WASaBubbleButt

I cheated and copied this from another post I wrote. Following Post Op Diet: When you eat food your stomach has to churn and work to break food down so it can pass through the GI system. When you drink Clear liquids it virtually does little to no work. When you drink full liquids it doesn't have to work hard. When you eat solids your stomach has to work very hard to break down food while it mixes with stomach acids. It almost looks like stomach spasms. Since it is the scarring and adhesions that hold the band in place and not the sutures (long term), when you eat solids your stomach is moving and churning and this prevents adhesions from forming. The other issue is that when they first started doing this procedure they made the pouch bigger than they do now. People were not losing weight with a larger pouch so they started making it much smaller. If you eat solids before you are supposed to you can actually push your pouch down and the adhesions that do form will secure the pouch in place but with a much larger size. You could end up with a larger pouch and weight loss will be very difficult. The only repair is surgical and then you start the post op diet all over again. I doubt most docs would redo the procedure because you didn't follow the post op diet. When you don't follow your doc's instructions you are only harming yourself. If you want the band to work, you have to do as your doc tells you. I think there should be a huge warning label somewhere that patients have to read before surgery. If you want your band to work you have to follow the instructions for EVERYTHING and especially a post-op diet. When you are doing clears/full liquids/soft foods remember that sugar, ANY kind of sugar or carbs will make you want to eat your right arm. Protein will kill hunger. It's the way your blood sugar and pancreas work. When you eat sugar your blood sugar increases. Then your pancreas kicks out insulin, then your blood sugar decreases and that sends hormones that tell your brain you are hungry again. When you consume protein it doesn't mess with your blood sugar much so your body isn't constantly trying to tell your brain you are hungry. Oh, you'll still have head hunger issues, but we all have that and that is a big reason we are fat. But mix head hunger with stomach hunger and we will fail. It's just too much. So cut out ALL sugar and most carbs, limit carbs to 30gms daily. Then bump up your protein and that should make it so you can manage post op diets.

I cheated and copied this from another post I wrote. Following Post Op Diet: When you eat food your stomach has to churn and work to break food down so it can pass through the GI system. When you drink Clear liquids it virtually does little to no work. When you drink full liquids it doesn't have to work hard. When you eat solids your stomach has to work very hard to break down food while it mixes with stomach acids. It almost looks like stomach spasms. Since it is the scarring and adhesions that hold the band in place and not the sutures (long term), when you eat solids your stomach is moving and churning and this prevents adhesions from forming. The other issue is that when they first started doing this procedure they made the pouch bigger than they do now. People were not losing weight with a larger pouch so they started making it much smaller. If you eat solids before you are supposed to you can actually push your pouch down and the adhesions that do form will secure the pouch in place but with a much larger size. You could end up with a larger pouch and weight loss will be very difficult. The only repair is surgical and then you start the post op diet all over again. I doubt most docs would redo the procedure because you didn't follow the post op diet. When you don't follow your doc's instructions you are only harming yourself. If you want the band to work, you have to do as your doc tells you. I think there should be a huge warning label somewhere that patients have to read before surgery. If you want your band to work you have to follow the instructions for EVERYTHING and especially a post-op diet. When you are doing clears/full liquids/soft foods remember that sugar, ANY kind of sugar or carbs will make you want to eat your right arm. Protein will kill hunger. It's the way your blood sugar and pancreas work. When you eat sugar your blood sugar increases. Then your pancreas kicks out insulin, then your blood sugar decreases and that sends hormones that tell your brain you are hungry again. When you consume protein it doesn't mess with your blood sugar much so your body isn't constantly trying to tell your brain you are hungry. Oh, you'll still have head hunger issues, but we all have that and that is a big reason we are fat. But mix head hunger with stomach hunger and we will fail. It's just too much. So cut out ALL sugar and most carbs, limit carbs to 30gms daily. Then bump up your protein and that should make it so you can manage post op diets.

