WASaBubbleButt

I have this vision of 2000 years from now the future archeologists will be doing a dig and find a bunch of banded people. All that will be left is the band. We'll be dust by then, but the band will still be working. If there is anything left of our physical bodies I figure they'll think the band was some really expensive stomach jewelry. The band is tougher than we are by a long shot!

Nah... just PM me an address.

Okay, I am NOT a health food store kinda person. I hate those kinds of stores. I look at everything in there as a nasty tasting, placebo, drug-wannabe. But I might have just found something and I wanted to pass it on. This week has been hectic and stressful. For two days now I struggle to get Water down without sliming and PBing. It's been difficult and the more I struggle to get water down (I'm so thirsty) the more stressed I get. I went to Hi-Health today and just told the lady what was going on. She suggested a tea (I hate tea) that comes in a dropper bottle. You put 48 drops in a glass and sip. I put 48 (yup, counted them) drops in an ounce of pineapple juice. I couldn't taste it. It's supposed to make pear flavored tea. It tasted like pineapple juice to me. It works. I'm shocked and floored. The stuff works. It is: Healthy Habits brand "Feel Good Anti-Stress Tea" It comes in a dropper bottle and 48 drops makes me relaxed, mellow, calm, and I could actually take a nap. This morning I swore it was stupid day. Every stupid person in the world is coming out of the woodwork to annoy me and pester me with a bowl of stupid. My dog thought she was biting my 2# poodle and it was actually my finger. (Better my finger than the poodle's squatty little tiny body!) Now my whole hand is infected and swollen. Typing this post is no easy task with one hand. The world was annoying me, every single person around me was stupid, and I was so stressed I couldn't drink water. Now... I don't care. I am watching my hand grow and swell as I soak it in water/tea tree oil, I'm watching TV, people suddenly got smart as my mood eases, and the world is a bit less annoying. Either the world suddenly got smart or this health food store stuff is working. Thus far I consumed a bottle of propel and a bottle of water with no problem. Before the tea I couldn't do that. Just wanted to pass it on.

My own personal recipe is this: Get in car, take product with me. Go to friend's house that knows how to cook. Hand product to friend. Beg. Works every single time.

I don't know if there is a Hi Health in Mesa or not but there probably is. Yes, it's a health food store, similar to GNC. I just like the ladies who work at Hi Health because they don't try to sell me a bunch of garbage that won't work and if I buy something I don't like I can always return it. I don't - but I like knowing I can if I want. Even if there isn't one in Mesa it's no big deal, we'll just come to Phoenix. Or I can bring you some, or I can mail you some. Or or or.... I snagged a bunch of samples of Matrix recently and I'll be able to snag some more in a week or so. I still have a box of samples I have to mail out to people that are still sitting by my front door. When I get more Matrix samples I'll mail you some if you want. Cheaper than buying something and discovering you don't like it. When you come here you can try a bunch of different flavors of Da Vinci syrups. Hi Health carries a few flavors but Netrition.com - The Internet's Premier Nutrition Superstore! carries all the flavors and the pumps. You are welcome to try mine first before you buy it in case you don't like some/all of them. Raspberry... yummmm.

Your daughter sounds fantastic! She really does. I wish all nursing students were that bright. That's one of the reasons I don't want to go back to hospital nursing. My job is working with new grads and I soooo wish they weren't like they are. I won't go into detail further other than to say I'd love working with your daughter from the sounds of it. I think you likely do have something to do with her success, if bad parents affect their kids in a negative manner, isn't it fair to say the good parents affect them in a positive manner?

Thus far I think I am one of the few who does like Da Vinci Cinnamon. It does not have a strong burst of cinnamon flavor, it tastes like S/F cinnamon candy. More subtle. Raspberry is my fav with Chocolate Matrix. I just got my Chocolate and Cherry yesterday, haven't tried them yet. This sounds silly but I found them at Hi Health yesterday but they didn't have pumps. I ordered pumps for the bottles from Netrition.com and I don't want to open the bottles until I get the pumps. A little OCD, I know. No need to say it! I have to laugh, these bottles are the size and shape of a 5th of liquor, that type bottle. Some come in plastic and some come in glass bottles. I have pumps for each bottle. When I open my cupboard it looks like the inside of a bar with liquor bottles and white plastic pumps. Sheesh...

I prefer low carb because I just feel better eating low carb. If I pig out on carbs (and I do that every now and again) I pay for it for days. I don't feel well, I feel bloated, uncomfortable, and like a slug on my couch. I have more energy, feel better, and lose weight to boot - on low carb. BTW, that does not mean low carb high fat. But low carb, adequate Protein, and I'm trying to increase fat in my diet since my hair and skin seem so dry.

I don't know, MM. I can't stop going back to the thought of... are teens more capable of handling the diet required for diabetes? How about insulin injections twice daily? That is a good possibility with MO. I have to trust that if Mom is researching this for her child, she knows her child. We don't but I would hope Mom does. It makes me crazy to think of any kid suffering and especially when there is a potentially great tool to avoid the diet and drugs that go with so many diseases that follow MO. BTW, one of the reasons that NSAIDs were out for bandsters is because they thought it might cause erosion. They have finally ruled that out, they are back to not knowing why it happens. The issue with pouches and NSAIDs is that the drugs cannot break down in the pouch, they HAVE to pass through the stoma before they break down. Lots of docs are okay with Motrin, etc., if they are liquid and chased w/8oz of Water. But JRA... that's rough. Lots of drugs and they don't all come in liquid. Is she on Enbrel or anything injectable? Is that a possibility? Anything other than MTX anyway. :girl_hug:

A hiatal hernia repair leaves the same exact scars as banding.

You can slow it down just as easily as you can speed it up. Exercise is a great way to speed up your metabolism. The concept that dieting ruins a metabolism is a myth. As one ages your metabolism will slow down to some degree but hard work will speed it up. RG... if your metabolism really is that bad from dieting, how is a band going to help? All a band does is force you to eat quantities of food that normal people eat. What does metabolism have to do with that? Our whole lives people have filled our heads with complete nonsense such as destroying your metabolism, starvation mode, you have to eat more when you are sick because you need more calories, if you don't eat you won't have energy (fat IS stored energy), etc. If we want to overcome being fat we need to learn the facts about diet and exercise, metabolism, starvation mode is what 10lb African children experience when they are 3 years old. THAT is starvation mode. Nobody has yet to prove there IS such a thing as starvation mode when we diet. It's another dieting myth. Myth myth myth. If your metabolism slows down to a crawl, what good will a band do? All it does is limit your food to a normal person's daily portion. Exercise and increase your metabolism. But she did not come off as a "know it all" attitude. She disagreed with you. I disagree with you too and I'm 45. She is speaking from experience, not attitude. I don't think anyone is arguing that point. I think the points we are arguing are contained within this post as well as previous including biological reasons for MO. Such as the fat gene you claim you don't believe in. Do you honestly think a teenager wants to be fat? Don't you think they would do anything in the world to be thin? Don't you think they want it as much as you do? I don't want them to pay their fat dues, I don't want them to suffer, I don't want them to diet to the point that they feel more worthless and hopeless than they already do. THEY have it MUCH harder than you and me, let's not forget that. Their age alone is much more difficult as a teen than at 45. Peer pressure, social pressures, school requirements. Does anyone force you to run around in front of everyone in an embarrassing gym suit for 2 miles? No? Then you don't have to experience that horror, teens do. How about changing clothes in front of cheerleaders in a locker room? Would YOU feel comfortable doing that? Don't you think diet and exercise have already been tried and failed for a teen just like an old person? Teens don't want to be fat anymore than we do. MO is a medical condition that deserves treatment and our society just has to start changing with the level of science. It wasn't all that long ago that people were saying your words about mental illness. Just deal with it, try everything, use will power, be a better person. It doesn't work with them and it doesn't work with us. If we were talking a 10lb overweight cheerleader, I'd agree with you 100%. But we aren't. We are talking about an MO teen, big huge mega difference. So why did you get a band? Why not just change your lifestyle and you could have saved many thousands of dollars to you or your insurance company. Personally, I couldn't do it. So why didn't you? You have to change it anyway with or without a band. We have established that a destroyed metabolism is a myth. So why not just do it without a band. All it takes is a lifestyle change, eating better foods, and perhaps a good shrink. So why didn't you just do that? These issues are simply not easier because one is a teen, they are the same or perhaps harder in some cases. Again, so why didn't you do this without a band? It's just a lifestyle change. There is nothing biological to this, right? So why didn't YOU do what you expect a child to do? Noooooooo, that's the easy way out. LOL You have made claims here and we are attempting to converse. Why would you leave? We are all adults, let's talk this thing out, at least until I win. :girl_hug:

