WASaBubbleButt

Jane... Why go through a 3rd party for surgery? Why not just go directly to the doctor and book? Seems like a huge waste of money to me when you can go directly to the doctor, cut a deal with the doctor (never hurts to try), and cut out the middle man expense. You can NEVER depend on 3rd party services to find a quality doctor, they will contract with anyone. People should do the legwork themselves. People should always do the research and VERIFY what they are told BY the MD office. You really can't trust anyone in that business and to pay a 3rd party seems like a huge waste of money.

I met goal in 10 months. You really don't have any idea what you are talking about. Did you open a book and read about countries outside the US? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Yes, absolutely!

I think you are confused about a few issues. Let me explain so you will understand. First of all, going to Mexico isn't anymore dangerous than going to a surgeon in the US. Regardless of country it is critical to research your surgeon. My insurance would have covered my band and my revision to sleeve in the US. I didn't like those surgeons. Now, when I had my band I didn't want to jump through insurance hoops and wait a year to get my band so I did my research and I went to Mexico. I hated the band, hated it with a passion. I had band intolerance. I got to a point where I couldn't wait any longer. I needed a revision. There are no revision surgeons in AZ that I was comfortable with. I am a nurse and it was my choice not to go to them. I wanted the best surgeon possible and for me that was Dr. Aceves. Yeah, he's in Mexico. I have news for you, just because someone is in the US does not make them good and just because a doctor is in MX does not make him bad. Open a book, do some research, you will see that there are fantastic surgeons in every country just as their are crappy surgeons in every country. I'll bet you a dollar my surgeon has better stats than your surgeon and I don't even know who your surgeon is. As far as angry... Ok. Let me rephrase my comments about banding. I have very fond memories of acid shooting out my nose in my sleep, it was an enjoyable experience puking acid in the middle of the night. I should have known better than to lay flat in bed. Lord knows, I should have slept standing up. My fault completely. I was especially thrilled each morning when I would wake up so I could look forward to finding out if I could eat food that day or not. Or... if I could drink water. It was nothing short of trippy discovering I couldn't drink water that day. Yet, on other days I could eat a steak in one sitting. Social events were exciting! I'd go out with friends shopping, then we'd go to lunch and if I dared to eat anything solid I stayed in the bathroom puking and stoma spewing while my friends waited for me. I could go on but no doubt you can see how much fun it all was. I have very fond memories of banding and ohhhh, I wish I could do it again! Just for the heck of it! Do you know what Inamed's stats are? At the end of 5 years you can expect to have kept off 55-60% of your excess weight. Those are horrible stats. 30-50% of people have to bank on having a 2nd surgery before 5 years is up. Anything from a flipped port to repairing a slip (which is still on the rise, btw), to removing a band due to band intolerance, erosion, or a host of other reasons. Banding is the hardest procedure to lose weight, it offers the slowest weight loss and the lowest weight loss of all procedures. It has more long term risks and complications than the sleeve - hands down. So before you start talking about how we are, those with problems, you keep that band and when you are at five years we'll see you here too, probably sooner. Please don't assume you have the slightest clue what the people here have been through. Unless you have experienced what those posting here have, you have no room to talk as though you have any idea of what they have lived through.

No gulps, just sips. You will have swelling after a fill. It's hard to figure out how to do it but try not to swallow so much air. If the air goes through your stoma... your stoma will act like a one way valve and it's gotta come out somehow if you get my drift. ;o)

Exercise is what really speeds things up. We have lots of reasons for overeating, (Ghrelin, emotional, biological, etc.) but we really have no excuse for not exercising. Exercise is key, keep moving, do hard cardio, make it work!

Yep, it's common. Lots of WLS folks have it and they go on to lose weight well. It might take a bit of extra effort but it's totally doable.

//Hijack// Gotta tell you, I love your ID... it's great!

You actually ENJOY them? ;o) I wouldn't have tested fate in that manner when I was banded.

Because of your band problems are you on clear liquids the week before surgery or full? Is it before or after surgery that you are concerned about clears? If it is after surgery I swear to you, it's not a big deal. You aren't going to be able to get 64oz of Fluid down daily. You won't want it and you won't be able to do it right away. With all the swelling you'll only be able to sip anyway and you have to sip allll day long just to get half the fluids in at first. The hard part in the beginning isn't that you are on clears, the hard part is that you will think you are going nuts sipping all day. Two sips and you are full. As the swelling goes down you can sip a little faster and by the end of the 10 days you can finally get 64oz of fluids in. It's not like banding at all. If it is the week before surgery... Susan, you are banded! You are used to liquids. ;o)

I have gone from band to sleeve. The difference is like night and day. If I had it to do all over again I would have done the sleeve the first time. With that said... you need to really stop and think about why you want restriction only. You can eat around a sleeve every bit as much as you can eat around a band. If you dilated your pouch you were overeating and a sleeve isn't going to fix that. All it is going to do is restrict how much food you can eat for a couple of hours. One thing about the band is that I think a lot of people are looking for the old "full" feeling and for most of us with a band that goes away. People keep eating until they get the familiar full and when it doesn't happen, they keep eating. The sleeve does fix that one, feeling full feels just like it did before WLS. Well, it does for me. If you were eating around the band you'll be able to eat around the sleeve. I'd look long and hard at your eating habits and see what you think. Maybe restriction and malabsorption? Only you know what is best for you. If you think restriction alone is going to do the job for you then the sleeve is mega fantastic!

The creepy places that charge very low fees do it by working out of clinics, doing major surgery and then they send you to a hotel for recovery. It's just not a bright way to have surgery in Mexico or the US. None of the good doctors in the US send you to a hotel for recovery after a sleeve. I think it is something like 80% of leaks happen within the first 48 hours. If you are going to have a leak you don't want to be in the middle of MX in a hotel somewhere. You need to be in a hospital.

