WASaBubbleButt

Specifically, how will the band ruin your life? Not sure about you but my life "felt" ruined before being banded. I feel pretty good now.

<p>I have a friend that had more to lose than you do and he's doing it. He's lost a LOT of weight. He's my inspiration to be quite honest.</p> <p> </p> <p>I emailed him but I happen to know he is ill right now so I'm not sure he's spending much time on line. BTW, his illness is not band/weight related.</p> <p> </p> <p>If he feels up to it I'm quite sure he'll respond.</p> Edit to clarify: I emailed him a link to this thread.

I'm not sure what help you are looking for, what can we do for you? Sorry you are having this delay but really it is better safe than sorry.

It will all be worth it. Look at it this way, complications MIGHT happen from surgery, odds are slim that will happen. You are already experiencing complications from obesity whether you know it or not. Not a difficult decision when you think of it in those terms.

My insurance covers it but it was a six month medically supervised diet, etc. I didn't want to wait. I'm not all that far from goal and had I used my insurance I'd just now be able to get surgery scheduled vs. almost being at goal. I don't regret paying the $7800 at all.

There is stomach acid in the pouch. The issue that makes many people believe there is no stomach acid is when we all PB it isn't the same, it's not half acid and half broken down food. The stomach acid tends to pool at the bottom of the stomach so when you vomit it is a great deal different from when you PB. This is why if you PB or vomit you should always brush your teeth well. Some tend to PB more than others and they are more at risk for dental problems.

Cyndilou... What you say is absolutely true but I have to admit, I'm becoming more and more annoyed with the politics of drug co's. I think we'll be hearing some dirt on Inamed in the near future. It doesn't have anything to do with the quality of their products but just because they have a good quality product doesn't mean they are the most ethical company in the world. Quite frankly, Inamed has the morality of a stray alley cat and in their case, it's the almighty dollar. I have no problem with a business making money, that's what they are in business to do. But not at the expense of patients. At that point they have crossed the line.

BJean... That was an absolutely beautiful post. I agree with every single word you write.

I started out at 252 and lost 60# the first five months.

Your stoma now acts as a one way valve for air so any air you swallow will go down but it won't come up. The key is learning to not swallow air. It can be done, honest! It takes practice. Also watch the foods you are eating. Lots of newbies and old timers alike eat Beans such as refried beans, etc., for the Protein. Some foods are killers for gas.

Me. I'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat. I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali. Lots of docs are in Tijuana but just like the US, Mexico has cities that are not safe in the least and Tijuana is one of them. Actually, it's one of the most dangerous cities in the country. The Mexican Gov't has their army in TJ for that very reason. I had it narrowed down to two doctors, Ortiz in Tijuana and Aceves in Mexicali (other side of Calexico, CA) and I chose Aceves for a few reasons but one was location. I can go out at night in the city walking, and it's totally safe.

I found the over simplified version of the study. This is NOT in the detail that we all need to read and understand but it's the best I can do at the moment. The doctor that loaned me his American Bariatric Surgeon Journal (not the exact name, I don't recall the exact wording in that journal) loaned his journal out to someone else and hasn't received it back yet. But here is the overly simplified version of the study: Welsh Medics To Examine How Surgery Can Cure Diabetes >>Scientists at Swansea University's School of Medicine have been awarded more than £93,000 by the BUPA Foundation to investigate why weight-reducing surgery can lead to the almost immediate disappearance of diabetes in patients. 95% of morbidly obese people those with a Body Mass Index of over 40 have Type 2 diabetes, sometimes known as maturity-onset diabetes. However, nearly 80% of patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery to reduce the size of their stomachs and small intestines find that their diabetes disappears within two to three days before any weight loss has occurred. Senior Clinical Lecturer Dr Jeffrey Stephens is leading the research at the School of Medicine's Diabetes Research Group. He said: "Although patients with Type 2 diabetes do not always require insulin treatment, the average diabetic needs about 30 units of insulin a day to control blood sugar levels. "For obese patients, this can rise to 200 units a day. To go from such a high level of insulin-dependency to not needing insulin in a matter of a few days is a dramatic result, and we need to understand the reasons why this happens." The research team, which includes Professor Steve Bain and Professor Rhys Williams from Swansea University's School of Medicine, and Professor John Baxter, a bariatric surgeon with Swansea NHS Trust, are focusing attention on a Protein known as Glucagon Like Peptide 1 (GLP-1), which is produced in the small intestine. Dr Stephens said: "Overweight people who have Type 2 diabetes tend to have lower levels of GLP1 and we are investigating whether these levels return to normal after bariatric surgery. Basically, we want to know whether reducing the size of the small intestine and stomach restores production of GLP1, and why this should be the case." High blood sugar seen with poorly controlled diabetes may cause lethargy, excessive thirst and susceptibility to infection, and contributes to diabetic complications including premature heart disease, stroke, blindness, and gangrene. "Bariatric surgery is not just effective in terms of controlling obesity. It clearly has other major health implications, with the potential to impact positively on Type 2 diabetes and other associated conditions. There is also the potential for the NHS to generate substantial savings in long term treatment costs," added Dr Stephens. "Not only will this research improve our understanding of why overweight people develop Type 2 diabetes, it may also lead to an effective, non-surgical treatment for those with the condition. We are immensely grateful to the BUPA Foundation for giving us this opportunity." SWANSEA UNIVERSITY OF WALES Singleton Park Swansea SA2 8PP http://www.swan.ac.uk << For the latest on various obesity related studies, check out the following. I try to read through most of these at least weekly if not daily. Obesity News & Weight Loss News & Fitness News from Medical News Today It is updated daily.

