WASaBubbleButt

You're lucky you live where you live because I think Vegas would be the perfect place to have it. Lots to do, lots of hotels, usually good airfare, etc. We'll just have to skip those buffets.

Heh... for every 6 people we could order one entree and share. ;o)

My best friend, who is thin now but had weight issues in the past, is going to be the one taking me for surgery. She watched the procedure on youtube and called me to say, "God should have just made our stomachs that way in the first place!' Good idea! :biggrin0:

I think it is Dr. Cirangle that refers to it as "resizing" your stomach. ;o) Sounds just about right to me.

I wish I would have been born with a smaller stomach, makes sense. Smaller stomach, bigger boobs... that would have been perfect. HA!

I'm glad someone who has battled weight issues previously is going with you. She will "get it" unlike those who are skinny their whole lives.

i am a 23 female, 232 lbs, 37.6 bmi, hypothyroidism, lower lumbar degeneration.....

well i have been researching this procedure for a few weeks & made an appointment with my primary physician to discuss having it done. right off she said that i was "too young" to have it done. she has had patients have it done and they lost NO weight. so instead she place me on an anti-depressant not for being depressed but because she said that it would help me lose the weight. for my insurance to cover i have to be referred by my primary, most surgeons want the support from your primary so what do i do?! i know that they can say they don't agree but can they actually refused to refer me.... if i meet the guide lines. she's predicting my failure from someone else?? I'm also too young for back surgery but if i don't get this weight off that is a very definite possibility in the my near future. with my thyroid no matter what my diet is i still continue to gain weight!! :confused::ohmy:

That is ridiculous! That's one of the dumbest things I've heard someone repeat that their doctor said in a long time. They are doing WLS on teens today.

Well, in Australia, really they cant refuse to refer you, I dont know what its like wherever you are.

I would do one of two things a) do your block completely and insist that she refer you because its YOUR body and YOUR decision and you're perfectly capable at 23 years old of making those sorts of decisions, just as you are capable of deciding to get married, buy a house etc. or doctor shop until you find one that WILL refer you.

Yes, what Jacqui wrote!

Don't wait until you have joint damage, more back problems, heart disease, and diabetes before you do this. Get your life back, get surgery.

PS I mean PORT FLIPPING!!

So Im 3 weeks post op and within the last day or so, I can REALLY feel my port. I was always able to feel it before, but now the "lump" feels bigger. Do you think this could be a flipped port or something else? I am sooooo worried about any isues occurign cause Im a cash patient and cant afford another surgery to fix anything. Can you share any of your port flipping stories and how you knew it was flipped? Did u have symptoms? Can you guys feel your port really bad?? Ive been excersizing pretty intensly at 2 weeks, but was told that was ok.

It is very common to have some scar tissue around your port after surgery. Sometimes it is a seroma, no big deal if that is what it is.

Most people feel something that is a bit smaller than half a golf ball and they swear it is their port. It isn't, it's something that will go away in a few weeks/couple of months. Then after it goes away they panic because they are just sure their port is floating around their body. ;o)

hi, its been a while since i have been on here to post, i read all the time and i was wondering, how did most of you decide on which way to go, either the band or bypass itself? i am scheduled for bypass surgery on august 10, and i guess i am getting nervous and i have been thinking of switching to the band. has anyone gotten the band and wished they had the bypass? or gotten the bypass and wish they gotten the band? and if you got the band what kind of weight loss can you expect to lose in the first year and so on, thanks

Did you also research sleeves and DS?

I lost 108# in the first 10 months but that is unusual. I busted my butt to lose it but I did.

You can read a lot of threads on here about that subject. It is totally up to you and your surgeon. My surgeon doesn't do the bypass any longer and I really wanted to use her. I had been to many seminars and researched a lot of surgeons before I chose her. I also chose the band because it is reversible. I said this on another thread and I stated that bypass is not reversible but I was corrected by someone who was aware that there are people who have had bypass reversed but I would hate to think I had to do that. In my opinion (my opinion only), that is a very invasive procedure when compared to the band. I liked the fact that I can have the band removed if necessary. Obviously, that is not what I had it put in, but the knowledge is there if an emergency arises. Also, in my research, I discovered that if you have bypass and down the road you need testing done for any reason, it is very, very difficult to find anything in that part of your stomach that has been cut away. I am very happy with the band and wouldn't change it for anything.

What is so great about it being reversible? The only reason you would want to reverse a band is because the band itself malfunctions in some way. Newbies do tend to want reversible, those at goal want forever. ;o)

My Banding surgery date is Aug 11, 2009. I have been unsure whether to go through with the band. One day I'm OK with it, the next I'm not... The other day I googled "lap band failures", big mistake. I read all these horror stories, vomiting, acid reflux etc... I have a real phobia about vomiting...haven't vomited in 25 yrs or more...long story that i won't go into. Now i don't know what to do! Sometimes too much info is not good.

You need to fully understand that 1 in 4 banded folks fail. To avoid reading the negatives of any surgery type is a huge mistake. There are different complications with any surgery type and you need to seriously look at which set of complications you can live with.

If you are not 100% sure of any surgery type, wait. If you don't get the right surgery type for you then you will eventually need a revision and that carries far more risk than an original surgery.

Regardless of surgery type you WILL vomit. There is a learning curve to eating after surgery and you don't know what you tolerate and what you don't. You don't know how much you can eat until you try it. Your stomach will be much smaller than you realize regardless of surgery type and the only way to know what you tolerate is when you realize you just barfed. ;o) But, vomiting after any WLS is much much different from vomiting before surgery. It's not nearly as disgusting. Don't get me wrong, it's not a pleasure to puke but it's not as gross as before surgery.

Read the good and the bad about all WLS types. Don't pay a lot of attention to newbies, they are all excited but they are new, they haven't lived with their surgery type yet. Talk to those AT LEAST 1 year out, better two years post op. They have lived with the surgery type and they aren't on a WLS high. Everyone loves their surgeon and their surgery type the first six months. After six months they realize they are doing the work and not the surgeon but they still love their surgery type because the scale is moving. After a year they are much more realistic about their surgery.

Know every surgery type inside and out and know why you are choosing one surgery over another. If you do not fully understand each surgery type you do not really know why you are not choosing that one.

Lap Bands, Sleeves.. those are restrictive only. Gastric bypass and DS... restrictive and malabsorptive. Research every single one of them and know why you are choosing one over another.

After 3 years of my doctor encouraging me to talk to a gastric surgeon, I have finally been looking into weight loss surgery procedures and have almost decided that the lap band is the way for me to go. I find the various gastric bypass surgeries way too invasive. So now, I am information gathering.

My cousin had what he called a "Realize" lap band procedure done a week ago and he's already raving about how glad he is that he had it done.

I just thought I'd check it out and I'm almost convinced. I really would like to feel better which would be more important to me than even looking better.

Can anyone tell me what it's like in 2 or 3 years when all the weight is off? I can't find that information anywhere.

Thanks!

One really hard thing about WLS is that it's like looking at a pair of shoes and trying to decide if they will fit. You don't really know for sure until you try them on. Sadly, you can't do that with WLS. The best you can do is know all the procedures inside and out and fully understand why you want one procedure and specifically why you do not want another.

You need to fully understand *how* each procedure works and specifically what your role is. In all WLS types you have to do your part, you have to change your eating behaviors, watch food choices, be aware of the "fat mentality" as well as exercise. Exercise is the most important part of weight loss.

You need to look at risk and not just with the surgery but long term. Surgery isn't the only risk of WLS, complications long term are probably a bigger issue in the whole scheme of things. People look at the band and believe it is the safest overall. It is not, there are many complications with bands and many are revising to sleeves, bypass, and DS.

When I originally had my band (I have a sleeve now) I thought banding was the safest. No malabsorption, no extreme surgery, nothing like that. I was dead wrong, while I knew the band provided the lowest and slowest weight loss of all surgical procedures I knew I would work hard. What I was not prepared for was the complications. I have esophageal damage from the band and always will. I found the band far more difficult than I banked on. I'm not talking about food choices and exercise, I was a pro at that. I'm referring to the vomiting, restriction issues, foaming, sliming, esophageal spasms, embarrassing moments in public, having to keep containers of some sort with me to puke when I wasn't planning on it. ;o)

The big issue with a band is that everything affects restriction, everything! Time of day, time of month, food temp, weather, altitude, stress, emotions, hydration level, everything. I could either eat an entire steak with all the trimmings in one sitting or I couldn't swallow my own saliva. I'd be drinking Water and it would go down just fine and BAM! My stoma would obstruct and for no reason.

