WASaBubbleButt

You wrote that I came to this thread to write about my band problems. Surely you can go back to those posts you refer to and see for yourself? I've asked you twice to defend your own comments and all you do is attack me instead.

I like this multi-posting thing, very cool! Heh... I like you. Excellent, excellent words! Today in the US 1/3 of the population is normal weight, 1/3 is over weight, 1/3 is obese. This is a serious problem in our country today and we are not the only fat country around. Something has to be done. Those of us who decided to do something about it... great! Those that can't or won't, it's their choice. But there is no value in gaining to the point of morbid obesity before someone can self pay for WLS without being chastised for it.

It's called a metaphor. You were kinda rude more than once. So any surgeon that follows the Standard of Care for their own country is just in it for the money? They are all hacks? Now that isn't very nice. This one was extra not-nice. So what if she wants to wear normal "clothes"? If she is wanting to lose 50-55# that will put her at a 20-20.8 BMI. That is NORMAL and HEALTHY. I'm still waiting for you to defend that claim that I am writing about my band problems on this thread. Or, did you forget?

AGAIN.... It is the US Standard of Care that was set by Insurance Companies regarding what they will pay and what they will not pay. Since when are insurance companies the little Gods you are making them out to be? Inamed bands were approved in Mexico BEFORE the US. Mexico Standard of Care is the same as MOST countries, a BMI of 30 with or without comorbidities is all that is needed for WLS. They are doing studies in the US to prove that everyone ELSE is doing things right, it is us who are stupid when it comes to WLS. AGAIN.... Get out there and read about the disease we have. Those with a BMI of 30 or more have a 3-5% shot at losing weight with D/E alone and maintaining that for 5 years. What in the world is the value in waiting for her to die of heart disease before she is "entitled" to self pay for her surgery? Seriously, answer that. Where is the value? Here, here is a site with some great obesity research going on, it would benefit you to read up a bit on obesity issues: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness News From Medical News Today I don't think you enjoyed partaking in a taste of your own medicine very much, eh?

I wrote it and I meant it. Every word. THIS is not supportive: But it is rude. We ALL have our journey and you are not the only one that has it rough. You guys beat up on her before you even knew her whole story. Instead of asking her for more information you jumped on her like jealous little teenagers. It was without excuse. Who are you to tell her you do not think she needs surgery? When did you get your MD license? When did you examine her and read her medical history? Now, back up your claims. Where did I post of my band problems in this thread? Show me? You wouldn't be out to redirect the topic from your rude behaviors to posts I did not write, true?

Thanks for writing this. It makes me angry when someone comes here for support and the attitude is that they haven't suffered enough with obesity yet so they aren't entitled to surgery. What a freak'en crock! Threads do not usually make me angry but this one does. We should be thrilled someone is smart enough and capable of getting surgery BEFORE they are in our shoes. Instead I have seen more jealousy and misinformation on this thread than any other in a very long time.

