WASaBubbleButt

Denise, check this out: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f15/back-pain-discussion-38929/#post530083

meat. liquid chicken just isn't for me. I used to be vegetarian and I think I want to go back to that. With a rare exception the only dead critter I eat anymore is fish.

I don't order from Bariatriceating.com. It's wayyyyy toooooo expensive. 99% of the products can be found much much cheaper on other sites with far better service. Bariatriceating.com is also out of things all the time, the service is not great IMO, and a much better, cheaper, quality service on line place is: Netrition.com - The Internet's Premier Nutrition Superstore! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f9/cheaper-than-bariatriceating-com-33990/?highlight=cheaper+than+bariatriceating.com

Omeprazole won't work the day you take it. The absolute minimum amount of time is 24 hours before you even begin to see a difference. It can take a few weeks before it kicks in but you should be noticing a difference reasonably soon. BJean is correct, you do need to cut out a lot of excess acid causing foods, raise your bed, don't eat before bedtime, no alcohol, etc. This does need to be treated so it does not cause "forever" esophageal problems such as cancer, scarring, stricture, etc. The surgical fix for this is pretty amazing. When you wake up in recovery you'll already notice a difference. It's an immediate cure. But it is very similar to banding. The nerve that gets irritated and makes your shoulder hurt will really kick in after this procedure. But the recovery is pretty much the same as banding but ... NO POST OP DIET! Yippeeee!

Hey, I'm in AZ! We have a group that meets for lunch every month or so. You should get to know some of us so that when you get home from the hospital you will have numbers of local people to call when you have questions, and you WILL have questions! We are pretty close, we take care of one another. We also go for fills as a group. We go shopping, out to dinner, whatever we want to do. It's kinda fun! You are making a great decision to have the band and a great decision in your doc. You'll love the staff, honest! They will treat you well and take good care of you. PM me if you have any questions about how things work or what to expect.

$7800. That included the surgeon, anesthesiologist, internal medicine doc, asst. surgeons (2), two nights in the hospital, hotel room the night before surgery, CBC, Chem Panel, Preggers test, HIV/HEP, Thyroid profile, UA, EKG, Chest Xray, Upper GI, pain meds and antibiotics to take home, and fills for life. Dr. Aceves/Mexicali, Mexico. I adore him, he's great.

Guysis... You are such a huge inspiration! I really wonder if you have any idea what an inspiration you are to the rest of us. You are just a gem!

This is Julie's thread and I hope she corrects me if I am wrong, but I don't think you have to be near goal to post here. I understand your frustration with being unable to jog, but wouldn't double the time in power-walking burn the same calories? I know you don't want to hear that... double cardio time. But wouldn't that be an option?

I never thought about that... the correlation between bandsters with hernia repairs and weight loss issues. That's interesting, I'll ask him. I'm going for a fill with someone else the middle of next month. I'll ask him.

I'm not upset. I am annoyed but not upset. You come here clearly not knowing a darn thing about banding to sell your product to us. I went back through your old posts and all but one are selling your product. It's one thing to BE BANDED and tell what works for you, it is quite another to come here to advertise for free. Alex will do your advertising for a fee. That's how advertising works around here. Why post when the rules are such that for advertising you pay a fee to Alex and he advertises your product for you? This place is kind of a sanctuary of sorts. It's a place where people are not posing as concerned people trying to sell us their various snake oils. We are free to discuss banding issues, not be sold yet another product to help us "be healthy and lose weight." You believe your product is superior, every person selling their own products believe the same about their products. Your product is a liquid Meal Replacement. As I recall it is also more than double the calories, 7x the fat, 6x the carbs, 3x the price of most of the products folks around here use AND half the Protein. We don't need liquid meals, that defeats the entire purpose of the band. If we wanted to drink our food for the rest of our lives we wouldn't have been banded. Many of us have been on diets such as you are peddling, we opted for a band. I most certainly CAN and I DO flat out deny that banding is similar to other weight loss procedures. If you knew anything about banding you would know we have no problem whatsoever absorbing calcium. The rest of what you wrote is lacking in "band education" as well. You are describing bypass level procedures, not banding and then assuming to tell us what we need? Honestly, how would you know what we need? You don't even understand the procedure we have. If you are going to come here and pose as a person trying to help, maybe you should at least learn the difference between banding and bypass. Your information and assumptions are dead wrong.

PS... no, I'm not interested. But gee, thanks anyway.

Let me explain if I can...the side effects of banding are three fold1) -poor nutritional support of your body,2) low calcium absorption during banding,and 3) poor caloric support for you during weight loss. Perhaps before coming here to sell your Vitamins you should learn a bit more about banding. You are describing bypass, not banding.

