WASaBubbleButt

And: DHendrey104: Wait a minute, we have one person that has been on antibiotics for 2.5 months after a sleeve surgery by Almanza and two people that went to Betancourt/Almanza for bands and came home with sleeves. Am I the only one that sees a problem here? For a refresher: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/1166852-post65.html And a person that claims to be a nurse that believes it is common to get MRSA from surgery. I do hope your MRSA is resolved quickly.

Christianity requires faith, not sheer stupidity. Do you know that Catholics are not encouraged to read the bible because the priests decide what to cover in sermons? It is not in the best interest of those in the parish to decide what to read and what not to read. Priests cover a section a day, each Sunday. It should take 3 years to cover the bible. One hour a week over 3 years? That doesn't cover half the bible. People start reading the bible for themselves and the become atheist. It was true for me, it's true for many. However, you are correct. Christianity requires faith and not facts, if people want facts they won't be Christian.

Well, the numbers are still the same. Doesn't matter if they *really* believed or not, those who claim that Christianity is their religion change their mind for whatever reason at the rate of 1% a year. Same with the increase in atheism. I disagree with you about Christians turned atheist. Since I am one ;o) and I know a LOT of them the #1 reason I have seen people give up Christianity is that they read the bible. As soon as they read the bible they realize how very impossible the whole story is and say enough is enough. Personally, I don't think most people who claim to be Christian really are. In an employment setting I claim Christianity. Do you have any idea how atheists are treated by loving Christians? It's not pretty. Now, I'm not making across the board statements, I met Carrie in Mexicali when I had my revision and she had her band. She is Christian through and through. She doesn't preach it, she lives it. I have all the respect in the world for her. But most Christians that I deal with on a daily basis... I do well to walk away. Okay, I'll give you an example. Patty Green. If I wanted religion shoved down my throat I'd unblock her. If I wanted to read one sermon after another, I'd unblock her. It's a total waste of time. Some people just aren't able to rationally discuss an issue. So be it. Doesn't mean I want the nonsense cluttering up my computer screen.

What you are describing is hard atheism, not atheism in general. I say I lack belief in a God, that is not hard atheism. I am not saying there is no God, I'm saying I lack belief in one. If one shows up at my door and introduces himself to me I'll be happy to sit down and have a discussion with him. But to believe because a bunch of people from 2000 years ago wrote that if I don't I'll go to hell.. bahh. That's silly. Agreed. Ditto... except the agnostic part. ;o)

Life is much easier if you do as I did and block Patty. ;o) I couldn't take it anymore, that was on another thread.

This explanation should be good....

As Elisabeth wrote, it's $12,500 for a revision. For a straight sleeve (not removing a band) it's $9,000 or $9500. I wish I would have done the sleeve to begin with.

You have to be referred by the bariatric surgeon you work for. They quit training people unless they are working for a bariatric surgeon because too many people just wanted to learn to fill and unfill their own bands.

Sadly, this is a big reason why a lot of people have their bands removed and switch to sleeves/RNY/DS. As soon as the band is removed the extreme reflux is gone.

Ahhh yes, the infamous persecution syndrome. You still make up a majority of the US population so what's with the whine? Ever since the Christians had to start following the same rules as all the other religions you are persecuted. So what does that mean Christianity has done to all the other religions throughout history? Actually... atheism and Wicca are gaining a LOT of converts. Christianity is losing about 1% a year of their following, atheism is gaining about 1% a year. You might be surprised at how many of us there are. ;o) Mayo clinic in AZ is a pretty good example. You can't stand on your tippy toes with arms outstretched spinning in circles without hitting an atheist. The nuns don't care, they don't care one way or another how or what anyone believes as long as patients get the best of the best medical care and they are treated with absolute dignity.

It is a fact that much was omitted from the original bible. I can't remember the name of the group (Green, do you know who I am referring to?) that went through the entire bible and removed a great deal of it not too long after it was completed. Don't have to be Moses to do a bit of research on the history of Christianity. And speaking of that, you do know that Christianity isn't an original religion, right? Much of it was stolen from the Hindu and Egyptian beliefs. The virgin birth, walking on Water, one fish feeds all those people.... all stolen from myths prior to Christianity.