Everyone knows that lots of 250# folks wear a 14!

BTW, this thread is not designed for folks to tell how great their doc is/was/will be. This is meant to be an objective and neutral method for people to do their own research. Thanks! However, this does bring up the topic of patient coordinators. I'm going to copy/paste something from another thread regarding coordinators. They post on every obesity board a great deal and try to get you to go to their doctor. Sometimes they are banded and sometimes they pose as a banded patient that just loves their doc. They are paid a commission to try and get you to go to their doctor. You just don't know that because they don't tell you. They don't care if you go to a quality surgeon, they care about getting a commission from your referral to their doctor. This is why I can't stand them and I wanted just ONE thread free of clutter about how much someone likes their doctor. Patient coordinators do things such as: ~Start threads about their doc and do anything to keep it going even if it means posting about the weather just to keep it bumped to the top. ~As soon as the least bit negative fact is written about their doc they cry, scream, stomp their feeties, claim their thread is ruined so they start a new one so the newbies won't see the facts. They claim the factual information is "poison" and it really gets them in a huff. It's amusing to watch. ~They create new IDs and come back trashing the "good" docs. We caught one of them doing it so she came back with ALLLLL new IDs. ~They don't admit there is the least little thing negative about their doc. ~They make it a point to post their email address so you can email them personally and get more info. That way they have more reason to talk to you in detail and provide you with a website address. ~They are sure not to say anything positive about another doc. You will never see them saying "Dr. X is as good as my doctor." No other doctor is as good as theirs. ~When they create new IDs and trash other docs they run around reposting the link to other threads to make sure everyone sees someone trashing another doc. It's a great scare technique for newbies. ~They create lots of IDs to pretend like they are happy patients. In reality, there are few people posting but many many IDs. ~They don't push independent research, they'll do your research for you. (That's key) ~Many of the newbie (fake) IDs gravitate back to a single doc. After they post an untrue story about one doc they change IDs, respond their original "trashing" post, and proclaim THEY aren't going to THAT doc, they are going to the other doc, the "better" doc. ~They hide facts and stats about their own doc. Their idea of a "good" surgeon is someone that was nice to them. Nice does NOT mean SKILLED. They will talk about how they felt like family, they were treated sooo well, they were not afraid in Mexico at all, they act as though surgery was actually a party. My neighbor is nice, doesn't mean I'd want him to operate on me. Why not post the facts? The experience? (True experience, not inflated numbers to make someone look more experienced than they are) The stats? The affiliations? Instead, they talk about how nice he is. ~They assume their doc is best for you. Their doc may not be best for you, no single doc is the best for the whole world. People have different needs, they have different preferences, they prefer different locations. But they will ALWAYS push THEIR doc and only their doc. Do you advertise for your doc or do you assume he can do his own advertising? I mean, did you pay your doc many thousands of dollars so you could spend your time advertising for him? Or is he the one that needs to provide services that you paid for? The only reason to advertise for a doc and post non stop about him is to earn a kickback. ~They will average stats vs. pointing out individual stats to hide a bad one. Instead of saying x% slips, x% erosion, x% infection they will average them all out to a single number to hide one of the stats that look bad because it IS bad. ~They jump into threads and comment about how wonderful their doc is. I mean, if I am asked I will tell people what they want to know about my doc but I don't run from thread to thread explaining he's soooo nice and a "leading" surgeon. Again, my MD can do his own advertising. I have seen something since before I was banded. Newbies... they are absolutely in love with their doctor. They have had a huge problem (obesity) for a very long time and they have been frustrated, humiliated, embarrassed, annoyed, and angry that they couldn't manage to fix it on their own. Right after surgery they finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and they know their doc was able to fix this for them. They are dearly indebted and in love with their doc. With time they get beyond the honeymoon stage and realize that we all have the same problem and all our docs did the same thing for us. Surgery. They aren't Gods and they simply know how to wrap a band around your stomach. That's all. With time they figure this out. I have no problem with the usual patient coordinators, I don't like the liars who either pretend to be banded when they aren't so they can sell an MD and make $$ or they are indeed patients and they get a fee for referring others to their physician. There is a place for patient coordinators, that SHOULD be in an office answering questions and telling you the truth, their job is to sell a given physician. If their physician is any good they should be able to list off all the facts, stats, experience, etc. about that person vs. trashing every single other doctor to make theirs look good. If someone does get a fee for referring people to their doc, shouldn't they be honest about that? Why hide it? Don't misunderstand, I now have a few Mexican doctors on my list of "evil" that I wouldn't send my worst enemy to. But that leaves the majority that are good, caring, skilled, and experienced physicians that people should go to if they so desire. Why not show people how to do their own research? What's the horror in that? There are MANY MANY (majority) good Mexican docs. So why only push one? Why not show people how to avoid the bad doctors vs. only going to one doctor? The really bad ones are the minority. There is one doctor with a 4% erosion statistic. There are two docs known for sending people home with life threatening infections. They have also been known to place bands incorrectly and upon returning to the US they have to have their bands removed. Then there is a 4th who used to make his own bands. Shouldn't we be helping people to avoid doctors like this vs. encouraging them to go to someone who isn't all that great just because of a stupid commission? I just get frustrated, we should be helping newbies, not lining our own pockets.