Let's look at these examples for a moment just to show "quality" journalism: >>In the months before she died, Hamilton felt herself weakening and feared she might have to move into a nursing home. At the time of her death, her condition was not terminal.<< The article even spells the name of her condition wrong. They obviously had no clue what they were talking about. >>* Shirley Cline, 63, of Oceanside, Calif., died July 4 after contacting Kevorkian via the Internet. Cline was a media specialist for the Beverly Hills, Calif., Unified School District. In July 1992, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and was told by her doctors that it was incurable. It gradually spread to other organs, but was not terminal at the time of her death.<< Cancer spread to other organs. Organs as is multiple. Which two or more organs do we not need for survival? Ever see someone "not" suffer from colon cancer after it has spread? I haven't. I rarely see anyone survive colon cancer after it has spread. There is a huge blood supply that goes right from the colon to the liver and once it hits the liver (colon cancer's favorite organ to spread to) life is no fun at all and it most certainly is terminal. But I want to know something, according to which source was this patient's colon cancer not terminal? Clearly you didn't write the article so I'm not asking you but this level of journalism is simply revolting. >>* Rebecca Badger, 39, of Goleta, Calif., died July 9. She and her doctors believed that she was suffering from multiple sclerosis, but an autopsy showed that the diagnosis was incorrect.<< What doctors claimed MS was a misdiagnosis? If her problem wasn't MS then what was wrong with her? Was she hit by a truck right before she off'ed herself or did she have a hangnail? More low level journalism. Just enough information to make someone look really bad but nothing to back up their silly claims. >>A Hungarian immigrant who moved to the United States when she was 18, Mercz was divorced twice, but managed to work and raise her three children. In the year before her death, she was distraught over having lost her job. In July, Mercz unsuccessfully attempted suicide at home by taking an overdose of pills with the help of a relative. Frustrated by that experience, she sought Kevorkian's help. When Mercz died, her condition was not terminal.<< Total crap. Lou Gehrigs disease is ALWAYS terminal. More yellow journalism. I'm not even going to continue down the list. The above demonstrates my point. This is an author with an agenda. Show me some facts. :girl_hug:

You know, one of the things about being banded is that one day you are as open as can be and the next day you can't get Water down. A band is a fickle thing. It often times seems as though it has a mind of its own. I was kind of thinking the same as you. At one point you could get eggs down but later you couldn't get a Protein drink down. Only you know how restricted you are, nobody else. You will likely be tighter in the morning, it is not at all uncommon to be tight until 12noon. I could be in error but I believe it was Dr. C that said for some folks he fills them according to what they can eat for dinner. Some people are verrry tight in the AMs but wide open in the PMs and the can overeat in the PMs so he fills them accordingly. If they can't eat solids until 5pm, that's okay. For me I'm sorta okay from about 12 noon until 6pm. AMs and PMs are rough for me. Each person is different. TOM... makes a big difference for some. As Carlene would say, for some during TOM some women are tighter than a virgin on prom night and she's absolutely correct. I couldn't agree with her more. Stress... for many stress plays a role too. It does for me, if I am stressed I can't even get water down. First bite syndrome... a whole 'nother ball game. Fills... we often times don't know what to expect for a full two weeks after a fill. Sometimes you are tighter than a drum after the fill and wide open in two weeks. Other times, you can be wide open after a fill and at 2 weeks some how, some way... the fill suddenly kicks in. There is more, but I think those are probably the most common issues with level of restriction. Keeping all that in mind... just how restricted are you? LOL!!

That's not fair. You can't discount everything someone writes because of age. Sometimes younger folks have it together quite well. I believe the person you are writing to does have it together, she merely disagrees with you. As I do. Destroying your metabolism? Not possible. It is quite literally impossible to have a destroyed metabolism and live through it. It's another dieting myth. Yes, it is harder to lose weight at 45 vs. 19 for many people but that isn't due to a destroyed metabolism. Having a band does not change your metabolism, it changes the quantity of food you eat. If what you say is true, a band would do you no good whatsoever because you could eat 12 calories a day and still gain weight. If people could just lose weight and get healthy on their own, people like you and me wouldn't need a band. For WHATEVER reason, (call it anything you wish, no self esteem, lazy behaviors, no will power, chemical imbalances, biological issues, physical problems...) it doesn't happen. Sometimes people need help and these issues are just as real for teens as they are we old folks at the ripe old age of 45. To say someone should just try harder because while they have the same exact problem as you and I, they are younger so they need to suffer through it the way the rest of us did is just simply morally wrong and unfair. We should want better for younger people, we should want them to learn from our mistakes, not their own. Not when it can be prevented. It is NO easier for a 15 year old to lose weight when they have the SAME problems as you and I as it is for you and I. I sincerely believe you called this one wrong on several levels.

Hear hear! Well written. I think ALL newbies stress over dilation, erosion, and a slip. Follow the rules and you can't do a lot more than that.

Looks like your doc has a good thing going! If insurance doesn't cover enough then it appears he just charges extra for wild hair up his butt fees. Personally, I'd find a new surgeon.

You hiccup? Wow, for the few that do hiccup that's a sign it will last for life. I'M KIDDING!!!! :girl_hug: It's irritation to your diaphragm. It will go away... Eventually. <snort>

Yep, I do care about people and their WLS issues. When people finally find a tool that is workable they deserve every opportunity in the world to make it work. I'm rarely gone more than 2-3 days at a time, I volunteer in Nogales, Mexico quite a bit. Thank you *very* much for the kind words!

While I fully respect Dr. K's stand on the issue you are right, he wasn't exactly playing with a full deck. Remember when he went to his trial dressed as Star Trek person? He IS nuts, but even nutty people get it right sometimes. I would have much preferred another person take the stance he did but the reality is, Dr. K did it. I agree, Wiki isn't credible. If people knew who was writing those articles they would understand. It's a decent source to start with, but ever checked out atheism on Wiki? HA! Clearly, an uninformed xtian wrote that one.

I disagree. If someone is going to get dehydrated within six hours they need to be IN an emergency room otherwise six hours is not going to matter one way or another. If they are not keeping anything down (as this person was, she wasn't keeping fluids down) then the stoma needs time to rest and the inflammation needs to go down. If keeping fluids down is impossible then adding more fluids and PB'ing isn't going to help the situation, it will just cause more inflammation. No fluids AT ALL for six hours, then fluids for the rest of the day in small sips. This takes care of it most of the time.

Sources? Terminally ill people usually are a bit on the depressed side but that doesn't mean they want to die *because* they are depressed. They are depressed because they are in excruciating pain and can't take it anymore. Dr. K didn't diagnose these people, he wasn't in the business of doing that. He was a pathologist. He had no practice where he would see patients and run tests on them. But what are your sources that he helped people off themselves when they were not terminally ill and merely depressed? I don't believe I ever recall hearing credible sources for this. However, this brings up another issue. Mental illness. Schizophrenics come to mind. There is no cure and there is no treatment for some people. Do we force them to endure demons chasing them and telling them to kill themselves for the rest of their days or do we respect their rights too? Difficult question for anyone who has actually seen an extreme case of schizophrenia.

Just a thought but be careful of that shredded cheddar cheese. 1/4 cup or 2oz has 230 calories and 20gms of fat. That isn't even the main part of your meal.

BUT! Did it work? LOL

I live in the desert too. It says: Natural Great Tasting Easy to use Non-caloric Decaffeinated Standardized Makes 30 delicious glasses of Pear White Tea Note: If you find yourself becoming overly relaxed, do not operate motorized equipment. If pregnant or lactating, consult your healthcare practitioner before using this product. Contains: Suntheanina 100mg 5-HTP 25mg Proprietary Herbal Blend 120mg Valerian Root, Passion Flower, and Stevia Distributed by Healthy Habits LLC Orders: 800 604 6766 PO Box 12069 Scottsdale, AZ 85267-2069 www.HealthyHabitsWeb.com Email: Info@HealthyHabitsWeb.com

I don't understand something, if you couldn't keep liquids down, why were you eating solids? chicken is a solid unless it is put through a blender. Even if it was a soft food, if you can't keep liquids down, why eat soft foods? If you PB you MUST stop eating or drinking anything for six hours to give your stoma time to heal. Then finish that day with liquids only. If you eat food on top of a swollen stoma you are asking for trouble. With a slip people *typically* PB/vomit whole blood and blood clots.