Stomaphyx, ROSE, and I forget the name of the other really only work while you are on your post op diet. Most people lose about 20# on the post op diet and as soon as they start eating regular food they immediately regain. Most doctors aren't doing it anymore because nobody is losing. It's sad, most ins will not cover because it IS investigational and people are spending $5000 to $10,000 for a procedure that does absolutely nothing.

Slips are on the rise with ALL bands. Fewer slips with the new band are a theory, not a fact. A couple of people have posted in the last 2-3 days that they slipped with the new band and they are having them removed. Don't choose a device you have to live with by a website, choose the one that is right for you.

It could be so many things. Anything from a little stress in your life causing more restriction to a slip. The only true way to diagnose it is to get a fluoro exam. The problem is that everything changes restriction, absolutely everything. Time of day, time of month, stress, weather, food temp, hydration levels, everything. So it's impossible to tell what is going on. Do you have access to an upper GI? Will insurance pay for it?

Even before the mega bands came out there were three basic Inamed sizes. Some docs were using the biggest one on everyone for fear of erosion and if the band was too big people were not getting any restriction. I questioned if that would be the same thing with the mega bands and it is turning out to be true. LOTS of restriction problems, slips are still on the rise, and erosion is going down but it was going down before the mega bands came out so it's not that. I think doctors are being more careful.

You have had your band for 2 years, how long has your husband been banded?

Yep, I relate to everything you are writing. Eating standing up, no social functions where food is an issue, all of it. BUT! You don't need bread, pasta, or crackers. Those are the wrong carbs. You need better quality carbs. It's not a bad thing that you can't have those particular foods, those are the foods that got us fat to begin with. We ate farrr too many carbs. WLS is a tool to help you change your eating habits. If you can eat bad foods then you can eat good foods. If you can eat crackers you can eat dried veggies (dried zucchini, etc.), if you can eat ice cream type foods you can drink a Protein shake. I really do get it that some foods are easier than others, I lived it for 18 months before I switched to a sleeve. But if you want to get the weight off and keep it off, you have to change your food choices. You might be overfilled or you might not tolerate a band. I agree with you about another unfill, see what happens when you do that. Good luck to you!

I've had both! ;o) I'd never get another band. My suggestion to you is this, find five people that have been banded 10 years or longer and IF you can find 5 people ask them how they like their band. We hear about all these people that have been banded 20 some years...where are they? I've been posting on WLS boards regularly for over 2 years and I've not found one. I know of one person that's had it for 7 years and she loves it. The "oldest" banded oldtimer person I have come across has had it for 9 years and she was PMing me with questions on a revision. ( In my heart I do not believe bands will last for more than a few years in most people. It is the hardest procedure to lose weight, it has the slowest weight loss, the lowest weight loss, re ops are up to 30-50% within the first five years. Per Inamed people typically have lost 55-60% of their "excess" weight at the 5 year mark. Those are not great stats. If you are good to go with restriction alone, the sleeve is great.

Depends on the doctor. I thought all US docs were using the mega big bands but I recently found out that is not correct. Some doctors prefer the older smaller bands. MX uses the smaller bands, Canada uses both the older (small) bands and the newer (large) bands. Some doctors were having too many people that were not getting restriction with the bigger bands and they felt they had better luck with the smaller bands. Then other docs feel their patients do better with the bigger bands. They thought the bigger bands would be better for slips and erosion but slips are going up at the same rate they were with the smaller bands and erosion continues to decrease at the same rate they did before they switched to the bigger bands.

Maybe, but doubtful. Most people assume they have WLS benefits on their policy but most do not have WLS benefits. Each employer decides if they want to pay the extra premiums for WLS benefits. So for example if you have Blue Cross... B/C covers banding but if the employer doesn't opt for the extra premium then regardless of what you need, it's just not covered. Most insurance co's require that you be 18 years or older. You need to call the insurance company and ask if it is covered. Then you look at your policy and confirm what they say as sometimes they are in error. Then if you have coverage you find out which doctors are in your network. Go to all of their seminars. Choose wisely. There is a link in my sig on how to research a Mexican band surgeon but most of it will apply to US surgeons as well. Read through that so you know what questions to ask. Post #2 in that link has a list of questions to ask, print out one copy for each MD office that you call. Compare the doctors and go with the one you want. If you have WLS benefits find out what your insurance requires, what hoops you have to jump through. For example, you may have to do a medically supervised diet. Get started on that immediately with your PCP. The longer you wait to do it the longer it will be before you get your surgery. Look at all the surgery types that your insurance covers. Banding is just one option, sleeves are another. Sleeves offer a bit better and faster weight loss and much fewer long term complications. You are 17, you are probably going to want to have children someday. A band or sleeve is absolutely fine for getting pregnant. Bypass.. it's possible but somewhat difficult. Good luck to you!

Whether or not you choose to post here is certainly your option. Nobody is forcing you to stick around or hit the road. The problem here is that many people get infections and it would be a shame if they had a treatable infection and fretted that they were rejecting their band. You have to realize that when people are posting on a message board they have the right to state their opinions just like you have the right to state your own. If you leave every message board where someone disagrees with you, you'll not be sticking around any of them for any amount of time. Good luck to you!

Mine is Aceves in Mexicali, MX for $9,500. Just as MacM, not sure who you are asking. Alberto Aceves, MD-FACS Certified Bariatric Surgeon. My doc has done over 500 sleeves, over 450 bypass staple lines, not a sleeve leak yet!

My doc has us do 10 days of clears, 10 days of full liquids, and 10 days of soft food. Then it is as tolerated. I could eat anything at day #31, not everyone can.

Completely agree.