BTW, this thread is not designed for folks to tell how great their doc is/was/will be. This is meant to be an objective and neutral method for people to do their own research. Thanks! However, this does bring up the topic of patient coordinators. I'm going to copy/paste something from another thread regarding coordinators. They post on every obesity board a great deal and try to get you to go to their doctor. Sometimes they are banded and sometimes they pose as a banded patient that just loves their doc. They are paid a commission to try and get you to go to their doctor. You just don't know that because they don't tell you. They don't care if you go to a quality surgeon, they care about getting a commission from your referral to their doctor. This is why I can't stand them and I wanted just ONE thread free of clutter about how much someone likes their doctor. Patient coordinators do things such as: ~Start threads about their doc and do anything to keep it going even if it means posting about the weather just to keep it bumped to the top. ~As soon as the least bit negative fact is written about their doc they cry, scream, stomp their feeties, claim their thread is ruined so they start a new one so the newbies won't see the facts. They claim the factual information is "poison" and it really gets them in a huff. It's amusing to watch. ~They create new IDs and come back trashing the "good" docs. We caught one of them doing it so she came back with ALLLLL new IDs. ~They don't admit there is the least little thing negative about their doc. ~They make it a point to post their email address so you can email them personally and get more info. That way they have more reason to talk to you in detail and provide you with a website address. ~They are sure not to say anything positive about another doc. You will never see them saying "Dr. X is as good as my doctor." No other doctor is as good as theirs. ~When they create new IDs and trash other docs they run around reposting the link to other threads to make sure everyone sees someone trashing another doc. It's a great scare technique for newbies. ~They create lots of IDs to pretend like they are happy patients. In reality, there are few people posting but many many IDs. ~They don't push independent research, they'll do your research for you. (That's key) ~Many of the newbie (fake) IDs gravitate back to a single doc. After they post an untrue story about one doc they change IDs, respond their original "trashing" post, and proclaim THEY aren't going to THAT doc, they are going to the other doc, the "better" doc. ~They hide facts and stats about their own doc. Their idea of a "good" surgeon is someone that was nice to them. Nice does NOT mean SKILLED. They will talk about how they felt like family, they were treated sooo well, they were not afraid in Mexico at all, they act as though surgery was actually a party. My neighbor is nice, doesn't mean I'd want him to operate on me. Why not post the facts? The experience? (True experience, not inflated numbers to make someone look more experienced than they are) The stats? The affiliations? Instead, they talk about how nice he is. ~They assume their doc is best for you. Their doc may not be best for you, no single doc is the best for the whole world. People have different needs, they have different preferences, they prefer different locations. But they will ALWAYS push THEIR doc and only their doc. Do you advertise for your doc or do you assume he can do his own advertising? I mean, did you pay your doc many thousands of dollars so you could spend your time advertising for him? Or is he the one that needs to provide services that you paid for? The only reason to advertise for a doc and post non stop about him is to earn a kickback. ~They will average stats vs. pointing out individual stats to hide a bad one. Instead of saying x% slips, x% erosion, x% infection they will average them all out to a single number to hide one of the stats that look bad because it IS bad. ~They jump into threads and comment about how wonderful their doc is. I mean, if I am asked I will tell people what they want to know about my doc but I don't run from thread to thread explaining he's soooo nice and a "leading" surgeon. Again, my MD can do his own advertising. I have seen something since before I was banded. Newbies... they are absolutely in love with their doctor. They have had a huge problem (obesity) for a very long time and they have been frustrated, humiliated, embarrassed, annoyed, and angry that they couldn't manage to fix it on their own. Right after surgery they finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and they know their doc was able to fix this for them. They are dearly indebted and in love with their doc. With time they get beyond the honeymoon stage and realize that we all have the same problem and all our docs did the same thing for us. Surgery. They aren't Gods and they simply know how to wrap a band around your stomach. That's all. With time they figure this out. I have no problem with the usual patient coordinators, I don't like the liars who either pretend to be banded when they aren't so they can sell an MD and make $$ or they are indeed patients and they get a fee for referring others to their physician. There is a place for patient coordinators, that SHOULD be in an office answering questions and telling you the truth, their job is to sell a given physician. If their physician is any good they should be able to list off all the facts, stats, experience, etc. about that person vs. trashing every single other doctor to make theirs look good. If someone does get a fee for referring people to their doc, shouldn't they be honest about that? Why hide it? Don't misunderstand, I now have a few Mexican doctors on my list of "evil" that I wouldn't send my worst enemy to. But that leaves the majority that are good, caring, skilled, and experienced physicians that people should go to if they so desire. Why not show people how to do their own research? What's the horror in that? There are MANY MANY (majority) good Mexican docs. So why only push one? Why not show people how to avoid the bad doctors vs. only going to one doctor? The really bad ones are the minority. There is one doctor with a 4% erosion statistic. There are two docs known for sending people home with life threatening infections. They have also been known to place bands incorrectly and upon returning to the US they have to have their bands removed. Then there is a 4th who used to make his own bands. Shouldn't we be helping people to avoid doctors like this vs. encouraging them to go to someone who isn't all that great just because of a stupid commission? I just get frustrated, we should be helping newbies, not lining our own pockets.

