WASaBubbleButt

Who is your doctor? Sometimes posting as you have puts a little pressure on them to get things moving. Let's just say it motivates them to get their job done. ;o) Besides, other patients might be able to chime in and help pressure the office a bit.

If I had it all to do over again, it would be a sleeve. Hands down, a sleeve. Sleeves have far fewer complications long term than bands or bypass. They have better and faster weight loss, no restriction issues, and I've heard of people losing their band but never their sleeve. They used to save a more elastic portion of the stomach and it did stretch. Today they save a more muscular portion of the stomach and stretching isn't the issue it was in the 70s.

I don't understand doctors that have upper age limits. Do retired folks not deserve quality of life? Don't doctors think they would be healthier if they were thinner? Never did understand that one.

That's a really complicated surgery due to massive amounts of scarring and adhesions. One of the concerns is complications from so much dissection around the pancreas. You'll likely have a drain for a bit and the problem with drains is that while they permit body fluids such as lymphatic drainage to leave the body, it permits bacteria to walk right in if the drain is there for an extended period of time. With that said, I don't blame you. I'd be taking those risks too if I was going to a mega good surgeon with a gazillion years of experience and if his background includes a few bands with FD as well.

What in the world are you talking about? US surgeons are losing a LOT of business to Mexico and they are telling people the most bizarre of things. And some people are falling for it. Who do you think trained the US surgeons in banding?????? Yeah, that would be the Mexican surgeons. Are you under the impression that they trained US surgeons to use rubber bands? Who do you think perfected the band and the surgical technique that will be used on you? Uh huh... that would be the Mexican surgeons. Please, don't depend on your doctor who is a businessman fighting Mexican doctors taking a portion of his business away for information on business issues.

I wouldn't compare what Betancourt does with all of Mexico. "Mexico" is concerned with maintaining appropriate medical records. It is "Betancourt" that destroys them when the patient is discharged. Why wouldn't he do a post op barium swallow?

The sleeves works faster than the band. When you have a band you have to do the pre op diet and then wait for good restriction. The fills can take months before weight loss really kicks in. With a sleeve you are at the right restriction coming out of surgery. With a band you average 1-2 pounds per week, with a sleeve it is 2-3# per week. I don't know, I think it's just easier all the way around and fewer complications than with a band or bypass.

I don't know exact stats but I'll throw something out there. A friend of mine took her grand daughter to some school function the other day. She was floored, she swears that about 90% of the kids (high school) are at least overweight if not obese. In Australia the obesity issue has become a crisis for their socialized medicine program and according to an article I read a couple of months ago obesity is about to bankrupt their medical program. It's spooky to say the least.

That's one definition of major surgery but not everyone would agree. I really wish you would stop changing my words around. In no way did I *ever* compare a hang nail removal to band surgery. Someone can have every comorbidity in the book, that does not change the surgery type or how invasive it is. I would think everyone would be thrilled that banding isn't major surgery. Isn't that why many people got a band to begin with? Because it is not as major as the others? Why make it what it isn't? It's a GOOD thing that it isn't major surgery, it's a VERY good thing.

I did not write that it is minor surgery, I wrote that it is minor in comparison to a major surgery such as open heart. If someone is high risk it does not make every surgical procedure major surgery, it means they are high risk for a more minor procedure. Nobody said there is no risk for banding and a minor procedure does not promise no complications. Removal of a hang nail can have complications. Banding is not major surgery, very little tissue is cut, very little dissection happens. But this is a good thing! It's one of the benefits of banding in that it is not a major surgical procedure. Jus' saying....

The band doesn't reverse success, we reverse our own success. The band stays the same. Banding is not major surgery, open heart surgery is major surgery. The band is minor in comparison.

I am not a fan of diet pills, not even a little. I am a fan of dealing with OCD issues. I think we have OCD tendencies with food. We think about it ALL the time. Never put it together until I was taking Luvox for something else band related (long story). I notice that each time I start taking it I don't think about food. When I stop taking it I have tons of head hunger. Oh, I deal with head hunger now, I have a great deal of control over it today vs. yesterday but with Luvox I don't have head hunger and I don't think about food unless I'm actually hungry. Guess what Luvox is used for in the US? OCD. ;o) My doc is Mexican and they use it for different reasons but that was a side effect of taking that drug. Might be something to research.

Congrats! You'll have to join us for monthly lunches we bandsters have. KittenQutie is going to take over the list. She's better at it than I am! ;o) If you want to join us just send me your email address (PM) and I'll add you and anyone else that wants to join us. It's not a bad idea to get to know lots of banded folks in real time so when you have a question you can just pick up the phone and call. Especially after surgery you'll have lots of questions.

Careful with TUMS. They cause more problems than they cure. The problem with drugs like this is that it may resolve the problem right now, but a few hours later it causes rebound acid. IOW, you end up with more than you started with. Have you talked to your doc about a proton pump inhibitor? Something like Prevacid, Prilosec, Protonix, something like that? That prevents the acid from being produced to begin with. TUMS only neutralized already existing acid.

