WASaBubbleButt

I understand where the OP is coming from, I did the same thing. I didn't tell my husband when I had surgery. Actually, I tried to talk to him about it and he went off the deep end. We started fighting. THEN I told him the surgeon I wanted was in Mexico. Then the real fight was on. It was something I was going to do and nobody was going to stop me, including my husband. It is my choice and my decision. I just didn't want to fight about it anymore so I waited for him to go out of town and when he left town, so did I. The hard part comes when you have to tell him. In my case he figured it out quickly but didn't say anything. Finally, it all came out and we worked through it. Then I told him I wanted plastic surgery and the drama started all over again. I can't say I would certainly do things differently, I was going to get the surgery and nobody was going to stop me so what's the use in fighting over it? It really is MY decision, nobody else. He can either accept it or not, but it was going to happen. Same with plastic surgery. It WILL happen and there isn't anything he can do about it. His fear is unnecessary surgery. I disagree that it was unnecessary surgery, I see it very different from him.

Wasn't the band was approved for use in places outside the US for 10 years or so prior to the US FDA approval? Such as Mexico and Sweeden?

Food poisoning, gallbladder problems, a stomach virus, being stuck... lots of reasons.

Isn't it an odd feeling? Intellectually you KNOW what you are seeing with your own two eyes is not possible. Yet your eyes keep fighting with your brain because they do see it. It's just bizarre.

Oh... I wasn't suggesting you join WW, I'm a firm believer they depend on repeat business. I was just pointing out the article. I've wondered about OA before too for those that are not theist or overly religious. I don't understand how they include atheists or non religious folks in their program but I'm told it can be done. I just don't know details.

Nana.... The day will come where it just won't matter. food becomes less and less important as time goes on. Not saying you'll never crave something again, it just won't be as overwhelming as it was pre-band. It's sooooo nice when food becomes a non issue in comparison to pre-banding.

A.... How is the post op diet going? How long are the stages? Is it do-able?

Wow... way too many infections around here. Spooky and dangerous.

My parents had the same birthday two years apart, my sister and I have the same birthday 3 years apart. I have two sisters and we were all due on the same day, one was late and my other sis and I were early. Between all five in my family there are a total of three birthdays.

They did, it's called McDonalds. HA!

Ditto. I'm doing Protein Shakes too for a few days to see what happens. I finally broke the plateau, lost a few pounds and now back to a dead stop. I realize plateaus are normal but they are still very annoying.

It's really too bad that someone can't do this at a more affordable price. It's a good idea, a service that could get more use if it was more affordable, and it could really benefit a lot of people. But even at $10/day plus shipping that is about $400/month for groceries for just one person. I don't spend a quarter of that on groceries. Can you imagine a banded couple? $800/month? Kinda takes away from the concept of saving money on groceries after banding. :mad:

Next time you happen to notice the brand name of the veggie chili would you make a mental note and post it? Do you know if it was a Walmart brand or other brand? I used to be a vegetarian and I'm completely ready to go back to that lifestyle. Chewing meat to a paste is grossing me out. Thanks!

I know what you mean about the tuna. I live in the desert, it's HOT here. I'm always shocked when I go outside and I don't grow taller like the mercury in a thermometer. :mad: I also agree about the canned chicken, it's disgusting. The stuff I tried was like little tasteless twigs. Gross. There isn't enough mayo on this earth to make it slide down in my case either. You could make your own chicken salad by mushing it up in a Magic Bullet, add a little apple, spices, mayo, etc. Any kind of salad.. cobb, spinich, or my fav - All the veggies that you would typically put on top of a lettuce salad... just soak those in Italian dressing for a few hours and enjoy. Whatever veggies you like. I like tomato, onion, bell pepper, brocolli (is that 2 c's and 1 L? or 1 c and 2 L's?), yellow squash, and zuchini. You could make a spaghetti squash the night before and use it as Pasta. Put salsa, spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce (just a little), or whatever you like on it. A few croutons and it's great. A small single serving size of canned refried Beans topped with everything you enjoy. They are verrry filling so a little will go a long way. Can you eat corn tortillas? Put refried beans on a corn tortilla, a little cheese, tomatoes, onions, olives, whatever you like, heat & eat. Yogurt and granola, maybe a few nuts. Deli/home cooked turkey and cheese slices. Roll them up and enjoy. Substitute chicken, roast beef, ham if you don't like turkey or want a variety. Personally, the spaghetti squash is one of my favs.

