WASaBubbleButt

If the only reason you are unable to get a sleeve is because that doctor doesn't do sleeves, go to another doctor. If Medicare will not approve it in the near future then what if you get a band? Then if you can lose weight and get healthy would you be able to afford to self pay for a revision if need be? If you get RNY and need a revision there is little you can do. You can bypass more intestine or get a band after bypass. So if there is a chance in the world of self pay in the future get a band now in case you need a revision then you can revise to a sleeve. With that said, how will you get approval with a BMI of 35 and no comorbids?

I prefer Dr. Aceves. I like the fact that he makes a small, tight sleeve and he's never had a sleeve leak in over 500 sleeves. And he's FACS.

She's in denial. A 40 BMI *is* Morbidly Obese. Have you encouraged her to find joy in life outside of food?

How odd, when she first got home from TJ and before she was admitted to a US hospital she was saying very different things. MUCH different. We were both calling one another. Now the story changes.

I am not a fan of Mary Kay products in general (mostly for political reasons) but her nail care line is mega fantastic. It's a 5 step program that really works. If you use the products religiously until your nails grow out from the base to the tip they are like little pieces of steel. You can't bite them. You can use them as tools. (not that you SHOULD but you CAN) I usually have very long nails and they are all mine, not fake. It's Mary Kay products that allow me to have mega long nails that rarely break. If one breaks I cut them all off to be the same length. But usually I go for months and months with long nails. Something worth trying. Pretty hands are nice to have. Long nails make great tools. ;o)

I am the queen of not being able to eat food with a band. Or... I was the queen. ;o) Thing is, if you can eat bad food then you can eat good food. If you can eat potato chips you can eat dried zucchini, dried green Beans, dried (name your veggie) chips. If you can eat ice cream you can drink a Protein shake. If you can eat pudding you can eat home made refried beans. Veggies... get a microwave steamer bag and steam the heck out of them. Put various types of flavored oils on them such as sesame oil if you like a Chinese flavor. Garlic olive oil if you like Italian. Just a bit, not a lot. No cheese but flavored quality oils. Good fats are not a horror, it takes good fats to lose weight. Bad fats are trans fats and such. I disagree with your nurse, I maintain while limiting WHITE carbs to 20gms daily. Veggie carbs are unlimited. We did not get fat from eating beans and broccoli, we got fat from flour and sugar. If it has flour or sugar, don't eat it. THAT got you fat. Taking them out of your diet will get you thin. The stem of broccoli is not what you want to eat anyway, you want to eat the flowery portion. That is where the Vitamins and Fiber are. It will always be easier to change to pasta and such but that is what got us fat to begin with. Cutting out those foods and finding better choices will keep us thin.

While eating if you are hungry eat two more bites... that's stomach hunger and not head hunger. ;o) If you are satisfied stop eating. If you are full you ate too much. It's the fat mentality. We eat until we are full, naturally thin people eat until they are no longer hungry. If your *stomach* is hungry keep eating. If your head is hungry tell it to buggar off. ;o)

I'd read this thread before going anywhere. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f11/dr-daniel-huacuz-he-inamed-certified-11940/ Lots of people with personal experiences.

Sounds a lot like I was before I revised to a different procedure. In my case it was band intolerance. I wish I had a magical cure for you but I don't. :smile2:( There is always revision?

I have to admit, I'm a Dr. Aceves fan. He did my band then he did my revision from band to sleeve. I know first hand that Dr. A makes a very small and tight sleeve. Some doctors just don't have the technique down and they leave the sleeve too large and you don't lose well. I don't see the value in paying extra money in the US for a sleeve. You could spend more in the US for less experience and less hospital time... and for what? Just go to an FACS doctor, that way their background is totally verified.

Just find someone that is FACS (Fellow of the American College of Surgeons) as their backgrounds are checked well by the American College of Surgeons. I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, a very safe town.

Most ins co's consider it experimental even though it isn't. Hopefully things will change eventually.

Yeah, I like this site a LOT better than the other one.

