WASaBubbleButt

Nooo, I wouldn't get RNY. It's just not a surgery type for me. Way too much regain and your options for a revision after bypass are limited. Once you stretch out your pouch/stoma you are done for life without a revision. I am one that would have failed with bypass. With bypass in the beginning you just sit on the couch and pounds melt off. After the honeymoon stage you are back to diet and exercise and that would have been me. I wouldn't have taken that time to change my eating habits, etc. I would have been one to lose well and then regain well. ;o) I see too many people that several years after bypass they really are doing things the right way, eating well, exercise, etc. Yet they are regaining. I think part of it is that they stretch their stoma over time and the food just pours into the intestine and they really are hungry all the time. After I had my band removed I opted for a sleeve. It has the fewest long term complications of banding, sleeves, bypass, and DS. Weight loss is as good as with bypass just not as fast. At five years you lose as much as you do with bypass but without all the risks. Inamed came out with their long term stats on banding and they are showing 55-60% of your excess weight will be lost at the end of 5 years. Sleeves and bypass are 80%. Bypass is loaded with risks and complications (potential), sleeves are not. Not long term.

I can only assume the comment was based on stats and such. With a band you have a stoma and everything you eat has to fit through that stoma or you get stuck. We don't have that, we just have a small stomach. You have to chew 10x better with a band, not as much with a sleeve. Fewer food limitations, better weight loss stats, faster weight loss, fewer long term complications, no maintenance, fewer future reops, large tablets are not a problem, etc. So I don't think the person was trying to base their opinion on personal experience but standard differences in the procedures.

I asked for an honest answer, I did not get that. No, I will not do this via private email, public is good. I am good to go with public. I did not respond to you, I did not make a mistake in who I was responding to. I quote posts for a reason, there is no communication error. Cheers.

I have to say that I find it curious that even though I quoted the poster I was responding to and responding directly to their post you assumed I was referring to you and your post. That speaks volumes. The comment about coordinators was VERY necessary. Do you know that I have a coordinator threatening me right now? If I continue telling the truth about her surgeons she will come up with fake info about my own doc and slam dunk him on every band/sleeve/RNY/Revision forum on the internet? Think about that one. What is ethical here? My doc does things the right way, he is ethical, he follows the rules. But if I tell the TRUTH about other surgeons she will slam dunk my surgeon. Again, what is ethical here? Sure, I could follow her around and post her name and history, but should I have to? I would like an honest answer to this.

Thanks, M! Very true, for a revision from band to sleeve you don't go to a sleeve surgeon, you go to a revision surgeon. There aren't many around. For a revision from band to sleeve the risk for a leak is 3x greater than working on a virgin stomach. Thus, you go to a revision surgeon. Leaks are very expensive and can cause bankruptcy AND major major major health issues. You have to go to the best of the best for revisions.

I always have good things to say about the better doctors. Aceves isn't the only one and I've never claimed he is. I also routinely discuss Rumbaut and Zapata. They are the best in MX. BTW, if you will notice I didn't respond to you or your post. I was responding to someone else.

Since you are having surgery with Aceves you'll be in the hospital for three nights following surgery, all total you'll be in Mexico for 4 nights/5 days. So if you took a total of a week off, that would be fine. Two weeks is ideal, one week is fine, or was for me anyway.

I've had both band and sleeve and the sleeve is 1000x better! ;o)

Usually a revision price is more than a straight sleeve price. You have to make sure you go to the best of the best. Don't let some crappy coordinator for bad or unknown surgeons talk you into a bad doctor. Many lie through their teeth about their stats, watch that too.

Nope, no prescriptions. He sends you home with the actual drugs. ;o) It's only the first day or two that you have anything you can consider pain. What hurts for about 2 weeks is where the port was. That kinda sucks. Remember, this is MX. You don't need an Rx for most drugs. You do for narcotics but not for things like Toradol. You can buy as much as you want. Each time I go there I stock up on Toradol, love the stuff!

What's so great about reversible? Which diet have you been on that after you were done losing weight you wanted to reverse it and regain? ;o) See what I mean? I want permanent, I never want to lose 132# again! The sleeve provides faster and better weight loss, MUCH fewer long term complications compared to banding, and it's simply easier. I've had both, I know. According to Inamed at the end of 5 years people typically lose 55-60% of their excess weight. With a sleeve at the end of 5 years it's about an 80% loss of excess weight.

Sounds like a blood sugar issue. We are used to eating a lot of carbs and our bodies are used to pumping out a lot of insulin. When you suddenly stop the carbs your blood sugar can go a little low. Also, if you consume sugar now, such as in juice... that makes your pancreas kick out insulin and sometimes a bit too much insulin. So you get blood sugar spikes and that is another way your body tells you that you are hungry. It's not just Ghrelin. Stop all juice, or anything with sugar. When you get the shaky feeling and headache try drinking Propel Water. It just has a tiny pinch of sugar. Enough to bring up your low blood sugar but not enough to cause the high spikes. That and protein should kill your hunger.

Revision surgery is a different world. It's not horrific pain that you cannot tolerate, it's just more discomfort than with virgin banding. You'll see. ;o)

It's not really wise to go into surgery thinking if this doesn't work, you'll revise to something else. Revisions carry a GREAT deal more risk than working on a virgin stomach. Example, leaks carry a 3x greater risk as a revision vs. 1st choice surgery. The key is to find the right surgery type for you the FIRST time. Not to choose the easy surgery the first time and hope for the best.

No surgery type is right for everyone. Some are good to go with restriction only, some need malabsorptive too. There is not a thing in the world wrong with either one. It is your job to see what YOU need. We all have different issues. Me... I just like to eat. I'm a grazer, I like high fat, high carb foods and lots of it. For me restriction alone is most effective. I suck at taking Vitamins and such... I'd probably die of malnutrition with bypass because I know me and I would never take the required vitamins. I found the surgery type right for me. You need to do the same, you need to find what is right for you. Yes and no... the sleeve is the first part of DS. With DS the sleeve is typically made larger, with a stand alone procedure the sleeve is made smaller. I can eat 2oz of solid Protein, if I had DS my sleeve would hold double what I can eat.

Perhaps the reason people kept saying that voting for McDummy meant another four years of Bush... is because it is true. McDummy voted with Bush over 90% of the time. I've experienced his political BS in AZ, we've been stuck with him for years. Voting for McDummy would have been exactly like voting for Bush except that McDummy isn't quite as embarrassing to watch on TV with the grammar errors and stupid statements. I think Palin is about as ignorant as they get. She would have been more of an embarrassment than Bush ever dreamed of being.

We disagree. The right doctor is critical. If a doctor screws up a band it can typically be fixed by repositioning the band. If the doctor screws up with a sleeve he risks your life.

You are looking at bypass and for that reason you will need a great deal of aftercare so you do need someone close by. Bypass carries a great deal of potential risk and I tend to agree with you. But for sleeves, I'd go where the stats are the best and it is affordable. When it comes to banding... that's hard. Some states have a LOT of doctors that will do the aftercare and some don't. Arizona is great, we have quite a few doctors that will do aftercare for banding. Again.. sleeves rock. No aftercare. ;o)

What you describe is a risk we all take. If you go down the street for surgery to Dr. Jones and then Dr. Jones dies, moves, or retires... who will do your own follow up care? It is not a matter of going to Mexico and there is no follow up care, it is a matter of going to ANY doctor and hoping he is still in practice for the life of your band. Comfort level is an issue, MX isn't for everyone. Too many people get their education on countries outside the US from yellow journalism and individual cases. Those people are too stupid to leave the US and they should stay in the US. If people aren't willing to educate themselves about the world around them they should stay in the US or not have surgery at all. I agree with you about the violence in Mexico. It is a serious problem and this is why I push location so hard. Not all of Mexico is a horror and not every border city is of concern. This is exactly why my list of good doctors in MX is shrinking. Location is very much an issue. But you know what? The problem is in the US now too. There are places I won't go to in the US and there are places I won't go to in Mexico. This is another reason I love the concept of sleeves over banding. The weight loss is better, it's faster, there are FAR fewer long term potential complications, and no aftercare. If for some reason you do need aftercare you are not stuck with band surgeons only. You can go to any general surgeon, GI surgeon, or bariatric surgeon. Not just band surgeons.

Yessssssssssssss, a good and caring man charges $1K+ for a simple fill. You have no agenda, right? Do tell, how many fills would you pay $1K for? 3? 5? Let me guess, you are rich, right? I thought you wrote something about this forum being below your awareness, no? I can provide a link to the other thread if you wish. Do you wish?' Wait.... let me remember, you were pitching fits one way and another in the OTHER thread because FillCentersUSA was charging too much for a fill at $150 per each, yet in THIS thread $1,000+ is okay! Yeah, I got your number! Cheers.

No, consuming sugar and drinking through a straw cannot cause erosion. A total loss of restriction and a weight gain are cause for concern. I thought this forum made you giggle and you wouldn't return?? I must have misunderstood.

I don't know, you see... I just think a surgeon that charges $1K a fill is nothing short of greedy. Call me silly, but that's how I see it. A single slip in all those bands... you know, patients are the single cause of slips. Vomiting, overeating, stomach flu, food poisoning... please tell me how a doc can control these issues? Does the doc pick people that will NEVER eat a food that causes food poisoning? I gotta tell you, I'm totally impressed with your doc. No... seriously, in a whole new way I'm impressed with your doc! He has skills beyond human skills! Really! Kinda like superman! Now, don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting that food poisoning is a patient's fault! I'm not. I've had food poisoning and I sure didn't blame myself. It's just that ... stuff happens yet it does not happen to YOUR doc's patients. I'm totally impressed! Really, I am! As for going to a surgeon that does all procedures. Maybe you see value in the surgeon that sells only one car type. Me... I don't. I see value in those that sell ALL car types. They are able to perform everything from the easy band to the difficult bypass. But again.. that's just me. I'm sure that at 12 days post op you are the expert of banding. I'm 24 months post op from banding and 9 months post op from a sleeve. I'll defer to you for expert advice on bands and surgeons.

Yet.... you come back to read and participate anyway. Heh... You DO realize that if we were to take you seriously, we would expect you to live your words, right? BWAHAHAHAHAHA Did I mention... buh bye......?

Not really. If you look at the half life of Ghrelin there isn't any after about day #2. It's head hunger. Head hunger is hard but not life threatening. Bumping up the diet can be life threatening.

You know... thing is this... If you cheat with the post op diet with the band you risk your band down the road. If you cheat with the post op diet with the sleeve you risk you life. Your choice. You have no Ghrelin, your hunger is head hunger and not stomach hunger. No excuse. I would have felt (mentally) much better too, glad I didn't cheat. No, it does not sound good to cheat. Not even a little. Go back to doctor's orders. Now.