After 4 months on liquids I finally revised to a sleeve.

Banding is not easy and I'm not referring to the weight loss. Pain with eating, getting stuck, maintenance on the band for life, everything. All WLS types are hard, banding is the hardest to live with on a daily basis.

Please know ALL the surgery types, only go to a WLS that does ALL surgery types. These doctors are in business to make a living like the rest of us. Don't go to a band mill... someone who does gazillions of bands and only bands. Don't go to a bypass mill. Go to someone who does all procedure types so their information will be more balanced. If you go to someone who only does bands and bypass they aren't even going to mention sleeves since they do not do them. They are in business to earn a buck, nothing wrong with that. But they aren't going to encourage you to look at a procedure they do not do. If you do not completely and totally understand all surgery types you really do not know why you aren't choosing that particular surgery. Too many people get a band and then start learning about other surgery types. That isn't the best way to approach surgery. ;o)

Life after weight loss is fantastic! You get your life back.

I am three days post-op and I am regretting that I ever had this done. I have had two crying spells in the last few days, which is so out of character for me. I absolutely hate the Protein powder mix, it tastes awful! My family is eating out tonight at the Outback and I'm at home sipping on Water and dreading the next two ounces of Protein brew. Help!:confused:

What you are feeling is completely normal. We ALL have a bit of regret after surgery. It will pass. Better yet there will come a time when you won't care if your family is eating at Outbacks or not. food won't be as important to you and that is the ultimate goal. When you view food differently the weight melts away.

When your family is eating good things just remember, you can have it too, just not today. You'll be able to eat most of the things you did a month ago just in smaller quantities.

Keep telling yourself, I can have that food - just not today.

I've been sleeved! Ended up in I.C.U. though....

I've been sleeved! Ended up in I.C.U. though....

That doesn't really seem like it was something that anyone had any control over. Some people have a weird anatomy and they are hard to intubate.

I so agree. Me for one. I have arguments with myself all the time about whether I should go vegie or not. I could not eat anything I had to kill myself and there is no way I could be a farmer unless of course it was a wine farm!

The reason I haven't turned vegie is that my DH and DS would mutiny if I didn't cook them meat and if I'm preparing and cooking it anyway then I may as well eat it.

It is not the health thing that worries me about eating meat as I believe that we were designed to eat it, it's the cruelty thing. there are so many things they do to poor animals that we are not even aware of.

It was only recently that I discovered how cruel the dairy industry is - all those poor Bobby calves - prior to that I thought milk was a cruelty free option.

And a big ditto.

How is it going down there now? I know you're there; what did the doctor discover about your issues?? I'm waiting to find out.:001_tt2:

Ditto to that!

The thing about poverty and eating poorly is so NOT true. Its lack of education and lack of energy to bother that is the problem, not lack of money or access to food.

You are my new favorite poster!

You can go to Prahran market or South Melbourne Market or Queen victorian Market here in Melbourne - any of the big markets and I"m sure every major city in the world has them and if you go at close to closing time you can buy an enormous bag - like 20lb worth of mixed vegetables for $20. Beans and pulses are cheap as dirt. Our local supermarket which I rarely shop at becuase I am a fresh market shopper in general does market saturday every week at 5pm where the meat and poultry is absolutely rock bottom prices.

In English, what is a pulse? ;o))))

The trouble is people dont know how to cook! Buying food this way is FAR cheaper than buying rubbish but people just have no idea what to do with it.

If you EVER come to the US I swear, I will cook for you. I do not cook for anyone but me but I will cook for you and your family and you will love it!

Poverty is no impediment to eating well if people were educated about it - probably the responsibility of each individual themselves but also as a policy thing.

Thank you~

The book sounds really interesting. I find stuff like that fascinating. You can tell it wasn't a UK book though - they had such severe rationing they hardly had any meat. That recipie sounds as though it would have taken a whole villages ration coupons for a month! Although i suppose things like rat and squirrel would have been available.......... The other meats like beef , pork etc i think were used to feed the troops.