If we lack belief in God, who shall we pray to that we are right? Did you think that one through? ;o)))) If you are wrong what do you have to lose... that is called Pascal's Wager. You have a great deal to lose. What if you believe in the wrong God? There are as many God's out there as people who believe and the amazing thing is that the God staring at them in the bathroom mirror typically share the same opinions as the person looking in the mirror. There is not just one God, Hindu's believe in a slew of Gods. What if YOU are believing in the wrong God? Truth is, there isn't a shred of evidence for any Gods. Not one bit of proof. Theists don't have a single fact, only faith. If you had any facts you wouldn't need faith, right? And you DO have faith as I recall from my Christian upbringing. I'm not knocking it the fact that you believe, all the power to you. But not everyone agrees, not everyone sees value in faith. We are more fact based.

A couple of days ago I bought a pound of hamburger and made 8 burgers out of it. Two ounces each, right? So it's been a couple of days and I can't eat it as fast as it will go bad so I gave each of my dogs a burger today. My 12# dog can eat her weight in food. I can eat 2oz but... my 2# dog can eat 1.5oz. Now, that's just weird. Every now and again this surgery type surprises me. I never fully understood true restriction until I got sleeved. When I was banded I could either eat anything and everything or I couldn't get Water down. Nine months later and I'm still floored at real restriction.

Hey Goober... I see you watching this thread and I have to tell you, LOVE the ID!

You were a noob when you had your surgery, revisions already know how to eat. I've never foamed with a sleeve but I did slime once. When you are stuck with a band you can slime for literally hours. Same with foaming. At least with a sleeve if something happens (at least with me) it's only for a couple of minutes.

BTW, one more comment.... What you write above, you do realize that is how most atheists feel too, right?

Not necessarily. Ever met a hard core Catholic? They have a lot more rules than your typical Christian and they believe you should follow their rules in order to get to heaven. If the Christians can get it straight what the rules are, I think there is a problem within Christianity. The rules are NOT clear. It's no wonder people fear death, they don't know if they followed the rules or not. Ever talk to people before they die? Most are okay with it, the hard core Catholics such as my Dad... they are scared to death when they know it is a matter of hours/days. They fear death when it comes to the final hours. I think that's a shame, nothing short of a horror. My Dad died scared to death. He did try to fight death in every way possible. It wasn't because he wanted to live as much as he was afraid he wasn't going to heaven. The look on his face as he died was sheer fear. I'll never forget that for the rest of my days.

No, you are not the only person that suggested band problems can be a result of the person and not the band. I did as well. Where I disagree with you is that reflux at night is due to a band that is too tight. That is ONE reason for night time reflux, it most certainly is not "obvious" as you put it that this is the cause as it is not the only reason for this problem. When you start making general statements and making claims that something is obvious... it will come back to bite you in the butt each time. People have severe band problems and amazingly, sometimes it's the band. Sometimes it's the person, sometimes it's the doctor. It's not quite as obvious as you claim.

We were doing a sterile procedure on a patient when I was at my biggest. In the middle of the procedure the doc decided he needed an xray of the patient. My hands were gloved (sterile) and because of what I was doing with the patient I couldn't unglove to put on the lead apron. Another nurse, a SKINNY skank of a woman, came over to put the lead apron around my waist. I never had a hard time putting it on but she made a big deal out of how it just wouldn't fit and we didn't have a bigger lead apron. She fussed with it for what felt like an eternity. Thankfully, the doc saw what was going on and he didn't like her any better than I did and showing his anger he told her to put the GD thing on, this isn't rocket science. He looked at me and winked, showing me he knew she was merely trying to humiliate me. I avoided fairs, rides at fairs, all that. When I flew on airplanes I used clothing, blankets, newspapers, anything to cover my waist. While the seatbelt did fit I couldn't breathe. So I'd leave it open just laying across my lap. Do thin people think we actually prefer Cookies to the point that we experience all the above examples people have written?

What is a wrong action? That can be quite subjective.

