WASaBubbleButt

Your surgeon got it for $1200? That's quite unusual. Others pays quite a bit more. Was that from the distributor or Inamed directly?

My skin is soooooo dry since being banded. I know it is because I eat virtually no fat anymore. I bought this stuff that I really like but I don't like what is in it. It is Dipping Oil, Mediterranean Garlic flavor. I love the stuff but when I look in the ingredients it has various oils in there, not just olive oil. If I were to get olive oil and put spices in there to make this stuff myself, what spices would I put in there and would plain olive oil work? I was going to use it with my veggie chips in effort to get something in my diet for my skin. Thoughts?

Remember, if you keep your Protein up you should be fine. Fat is stored energy. When you use up your carb reserves and start burning fat, fat IS stored energy. It's really hard for we fatties to comprehend not eating a lot of food. It can be done, 99.9999% of low carb side effects are mental. It is what we have conditioned ourselves to believe for all our fat years. It's what Mom used to tell us, but you know what? It wasn't true. Never was. But we believe it thus we feel the side effects. You don't have a choice but to follow this diet if you want a band so the best thing you can do is mentally prepare yourself. We tend to talk ourselves into feeling bad because we don't have the calories we want and are used to. We can talk ourselves out of this as well. Good luck!

What discomfort? What is going on, specifically? Inamed claims that surgeons are quite clear that the stomach will go back to a pre-banded state over time. Days/weeks. The recovery for band removal is easier than placing a band. Hospital stay is typically (in the US) an outpatient procedure. Some docs claim it is more difficult to remove the band because they need to remove all the scar tissue so the procedure takes a little longer. Some don't remove the scar tissue and just remove the band. If you don't have a medical necessity for removing it and if it is considered an elective procedure, insurance may or may not pay for it. Alexandra would be a better one to direct that question.

Sometimes fat reacts to the port and melts. It can drain as a reddish liquid. If it turns green or yellow, if the area becomes red or has red streaks up and down, then go to an ER quickly. But what you are describing sounds like melted fat.

It depends on the complication and your insurance. There really isn't any way to answer your question. This would be one for your insurance company.

You won't really know what your restriction will be like for about two full weeks. I'd see how you feel then.

If you think about it, Inamed isn't any better. The MD/Hospital cost on each band is around $2,000.00. Have you seen the band lately? No way it costs $2K. I understand research costs, etc. But $2K???? At least this one works.

You know, I really hadn't thought about it much until I noticed my skin starting to get really dry. And my hair. I started thinking about it and realized what the problem likely is, oil/fat. I hardly have any fat in my diet at all. I don't eat meat but I do eat tuna. The only cheese is what I recently started buying and that is parmesan cheese crackers. That's it for fat in my diet. I don't like most dairy products, I don't eat dead animals much unless it is tuna, thus... the dipping oil. I'm going to buy some stuff from the link above. It sure sounds more workable than if I tried to make the stuff. I'm just dangerous in a kitchen. Sheesh.... you'd think the fat on my body would suffice!

Yep, call or email.

I figured it was something everyone but me knew what it was!

Here you go: http://www.si03.com/

Do you have a 10cc band? If so, you still have another cc before you are "formally" at capacity. I *think* it is Wendell on OH that has a 10cc band and I *think* he has 9.75cc in his 10cc band.

I just looked up your BMI and normal weights. According to the chart I was looking at you should be between 99lbs (low end) to 130 (high end). Anywhere in the middle is normal weight for your height.

Much as I like and respect Alexandra, we really disagree on this one. I think it takes a lot of bands to be a good band surgeon. Twenty bands, fifty bands... that's just not enough. There is a learning curve to banding and when the docs have to take their patients back to OR to fix what wasn't perfect, then they realize what was not perfect. There is more, the experienced docs that I talked to during my research feel they were not able to consider themselves experienced until they had done 250 bands. All of them that I spoke with said the same number, 250. I was talking to surgeons that had done thousands of bands, they still said 250. They say there are unique issues to each patient, different anatomy, unusual problems. They felt that by the time they had done 250 bands they had done a TON of barium swallows. By 250 they had seen just about everything there was to see on a film. And keep in mind, the doc that does your surgery is likely to be the one that does your follow up. I just don't see the value in being the guinea pig in this case. The band is just too important. For many it is the last shot they will attempt at weight loss and they deserve every opportunity for it to work. The docs that are doing the complete procedure in the US for $10K or $12K, check it out. They are not experienced. Some people shop for price and some shop for experience. Some don't know what to shop for, they don't know what to research. Yet when the docs are experienced and have developed a great reputation the price goes up. They have completed their learning curve. Stats show MUCH fewer complications, slips, etc. with docs more experienced. Twenty bands just doesn't do it. They don't even HAVE a track record for anything under 100 bands.

No! Experience with bypass is not enough. Would you be okay to drive in your own neighborhood? Would you feel equally as sure about yourself driving by yourself in China? A dentist operates too, would you want them placing your band? Placing a band requires experience. It has to be exactly right, no mistakes. Sutures not too tight or too loose, the band can't be too high or too low. It's an easy procedure to learn but it takes practice. If you are knitting (I know, I've used this one before but my imagination isn't good enough to keep coming up with new examples! LOL) is your first project going to be absolutely perfect? Or will some loops be bigger than others? Will your 100th knitting project be better than your first? Why?

Sugar *does* cut your hunger, the problem is the rebound effect. After an hour your blood sugar drops and you are more hungry than when you started. When your blood sugar is high there are messages sent to the brain saying you are not hungry. But the other side is your pancreas pumps out insulin to drop your Orange Juice'd high blood sugar. As soon as your body does it's job (pumping out insulin) then your blood sugar drops again and you are VERY hungry. The lady sounds like a wingnut to me.

Get a better brand! LOL Most of them are gross, you have to keep trying until you find one you like. I'm hooked on Matrix 5.0 Chocolate. Others prefer different brands.

BariatricEating.com is also one of THE most expensive places you can go. Lauren, Matrix will send you samples for free. You have to go to the manufacuturer vs. the vendors, but they are free. Do a Google search on Syntrax for their Matrix products.

One reality that cleans things up from your mental hard drive is that the surgical risk is farrrrrr less than the risk you already have being morbidly obese. Surgery gives you MUCH better odds to be around and raise your children. None of us could do it on our own. Many can lose weight, very few can keep it off. That's why we have bands. Read everything you can get your hands on. Read everyone's opinions, take what works for you and leave the rest. Good luck to you!

That is exactly one of the reasons I went to Mexico. My surgery was in December 06, I am almost to goal. Had I gone through insurance and jumped through their hoops I would still be on the supervised diet, surgery wouldn't even be scheduled yet. Instead, I am almost done.

LOL! Sounds like a bandster!

Las Vegas. I've organized similar functions and the thing about Vegas is that it is usually pretty cheap for those that have to fly across the country. There are inexpensive hotels all the way to very expensive for those on a budget. Obtaining a flight is rarely a problem, it's just very workable for a large number of people.

Once you spend a couple of hours looking like a rabid dog while PBing, sliming, trying to get something unstuck, foaming, and finally a full barf... you kinda don't want that item anymore. I'm pretty well over bread.

HA! Easy to say, not so easy to do. You'll see!