No, they really aren't the same. The thing is, the more you have to chew then that means your stomach also has to finish the job. When you drink broth your stomach does virtually nothing, there is no work on the part of your stomach to combine the broth with stomach acids, break it down further, and then push it through to the intestines. Solids... you have to chew that. Those types of food require more work on the part of your stomach to mix with stomach acid, break the foods down further (chewing to a liquid isn't even enough) and then push it through the intestines. If your stomach has to work in that way it isn't going to be able to form the adhesions that will hold the band in place long term. I know it's frustrating but the reality is the longer you stay on the post op diet the better your chances for not having a slip today or a year from now.

They are pretty expensive. Not sure about everyone else but I don't spend anywhere NEAR $20-$30/day on food. Even before I was banded I didn't spend that much. <TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR class=txtBlkHL><TD>»(5) CAN I AFFORD THIS PROGRAM?</TD></TR><TR><TD>On average, people spend $20-$30 a day on food and aren’t guaranteed balanced nutrition, proper portions, quality control or convenience. For the same price, RxChefs™ provides all this and more! </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> But the food does sound pretty good.

Thank you *so* much! It's a minor little thing but it has been annoying me for a long time now. :mad:

I'd be all for that. I think it's a great idea. With that said I doubt it will happen since there are few times where it can be proven who was at fault. Look at the people that post here about going swimming in a community pool days after surgery. People pee in those pools and some of the newbies are swimming with newly healing incisions. If they are told not to go swimming or take tub baths for "X" weeks after surgery and they do it anyway causing an infection, should the doc or hospital have to pay for that? Another problem is that if hospitals and docs have to absorb the costs for infections, will they be as aggressive in treating them? If someone has MRSA and needs IV Zyvox or Vanco, will the doc opt for oral Cipro to make things cheaper since he's paying the bill? If docs and hospitals really did have to pay for their own mistakes I think they would certainly be more careful. But when it comes to infections it's hard to prove who is at fault, the hospital nurse for not washing her hands, the doc for crappy sterile technique during surgery, or the patient for not following instructions.

While it is true that those sutures are there forever, that still isn't what holds the band in place long term. It's the adhesions that grow over the band that hold the band in place long term. The sutures are essentially there to hold the band in place until the adhesions form, it is a temporary hold. So it really isn't a back up system that is in place to prevent a slip. There are very few sutures holding the band to the stomach and you really can't depend on sutures alone to hold a band in place if you PB. When you eat solids that stay in your pouch, and when you eat these foods before the adhesions form it can tend to push your pouch down so when the adhesions finally do form, they have formed with a pouch that is larger than it should be. This defeats the purpose of the small pouch. Actually, in the beginning they made the pouch larger than they do now and the reason they are making the pouch smaller is because people were not losing weight with a larger pouch. Also, when you eat solids your stomach has to churn and work hard to mix it with stomach acid and break it down further (more than chewing) and then push it through the intestines. When this happens the newly forming adhesions can't form properly and you don't have the tight grip on the band that holds it in place. I agree with you about some docs shouldn't be doing bands and some patients shouldn't be getting banded. If a patient is totally unable to follow the post op diet, they probably shouldn't have gotten a band until they dealt with a few head issues, etc. Even if they don't slip right away that doesn't mean they won't slip a year from now all because they didn't heal properly. Most slips are the fault of the patient, not the doc.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be posting here but my question is FOR men so I wanted to post TO men. I just bought a Bowflex and I don't have the slightest idea what to do with it. I don't know where to start. What the hell IS this thing? Help? Please? Suggestions, thoughts, ideas.. anything? Many women seem to do just cardio. While I don't want to be "man lumpy/bumpy" I do want to work on some target areas and all thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks. I was hoping someone else would make this point because we all know how I do in the diplomacy department!

My doc used to have the "four week" rule too but so many weren't following the instructions he finally changed them so they are easier to follow and people will be more likely to do as he says. The longer you stay on liquids after banding the better chance you have to avoid slips. Inamed's latest stats for slips show that they have doubled in the past few years. It used to be they were 3.1%, now Inamed is hinting that it is as high as over 7%. That could be for a few different reasons and I have my own opinions as to why that is. The older bands do go around the stomach completely, it's the bubbles on the inside of the band that do not go around completely. When saline is injected into the port the bubbles fill up and cause restriction. The new band has bubbles all the way around the inside of the band. Nobody really knows if this is truly advantageous or not as there aren't enough people to do a formal study just yet. It is all theory or a sales pitch, however you choose to think of it. The band manufacturer claims that there is less chance for a slip with the new bands but that's just a load. They have absolutely no way to tell if that is true or not until they get a large population with that band and study them for a few years. There are no stats to defend their claim one way or another. Personally, I think it's just sales hype at this point. There are several new bands on the market right now and they just want to have people think their band is better for any reason they can think of. They can't begin to defend their claims at this point. As for scar tissue forming around the band that is absolutely true! Regardless of which band someone has they are all the same when it comes to scar tissue. The sutures the surgeon places to hold the band in place are temporary. It's really the scar tissue or adhesions that hold the band in place long term. If you eat solids before it is time those adhesions can't form properly and you risk a slip or more so, a future slip. It could be a year down the road.

The food gets stuck in your stoma. Your stoma is the part of your stomach directly under the band. The band squeezes your stomach into (kinda) two stomachs. Your stoma (with restriction) can be as narrow as a pencil led. Can you see trying to cram rice down there? Some foods just plain don't work for people. Bread, rice, Pasta, veggie/fruit skins... those don't break down well and travel through such a small hole. Personally, I can't eat anything with a flour/yeast combination. It just plain won't go through. But that's okay because there isn't a food in the world that I need that has flour and yeast.

My response is going to get me in a world of hurt but that never stopped me before. I have noticed similar issues to what you describe. I was fuming the other day when reading a post on OH. A woman is on welfare, was banded at tax payers expense and now she's complaining because she has to pay a co-pay for her fills. $20.00. She was angry and didn't know she'd actually have to pay for anything and since she's on welfare, she shouldn't be expected to pay anything. She went on to say that she was thinking about getting a revision (another $30K tab for taxpayers to fork over) to bypass because there are no copays for that. Being me, I let it rip. I told her that there are people that want weight loss bad enough to do anything for it. They get 2nd and 3rd jobs, they have garage sales, they refinance their homes, they sell their homes and use the equity for surgery, they sell personal belongings, obtain loans from banks and family members, they go dumpster diving and sell the treasures on ebay and she is annoyed that she has a $20 copay??? Was she nuts? I got slam dunked by a few the other welfare folks out there who had the same mindset. They shouldn't have to pay anything for their own health care. Now understand, I'm not downing folks on welfare. I'm downing those who feel it is the responsibility of society to take care of their every need and just because they are on welfare they shouldn't be expected to lift a bloody finger for their own needs. I don't care, it made me angry. It's okay for us to pay another $30K+ for her revision so she doesn't have to pay $20 for a fill. She could easily dump her cable and pay for her fill copay, she could sell her computer. There are lots of things she could do, she simply isn't willing. Does she really care about life style changes or weight loss? I guess my point is that in some cases I tend to agree with you but I disagree with you when it comes to many (most?) people regardless of how their surgery was paid. Life style changes don't happen overnight, it comes in stages. Baby steps even. We didn't get this way in a day, we aren't going to change old habits in a day either. You can't take a person with an eating disorder, band them, and expect instant changes. It just doesn't happen. It comes with time, education, dealing with head stuff, addictions, the works. There is a whole lot for us to deal with just being fat. All the bad stuff doesn't go away instantly. I think if you look at most people here they are honestly looking for ideas from us fellow fatties on how to make these changes. They want to be healthy, they want better eating habits. Many people really have no clue where to start. If we could make these changes in a day we wouldn't need a band to begin with. I am a nurse and I needed a world of help getting started when I was first banded. I had a million questions and asked for tons of advice and tips. Heck, I *still* do. Things I should know but I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know where to start. Don't you think that most folks are in the same boat? Personal opinion here, but I really believe that those who want weight loss bad enough will do just about anything to get it. I'm self pay too, btw. As for those in bandster hell, I don't ever knock anyone for caloric intake during that time frame. As a nurse and a fellow fattie I don't care how many calories they consume, I care very much that they follow the post op diet. Healing and letting the scar tissue form around the band to hold it in place are farrrrr higher on my list of priorities vs. how many calories they consume before they get a fill and restriction. If people with an eating disorder have to deal with head hunger and stomach hunger, they will fail every single time. If we can keep them from starving to death during the post op diet they are far more likely to follow their doc's instructions because they will only be dealing with head hunger. If you pile too much on a newbie they will fail. I'd rather see them eating 3000 calories daily during bandster hell yet follow the diet vs. risk a slip when they binge on tacos because they were so hungry they wanted to chew on their arm. When someone posts that they ate chicken and tacos four days after surgery something in my head pops. I can't even read the section of LBT where newbies discuss issues right after surgery, it makes me angry. It shouldn't, it's no skin of my nose if they cause their own slip. Your thing is not having a healthy diet after banding, mine is messing with the post op diet. Anyway, with all due respect I would have to disagree with you regarding healthy diets and the post op diet. Let them eat and not be hungry so they'll follow their doc's instructions. Better a milk shake during full liquids vs. 13 tacos.

This link explains why there is such fast weight loss in the beginning: WeightWatchers.com - Weight-Loss Plateaus - Visitor