The day of and after surgery people would kill to fart. Days two and three and maybe a little longer and you want to burp. ;o) It's the stoma swelling, we all go through it. Welcome newbie!!!

I'm not saying you didn't do your research and I'm not saying what is known today, was known then. What I am saying is that there are people that if they don't get a band in Mexico, they won't get a band at all. With your crusade to get people to avoid the GOOD doctors in Mexico, you could be preventing people from getting life saving surgery. That's some mega serious karma, you know? Do you sincerely want to be responsible for someone not having life saving surgery because your band eroded? Com'on, you don't seem like that type of person. There are good doctors and bad, you have to do the best you can with research. The good docs are well known and have long standing reps. The bad ones (of the popular names) are also well known. If people do their research there isn't a bit of difference between going to Mexico and the US except that one is a place that people can afford. There are really bad things that happen in the US too, I've listed some of them. I've seen them for 25 years in my profession. You aren't going to be promised perfect medical care without potential complications regardless of which doctor in which country. Instead of chasing people away from Mexico, why not show them how to research and find a good doctor?

Tell him if he wasn't such a butthead to bandsters he might see more of them for plastics. All we can do is educate doctors! LOL Sharona: Isn't THAT the truth! I can't even find a plastic surgeon because I flat out refuse to pay someone to be arrogant to me. I swear, I'll keep looking until I find one. I may not get plastics until I'm 80 but by damn I'll find a nice one! I did find one guy that I absolutely adored and he used to be fat himself so he's great with former fatties. But he's taking a year off. I may just wait. :thumbup:/

But will they cover the pre ops? Nutrition eval, psych eval, sleep study, bariatric consult, labs, EKG, etc.

Does that include all the pre ops? sleep study, etc? If not, that can get pretty expensive. I paid $7800 in Mexico but I understand it is down to $7K now. Isn't that awful when it's cheaper to go to Mexico vs. using insurance?

I'd start documenting. Only record the important stuff, issues that are seriously inappropriate. Issues regarding your weight, clothing sounds, that sort of thing. If she does something that just annoys the crap out of you but isn't technically inappropriate in a work setting don't include that. Make a list, dates, times, what was said, was it said in front of someone, etc. Not only will that give you time to decide how you want to handle it, it will also afford you the opportunity of organization and that will show you really mean business here. I wouldn't go getting coworkers to gang up on her with you to go to Mgmt, that will make you look bad. You don't need the support of your coworkers, what is happening is inappropriate. Do you have an obese supervisor? That's who I'd go to, they'll understand better than anyone.

This is a point I have made many times, this is why I a pro-Mexico. There are many (most?) that if they don't go to Mexico they can't have surgery at all. $3K - $5K can mean the difference of someone getting a band vs. not getting a band. Cosmos, is that what you want? Since you are in the minority that eroded (which could have happened in the US just as well) then nobody should go to Mexico and many should not have surgery at all? Cosmos, what you are suggesting is that people should die of obesity related issues instead of going to Mexico because you can't drink their Water. Does that really make sense to you? Seriously, logically speaking, is that what you want? Considering there are excellent doctors in Mexico and they probably all have lower erosion stats than your doctor, why shouldn't someone go to a good doctor? People erode in the US too, and they have to pay a lot more money to have the band removed in the US so according to your logic nobody should have surgery in the US either because they can't sue for a known side effect of the band. I have news for you, from what you write here you wouldn't have stood a chance of winning a medical malpractice case in the US. Just keep in mind, when you say all of Mexico is bad because you didn't go to a great surgeon, you really are suggesting that others die of obesity related conditions. You sure you want to live with that one?

Sheesh you guys! Can you believe it has been 18 months since we were banded??? A year and a half. I see newbies posting with their newbie tickers and I remember how that felt! Remember when your own ticker was allll the way to the left? Anyone have any memories? Something funny to share? Dumbest question you ever asked? Something humorous about your last 18 months? I remember one of my dumbest posts. First time I slimed, I wrote on my docs board and I finally knew was sliming was and OMG! How disgusting! Like everyone needed to know I slimed? ;o) It was so significant at the time! Here's to a year and a half!

Nope, not everyone is required to do a diet. The reason I asked is that if you are required to do a medically supervised diet, the sooner you start the better. Now that you know you qualify for insurance purposes the next step is to find out which doctors are on your plan and choose one, make an appt. and get the ball rolling.

The doctors won't have a problem doing your surgery it is a matter if your insurance covers it. Many insurance companies require that you be 21 although, I really don't know why. First thing is first, see if your insurance covers Lap Bands. See what the requires are for you to qualify. See what hoops you have to jump through, you may have to do a medically supervised diet for 3-12 months or perhaps not, each policy is different. Find out what the hoops are and start working on it.

Whoops, I should have made sure that link worked first. I can't even copy paste the info, it won't paste. Formatting?? Not sure. Go here: Licensure Verification Click on "public verification" >> Agree >> type "Frezza E" >> click on link of name >> read.