WASaBubbleButt

The tree of knowledge is what would have taught right from wrong. Adam and Eve had no concept of right from wrong until Eve at the fruit. Only AFTER eating the fruit did she have the slightest concept of right from wrong yet God punished her (and the rest of us) because she did what she did not know was wrong. He can't really say that he told her not to eat from the tree and therefore she knew right from wrong as that would mean that the tree was all a lie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For a God that is so big and so huge and so powerful and the all that there is... why isn't there just one piece of proof that he exists? The bible isn't proof, it's someone else's claim that he exists. If he starts giving you bits of proof that this God exists, ask him why faith is necessary? If there was any proof then faith would not be required. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ask him why Christianity was copied from prior myths. Christianity is not an original religion, it was copied from the Hindus and Egyptians. The virgin birth, born under the star, three wise men, a fish feeding the entire group... all copied from prior and much older myths. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The prayer issue you mentioned, that is something that always bugged me when I was a believer. It makes no sense. The Christian God talks of how and where he wants you to pray but really, what's the use? Is he bored and just wants someone to talk to him? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have a million of these. If you need more please let me know. PS... I'll bet a dollar that you and I have the same person blocked. ;o)

Sorry this all happened to you. A few things I do not understand, how could you go so long without ANY fluids and not die? You are quite lucky. Also, they sent you home septic? How did you survive that? There are several that have had severe infections. Might want to look up TJWood, he just had surgery last week for the 2nd time to remove pockets of pus from his abdomin. Steve is correct, there was another person here that said her doc told her she was rejecting the band because she was infected. That isn't rejection, that is infection. I feel for you, I lost my band too but for very different reasons. I self paid for the band and then self paid for a revision to a sleeve. That might be a better option for you once you are fully healed and back to the life of the living.

I understand (and relate) to what you are writing but I also think that just because some of us don't have our Moms anymore doesn't mean those with their Moms should be thrilled that they have sewer problems they can't afford or that they were miserable while stuck, sliming, and puking. That's not a fun way to spend Mom's Day with or without your Mom.

Not quite. A true PB is a burp. You think you have air bubbles but when you burp "stuff" comes out instead of air. But many include vomiting pouch contents a PB. Potato/Pataaato. The food most certainly does make it down to your pouch. A PB is barfing food in your pouch and not your lower stomach. No, not quite. Stomach acid is produced in your pouch as well but it happens to pool at the bottom of your stomach. That's why if you PB you really need to brush your teeth well because your stomach acid can harm your teeth over time. Now, usually a PB happens before the little bit of acid in your pouch has time to do anything so it does appear that it comes up exactly as it went down. The only reason I bring up this point is because of the tooth issue. There is acid in a PB and you should brush your teeth. Again, not true. The pass through from your upper stomach to your lower stomach is verrrrry small, much smaller than you might imagine. MOST bandsters do not do soft white bread well and the reason is that when you chew bread and swallow it, it becomes something similar to a dough ball sitting on top of your stoma. There are foods some people do not tolerate because they have good restriction and they can't chew "X" food to a paste or liquid. Bread, eggs, steak, taffy, gummy bears, dry chicken, etc. Some do well, others do not. There are people that get very tight for unknown reasons and slime/PB on liquids.

Bubbles... welcome to the world of foaming. Did you happen to feel a bit like a rabid dog? ;o) It can happen during a stuck episode. Dr. Curry from the OH boards claims it is a combination of saliva and mucus. Regardless, it's gross. I know. Liquids... another thing I don't miss about the band. Sorry this messed with your Mom's Day.

It depends on the doctor, I can only tell you what my doc does. If your BMI is under 40 you don't have to do it. If your BMI is 40 or more you have to do Atkins. Most doctors require you to do 1-4 weeks of Protein shakes only. My doc doesn't.

I was banded and now I'm sleeved so I have ... count 'em! 10 scars. They are hardly visible. Honestly, the stretch marks and saggy skin are 1000x worse.

That's fantastic! Congrats to you! You'll love Dr. A and the staff. They are great. It's also great that you are doing this with a friend. It will make everything easier having someone at the same stage as you.

Yep, that is a complication of the band. That's one of the reasons I don't miss it in the least.

In the beginning I didn't tell anyone. After I realized this was actually working then you couldn't shut me up. I told the whole world. I'd love for the whole world to be sleeved, skinny people too just so they never get fat. ;o)

A few months ago my doc sleeved a person with a 100BMI. She said it took him 2.5 hours to do. Yet others are easier and take 45 minutes or so. It depends on previous abdominal surgeries, the amount of scarring to dissect through, the BMI, lots of issues.