Yep, quite a few of us. If you check out this board you''ll find many of them posting: Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery (VSG) AKA Gastric Sleeve (NEW!) - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum I had the same problems as you describe so I'm speaking from experience here. A couple of points where we disagree: I do not believe we have a food addiction, I believe we have a food obsession. While the symptoms can be similar the treatment is not. Also, if you can get bad foods down, you can get good foods down. If you can eat ice cream you can drink a Protein shake. If you can eat chips and Cookies you can eat dried veggies such as dried zucchini, carrots, etc. The band doesn't make our food choices, it's supposed to limit quantity. A lot of people have band intolerance but that doesn't excuse the food choices. Believe me, I know full well what you are talking about as I experienced the same. But the band does not go to the frig and pick out foods. We do.

Addiction transfer... it's totally possible and something discussed here a great deal. For me it went from eating to shopping. I've dealt with this now and it's under control. We don't decline surgery for this reason, we work on the issues. Self pay... not sure who she went to but my doc sure didn't do that. Psych Eval... to be honest I think they are a joke. I do not think they are done properly in many (most?) cases. Weight loss... sounds like her surgeon may not have bypassed enough intestine. She should have lost in the beginning but it is quite common for bypass folks to regain. When their honeymoon phase is over, it's over. Pos/neg... I agree with her. Many noobs only want to see the good. They want surgery yesterday and they tend to chalk up the bad of any surgery type to those not doing something right. Sometimes it just isn't the surgery type for them, regardless of which procedure. There is no sugery type that will fix processed carbs. If you eat them today, you'll wear them tomorrow. I don't care if you have bypass, DS, a sleeve, or band... processed carbs got us fat and if we continue to eat them we will continue to be fat. With banding people always say you can eat everything you did before just not as much of it. That's true and it's not. If you had a crap diet before surgery you'll have a crap diet after surgery, just not as much. This is a lifestyle change, not a cure. Surgery is a tool to help you change your lifestyle.

It depends on the doctor and the reason for the surgery. If you do something wrong the surgeon shouldn't hold the liability for that. If you slip the day of surgery, I would think most would. Most times things just happen and it isn't the surgeon's fault so yes, you should probably bank on paying out of pocket if you have surgery in the US or Mexico. If you have a slip and need surgical repositioning or if you have a flipped port I know my doc just charges his costs but I don't know about US doctors.

Patricia... No, it is not quite obvious. This is one of the problems many of us are talking about that happens long term with the band. Many suffer from this kind of reflux, I had it and I had an unfilled band. Elisabethsew has it and she is nowhere near being too tight. There was a study done that I read on the OH boards and I could kick myself for not bookmarking it. It talks of how this is very common in banded people due to the new shape of the stomach after banding. You can completely remove the fill of these people and they still have reflux to the point of aspirating on their own stomach acid. A band that is too tight can absolutely cause this. But that isn't the issue I am referring to and it is not what many experience. It's something that is growing more and more common. Slips, pouch dilation, esophageal dilation... I agree, that is often times the banded person. Erosion... only if their band is verrrrry tight for an extended period of time. Thing is, most cannot tolerate a band that tight. I think it's more the doctor than the person with erosion. Why does one doctor I am thinking of have a 20% (not a typo) erosion stat and another have a 0.005% erosion stat? Both are in MX so most people have their aftercare done locally. So it's not that one doctor is filling them too much, they have a ton of different aftercare doctors. The only common denominator is the surgeon. One thing I have noticed is that regardless if it is a patient or surgeon, other banded people are quick to blame the one with problems. That's just not fair considering the high complication stats of banding. Did you know that 30-50% of people will need another surgery within the first 5 years? Anything from a flipped port, slip, erosion, band intolerance, etc. Those are not reasonable stats in my eyes. Slips are not decreasing, they are increasing. I think people of all surgery types go into this thinking surgery will the the ultimate cure and they can just sit on the couch and wait for pounds to melt. This is a life long journey, it never ends. It merely becomes easier.

Amazing concept, eh? Shocking as a matter of fact! ;o) No puking, sliming, foaming like a rabid dog, no stoma spewing or other assorted ways to hurl. I did slime once when I ate too much, come to think of it. But it lasted all of about 3 minutes unlike a horrible stuck episode with a band. :frown: