GeezerSue

First, you are likely still working the anesthesia out of your system. I remember that for her breast reduction surgery, our daughter's third week post-op was her very worst. For no specific reason. Allow yourself to be unreasonably emotional for as long as you need. Then, when it's over, if you feel the same way...get the doctor alone and tell him that you WISH it were as easy to talk to his staff as it is to talk to him. That you never mentioned it before, but now that others are asking what doctor you went to... Maybe you could even mention that a friend called and was so turned off that she decided to go elsewhere (even if you have to convince a friend to call.)

Hi, again, Lori... We (you, Vonna, Mr. Sue and I) had dinner at Applebee's the night before your surgery, remember? You are looking WONDERFUL!!! Sue

Yana, My best experience with large sizes outside the US was in Germany, at a Ulla Popken store. I mention them because they are online. They also have a store in Kuwait. That IS a little far to go for a daytime shopping trip, but it seems logical that a company with a presence in Kuwait would ship to the UAE. Sue www.ullapopken.com

Fantastic. Take care and get well.

Confession/caveat...Hospital Oasis is an "alternative cancer center." I am extremely, extremely, extremely skeptical of such businesses. I know others disagree with me, but I really feel that most of such places are just out to take advantage of desperate people. Snake oil and all. So, while the banding surgery is not part of the alternative cancer treatment thing, I just could not go there. To each his own, but I just could not. I don't doubt that it is clean and that good doctors go there. But the hosptial I chose was a teaching hospital associated with a medical school, cuz I'm a coward.

Thomas Jefferson is one of my biggest heroes. When I go to DC, I can just stand at that monument forever thinking aobut how his brain worked.

So what DO you plan to do to for Thanksgiving?

Hey! Just got a message from Donali's sister...and I don't know why my stupid phone didn't ring so I could talk to her. Donali was in surgery for five hours. It was very difficult because of all the adhesions, and it took a lot of time to test for leaks. I'm sorry to report that she is in "incredible pain," and not currently a happy camper. But, she is looking good and the surgery is over and she will soon be on her way to health. Yeah, Donali!!!!

Me, too. But I couldn't get much more out of him.

Okay, now don't flame me, either. But...there are only a couple of Mexican doctors--I think it's just Rumbaut and Sanchez--who practice in hospital facilities that are anything like what we call a hospital here. That is one reason why I, and several others here and on other boards, tend to promote those two doctors. (Although I've only been to one.) Next in line are the kinds of places that Kuri, Ortiz and Lopez use in Tijuana. Some are bigger, some are smaller, some are newer, some are older, but they are all very, very, very limited hospitals by US standards. If you have a problem in the middle of surgery and need a cardioligist or a gynecologist or pulmonologist or neurosurgeon, you can bet that there will NOT be one in the hospital and there are none "on staff." They are just not set up for that level of problem solving. The saving grace is that you are only about an hour (depending on border issues) from San Diego. Then, there are places like Rodriguez has in Acuña. I know he has a happy fan club. I also know doctors who say that he has had problems there that he was not able to handle. It's a one man shop, and--although there is a hopsital across the border-- it's three-hour drive to the nearest big city hospitals in San Antonio. I'm not very familiar with the facilites used by verboonen or Joya (I think he works in several cities), although I know of happy and unhappy patients from both. Remember that this is NOT a post about the doctors...just the facilites. But I'm a brat and want ALL THE ODDS to be on my side. And the Yahoo boards? Several of those are set up by the doctors themselves and run by some of the sappier, in-love-with-my-surgeon-who-no-longer-charges-me patients...it would be safer to speak kindly of Saddam Hussein than to speak unkindly of their little gods. Been there, done that. Hope you get well.

One little comment (maybe someone else made it, as I kind of sped through the posts) is that you don't need will power and can't cheat if you're not on a diet. So stop dieting. Just eat the food in the order you listed. If you can eat much, you don't have enough restriction. Don't get discouraged when your wife starts losing weight quickly. This isn't about quick. It's about five years from now.

Maybe we should start a SELF-APPOINTED-EXPERT-FREE Yahoo board.

"Ahem" instead of my participating in even an unspirited debate. I'm puffy right now and I'm just going to watch. Sue

Ahem...

It means how much saline is in the reservoir in the band. NOW, how much is that? A teaspoon is 5cc's. So If you take a teaspoon of Water and pour out 4/5ths f it (80% of it) what's left in the spoon is 1cc. (WAAAAAAAAY too tiny for a stomach.)

A lot of people who had reflux pre-banding have found that banding "cures" reflux. Meanwhile, many of us who never had it, develop reflux from being banded. It is NOT GOOD. It is NOT just a little heartburn. It is stomach acid eating away at the esophagus and eventually closing it down. Scary photos: http://www.endoskopischer-atlas.de/o09e.htm

Actually, I know very little about this except...it's not the physical action of the NSAIDs vs. the band that they are concerned about. It's the chemical action. NSAIDs thin the mucous lining of the stomach. and that's something we need to be working well to protect the physical integrity of the stomach that we have already altered.

Wisdom.

Lisa, You MAY BE certifiable. You just crack me up. Chew well, dear. You have no other choice. Sue

Helmut Billy, MD 369 Paseo de Playa, #210 Ventura, CA 93001 Office: 530-277-0547

Right now you are supposed to be recovering from surgery, not losing weight. The band starts working when you get the proper restriction, from adjustments. This time is hard, but it does pass quickly. When will you be going to your doctor for your first adjustment?

Right now you are supposed to be recovering from surgery, not losing weight. The band starts working when you get the proper restriction, from adjustments. This time is hard, but it does pass quickly.

Rumbaut has all of his patients stay at the Hampton Inn. Makes transportation to and from airport and hospital much easier. I had surgery on a Tuesday, root canal on Thursday and Friday and flew home Friday.

Guys, Donali and I spoke last night. I admitted that in addition to feeling so sorry about what she's going through, and in addition to wondering if that could be my next challenge, I was just plain afraid that without her band, she'd go away and I'd have to get used to life without her. I don't think I'm the only one who has come to rely on her wisdom, so I don't think I'm the only one going through this. Once she is unbanded, there will eventually be no logical reason for her to be here day after day...but who cares about logic! I want Donali to keep coming here as long as I do! (I'm also afraid it sounds like a freakin' eulogy.) Will someone a little more gifted in this area help me with expressing this...I seem to be having trouble. Sue

Jennye, Our daughter (almost 29) says that she is just not playing that game anymore. If some guy shows up at her door with a suitcase and says, "I'll need half the closet, a couple of dresser drawers and two shelves in the medicine cabinet," he's in. But she's not going looking. I've had a rough few weeks. Glad to see you back. Sue