WASaBubbleButt

It depends on where you live. Some states are better than others with fill docs.

Well, the band was a magical fairy that made me stop wanting crap food. Give me a good old bowl of steamed veggies ANY day! Yummm. That's not to say that I don't want crap food once in awhile, I do. But I honestly don't want it all the time like I used to. The band did force me into better eating habits and now those are foods I prefer. When I was on the sleeve post op diet I wasn't craving burgers, I honestly was craving veggies. I never dreamed I would be this person but I am. DSers are whacko, seriously... they are. They want to eat crap food and be thin and for awhile they can. But then there comes a time (18 months) when they have to watch carb intake or they will gain. So their point is .. WTH is their point? Besides, they stink.

Oh my, so much misinformation! Some of your information is based on the technique used 40 years ago. Irreversible... I'm not so sure this is a disadvantage. Might you enlighten me on why I would want to regain 130#? Why would you want to reverse the band? The only reason to remove a band is if the band itself is causing you problems. I kinda consider having to remove your band a disadvantage. ;o) Leaking: It is NOT accurate to say there are OFTEN infections (staples). This is why you need the best of the best surgeon. There are only about 50 surgeons WORLD wide that do this procedure well. Meaning, that have done at least 200 sleeves and have fantastic stats. If you go to a crappy surgeon your odds are not great. Bypass requires staples too and an interrupted staple line, harder than a sleeve. With a sleeve you can oversew the staple line and with bypass you can't. So the leak stats are better with a sleeve than bypass and even with bypass "infections" due to a leaking staple line are rare. You have some seriously inaccurate information there, dude. I'll bet you that infections from a leaking staple line are fewer in number than an eroded band. My surgeon has done over 300 sleeves and has never had a leak or major complication. So do tell, what is often? Weight loss: Again, you have some outdated and incorrect information. Bands: 1-2 pounds weekly Sleeves: 2-3 pounds weekly Bands: You will lose about 50-70% of your excess weight Sleeves: You will lose about 70-80% of your excess weight 5 year stats show that sleeves and bypass have about the same weight loss, bands show a lower weight loss. Stretching: Wow... wrong info again. About 40 years ago they saved a more elastic portion of your stomach and stretching did occur. Lucky for us it's 38 years later and science has come a long way. Today a more muscular portion of the stomach is saved and according to 5 year stats, it's not stretching. With banding and bypass the more elastic portion of the stomach is used to hold food and it does stretch. The sleeved stomach does not stretch beyond what is anticipated during surgery. Your sleeved stomach will hold about 2oz out of surgery and it will stretch to its maximum capacity of 8oz within months. Insurance: You are correct (finally). Most insurance does not pay for sleeves however there is a way around this if insurance covers bypass or DS. You are wrong about the fee being $8K, maybe that was true in the 1970s but it's not true today. In Mexico it is $9500 and in the states it's around $20K for a good surgeon. (Crappy surgeons aside) With that said, most people do not have ANY WLS coverage in the US sooooo, your point? It's okay to pay $7K (in Mexico) for a band or $14K (in the US) but it's not okay to pay $9500 for a sleeve in Mexico? Really? It pays to get medical information from the same century being referred to today. ;o) Seriously, why would you create an account to post this one article that is so outdated it's not even accurate? A doctor that doesn't want to lose band business today? A banded person that wants to show their procedure is better than any other? I don't get it, enlighten me please.

Ohhhh, let your imagination run wild. ;o)

Since Mexico is a 3rd world country that means the doctors are not trained well? Or is the problem that they are Mexican? Are you aware the band has been approved in Mexico since 1991 and it wasn't approved in the US until 2001? Yes, it was the Mexican surgeons who trained the original US surgeons. If your doctor hasn't been doing the band for very long then he probably was proctored in the US. You should go outside the US someday and explore. There is great medical care to be had outside the US. We really are not the best in everything, amazing yet true. We are probably the most expensive but not necessarily the best. The entire country of Mexico is not made up of little villages with no running Water. Shockingly many Mexican cities are exactly like the US. We have mountain people in the US that live off the land, no running water, no modern facilities and yet that doesn't make us a horror for medical care either as an entire country. It is never a wise idea to take the worse case scenario for a city and assume the entire country is that way. Quite frankly, when it comes to medical culture - Mexico has the US beat 10x over. People leave the US for medical care in bigger numbers each year. Are many many MANY thousands of people just stupid and you are the only one in the know? Tell me something, if Mexican surgeons are such a horror, who do YOU think perfected the surgical technique used for banding today? I did not suggest that you must go anywhere for anything. But passing off negative information about an entire country is not wise and getting your education from the media about other countries isn't wise either. A book, it's a great pastime.

heh... do you realize that we have discussed poop and farts for 25 pages? ;o) Feels good to be childish every now and again. Matter of fact, I think it is pretty darn healthy! It's the on line version of going outside to play in the mud. The threads copied to this forum are funny, sad but funny. Okay, not sad... just funny. Hysterically funny. You know what I mean! Froggi.... I double dawg dare you to really get 'em going. Com'on... let's see what you are made of!

With the band I lost 130 pounds.

I think it is a matter of education, we don't do a very good job of that in this country. We tend to let the media teach us about other countries by way of sensationalism instead of picking up a book and reading a bit about the topic of other countries. Mexico is not a tiny village without running Water. ;o) Let's not forget, it was the Mexican surgeons that trained the majority of US surgeons in banding.

I know you can get a free sample from EAS (check out their website) and Syntrax used to send them out, I assume they still do?

I can only tell you what I would do. I would want the surgery but I would not want to spend that kind of money unnecessarily when my husband just lost his job. Personally, I would have the surgery but I would go to Mexico and save $11K. $18K is just ridiculous for a band. Or, got to Kirshenbaum in Denver and save $8K. Can you really afford to throw money away right now? I can see (easily) justifying the medical expense, I cannot see $18K for a band. Sleeves cost less than that, bypass can cost less than that.

LOL! That thread made me laugh! They do get pissy, don't they? See why I keep asking if it is the procedure type that causes their "personality challenges" or if a certain personality is drawn to DS. Strange group.

Reading their threads and ours, just makes me wanna run out and get DS quick like!

I don't know, I still can't get over the lady with stinky poops now, probiotics aren't working, but she's going to have DS anyway and "see what happens." Who needs to wait for DS to see what happens? If she has that problem now with RNY she's going to have mega problems with DS. Gross. Some people.... You know, I just refuse to respond to someone that starts a thread with "potty problems." We are adults in this world! Is it sinful to speak and behave like an adult on an adult message board vs. writing like a 5 year old??? Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

Me too. I had low blood pressure before surgery, after I lost about 60-70 pounds my BP went up and I was on meds for a bit. It's back to normal now and I don't take any meds.

You should do another poll for the most Gawd awful protein products and put Designer Whey and Isopuke in there. Gahhhhhh....

Two of mine were not on the list. Syntrax (same as nectar company) Matrix 5.0 chocolate whey Gourmet Choco/PB Yummmmm

You mean Alberto Aceves? I really like him. He did my band and then later I asked him to switch me to a sleeve. He's great!

With restriction you can get that kind of discomfort with food. But all the time, even when you haven't eaten (or are not hungry, amazingly hunger can cause that kind of pain in a handful of banded folks) then there might be something else going on.

I'd venture a strong guess that most people have a lot more restriction in the mornings. That's not a bad thing, if you have a great deal of restriction your stomach hunger is a lot less so just wait until you are a little more open and if that is at lunch time, kewl beans! ;o) Don't force food down. If you are hungry try a Protein Shake in the AMs. If you get an unfill so you can eat in the AMs you'll likely be wide open by lunch and more so for dinner. There are some doctors that fill you at 5PM so you are restricted in such a way that you can't eat solids until dinner time. It's all unique and individual.

A sleeve is more like a permanent version of the band, kinda. They make your stomach smaller, remove a hormone called Ghrelin so you don't experience hunger for at least two years, there is NO aftercare and no maintenance, weight loss is a bit faster and a bit better, and the long term risks and complications are fewer with the sleeve than the band or bypass.

You mean a VSG? Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. It's where I now have a stomach the size of a man's middle finger. Eventually it will be the size and shape of a small banana. It's often times called the banana procedure. I love it, wish I would have done it to begin with.