It was white carbs that got us all into the position we are in and cutting out white carbs will get us out of that position. I maintain well by limiting WHITE carbs to 20gms daily, but I eat unlimited veggie carbs. It took me a long time to realize that there is absolutely nothing in flour or sugar that is healthful to the human body.

Experience means everything in the world.

I am at a loss for words.

Hey E... I tried that Soy Slender stuff. I haven't tried the Vanilla yet but I tried the Chocolate. It's okay, the thing I like about it is that it kills the whey flavor of EAS. But it adds calories. Not that I'm obsessed with calories or anything... Heh! How long do you suppose it is good after I open it?

Just keep reminding yourself.. you CAN have pizza again, just not this minute. You are not depriving yourself, it's just that this very minute isn't the best time. You'll have it later and you will. Absolutely. Some female hormones are stored in fat cells. You are losing weight like crazy right now. I have had a half dozen cycles in the last 2.5 years... all since surgery. Some have more/harder cycles and some (like me) get off easy. ;o) ETA.... do you have any Toradol left from surgery?

The sliming, puking, and overall stoma spewing is exactly why I didn't want the band anymore. I don't want to foam like a rabid dog anymore. Head hunger and grazing behaviors are no different with a band than a sleeve. Same rules apply here. They are both restrictive procedures, just different techniques. For me a sleeve works just like a band that actually works. So small food quantities apply the same to you as me. So I would throw your questions back at'cha. ;o) What keeps you from grazing? What changes your eating behaviors? Aren't you eating smaller quantities too? See what I mean? We both have restrictive procedures, for us a sleeve merely works better. The band is right for some, the sleeve is right for some. The hard part of WLS is that it is like a pair of shoes. You can eye the shoes and think you know they will fit but until you try them on you don't know if they will be a comfortable fit or not. Not sure if that makes sense but that is the best way I can explain.

Is insurance covering this? If so they would have a list of doctors that they contract with. Then you can narrow the list from there.

You can usually get them to go a little bigger but I darn sure didn't want that. I want tiny and that's what I got. I maintain without effort. It's a trade off, you can have a bigger stomach and use will power to control portions (HA!) or eat normal size portions every single time. I do not look at obesity as an addiction to food at all, I look at it as an obsession. With that said wanting to overeat at a restaurant is really no different from an alcoholic wanting to drink just on weekends. WLS takes the fun out of eating but that's a good thing. We tend to enjoy food, restaurants, etc., a little too much and that is what got us fat.

The makers of the lap band say that at 5 years people have, on the average, lost half their "excess" weight. This is after weight loss and regain. With all WLS types it is very common to have some regain before the end of 5 years. In the case of the band it's averaging out to be about half of your excess weight is gone at that point.

You have to admit, your first post here is advertising a doctor. Not introducing yourself, telling us a bit about yourself, asking questions, giving advice... It does look kinda weird. Does Dr. Joya still have the "complication" fund going? The other doctors that work out of hospitals absorb the complication costs. It's the clinic doctors that don't cover complications should you need to go to a hospital. Clinic doctors and Joya. There is a person on another board that went to Joya and during surgery he accidentally cut her liver. He wouldn't let the patient leave the hospital until she came up with $1200 to fix her liver. The liver issues isn't necessarily a reflection on the doctor, that is a risk with surgery. But he didn't tell her until the day she was to be discharged that he was charging her $1200 for fixing the liver issue. She didn't have a spare $1200 on her. He wouldn't take a wire transfer, wouldn't take WU, wouldn't take a check, finally her mother gave a credit card number to cover the cost. Joya is a good doctor but he does not absorb complications as other "hospital" doctors do. The complication fund... he charges $500 per person if they want to participate. He claims there are only 1 in 100 patients with complications. My math tells me that is $50,000 in his pocket per complication. The OH person had a $1200 complication, that would have left a tidy profit of $48,800 had this program been available to Lisa, the liver person.

That is absolutely NOT necessary. They are paid by the hospital. I did tip hotel bellmen, drivers, etc. But not the nurses.

We'll figure out something. I got your message, I was on the other phone. Sorry.