WASaBubbleButt

That is very sweet of you to do... liquids. It's sooo hard to do liquids when everyone else is eating yummie things. Your wife is very lucky, I hope she realizes that. AND DID YOU GIVE HER A HUG FROM ALL OF US??? You better, or ELSE! ;o)

That is odd. I'd talk to his other patients and see if they needed four weeks off. If they all did that tells me it is the surgeon and I'd be checking to see who else my insurance would contract with to do the surgery. A week, two at best. This is not the horror of a surgery that many assume it is. I remember a person on another board that was verrrry angry because her doctor wouldn't sign short term disability for 6 months. He told her she got 2 weeks, tops.

Elisabeth is correct, I do graze, it's my thing. ;o) But... grazers have to be extra careful of what they are grazing on. I graze on steamed veggies. A huge bowl that takes me all day to eat is 300 calories. One can be a grazer and lose/maintain, no doubt about it. Many believe restriction alone is not good for grazers and that is not necessarily true. It all depends on what you graze on. If you stick to NO white carb foods such as veggies and protein it's fine. But get in the habit now of the right foods to graze on or you can easily gain weight.

Heh... I was thinking the same *exact* thing. I was looking to see if anyone else posted her name. The lord isn't providing too well for those in many countries such as Africa. Sadly, the lord does not provide. Jaffa.... thin and poor, without a doubt. Lots of wealthy fat folks out there that are not happy campers.

I would PM Alex, the owner of this site. He is a Dr. Ren patient and he adores her.

Being insulin resistant does make weight loss harder but not impossible. Would you give us an example of your daily menu? If you were to eat a piece of chicken, exactly how much could you eat in one sitting?

It is not bougie size that matters as much as technique. Rodriguez does make tiny little sleeves just like we want. ;o) Wait... are you referring to Jose or Arturo Rodriguez? Jose is the one that makes good sleeves. Not Arturo Rodriguez.

Are you going to Aceves? If so, I'd ask Nina.

I had something sorta kinda similar. Each time I'd take a sip of something it felt like everything from my stomach to my esophagus was in spasms. Turns out, it was. It was due to swelling and it went away soon. Did you call Nina?

Do you think it could be the staples? The staples are verrrry expensive. On 2nd thought that is doubtful. Hospitals usually charge 10x their cost and the staples are more expensive than $2K. Maybe it is for the bougie?

They are in individual wrappers, like mini cupcake wrappers. They aren't chocolate, but they look like chocolate. I'm not sure what they are. HA!

One correction here, Ishi and Jessica were banded by Dr. Kuri in Tijuana.

Ahhhhhh, and a new sleeve is born. ;o)

I wish this was true but when it comes to WLS it isn't. It's a different premium that you have to pay and if it's excluded, it IS excluded. There was a woman that contacted me about a year ago, she weighs 600#. She has ins, but WLS is excluded. She tried everything, she has every comorbidity (heart disease, HPT, kidney damage, diabetes, severe edema, you name it, she has it), I put her in touch with a WLS ins guru who knows every trick in the book and it was fruitless. She just gained more weight fighting it. She hired an attorney to fight it and just spent about $750 fighting a fruitless battle. Ins will pay to replace joints, meds for high blood pressure, insulin for diabetes, they'll pay a LOT more money than needed to fix the problems of obesity but if your boss doesn't pay that WLS premium then they will not cover it.

If you can put together $9K in the US, what about $6500 in Mexico? They have done more bands collectively than the US docs have.

You are such a sweetheart! But I think that is because you are from Des Moines. ;o) Seriously, you are a nice guy. The other lady having surgery is lucky to have you. It can be spooky having surgery alone, but with you and your wife there she isn't alone. You are very cool, Jaffa!

Totally agree with everything written by OD.

There really is life after fast food! I swear! ;o)

I hope this is okay to post here, I'm not 100% sure. But in case it is, it is pretty darn funny! Nexopia

I think they are doing a better job than they used to but you should check out some of the food labels for the "healthy" choices. McDonalds salads are loaded with calories, fat, and sodium. McDonalds Yogurt is loaded with suger (but it's good! <g>) There is a sub place, I'm drawing a blank! It starts with a C. They have tuna salad, one serving is 1000 calories. It's hard, restaurants are in the business to sell things that taste good and fat and/or sugar is what makes things taste good. One would think tuna or yogurt would be good choices but they really aren't. It's hard, if you are in a rush and stop at a fast food joint it is VERY hard to make good choices.

HEY! You are there! Sounds as though everything is going well so far, very cool! Good to hear from you. Give your wife a hug for us!

A friend of mine has AHCCCS and it is covered. You have to have a BMI of 40 or greater, you have to have a psych eval, nutrition eval, bariatric eval, and sleep study. Medicaid does not cover those at 100%, so be warned. Then you have to do a 6 month medically supervised diet. All those are doable, the problem is that there is a 2 year waiting list to get into a bariatic surgeon that takes Medicaid/AHCCCS. So you are looking at about 2.6-3.0 years for surgery.

It's not that you have too many inquiries that is causing people to not finance your surgery it is that finance companies are requiring a credit score of around 700 before they will loan money in this economy. If someone has great credit they worked for that credit score. Nobody that has worked hard for their credit score is going to cosign for a total stranger. I mean, think about it, the finance companies won't extend a loan, why would a stranger? If you can't get a loan your next option is to borrow against retirement, life insurance, sell off personal items such as computer, car, stereo, cell phones, etc. If that doesn't do it you are looking at saving until you have enough for surgery.

Yes, he does. After you arrive in SD all transportation is taken care of.