WASaBubbleButt

The band sucks. If you are into living on liquids the band is great but most prefer to chew their food. ;o) You are on a liquid diet post op (as with all procedures), you are on liquids with each fill, you are on liquids each time you get stuck. If you get a stuck episode you drink liquids only for the rest of the day. If it was a bad stuck episode you are on liquids for a few days. If you slip, dilate your pouch or esophagus... liquids for several weeks. Weight loss is slow, it is low, long term risks and complications are great in number. You still pump out Ghrelin with a band, you have to wait for months to get good restriction and then it is not typically permanent. You have to have aftercare for life. It's embarrassing to get stuck in public. You go to lunch with friends and have to go the bathroom to foam, slime, and puke until you are unstuck. EVERYTHING affects restriction, absolutely everything. Time of day, time of month, food temp, outdoor weather, altitude, stress, hydration, everything. With the sleeve it's pretty much the same all the time. The only thing I have noticed a difference with is if I drink an iced drink before a meal I have a lot more restriction. It's as though my stomach does not relax to expand a bit to hold food. I use that! If I want to cut back on food I drink ice Water before a meal. ;o) Sleeves are a much easier journey all the way around. Bands suck. (Hope Alex isn't reading... heh)

This is the problem I have with religion. Religion has *always* justified taking away human rights in favor of a myth that cannot even be proven to be true. Christianity isn't even an original religion, it was copied from prior myths yet you people, and yes... I mean what I write as I write it. You people have no problem taking away basic human rights based on what we know is a myth. Christianity did it with slavery, witch burnings, the halt to culture and science, Native Americans, and you still haven't learned the basic concepts of human rights. All this time, all this history, everything we know and you guys still don't get it. If you don't want to be in a homosexual relationship, fine! Nobody is asking you to do so. But to prevent others from living their lives with their beliefs... it gets to the point that I look at Christianity and the only words that come to mind are primitive and mean. My hope is that someday Christians will evolve to what they claim to be already. Kind hearted people. You know, Hitler claimed to be Christian too, that's why people voted for him and that is what he was banking on. When you vote based on religion you get what you get. I don't know what religion Obama is and I don't care. I don't vote based on religion. I vote on who I believe is the best for the job. They can, they simply cannot disrupt children who want to learn while in school.

Like who? Can you say that again in English? ;o))))) Oh, I have a story about my oven. Someday I will tell it. It's embarrassing, I have to be in the mood to tell it. ;o) Like.... after a couple of rum and fresh lemonades. Heh....

That's what I would do if I was you. I had no problem taking Nexium at 2 weeks without breaking it up.

I need my phones even when I'm not around my computer. It might save a buttload of money though for when I am around my computer.

Can you break it up in tiny little pieces and take it that way? The size of a baby aspirin or smaller?

Eggplant, I have to try it so I can quit buying it and waiting for it to rot. What is moussaka? Tamarillo... I tried it today. It was okay, a bit like a semi sweet/semi sour tomato. It wasn't bad but I won't be rushing out to buy another. I have never even seen a lychee (singular?) before. I'm looking forward to trying them. Right now... malted milk balls. Yum.

Oh no no no... WASa doesn't do recipes. WASa steams it or eats it raw, WASa is a horrible cook! ;o)

That's what the produce lady said. They are weird looking little buggars. I forgot, I also got some weird peaches. They look like someone smooshed them, they are short and kinda flat. I tried one and they are pretty good.

Shur yu kan! I kan reed it just finely.

Oh Lord, I can't spell. I really do know the country of Chile is spelled with an E. I just corrected that post. How embarrassing! ;o) BAD SPELLERS UNTIE!

Stupid question here... ;o) Can you use your computer while talking on the phone with the MagicJack all at the same time?

I went through that too at goal. I finally had to give myself a 5# "give or take" and then I was able to relax. But think about it, unlike a year ago you can put weight on or take it off, it is your choice this time.

He's not really my pick of great surgeons. As Elisabeth wrote he is a very high leak stat and I prefer someone that has done at least 250 sleeves and 250 bypass. He does no leak tests on your stomach, he just has a nurse fill up the portion of stomach he removed with air. With his leak stats he should be doing all the leak tests. He only has one night in the hospital, since most leaks show up within the first 48 hours you really need more hospital time. I think he's kinda cheap for a reason. :blink:/

I'm afraid to post here. I'm afraid the fertility God's will misunderstand and think I want children other than the furry four legged kind. ;o)

That is a pretty darn big bougie. Personally, I would not permit a 46F bougie for a straight sleeve. For a two part procedure.. yes. But not for a sleeve only. Short term studies show weight loss is similar to a smaller sleeve, long term studies are not leaning towards good news with a large bougie. In Chile they use a 60F, those folks are not doing well at all. I have a 32F stomach, my surgeon currently uses a 36F and oversews the staple line bringing it down to a 34F. There is no statistical difference between a 32F vs. a 38F that I can find. But 46... here is the difference: Take the bougie size (such as 34) divide by pi (3.14) and you get the diameter of the stomach: 32F = 10.19mm 34F = 10.82mm 36F = 11.46mm 38F = 12.10mm 40F = 12.73mm 46F = 14.65mm 60F = 19.10mm So the diameter of your stomach will be about 40-50% bigger than most sleeved people. But, the flip side to that coin is that it is still quite small. ETA: You might check out the link in my sig for researching a VSG surgeon, it's written for Mexican surgeons but it will work quite well for US surgeons as well. That should give you many ideas on what to ask.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~~~~~ Your date is finally here! Tomorrow you get your life back, congrats to you!

I think it is great that you are getting this done at such a young age. There is no need to waste your younger years as a heavy person. So many in your shoes do not do anything until their 40s, 50s, or 60s. You are taking control today, you deserve a pat on the back for that! Thanks for sharing your story!

I heard about it via PM by someone who is thinking about going there. I don't know details.

I can't fathom how it could be safe to do a sleeve on an outpatient basis. I am all for saving money but not when it jeopardizes the patient's health.

I think there is a huge difference between you and the person that is unhappy. She didn't go into this excited that she would lose weight, she had the surgery done so she could have hip replacement surgery. She didn't go into this for the same reason most do, I get that she did it for purely medical reasons. You, OTOH, *want* weight loss and a lifestyle change. None of us can go into this without wanting weight loss more than anything in the world and come out happy. If someone is not ready for WLS, they should not get it. Not everyone wants the changes. I kinda get that the unhappy poster was forced to have it... in a way. If she wanted to be free of hip pain she had to have the sleeve to lose weight before the hip replacement. She was getting surgery for a much different reason than you. If I would have had WLS before I was ready and before I really wanted it I'd be in the same exact boat as the other poster. We all would.

I relate to that. There were times that I knew something wasn't going to go down but I was hungry and decided "this" time would be different and it would magically go down. HA! No such luck! I have a banded friend that pukes so much her 2 year old daughter thought it was a game. My friend would start to hurl and Ava would mimic her. That's when she made it a point not to hurl in front of Ava.

Check out this procedure. It's investigational so don't bank on getting it. Welcome to Satiety, Inc. I have to admit, it's a bit too much like banding to me and the thought of another stoma, puking, sliming, and foaming would make me stay far away from it but those not afraid of a stoma ... might be kinda cool.

I don't know the details, I could be wrong but I think it has to be in the month of July. Again, nobody quote me on this, I'm not sure.

Even lower. My doc is starting a promotion right now, for a sleeve it is $8750 and that includes everything except airfare. The states can't beat the prices or match the services. No way can a doctor in the US provide surgery, anesthesia, 3 nights in the hospital, leak tests, everything for $8750.