I wonder if this is the original, non-adjustable band they started off with many years ago. They would staple off the majority of the stomach and put a band that was non adjustable and that was all the restriction someone would get, period. I don't know what the name of that band was but I can certainly see how that particular band would make a revision procedure quite difficult. Bands today are not too tricky to remove. The difficulty is with revisions from one procedure to another depending on scar tissue, type of procedure, etc.

CHECKLIST FOR CALLING SURGEONS IN MEXICO Print one copy for each MD office you call to compare what each surgeon has to offer. Surgeon’s Name: City: Distance from US border: Coordinator: Dealing with surgeon’s office or booking agency? Agency name (if booking agency is used): Does the doctor have his own email list/message board for his patients? If so, what is the address? Total fees: Are fills included? If fills are included, how many and for how long? Airport you will be flying to? Is transportation included? If included, what kind of transportation is it? Who answers the phone during off business hours? (Call in the middle of the night to verify this.) Will I need to do a pre op diet? If so, what does it consist of? Will I need to do a post-op diet? If so, what does it consist of? Is surgery performed in a hospital or clinic? Will I stay in a hotel the night before surgery? Is the price of the hotel included? How many hours will I be in the hospital/clinic after surgery? Will I go to a hotel after surgery? Is that price included? If I go to a hotel after surgery, how long will I be there? How many visits from the surgeon or nurse will I receive after surgery? Specifically, which pre-op testing will be done? (Testing should be done before surgery, not during, and should include the following tests: CBC, chem. panel, UA, chest x-ray, and EKG.) Specifically, what post-op testing will be done? (Should be at least a barium swallow. A US facility cannot be a Center of Excellence without this test after surgery, and it is considered routine for most doctors.) Will I be given all my pre-op and post-op test results to take home to give to my doctor? (Should be surgical report, band serial number, all labs, EKG, and films from barium swallow.) Does the surgeon open me, place the band, and close me, or does the assistant surgeon do most of this? Will my surgeon be in the operating room during the entire procedure? Is all staff in the operating room licensed? How many licensed doctors? How many licensed nurses? How long has the doctor been placing bands? (Not performing bariatric surgery, RNY, or laparoscopic procedures, but actual bands.) What brands does the surgeon use? Is the doctor Inamed or Johnson & Johnson certified? Is the doctor certified in bariatric surgery in Mexico? (You MUST verify this, do not rely on their response.) How many bands has the doctor placed as the lead surgeon? (If this is an unknown number that usually means the stats are combined with someone else’s or he was the assistant surgeon and stood there while the actual surgeon placed the bands.) How many bands of each brand has the surgeon placed? (If the doctor claims they have placed 2500 Inamed bands yet have only purchased 200 bands from Inamed, you know they are inflating their statistics.) Statistics: (Don't let them combine stats for a total "complication" figure as that artificially lowers one of the stats and means they are hiding something. Demand specific numbers for each complication.) What are their infection statistics? (Should be less than 1%.) What are their slip statistics? (Should be less than 3%.) What are their erosion statistics? (Should be less than 1.3%.) How many Gastric Bypass procedures has the doctor done? (Goes to show skill level with tricky procedures.) How many Gastric Sleeve procedures has the doctor done? (Again, shows skill level with tricky procedures.) How many revisions from bypass to band has the doctor done? (Again, shows skill level with tricky procedures.)

CHECKLIST FOR CALLING SURGEONS IN MEXICO Print one copy for each MD office you call to compare what each surgeon has to offer. Surgeon’s Name: City: Distance from US border: Coordinator: Dealing with surgeon’s office or booking agency? Agency name (if booking agency is used): Does the doctor have his own email list/message board for his patients? If so, what is the address? Total fees: Are fills included? If fills are included, how many and for how long? Airport you will be flying to? Is transportation included? If included, what kind of transportation is it? Who answers the phone during off business hours? (Call in the middle of the night to verify this.) Will I need to do a pre op diet? If so, what does it consist of? Will I need to do a post-op diet? If so, what does it consist of? Is surgery performed in a hospital or clinic? Will I stay in a hotel the night before surgery? Is the price of the hotel included? How many hours will I be in the hospital/clinic after surgery? Will I go to a hotel after surgery? Is that price included? If I go to a hotel after surgery, how long will I be there? How many visits from the surgeon or nurse will I receive after surgery? Specifically, which pre-op testing will be done? (Testing should be done before surgery, not during, and should include the following tests: CBC, chem. panel, UA, chest x-ray, and EKG.) Specifically, what post-op testing will be done? (Should be at least a barium swallow. A US facility cannot be a Center of Excellence without this test after surgery, and it is considered routine for most doctors.) Will I be given all my pre-op and post-op test results to take home to give to my doctor? (Should be surgical report, band serial number, all labs, EKG, and films from barium swallow.) Does the surgeon open me, place the band, and close me, or does the assistant surgeon do most of this? Will my surgeon be in the operating room during the entire procedure? Is all staff in the operating room licensed? How many licensed doctors? How many licensed nurses? How long has the doctor been placing bands? (Not performing bariatric surgery, RNY, or laparoscopic procedures, but actual bands.) What brands does the surgeon use? Is the doctor Inamed or Johnson & Johnson certified? Is the doctor certified in bariatric surgery in Mexico? (You MUST verify this, do not rely on their response.) How many bands has the doctor placed as the lead surgeon? (If this is an unknown number that usually means the stats are combined with someone else’s or he was the assistant surgeon and stood there while the actual surgeon placed the bands.) How many bands of each brand has the surgeon placed? (If the doctor claims they have placed 2500 Inamed bands yet have only purchased 200 bands from Inamed, you know they are inflating their statistics.) Statistics: (Don't let them combine stats for a total "complication" figure as that artificially lowers one of the stats and means they are hiding something. Demand specific numbers for each complication.) What are their infection statistics? (Should be less than 1%.) What are their slip statistics? (Should be less than 3%.) What are their erosion statistics? (Should be less than 1.3%.) How many Gastric Bypass procedures has the doctor done? (Goes to show skill level with tricky procedures.) How many Gastric Sleeve procedures has the doctor done? (Again, shows skill level with tricky procedures.) How many revisions from bypass to band has the doctor done? (Again, shows skill level with tricky procedures.)

Jad... I'd have to disagree with you here. Many people don't do their research before going to ANY doc, US or Mexico. They read patient experiences and what they don't realize is all the patient coordinators coming up with a variety of IDs posing as patients to make it look like a given doc has more patients than he does. There is MUCH MUCH more to researching doctors than just talking to people on the internet. This is where so much misinformation comes from. We actually caught one patient coordinator posing as at least two other people claiming they were all patients of a specific doc. We caught one doc posing as a patient on another board and slamming other Mexican docs. He wasn't bright enough about on line posting to continue the game when he was caught. In researching, people need to believe NOTHING they read on the internet. Patient coordinators posing as patients, doctors posing as patients, fake profiles and IDs, the list goes on. In researching docs just reading testimonials is just the beginning, everything from there needs to be verified. Licensing, certifications, credentialing, number of bands actually placed vs. claimed, slip, infection, and erosion stats, etc. If someone does their research and they know there are a couple of docs in Mexico that have the WORST reps in Mexico, should they not let others know? Should they just forget they know the history of those docs? Quite frankly, that's a patient coordinator's dream come true. Happily, LBT isn't a sanctuary for patient coordinators.

Question for you "Viky"... On another board you post on (MexicanBandsters, a yahoo egroup) you claim you are a Registered Nurse (RN) even though you wrote nurse registered yet on your profile over here you claim you are a teacher in FL. Care to comment? Age:34Occupation:School TeacherCity:MiamiState:Florida

Does your doc prescribe a Clear liquids diet immediately after banding? Remember, full liquids is anything you can drink through a straw without a lot of force. I question if you are pushing your diet a little fast. Most people will barf runny mashed potatoes and pureed peas immediately out of surgery. I think you should contact your doc's office, let him know what you are eating and how much you are barfing.

If they would have asked me to pay more when I ate more then I could see the point in wanting discounts today. But they didn't. To ask them to charge me less because I eat more normal'ish size portions today feels very wrong to me. Almost to the point of unethical. But that's me, I'm not speaking for anyone else. Buffet's have a huge expense for the restaurant and food isn't necessarily their biggest cost. Does the restaurant need fewer employees? Less rent? Fewer dishwashers? Less A/C or heating because we have a card that says we overate in the past so today we eat more normal portions? Nope. I will not ever ask someone to charge me less at a buffet because I can control my portion size today unlike a year ago. It's just wrong in my mind and for *ME* there is right and wrong. That would be wrong.

How is your restriction? What is a typical daily menu? How many calories are you consuming? Are you tracking it or estimating it? How much exercise are you getting daily of hard cardio and weight resistance? So many questions...