Dr. Ortiz does not do sleeves. He ONLY does banding. He won't even do a band on a higher BMI person. They have to lose weight to a 55 BMI and then he'll do it. Research is key in finding a surgeon. Dr. Ortiz does not do any of the more complicated procedures, he only does the easy banding. WTH? What is wrong with you? Why are you so angry at the OP? You have done nothing but belittle her and insult her throughout this entire thread. Why is it the higher BMI folks are so angry when lower BMI folks get surgery? I swear, some people make it seem like you have to pay your fat dues before you can have surgery. Have you ever MET the OP in real time? Have you SEEN her? Her cardiologist has and he gave her a set point for weight loss. Who the heck are you to suggest that you know more than her MD specialists? I'm 5/5 and weigh 120, is that bad too? Go ahead, bring it on. Why not start throwing insults my way, you've met your match this time. Leave the OP alone. Support is a good thing, honest it is. Insulting her because she was smart enough to have surgery before she was as big as you or I is fruitless. Not quite. In the US the Ins Co's set the Standard of Care and THEY say a BMI of 40 or greater, normal people don't say that. Every country other than the US does WLS for a BMI of 30 or greater. We are the ones that make people be morbidly obese before we will pay for their surgery. True and not true. In the beginning people usually lose very fast, the closer you get to goal the more it slows down. When I was banded I lost 33# in 33 days. Closer to goal I was losing a pound every week or two. The 1-2 pounds is the average people lose throughout their weight loss journey. Proof? So why didn't you? If you chose to be bigger before having surgery, kewl Beans. That is your choice. Not everyone agrees with you. I'd suggest getting out there and reading more. Studies and common sense show it is far healthier to never be overweight and the more overweight you are the higher your surgical risks. It is safer to operate on someone before their BMI is way out of hand. Well, you are. How do you know? The girl had a freak'en heart attack at age 26. do tell. What more does she need before she is to be honored with a life saving surgery? Or are you another of those that she needs to pay her fat dues before she is entitled? Oh hush for goodness sakes! What she writes is accurate. True, the US is quite unrealistic about preventative medicine. All the other countries are quite more realistic. They see little need to wait for diabetes, joint damage, heart attacks and such. They'd rather prevent it. DAMN! You people are making me angry. GET OUT! READ A BOOK! READ SOME STUDIES! LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT THE DISEASE OF OBESITY THAT YOU HAVE! WTH? How can you people be so amazingly rude to this poor girl? So what if it is vanity? I didn't have a single comorbidity when I had my surgery. Nothing. I did it for 100% pure vanity. It's okay to want to look good, that's not a selfish self centered thing. Respect is earned, you are not deserving of respect for insulting someone. You know what? I think some of you are simply jealous because you let your own weight get very far out of hand before taking control. We have someone who doesn't want to be in our shoes, she wants control of it now and look at your behaviors! It's disgusting. Now I know why I was baited to this thread. ;o) And I am quite glad I was.

Better yet... the OP could approach Mom, explain that it is known that bands carry so much risk and potential for problems so out of concern for Mom she told the step sisters that Mom is banded so when she has problems they can be there for help. Flat out tell Mom you already told the step sisters but don't tell the step sisters. Then she will either wonder why they are being so quiet about it or she'll tell them herself. Heh...

Hey Suzanne! Good to see that you joined!! I was hoping you would. (I know Suzanne from my doctors message board)

No, this is not a board to push one doctor over another. It does happen to be that many here were operated on by Dr. Aceves but he has nothing to do with this website. I know I never suggested you go to Aceves. I never suggested ANY doctor to you. I just told you a bit of what I know about Joya, that's all. So unless you can show me where I pushed him on you I'm not really sure how you can suggest that this board pushes any given doctor. I have never ever claimed that Aceves was the only good surgeon. I have always pushed research, LOTS of research. Rumbaut is excellent as well. There used to be another one but his location is so bad and dangerous that I do not suggest him and he's been having a lot of problems lately. People coming home and having to have emergency surgery to fix something that went wrong. The person that had the liver issue with Dr. Joya posts here. She's been posting this morning. It's in her OH profile, or it used to be. She does not blame Dr. Joya for the liver issue... it happens. It's a risk with this surgery. Her issue was that nobody told her she would have to pay the additional $1200 until the day of her discharge and they were not open to her leaving the hospital until it was paid. They were very limited in forms of payment they would take. Had she known this up front when the complication first happened she would have had more time to prepare and take care of the additional bill. He had no complication fund before that. And speaking of the "complication fund," most of the good surgeons in Mexico cover complications themselves. Consider this, he claims complications happen in less than 1% of his cases. $500 x 100 is $50,000. The liver complication was $1200. That would mean he's making a pretty good profit on his complication fund. Complications are very unlikely to cost $50K in Mexico. Again, in my mind it goes back to ethics. You are okay with this and that's fine. I am not, I see it as an issue of ethics. It is not a matter of my doctor is better than your doctor, it is a matter of I require different things from my surgeon than you do and again, that's okay. That's why there is no surgeon that is a one size fits all kinda person. We all require different things from our surgeons. Leaks... they happen. So be it, all surgeons have them eventually. Nobody is downing Joya for having a leak. That wasn't the issue. It was his telling someone that leaks are basically easier and safer with bypass than sleeves. That person also posts here. She had her consult the day before surgery with Dr. Joya and he encouraged her to get a bypass instead of a sleeve. She was in a mad dash the night before surgery to research bypass. She ended up with a sleeve. She is also the one that explained about the person that had a leak and was still battling it 4 months later. The person was there while she was. I have to say, I stand behind my original post. I've been reading WLS boards for a long time and after time you can see trends with doctors. Some doctors have more issues than others. Some are flat out liars. Over time you see trends on various doctors. Dr. Aceves is probably the one in Mexico that does the most sleeves so you are going to see a lot of his patients posting. It's the way it is, it will be the same on any board where a lot of Mexican sleeved patients post. That doesn't mean he has anything to do with this board, he simply does more sleeves than other doctors so I'm not sure it is fair to jump to the assumption that he has something to do with this board. Really, it's kind of unfair to the man IMHO.