One thing I thought was kind of interesting was that there is connective tissue that attaches the diaphragm to the esophagus. It's like on a huge roast, you know that thin but tough tissue paper like stuff holds the pieces of the roast together? Connective tissue is like that. When they are doing a hernia repair they only cut enough of the connective tissue to get to where they will be working when they are going to place a band. As little as possible is cut. When they are just doing a hernia repair and not a band too, they cut all the connective tissue so they are really cutting the diaphragm away from the esophagus. For some reason this is preferred, they prefer not to cut much connective tissue if they will be placing a band after the hernia repair. I noticed it and asked why and although he explained it, between his accent and Spanish version of medical terms, I really didn't understand what the heck he was talking about. I'll ask again when he's not operating and has time to really explain the reasoning to me. Not sure why I thought that was interesting, but it was at the time. :cry

This link explains it better than I can. eMedicine - Hiatal Hernia : Article by Waqar A Qureshi, MD Essentially, a hernia is a hole that requires 1-2 sutures to close. A wide hiatus is where part of the diaphragm should be a small "V" shape and instead it is an exaggerated "U" shape. It usually requires a single suture to tighten it up a bit. I've seen the procedures several times and it's pretty cool to watch the repair. My doc fixes them right before he places the band.

Green... Do you have a wide hiatus or a hiatal hernia? Either way, if you had it at the time of your banding it would have likely been fixed at that time. Or it should have been fixed at the time. My guess is you didn't have it then. Obesity can cause a hiatal hernia. It's just 1-2 stitches and it's fixed. The scars are exactly the same scars for banding. In the meantime are you taking any proton pump inhibitors? Something like Nexium, Protonix, Prevacid, anything? If not, you might want to talk to your doc about that and see what he says. It can make a huge difference. If you are hoarse and such from reflux, this must come to an end. That's not good.

Actually, I didn't. I was pretty clear about what I wrote. Your meds were cut in half, your thyroid issues were not being treated well. The bigger point is that you make it clear you exercised. I made it clear the people I was talking about were the ones that thought if they took a pill the pounds would melt away and they wouldn't need to exercise. Obviously, you aren't in that group.

I agree, Benefiber. It takes about a month for it to really start working and you have to use it regularly.

It isn't a matter of how "pure" a protein product is, your body simply doesn't absorb that much protein in one sitting. What you don't use needs to be burned or it turns to fat.

Mmmmm, a favorite of mine. I use chocolate mix and Raspberry Da Vinci S/F syrup. But maybe you are looking for just raspberry. What about Vanilla with fresh raspberries?

Previous posts by the same poster: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/december-bandsters-25506/index48.html#post354723 Banded Dec 18th 2006, had a pre op diet ( YUck all those nasty shakes I tried). Working towards my Post op 2 week diet. YAY all is well, except for my stiches are dissolving too soon and my incisions are opening, they told me to wash them with peroxide 3x a day and only put a little piece of gauze over it to stop things from falling in it, aka, dust and dirt if i'm out side... Did this happen to any one else? But other than that all is well and i'm progressing well. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f18/new-member-just-banded-hoping-all-goes-well-27400/#post354714 Hi! I'm excited to have found this site. I was banded on Dec.18th 2006,by Dr. Schmit, all is going ok. I am having some problems with my stitches dissolving before the incisions have healed, and they wont restitch them shut, Other than that it is going well. I go back for my first check up on Jan15th 2007. I am still on a liquid diet trying to transistion into the 2 weeks after surgury diet. I'm a college student hoping to change my life(and health) with this surgury and avoid joint replacement beings I am a mechanic that is enevitable but I'm hopeing with this it will postpone it alittle. Hopefully I'll find some helpful hints to help me along the way here (like recipes, exercise, and any information about first check ups, etc.) If you can give me any tips I would be extremely greatful. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f82/sample-menus-21506/index3.html#post354709 I just got my band put in place on dec. 18 2006, I was getting nervous because my family really loves the german and norwegian foods, and I didn't know what to cook. I am really excited to read all of the different ideas for food. I didn't know what i would do when I was able to eat normal foods again. THANK YOU SOO much for the ideas!

Possible, but doubtful. A 19 year old is forced to get surgery? Upon admission to a hospital the forms have to be signed by the patient in front of hospital staff. The hospital staff have to cosign the forms as a witness. Yet the claim is the forms were signed before ever entering the hospital by someone else. There were a lot of people in on this conspiracy, far too many people. Then there is the waiver saying she can never get it out... none of this makes sense. Sorry, it just doesn't. There are soooo many holes in this one. I'd love to hear the other side of the story.

