banded, now DS'd member: On eating crap...my DS "fixed" things so that my body thinks it had 20-30% of the fat I've eaten. It doesn't know about the other 70-80%. So if I eat three ounces (three servings) of Planters Mixed Nuts, I put in 45g of fat, but my body "ignores" 23+ grams and lets them move on through...and only 11+ grams are "accepted" by my system. In other words, I can eat crap and my body doesn't even know it happened. (This is not recommended, but it happens...and there are no plugs, no slimes, no barfing, no dumping.) On the safety of the band...it's a safer SURGERY. The eroded people had safer SURGERIES. But if the band slices through the stomach wall (that's what erosion does) it is no longer "the least invasive surgery around." After the safer surgery ends, life still goes on. On mortality rates...many surgeons are convinced that the DS is only for the SUPER MO. The Super MO can die from having dental novocaine. They are at death's door going into surgery. OF COURSE they have a higher mortality rate. My DS surgeon has had one fatality, that was from a mostly unrelated thing, but it was within the 30-day post-op window. He's done well over a thousand DS procedures, so his mortality rate is <0.1%...one tenth of one percent. Body parts...the unused portion of the RnY stomach stays in the body. The unused portion fo the DS stomach is removed. The "if you can't do it with the band" line of crap is well...big boy cow poo-poo. And insulting. And way wrong. (And at least potentially more convincing coming from someone who HAS done it with the band.) If the other surgeries hadn't proven themselves to work, insurance companies wouldn't be paying for them. (And because of the band's relatively poor showing in some studies, my insurance company no longer pays for banding on BMI's over 50.) If someone has the band and things are NOT working out, then they really shouldn't be afraid to consider something else. Remember, the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over and to expect different results. For those who know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no matter what results and or problems they have down the line, they would NEVER consider one of the bypass surgeries, then I suggest looking into long term care insurance. Because if (I said "if," I'm not predicting anyone's future) the band DOES fail you and you end up morbidly obese again, your ability to care for yourself as you age (I'm pushing 60, so I know about this) decreases and MO just makes it worse. Night before last, we went to an Italian restaurant. I had some minnestrone Soup, salmon with spinach, penne with tomato cheese sauce, bread with cheese and butter dripping all over the place and cannoli. Last night, it was a Mexican restaurant and I had chips, salsa, half a tamale, half an enchilada, some rice and some Beans. I'm eating THOSE leftovers as I type. I'm half-Mexican and half-Italian. I've lost an average of a half-pound a day since surgery in November. I no longer barf up Water and I have my heritage back. Bravo and Ole! Editing to add...the DS is primarily malabsorptive. The malabsorption continues, which is why we continue to need our supplements.

The stuff that makes NSAID's work also thins the protective mucous layer of the stomach. So, it doesn't matter whether is it is crushed or taken as a liquid...it isn't the FORM of the drug but the CHEMISTRY of it that causes problems. Have you noticed all the drugs--and commercials for drugs--for stomach problems? Proton pump inhibitors and all that? those drugs ar not just for wls patients. They have become necessary since all those NSAID's came on the market. A banded stomach is at least as at-risk as a normal stomach... Meanwhile, Tylenol can take out your liver. One risk after another.

StrawartS...I just like palindromes.

NewSho, Well, then...BRAVO!

Pleatman can explain for himself...but Trace Curry, M.D. regularly posts on the OH LapBand board, too. I just think we're lucky to have them and ought to be delighted to hear INFORMED opinions, since there are so many of the other kind floating around. Well...I wish they were both a little more receptive to the DS, but...

I'm not at all concerned about *opinions.* I'm just concerned that the good doctor may think you are speaking on my behalf, which, of course, you are not. And it may sound condescending, but you ARE new at the band journey. Give it some time. It's like marriage...the honeymoon can be altogether different than the marriage.

I couldn't disagree more. I joined this board almost three years ago and was banded for over three years and I'm delighted that Dr. Pleatman is here. I've met a couple of his patients in real life--one doing great, one a real turtle, and he is adored by both. When people are new to any surgery, they are often heavily invested in THEIR surgery. To the point that any suggestion that some other surgery is a good choice or even a better choice than the surgery they chose, is perceived as a threat to their potential success. Dr.Pleatman is NOT here recruiting converts, that is blatantly obvious. And "information about the LapBand" includes what to do when the band was NOT the best choice. Relax about your choice, PhotoNut. If the band was the right choice for you, there should be no fear of how Dr. Pleatman is helping those who had different results. Topic at hand, rebanding after erosion: Tracey, there's no flippin' WAY I'd consider rebanding for myself after erosion. Erosion is ugly. It is the rubbing away of the tissue. The best predictor of future performance is past performance. Why would my body suddenly accept this appliance if it had already--back when the tissue was in GOOD shape--rejected it? Just doesn't even sound like a reasonable--for me--assumption. Sue

Yes, your surgeon should know so that it can be treated. If you are dealing with stomach acid in your throat, it won't get better by itself. Sue

Veddy veddy good.

NewSho... I've been on the "band boards" for four years, and I think yours is the best answer I've read on this topic. Sue

First...the need for plastic surgery has WAY more to do with how overweight someone is and how LONG that condition lasted than it does with how fast someone loses weight. I lost slowly with the band and needed PS. I REGAINED and am losing quickly with DS and may need more PS...not because I'm losing quickly, but because the skin is stretched beyond its capacity to return to normal. Most doctors will tell you that if you have been 100 pounds overweight for any period of time, you WILL need plastic surgery. Then...the band is a safer SURGERY. And a shorter SURGERY. But, for me, for the surgery to be successful, I have to be NOT morbily obese when it's all said and done. To have ANY wls--even a "safe" one--and still be very obese or morbidly obese is NOT--to me--"safe." I got the band, went from MO to just O, started having complications and regained most of the weight. I had the band removed during a revision to DS and have NEVER been happier with a decision...except, maybe, that I waited so long to do it. About the "rerouted" comments...my band--and I am the exception, not the rule, to be sure--was rearranging my innards and causing them to malfunction. My esophagus worked only intermittently. It recovered, about 2.5 months after having the band removed, but it was miserable to live that way. Also--and again, I may be the exception--I can eat most foods now and I had a VERY limited diet while banded. I have to take lifelong supplements. Because I will have lifetime malabsorption. Which means that, for the rest of my life, a certain percentage of the foods I eat won't "count." Not for good (nutrients), not for bad (fats and cholesterol.) Good luck with your decision. But there are more than two wls's out there, so don't forget to consider the DS as well. Good luck.

Jan, I don't want to depress you. It does go away for MOST people, but not for everyone. MY personal expert on this topic is 'nicci6' who doesn't post here. She had two follow-up surgeries (I think) to correct the problem and finally had the band removed...and that helped but she has had occasional pain even since having the band removed. MIND YOU...most of us have left shoulder pain post-op and, slowly, it goes away. To find Nicci, you have to go to this site, where you should register and then post a message to her. Tell her that her fairy godmother sent you. http://www.wlsforum.org/index.php Sue