Lisa.... Have you tried drinking ice Water (slushy is even better) before a meal? That is the only thing I have found that changes my restriction. If I drink something cold before a meal it limits me to about half of what I usually eat. Cravings... the only thing I have found that helps with cravings is to avoid it completely. If I eat a little I just crave it even more. For me it has to be all or none. After about three days I am fine and the cravings are almost gone.

There would be no excuse for not repairing the hernia. It isn't going to resolve on its own and better to repair it now than wait to see if it just grows bigger.

There is a revision specialist by the name of Dr. Husted. He was writing on another board that the latest studies show that if you surgically reposition or replace a band, you have a 70% chance of another slip in the first five years. He was also referring to a conference he went to in FL and this was discussed a great deal and most at this conference will not be surgically repositioning or replacing bands anymore, they have had very low success with this. Is there any chance that a malabsorptive procedure might serve you a little better? You've been struggling for a long time, three years and not at goal yet... maybe you just need a bit more help?

With erosion there is no choice, you have to remove the band. The issue you want to consider here is if you want to revise to something else and if so, what. The only other "restrictive only" procedure is a sleeve and quite frankly, it's a lot safer than bands long term. It is far easier for a weight loss journey as well, I know... I've had them both. ;o) Something you will want to discuss with your doctor is if you do want to revise to something else (sleeve, bypass, DS) can it be done at the same time. The answer is likely to be no. Please do not get another band, if you erode once you are very likely to do so again. The new bands not eroding or having less chance for erosion is a sales pitch only, not proven. Consider this, unless someone is wayyyy too tight for wayyyy too long, they don't even know what causes erosion. If they do not know what causes erosion how can they prevent it? The claims about the new bands are bogus. Slips are increasing just as they were with the old bands and erosion is the same. They used to think that smoking caused erosion but then they figured out non smokers were eroding at the same rates as smokers. Then they thought it was NSAIDs. That turned out to be untrue. Then they blamed caffeine. Considering erosion happens from the outside of the stomach I'm not clear on why they ever considered NSAIDs and caffeine. One line of thinking is the stuff they use to sterilize surgical instruments. Some believe the residue is caustic and when they use that instrument on the next person it burns the tissue on the stomach a bit and that is the start of erosion.

You may adore your doctor but he doesn't have the greatest of reputations. Don't make the mistake of favoring loyalty over good medical care. Agreed.

Wow! Four months and you already eroded? I am so sorry. If you erode once you are verrrry likely to erode again. Depending on where it eroded there is a small chance you could revise to another surgery type at the same time such as a sleeve.

I agree with you a great deal. You know what I worry about? With the economy as it is right now and people losing jobs and insurance I fear people will not be able to afford fills and unfills and they will start doing this sort of thing. Then when they infect themselves how will they afford to have the band removed? (

Welcome to the forum and congrats on getting sleeved! When was your surgery? How are you doing?

The easier way might be to call your insurance company and find out who they contract with for WLS. Then start narrowing down from there. It would be easier than picking from doctors that aren't even contracted with them anyway.

Two wrongs don't always make a right but sometimes it does add up to revenge. ;o) Perhaps with the step sisters bring it up the OP could say that she wanted to do as well with her sleeve as Mom is doing with her band. And Jacqui... I totally agree with you that mom just wanted to tell, not that there was any valid reason for her to do so.

Hair loss can and does happen from all the WLS types... including banding. Look at the gazillion threads here on hair loss. It is quite common.

PPIs??? Is Tagamet and Zantac a PPI?

Yup, that would be it! Nexium, Nexium mups, Protonix, Prevacid, and Prilosec. Might be one more, I'm drawing a blank.

Hey, let me tell you! A sleeve sister is wayyyyyy more important than a biological sister! ;o)))) A sleeve sister 'gets it' and a biological sister is just jealous!