When I was banded the sales pitch by Inamed was... eat your usual diet, just less of it. It was my doctor that made sure I realized I needed to change eating habits. I'm not so sure the marketing really isn't the same. It's basically, "Eat normal foods, just less of them." Well, what is normal to us isn't necessarily normal to naturally thin people. This is exactly one of the reasons I got rid of the band, I don't want to need an emergency unfill. I don't see it as a feature at all, I see it as a dangerous necessity because it's an implanted device that can cause problems requiring an unfill. People have the attitude that they want the ability to overeat again if need be. When we are ill, old, whatever... and we are not eating enough that usually means we are not eating at all. There is no reason someone needs to be able to overeat. With a band or sleeve you can eat portions that you need to maintain your health. I've seen countless posts over the last 2-3 years by people writing that they want a band because if they ever get cancer and need extra nutrition they can have the band removed. They really don't understand what they are talking about when they write this. When a cancer patient needs extra nutrition it is because they aren't eating anything at all. A band or sleeve is more than enough to give them the nutrition they require. Even an ounce of food is better than no food at all (which is what they are typically consuming) and that can be done quite well with either procedure. They don't want bypass because they'll malabsorb calories needed in their old age. No they won't, bypass really only malabsorbs for the first 6-18 months. They malabsorb nutrition forever but not fat and calories. Thus, the honeymoon period of bypass. Bypass or DS isn't for me, I'm not into taking a fistfull of supplements throughout the day. I see malabsorption as a necessary evil for some just like chemotherapy. Unwanted but necessary for a target population. Of course it is the ability to anchor it. You only have so many options when you are talking stomach tissue vs. silicone. Sewing through stomach tissue is like sewing through the inside of a melon yet sewing through the esophagus is like sewing through the hard part of your ear. Just how many ways are there to secure silicone to the inside of a melon? There will always be slip issues regarding banding. The sutures are not what hold the band in place long term, it's the body and how the adhesions and scarring form. It's the adhesions that hold the band in place, not the sutures. This is the main reason the post op diet is so critical. Cheat on the post op diet today and you slip in 6-12 months. The stomach needs time for adhesions to form and when dumbasses out there are saying, "I ate a burger 4 days post op but it's okay, I chewed real good," they are the people that are likely to slip. They aren't letting the body do what it does best, forming the scar tissue. Those little strands of adhesions trying to form over the band are broken each time the stomach has to digest food. I have seen a gazillion posts (Okay, maybe not a gazillion but close.) explaining what food they just ate that they know they aren't supposed to on the post op diet and AFTER they do it they come here asking if they just hurt their band. It's virtually impossible to harm the silicone band around their stomach but their stomach, the adhesions.... yeah, they probably did do a bit of harm. The post op diet is there for a reason. Just because one CAN jump off a cliff does not mean one SHOULD jump off a cliff. Just because one CAN eat a burger 4 days post op does not mean they SHOULD. So it is a matter of anchoring it to the stomach. Another reason I'm not a fan of bypass but sleeves instead. I'm no longer a fan of the band either because of slow/low weight loss and the re-op rates. You are correct, they are about the same for bands and bypass. Sleeves... whole different ball game. ;o) I think you are in for a shock. ;o)

Thing is... we all have food issues or we wouldn't have gotten fat. So while it is true that some target groups will try harder and put forth more effort, I don't think anyone goes into this thinking that they aren't going to put some effort into it. Most people I have seen fail any WLS type goes into this determined to change their eating habits and food choices just to discover that maybe they can't do it afterall. The band or sleeve or any other WLS type doesn't do a thing to fix your head. It seems so easy on some levels, get surgery and darn well just change head stuff. It doesn't work that way. You really don't discover just how many food issues you have until AFTER surgery and then you also discover the severity of these food issues. Before my surgery I kinda didn't believe it was going to work. I knew I was going to try very hard to do it but I really didn't think I could change my food choices and habits. I shocked myself when I did it. Today I prefer healthy foods and getting back to basics. I won't eat a burger from Mickey D's, you couldn't pay me to do it. I never thought I could give up fast food but I did. I'm lucky, a lot of people try their best and have the best of intentions and they discover they just can't do it. So you can't really take just those that are able to change food habits and use that as a target group for average bandsters because they aren't average, they are above average. The average bandster will lose about 55% of their excess weight (considering loss and the well known regain for all procedures) by 5 years time. That includes people like me that really seriously changed diets, added exercise, etc. AND it includes those that just can't hack it. Then there are issues of another nature. One problem with banding is that each time you have a complication the fill is removed and you are put on liquids for a time and then solids but with no fill. Esophageal dilation, pouch dilation, slip, etc., it's an unfill. That puts a dead stop to weight loss and actually turns into weight gain for most. Then the problem is resolved and you are back to getting fills again and finding a sweet spot. This is one reason banded folks have slower weight loss on average. Then you have mechanical failure. Leaks in the tubing, port, or band itself. You lose restriction and quite frankly if we could do this without restriction we wouldn't have had surgery to begin with. Without restriction weight gain happens again until surgical repair. I guess my point is that you can't just take successful bandsters and use that target group as the average WLS person. They aren't average, not in the least. We all make all sorts of plans and promises to ourselves that we will do this or that but the true test is when it's time to do it. Then we discover it wasn't as easy as we thought. My guess is 100%. Nobody is perfect with food issues all the time. Some do a better job than others. LOL! You are in for a big surprise. Banded and sleeved people make cheap dates too. ;o) It's also a matter of less food in your body to slow down absorption of alcohol.

The same as I explained a couple of times. ;o)

What kind of special insurance are you talking about? Some sort of passenger insurance? I'm not clear what you are asking.

It is very common for obese people to not know what true hunger is. It's very common, haven't you seen people post on various boards asking what hunger feels like? We always fed head hunger before stomach hunger was able to kick in. Air in your stomach/intestines isn't hunger, it's air. Hunger is a feeling, almost a bit painful. Hunger is a sensation, air is... well, air.

I was in the hospital 4 nights but that is unusual. In the US it's usually one night, in Mexico it is usually 2-3 nights. My surgery was 1.5 hours but it was a revision and not just a straight sleeve. Usually it's less than an hour unless your BMI is very high then it can take longer.

You have to check with your auto insurance but some cover you for a few miles into MX. You MUST have ins to drive in MX, your ins or MX insurance. If you get in an auto accident you will show your ins and if you have none you will go to jail until the damages are paid. (Something we should probably do here in the US!) The easier way to do it is what I'm starting to do. I park in the long term parking lot ($3-$5 a day, I forget) and have Ernesto pick you up there.

The preferred method of bypass is by lap. It's safer and an easier recovery. They can't do it by lap if there are lots of previous abdominal surgeries causing lots of scar tissue or sometimes people are so big the lap instruments are not long enough to reach the intestines. So, they do a full open.

Hunger is a feeling, air in your stomach is not hunger, it's a sound. When I say "feeling" I don't mean emotion, I mean you can feel it. You have repeatedly described sounds and that's not hunger, that's air moving around.

It's usually do to a blood sugar issue. Your body is used to a ton of carbs and when you cut carb intake it messes with your blood sugar and one effect is a headache. It's just one of those things that happen when you change your diet.

Something is kinda fishy here, thing is... the band hasn't been out long enough to have long term studies. It's only been out for about a year. In the beginning their sales pitch for the new bands was that there would be fewer slips and erosion. Well, slips are *still* on the increase and erosion is still the same. They also claimed that hunger would be less but they never backed any of this up with any studies. It was theory and sales pitch. What your surgeon may not have told you is that for many people it is taking freak'en forever to get to a sweet spot with the new mega bands and many never get enough restriction. It also came out from a FL convention just a few weeks ago that if you surgically reposition a band or replace a band you stand a 70% chance of a slip within 5 years. There is a study on Ghrelin, the hunger causing hormone. As a sleeved person I have had the Ghrelin producing part of my stomach removed. But there are studies that show some Ghrelin is reduced temporarily in banded people. Not removed, reduced. It's not a "forever" thing but temporary. But that happens with ALL bands, not just the newer bands. I see a whole lotta people having their "new and improved" bands removed on various revision boards. I think that the band makers just keep coming out with new things and new theories but no hard data. If I had to be banded again honestly, I'd want the smaller older generation band. I wouldn't dream of getting the new one. Weight loss is slower probably because it takes forever to get and maintain a sweet spot. The first six months of any WLS type is when people lose the best. After about 6 months you aren't as paranoid about following rules and such. You learn to eat around your surgery type. I've seen countless people posting that they are at 6-8 months and just now feeling some restriction. Well, by that time they aren't in it as hard and heavy as immediately after surgery. They just aren't losing well. Seriously, I wouldn't worry about which band you have. In the end they all do the same job. The rest is theory and sales pitch. If you make a new band that does the same thing as the last one you have to come up with something to sell the darn thing. So they do, it's call marketing. ;o)

Was there a specific reason for the biopsy or does he do it on a routine basis? I know Aceves sends all stomachs to pathology but I'm not sure what they are looking for other than H Pylori.

Did you know that your doc is considering changing from 32 to 36? There was a post on another board about it, I didn't really understand what the poster was talking about. She had a diagram of the stomach and with a 36 they don't have to remove some part of the stomach, forget what it was. Cirangle's thinking is that weight loss will be better because the stomach will empty even more slowly. Might be a good thing to verify if she was understanding his reasoning.

A stomach growling isn't hunger, it's air. It's a sound. Hunger is a feeling. ;o)