I've never used my card and I won't. I just can't. Those places didn't charge me more when I ate enough for 3 people, I'm not going to ask them to charge me less now because I eat less. It doesn't seem fair in my mind. I have no intention of ever using that card.

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup 1 lb Ground Beef 1 small onion diced (1 cup) 1 lg carrot julienned (1 cup) 3 stalks celery chopped (1 cup) 2 cloves garlic, minced 2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes 1-15 oz ca red kidney Beans (with liquid) 1-15 oz can great northern beans (with liquid) 1-15 oz can tomato sauce 1-12 oz can V-8 juice 1 Tbls white vinegar 1.5 tsp salt 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp basil 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp thyme 1/2 lb (1/2 pckg) Ditali Pasta Brown ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Drain off most of the fat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and saute for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and simmer for 1 hour. About 50 minutes into simmer time cook the pasta in 1-1/2 - 2 quarts of boiling Water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve.

J&J couldn't even discuss the band until it was FDA approved but those that invented it to begin with and were part of the changes (outside the US) could discuss it. I was in touch with them months ago asking questions about the new and improved version.

What did you throw up? What are you eating and how much? The burping feeling is typical, it's the inflammation in your diaphragm.

If you can't get water down you need an unfill.

J&J bought the Swedish band and tweaked it a little. So there are changes and you really can't go by old stats for the band because it is a different band today. The upside to it is that it is now made by J&J, a very good company that has a history of standing behind their products. The downside is that there are no stats for this particular band. No slip or erosion stats. There are theories and sales pitches but no hard proof yet.

YEA YOU!!!! Congrats! You have lost 25.5 LARGE boxes of Velveeta cheese! You sure you have only lost 5 gallons of milk? One gallon doesn't weigh 10lbs, does it? Seems less. Maybe you are more like 6-7 gallons of milk!

That disappoints me about De Barros. That's a horrible answer. ALL bandings have two surgeons, one is the primary surgeon and one is the asst. surgeon. During banding there are usually five incisions made. Each incision has a trocar where they slide instruments in and out of these metal pole like looking trocars. One is held by a piece of equipment (the one inflating your belly with gas). The others have to be held by the docs. Since most docs just have two hands it requires two surgeons. Four trocars/two surgeons. So even the $7800 Mexican surgeons or the $10K Denver surgeon has two surgeons during the procedure. The fees are ridiculously high. Guess I won't be pushing his office anymore. I was impressed with many of the things he has to offer but his fees are high and they don't tell the whole truth about surgeons. They just plain charge too much for self pay folks.

I shouldn't say because I'm only about 99% sure she works there and also, she may have changed her ways. If she is getting a fresh start somewhere I don't want to bring up bad history, for all I know she may be attempting to be nice for a change. HA! I don't understand what being in a clinic has to do with "under 75 operations". Did he or did he not do 75 BANDS (vs. operations)? That's what I would ask. Someone might have done 74 bypasses and 1 band. That's a whole lot different from 75 bands. If you ask most extremely experienced surgeons (1000 or more) what THEY consider "experienced," they will tell you about 250. By that time they have experienced every weird anatomy, every bizarre thing under fluoro, etc. That is not 250 weight loss surgeries but 250 lap bands.

Whoops, that was for LosingJusMe. ((HUGS))

OMG! I'm so so so sorry about your pooch! I just saw your sig line. I am so sorry, I am a huge animal lover and the mere thought of losing one of them can bring me to tears. If there is anything I can do, please let me know. I'm just so very sorry! ((((((MEGA CYBER HUGS COMING YOUR WAY!))))))

Nope, nothing to do with age regarding hospital stay in the case of my doc. My doc is a Mexican doc and verrrry conservative. Almost to the point of annoying at times but in all fairness, that's one reason I chose him. His is standard, everyone is two nights and three days inpatient. However, if you are driving and not flying, can eat (drink) two full meals, have the barium swallow, feel well, and have no complications he will discharge you a day early.