WASaBubbleButt

There are other options available. Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared Just please, do something so you can get your life back.

About 85% of the time an unfill and liquids for a few weeks fixes a slip. Good luck to you!

HA! Mine did the same thing. The more you lose the lower things go, including scars. A friend of mine was banded a couple of weeks ago and I commented to the doc that her scars are soooo much higher than mine. He smiled and said mine used to be that high too. ;o) It's a good thing, consider it a NSV~

I agree with the veggie steamer bags for a microwave. I HATE cooking and I'm no good at it. These things are fast, easy, and idiot proof. I put veggies in there with sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper and nuke it. I haven't tried meat in there since I eat so little meat anymore. I love tuna salad, veggie salads, Chinese chicken salad, ... those are my favs.

I agree with you, $6500 IS very low, you know they have to be cutting corners somewhere. I know who you are referring to, be very careful. There is truth to the saying that you get what you pay for. ;o) Please see my sig link.

With dialysis patients they are not poking fatty tissue and they are poking them three times weekly for years. You aren't going to be in the same boat by a long shot.

Hi Jean... I had my surgery Dec/06. I had it done in Mexico. It has been very successful. I've lost 100% of my excess weight. I wish I had known just how many head issues there are in dealing with weight loss. Things I don't really believe we can be prepared for, instead just stuff one has to go through. Regrets.... If I had it all do to over again I would not get a band. I'd get a sleeve.

All it means is that you are here and headed in the right direction. Nothing more.

Welcome, Andre! Good to have you here. First thing to do is verify that your insurance covers banding or WLS at all. That's the first step. If it does you need to find out what the requirements are. Do they require a certain number of comorbidities, do they require 5 years of documentation that you have been overweight? What about a medically supervised diet? Then you need to get a list of doctors your insurance co contracts with and start going to seminars and choosing one. Of course, read here daily. ;o) Seriously, much great info here to be had. Take it all in and see what works for you and what doesn't. But keep coming back and reading. You can't research enough! Good luck to you!

Nonono... this is a surgery for patients who had bypass and failed due to stretching their pouch. It's a revision surgery. It's not a primary surgery.

The same way you order 1.5cc for a first fill. You know, you decide that is what you want in your 4cc band and then you go to the doctor and let him know.

Don't let the labels get to you. Where did I hear this??? Something about the reason your eyes are on the front of your body is so you can see where you are going, not where you have been. ;o) You are headed for "healthy" weight. You merely started a little higher. I was MO too, I was thrilled when I was merely obese. Then the best one is when I was just plain fat (overweight). Aka chunky, not a bean pole, chubby. ;o) It only gets better! Give it time.

I went to Dr. Aceves. I'd go to him again without a second thought.

Before you can determine how much of a fill you need you have to know how thick your stomach wall is in relation to the size of your band. Few of us have ever seen our actual stomach. ;o) So there is no way to tell how much you will need. Even 0.1cc too much can obstruct you so you can't even keep your own saliva down. Doing fills is not a science, it's an art. It takes lots of practice to get it down perfectly and the same holds true for patients. It takes practice, trial, and error to discover perfect restriction. My doc was telling me about one person that had it all wrong about fills. He got 1cc and lost 50 pounds. So he thought that meant that if he got another 0.5cc he'd lose the remaining 25. ;o) It doesn't work that way. You might need 0.5 or you might need 3.0. There is no way to tell until you drink fluids and eat foods after a fill.

Maybe the reason you have no complaints is because you are one that didn't have any complications. Complications happen, no way around it. They happen to the bad docs and the good docs. The key is how those complications are handled and how many they have. Everyone that had no problems and loses their excess weight loves their doc. Those that have complications see how the doc REALLY is. That is what newbies need to be looking for, how the bad stuff is dealt with.

I am a nurse too, I used to do 7-12 hour shifts in a row and then I was off for a week. So I relate to your question. If you read through the forum you'll find a wealth of information. Eating at regular hours is not really an issue, you can always grab a piece of cheese or a Protein bar if you are hungry. Weight loss will significantly improve comorbidities. sleep apnea seems to go away from what most here write. Diabetes typically goes into remission, labs improve. Most of all being a nurse and walking around for 12 hours is MUCH easier after weight loss! Research, read, study, find everything you can. Research various WLS types, doctors, obesity studies, the works. Leave nothing out. Just know what you are getting into so you can be prepared to get this done. ANY WLS type is going to be tough, it's hard losing weight. I can't do it the traditional way, it's just too hard. No self control.... call it what you will. I still can't do it. Banding is hard but it's the kind of hard we can do, our population. It makes weight loss possible for the first time ever. I understand your issues related to food/meals/nursing. If I can help please let me know.

Protein products.... whey Gourmet Chocolate/Peanut butter made by PVL. (their chocolate is gross) Matrix 5.0 Perfect Chocolate made by Syntrax. Matrix Cookies & Cream (if you like mega sweet) made by Syntrax EAS strawberry (haven't tried the other flavors) made by EAS. I don't care for the premix but the powder is better and cheaper, you can get it at Walmart. Body Fortress Chocolate. Kinda thin but doable in the beginning. Another Walmart product and cheap. I prefer EAS. Those are what I prefer, your preferences may vary.

I think I experienced that for about four months. Ports... first thing to hurt and the last thing to heal. (

Whoops, sorry! I meant Bio E band. I never heard of that one.

I never told anyone my weight either until joining places like this. ;o) WLS is never to be taken lightly. And NO! It's not easy. Thing is, traditional diet and exercise while maintaining a weight loss is too hard. I can't do it or I wouldn't have needed surgery. People can call me a person without self control, no self discipline, whatever they wish. I'll admit to it all. But it was still too hard. WLS is also very hard but it's the kind of hard WE can do, OUR population. It's no easy pill to swallow that we can't refrain from stuffing our faces. It's not like we actually prefer a donut over thin, it's different. It's a food obsession and compulsion. It's an eating disorder and not always a matter of self control. Weight Watchers... heh... I swear, those folks survive off of repeat business. All the same people go there, lose weight, and then return when they have regained. Learn EVERYTHING you can about banding. Know everything, be able to answer anyone's question without having to research it first. Then you'll know if this is for you or not. Good luck and don't be hard on yourself. If you are like the rest of us, you probably are. ;o)

Why do you want 1 - 1.5cc in your band? Everyone is different, for some 0.5 would cause them to obstruct where someone else might need 3cc in a 4cc band.

Nothing like that - that I am aware of. The pressure really remains pretty constant. When you fill someone when the needle is in the port you kinda have to keep your thumb over the plunger of the syringe because it the pressure. If you let go of the plunger the Fluid from the band comes back into the syringe. The tubing really doesn't hold very much. I can't even give you an estimate of how much it holds because many doc remove some of the slack during surgery. So some folks will have more tubing than others.

Dr. Huacuz isn't my choice of doctors either so please don't think I am defending him but what did he do wrong to cause a slip? Have you called him? Have you given him a chance to explain what might be going on? Have you been PBing? Vomiting? Anything like that? Was the band not stitched into place properly?

Agreed, I don't think eating a normal size portion of food is wasting money vs. eating enough for 3 people. There is much more to going to a restaurant than the food. I'm like you, it was my "fat mentality" that got me fat, I'm trying to change everything about how I view food.

I've been to three PS, two male and one female. Each time it was just the doc and me. While not everyone prefers that, I do. The fewer people in that room the better. If I knew how to do that without the doc being in there either that would be my preference. ;o)