Excellent point. Alvarez combines his numbers with his partners and claims them as his own. I wouldn't go to him. Not in a million years. If he fibs about stats what else is he fibbing about? It is deceptive and I would never consider someone who is deceptive.

The first link is good, the 2nd is bad, verrry verrry bad. Bad history with the medical board in Mexico, lots of infections, used to work for Betancourt and if that isn't enough to scare you away, nothing will.

I agree with much of what you say but one word of caution I have to offer is that some of the folks on the yahoo sites are not really patients, they are patient coordinators that are less than ethical. They promote their docs by claiming they are patients. They get a fee for referring people to the doc they work for. They get a commission per person that they recruit for their docs. Two of the worst docs in Mexico are promoted as the best docs around. Huacuz and Lopez of Betancourt. They have patient coordinators pretending to be patients, they aren't. They work for the docs. Actually, the same thing happens here too as well as OH. Find a doc that LOTS and LOTS of people are talking about and they tend to like him. Research a LOT, talk to everyone, take your time, ask about stats, do the legwork. This holds true regardless of doctor and regardless of the country they practice from.

I think you really need to stop and think about your actual thinking here. :scalesno: Seriously, the whole idea behind the band is so that we can be like normal people and eat like normal people. With the band, for the most part, you can still eat all the regular foods you would normally eat anyway, right? So doing an unfill would serve what purpose? Allow you to eat like a cow again? I mean, that is what we do without a band, right? Isn't it a bit like suggesting an alcoholic drink since they are on vacation? The only value is so that you can eat mega portions. We are trying to get OUT of that mindset, not find excuses to go back to that way of thinking. We are trying to be normal again when it comes to food issues, not find reasons to go backwards.

hair loss happens with a great many people that have had anesthesia regardless of type of surgery. IOW, even those not getting WLS seem to lose their hair. The upside to this is that if you do start losing it, it will grow back.

The time to be worrying about whether or not a fill is needed is not while you are losing weight and not hungry all the time. Don't worry about fills until you feel like you need one. There is no value in deciding you are going to tough it out. If you could do that you wouldn't have needed a band to begin with. According to Dr. Ortiz (in his book) he claims that 70% of banded folks don't need a fill until six months. That doesn't seem accurate according to posts here but perhaps he is correct.

Fat is stored energy. When you burn off your consumed calories and continue burning it will be fat. You should not feel weak or dizzy unless you consume a lot of sugar and start getting blood sugar spikes.

There is a troll on OH posting this same exact story. Some people do it, others write about it on line I guess.

HA! I wrote the same thing a few days ago. The spelling is bad, grammar is horrible, sentence structure does not exist, and only the super easy questions are answered. Then there is the incorrect advice... I am thinking an unbanded medical office staff (receptionist type person) who works for an "actual" physician. That's my guess anyway. There was another one about 4-5 months ago. First he claimed to be a lawyer (per his profile he was around 20-21), then he claimed to be an office staff person from a medical clinic, then he claimed he was a patient coordinator for a bariatric physician. When we confronted him with all his stories and the profile with his age he quit posting. Maybe he came back? Probably not the same person, that guy could spell and write a basic sentence. This one can't.

Get about a heaping teaspoonful of Parmesan cheese. Put it on a microwave safe surface such as a dinner platre. Make the pile of parmesan cheese about 1/4" thick and sprinkle with garlic powder or whatever your pleasure. Nuke for about 30 seconds, use spatula and remove from plate and put on paper towel. When it is crunchy and crisp it is done. If it is like taffy it either isn't done sitting or it wasn't nuked long enough.

I don't know much about sweeteners. One thing in Dr. Oz's book is a list of all the sweeteners. He lists all the problems with all the sweeteners and he said the only one where the jury is still out is Splenda. *So far* they haven't found anything bad about it. Of course, tomorrow that could change.

What about unsweetened with Splenda?

Is your insurance through an employer? If so, they may not have paid the extra premium for WLS. If that is the case, it simply isn't covered. The other poster is correct, if you want suggestions you will have to explain why they denied you. If you have no WLS coverage you can also look into self pay. Mine was in Mexico for $7800. It is usually $8200 but they had a special going at the time.