I have Hashi's and sometimes I need meds, sometimes I don't. But I've had it for years and I no longer need the tests to tell me I'm not feeling well. NOT per my doc's advice, mind you.. but I keep Levothyroxine around the house. I only take it about 4 months out of the year. Then my antibodies go down and all is well again. With Hashi's sometimes it needs treatment and sometimes it doesn't. When your thyroid reaches 'crap' level, then you'll need meds for the rest of your life. It's no big deal for the majority of people, just an inexpensive tablet daily. One thing you will see on that forum is EVERYONE blaming their inability to lose weight on thyroid issues. That's just not true. A LOT of those members (not the core group of ladies that kinda run the forum but the other members) have it in their head that all they need to do is take a pill daily and the pounds will melt away. Not true. The fat that is indeed due to thyroid issues doesn't just go away with a pill. The pounds that were gained during untreated thyroid issues still need to be burned. It may not be fair but that is reality. Many of those women keep going back to their doc insisting they aren't losing weight. Well, they aren't. They sit in front of their computers whining that the fat doesn't just magically disappear. If you really bug them about exercise they claim they did the laundry that day. THAT was their exercise. So take those people with a grain of salt. It's easy to see on that forum who the educated folks are and who the whiners are. Those ladies do non stop research and they are more up to date on thyroid issues than many GPs. Example, when you get labs done your TSH (depending on the lab) will say that normal values are between something like 0-12. The American Endo Assn. changed what they believe to be normal years ago. They believe that a TSH of anything over 6 needs to be treated but many of the labs still show up to 12 is normal. Many also believe that for a Hashi's patient (not just hypothyroid but an actual Hashi's patient) they should shoot for a TSH of 0.5-1.0. Yet the labs that come up with the normal range don't take that into consideration at all. The problem is when you go to your GP the GP will show a lab value of 9 and believe that is what normal is. After all, the labs show right there normal is up to 12 and yours is 9. Yet endos believe up to 6 is normal so they will treat your 9 most of the time. Many GPs don't keep up with such issues. If you are wavering around and going from a 3 to a 9, I can see why your doc is sitting on this. If you take thyroid meds during the times you don't need them you can end up with a thyroid storm and that can damage your heart and kill you. So some docs are verrrry conservative with someone who has never taken thyroid meds before. An experienced thyroid patient will know the signs and either cut back on meds or get some labs when the symptoms of a low TSH kick in. Many docs are verrry conservative with newbie thyroid patients. One more point... when we look at lab values, the "normal range" is what is AVERAGE for MOST people. If you have a TSH (for example) of 6 but you don't feel well and have other symptoms of a high TSH many endos will treat you anyway with low dose levothyroxine. The good ones will, anyway. Not everyone feels good with average labs, some need a bit more or a bit less. Everyone is individual and unique. The better docs will go by physical exam and how the patient feels WITH the labs. The lazy docs depend on labs alone to tell them what to do. I have had the BEST experiences with young, female endos. The younger endos are more up to date, not stuck in their ways, and they don't seem to go by how you should feel but instead how you do feel. That is not to say all older endos or male endos are bad, they aren't. I'm referring to my experience only.

Question... When I log exercise into Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate it calculates calories burned by my weight and the type and length of exercise completed. Is the BB more or less accurate than that thedailyplate? Or, do is there a way to know?

I did a bunch of research when I was first looking at protein shakes, probably around January. It really wasn't difficult at first but it got harder to find the information the more I got into it. Example, the stuff in the plastic test tubes, that is made from collagen. That is the cheapest and most poor quality of protein available on the market today. Sad thing is, even though their quality is absolutely horrible and they use the cheapest raw materials possible, they are some of the most expensive products on the market today. That kind of information was easy to find. The hard part to dig up were the other details on quality of protein. For example, some companies have a decent product but the raw materials they use to make their protein products varies from month to month. One month it is excellent quality and the next month it is poor quality. When it comes to Isopure, Matrix, and unjury they consistantly have excellent quality raw supplies to work with from month to month. Protein is nothing but a chain of amino acids. One chain (23 total??) equals one full protein. The reason it is more challenging for vegetarians to get a full protein from a veggie diet is because one veggie has part of the chain and another has the rest of the chain. So they have to consume two or more foods to obtain the full chain. This is just as good as eating meat, no doubts there. But veggies need to know what they are doing before they venture out on a veggie diet. But it is totally doable, it can be done quite easily. I know because I used to be a vegetarian, I'll likely go back to it again. I think Isopure is beyond disgusting. It tastes like it has a component of pond scum. But I've only tried the pre-mix, I never tried the powder form. I've never tried Unjury but lots of people like it, especially newbies that need the chicken broth type and the unflavored type they can mix with anything. I prefer Matrix but I can't stand their nector line. I only like chocolate. The nector line may taste good but I can't get beyond the stench. Gahhh... With that said, I hear soooo many people that like the lemonade the most. I don't get it, I think it stinks. But lots of people like it. Bottom line, the worst protein quality bandsters consume are the plastic test tube types. Hopefully they are getting their protein from their diet because it isn't going to come from the test tubes.

If I had to do 600 calories to maintain I do believe I would have to dig my eye out with a rusty nail in sheer frustration. At least now I know there is an end in sight. I really don't mind for the time being even though I borrow from tomorrow's calories or make up for not enough from yesterday. So I don't mind for now but forever? Gahhhhh :eek: