WASaBubbleButt

Thanks, Carol. I need to tweak it for sleeves and put it on my blog.

One more thing... Here is a link to a fantastic website. You can enter a recipe in and it will actually make a food label for you. I used this site the whole time I was losing weight. Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

Your soups sounds wonderful! One suggestion, pea soup is not really loaded with good carbs like lentil soup is. It's starchy more than anything like corn. Lentils are uber fantastic for protein and fiber but more important it is a complete protein chain unlike peas or beans. I do think your quantities are a bit high but it doesn't sound like you have great restriction. I could have never eaten an entire apple when I was banded let alone with Peanut Butter. I'd keep shooting for fills until you get decent restriction. I'd also dump the soups and opt for more satisfying solid foods? Also, between 40-60 pounds people typically plateau, it's a normal part of weight loss. You are at the 40# point so really, you are supposed to plateau. Sorry, wish I had the magic answer for you.

You haven't written anything wrong and truly, there is no need to apologize. I just wanted to clarify the medical malpractice issue. I see people going to US surgeons based only on medical malpractice and it isn't a wise move to make. Life with medicine and Ins Co's has changed. I agreed with the changes in the beginning because people were just taking advantage of free money, whether or not the doctor actually did anything wrong was another story. So changes were good but now it's gone to the opposite extreme. The local guy with a horrible infection posts on LBT, his ID is TJWood. I love being able to cross the border without much distance but the closest border to me is Nogalas... it's a horrible little city! It used to be a lot of fun, I mean... I never went there at night but during the day it was fun for shopping, lunches, and such. Now I just have friends pick up stuff for me when they go to Mexicali. :yo:(

Ditto to what the others wrote.

I agree with OregonDaisy, I love to read people write, "I changed my mind I was getting a band and now I've decided on a sleeve." I love reading that, it is as though time spent on the boards was totally worth it. I especially cringe for self pay folks getting a band. They only read the newbie banded folks posts, they don't realize the problems with the band long term. Or people that have a $10K cap in WLS for a lifetime. What will they do when they need a revision? Anyway, congrats to you! You made a wise decision!

I won't respond to everything since others have addressed these issues but I will tell you that NO! The sleeve does not control your life the way a band does. A band gone bad affects every single aspect of your life. Social, personal, employment, health, everything. It affects every aspect of your life. A sleeve is like a band that works without all the risks and complications. It's just a difference of night and day. I totally relate to having to see your band surgeon every 2-3 weeks, I did that too. I got to the point it would have been cheaper to rent an apt in Mexicali and just live there! Nutrition is easier with a sleeve, you don't have to knock out vegetables or other fibrous foods. You get to poop with a sleeve! ;o) Check out the band boards, most are chronically constipated. A sleeve is great. You won't believe it until you experience it but it really is, it is 10,000x better than banding. You have your surgery and wave bye bye to your surgeon for good because you won't be coming back every 2-3 weeks for problems. I told my surgeon byeeeeee byeeeeeeee, so long, ta taaaa, nice knowing you, time for me to go now, I won't be seeing you again so maybe I'll see you in my next life! I spent so much time there while I was banded it feels great to tell him bye bye for good! ;o)))) He's a kind hearted and wonderful man but I don't want to *have* to go see him anymore.

I'm going to cheat here and copy something I have on my OH profile. ;o) Now, I don't know if this will apply to you but if it does, great. If not, let us know and we'll approach it from a different angle. Please note, this was originally a post I wrote to a person who specifically asked for a butt kicking. ;o) She was banded but the same info applies.

Ditto to what the others wrote. I have my band removed and a revision done a year ago and I'm telling you, the band sucks and the sleeve rocks! The difference is night and day. If you do not have a slip, erosion, inflammation, etc., there is little reason not to do it in one procedure. Matter of fact the Standard of Care in the US is to do it in one procedure, less OR risk. What's up with your band?

I do not know anything about your doctor but if you check out my sig it will give you suggestions on how to research Dr. Sasse. It will give you ideas for researching any sleeve surgeon. Your chances for maintaining without WLS are not great, stats show that very few people can maintain weight loss after losing their band. If you can get insurance to pay for a revision I say go for it.

Congrats on your surgery and welcome to the forum! I think we have a pretty fantastic group here! I agree, be positive. Put out positive and get positive back!

If it is not extended release can you break it up in tiny pieces vs. crushing into a powder?

Thanks, Mac. Dr. Pleatman? I don't believe a surgeon needs to be a God or a liar, some surgeons are just plain better than others and there is little value in getting pissy about it and begin calling people names. My doc told me that leak stats under 1% are acceptable, more than that is not acceptable.

Pasta, rice, whole grains, some cereals, anything that swells with Water. If you take cooked rice and soak it in more water it's going to swell more. The same thing can happen in your stomach. Then you become overly full.

You are 60? Damn girl! You look good! I thought from your photo that you were about 40/45!

For me it is all or none, if I eat one slice of bread the carb cravings are back in full force. If I don't go near it then I quit craving it. When I do indulge and I want to get back on track I do the 5DPT and that gets me off carbs and I feel better, too. When I was a noob I couldn't do it, I just plain couldn't. All I'd have to do is look at a loaf of bread and I was history with carbs. I actually ordered groceries on line so I didn't have to walk the aisles of the grocery store. Or, I'd take just enough money for things I had to have, no check book, no credit/debit cards, nothing. One time I needed a can of tuna and I took $0.90 with me. That's how bad it used to be for me. Enough for tuna but not enough for a loaf of bread. I blew it in every possible way this weekend. I had a horrible weekend at work, two pediatric patients - very sad things that happened to them. But I totally blew it in every possible way. I have to fess up... I was actually eating pie while running on my treadmill... I mean at the same time! :cool0:/ Right now I'm eating a salad with hot buttery garlic/cheese bread. Needless to say, tomorrow it's back to the 5DPT for me. I have learned that I let things get out of hand and I don't let it get out of hand anymore. So for me it is all or none. I think that is true for most of us.

I live in a border state as well, we border with Nogales. Nogales is pretty bad and I don't go there much anymore but not all cities in MX are bad. You are comparing all cities to Monterrey and cities similar to Juarez. Those are both listed as cities the MX and US gov't warn to avoid. Since I do live in a border state I fully understand seeing something in your back yard and "feeling" like an entire country is the same but that's kinda like someone from MX coming to one of our own very dangerous cities and going home to say that all of the US is like that, it's just not realistic. What happened to your Dad is wrong, it shouldn't have happened and I am sorry to hear it but to say that as a US citizen you can't do anything about it - that's just not true. Doctors in Mexico carry medical malpractice for a reason, not just because they like paying the premiums. With that said they do things a little differently in MX, if a doctor is honestly a dirtbag of a doctor they can be sued (granted, not likely to win) but what is more likely is you can file criminal charges and they can go to a Mexican prison. Personally, I don't go to doctors based on whether or not I can sue them. I go to them based on research and skill. Even then sometimes things happen. We have the same exact problem in the US with doctors and many feel very comfortable that they can sue and get lots of money when things go wrong and that's just not true. I know 4, possibly 5 people that have had their lap bands placed around a glob of fat instead of their stomachs, all different surgeons, all in the US. Not one of them could find a lawyer to take the case. To hire expert witnesses is around $25K per witness, court costs, attorney fees... the case costs more to do than when it will pay out. Some were self pay and some were insurance. I know a guy that went to a US surgeon and came home with a self pay lap band. He returned to his surgeon complaining of pain and fever, the surgeon told him it was just post op pain. He went to an ER complaining of pain and fever, labs showed a significant infection, yet he was told it was post op pain. He returned to his surgeon a few days later when his port was bubbling out of his abdomen, it was seriously infected. His surgeon put him on antibiotics, no culture, just an Rx for antibiotics. The gentleman went to his PCP where he finally did a culture and the antibiotics were not going to work because it was the wrong one. Had the surgeon cultured his wound he would have known that. Fast forward to 9 months later he just had surgery again a couple of weeks ago to clean out more pus pockets and infection throughout his gut. It *still* isn't gone. He's self paid somewhere around $25K for the placement of his band and insurance copays/deductibles for the infection and many surgeries. He has no band, an infected gut, and no recourse. The case isn't worth enough. So really, how much better off are we for being US citizens with the ability to sue doctors? I've been in medicine for over 20 years and I'm telling you, this stuff is common. There are very few surgeons I would let touch me, I have seen them work and I want nothing to do with it and I'm talking the US. We can file complaints with the medical board if we don't like something our surgeon does but you know, it's the good 'ol boys club in many states. Nothing happens. We had a doctor here that had to kill three people before the board finally acted on it and instead of revoking his license (for doing a procedure that was outside his scope of abilities) they just told him he can't do that particular procedure on people anymore. THREE dead people and nothing other than, "Don't do that procedure anymore." I just don't see the value in going to a doctor based on the fact that they have medical malpractice, most times it isn't going to help the injured party anyway. A few years ago insurance companies made a 180 in the way they handle claims. They used to pay out anything without batting an eye if it was under $5K. The larger claims they would take it case by case. Mega big claims they would fight to the bitter end. Today, they fight them all to the bitter end, suing doctors is not like yesterday. It used to be ins would pay out stupid lawsuits that were not even the doctor's fault because it was cheaper than fighting it. Not so today. Today it's a different world. Today they are fighting them all and it is the ins co's that are winning.

He is neither. Before you start calling your peers "liars" I am going to ask you to prove your claims. Also, to find a study that shows the worst case outcomes and claim your stats are better... well, do you see where I am going with this?

How many hours weekly of hard cardio are you doing?

I had very similar problems, that's why I got a sleeve. Would you just give me a week and let me help you? We can chat via PM? Just a week. If things aren't better... remove the band. But just maybe I can help? I've been where you are but for different reasons.

You are soon to learn that you did anything *but* taking the easy way out. But what if you did? What if you did take the easy way out? What's wrong with that? Do you stand all the time or do you sit sometimes? Isn't that taking the easy way out? Do you live in a house with electricity and running Water or do you live in a cave? Isn't that taking the easy way out? What about transportation, do you take a car or bus when you travel or do you walk? Isn't that taking the easy way out? Assuming for one minute that WLS is the easy way out, what exactly is wrong with it?

Yes, I am pretty sure you could be allergic to Nexium if you are allergic to Protonix. Dr. Aceves uses Nexium mups because it dissolves in juice. Regular Nexium does not. Linda, a poster here is an RPh and she could give you more info. A leak is the big concern with a sleeve and if you had a leak pain is not the only symptom, a high fever is the other. You will want to check your temperature a couple of times a day after surgery. A low grade fever is normal after surgery, anything over 100.5 and I'd be calling the doc's office.

Yep, what she wrote. If your actual surgery is on the 14th (arriving in San Diego the 13th) you'd go home the 17th.

Problem is, one of those doctors does not tell the truth about complications. He claims he's never had a complication, none. Turns out that isn't so true, he's had several quite serious complications. That's why you can't really depend on being told the truth and you have to read read read and verify as much info as possible.

And tell Dr. Aceves he'll have a house guest for a few months. ;o)