BTW....

You might want to do a search for Antiquarian cook books and antique cook books on ebay. Then find the title you want and check out:

AddALL book search and price comparison

And see if they have the same title cheaper. You can find true treasures there. If I still had the old cookbook I'd be happy to send it to you but I'm pretty sure I gave it to my friend who loves cookbooks.

Slimmap...I would imagine that NO banders should eat "a whole lot of" ANYTHING!!! Never mind a whole lot of RICE with "all that butter in it!! What were you thinking?? That is a DOUBLE NO-NO!!

I would touch base with your dietician again for a "nutritional tune-up"!! Most docs I know of - as well as the Nurse Practioner and Dietician who moderate the Bariatric Support group I attend, ALL say that all gastric weightloss patients MUST consume their Protein FIRST at each meal, folowed by veggies or fruit, or limited good carbs if there is room. We were told we MUST get at between 60 - 80 grams of Protein in per day to avoid nutritional deficiencies and hair loss. If you eat your carbs, veggies or fruits before your protein, you run the risk of not getting enough protein in each day.

I realize that each practice has their own rules...but most all that I have researched require us to eat protein first....I have also found that some patients "hear what they want at the doctor's office"....me included in the past - so I make sure I write everything down so my "selective memory" doesn't sabotage me!

I recommend that you make an appointment with your bariatric surgery office and ask to meet with the dietician/nutritionist to touch base about your issues.

Don't wait until you've done damage to yourself!

Good Luck!

Ahhhh, we all do it every now and again. It's part of the "process" we go through.

The book sounds really interesting. I find stuff like that fascinating. You can tell it wasn't a UK book though - they had such severe rationing they hardly had any meat. That recipie sounds as though it would have taken a whole villages ration coupons for a month! Although i suppose things like rat and squirrel would have been available.......... The other meats like beef , pork etc i think were used to feed the troops.

Nonono... it wasn't rationing, it was what they grew and caught for themselves. Blech.....

I have a hunch if we had to catch and "clean" our own food today we would have a LOT more vegetarians today. ;o)

AAAAIIIIEEEE

that's Restless Monkey running screaming from WASa.

But, my check's in the mail, right? :confused:

Oh yeah, I'd be checking that mailbox on a daily basis.

~~munch munch~~

LOL Not with the band (or the sleeve) we don't! :tongue_smilie:

Speak for yourself. ;o)

I would actually like to get a WW2 cookbook. I think it is amazing what people survived on with rationing and how inventive they were. i think they used mashed parsnip with some kind of flavouring as a banana substitute etc.

We may have strayed far from the original topic but this is actually a really interesting thread! LOL,

I have one!! Or I did, I'm not into cookbooks so I gave it to a friend who is.

One was ... I forget what it is called. It was a Southern US delight.. I think it started with an "S" and ended in "Goo". Absolutely disgusting!

You get a big HUGE MEGA pot, something that holds 50 gallons, put it over a fire. Add every vegetable under the sun, ham, chickens, squirrels, various rodents, spices, and let it simmer for a day. Gahhhhhh!

This cookbook is sooooo not PC, OMG it is so not PC but it was funny to read.

ETA... I think I just thought of the name.. bergoo? (sp?)

I am so hungry....i am craving chinese food and kfc badly...I thought my cravings would go away. Now i feel like i am starving to death. the Protein shakes are disgusting and i can only keep down popsicles at this moment. Do you think it would hurt if I tried to eat something chewable?

No surgery type fixes head hunger. Hang in there, you have no choice. You have to do this. Call your doc and ask for more suggestions.

If you get a leak you won't be eating or drinking anything for months. You'll have a feeding tube stuck in your gut for nutrition or an IV. Stick it out, you can do this.

IOW, yes, I do think it would hurt a great deal to eat food at this point.

I could recite what everyone *I* knew ate as kids on welfare, and say instead that you are absolutely wrong. The fact remains that the cheapest foods are by and large also the least nutritious.

But the discussion was not what *do* people eat, it was can one eat inexpensively and healthy. That was the topic. I am the one that brought up the cheap white carbs. My point is that you can eat very healthy maybe even cheaper than white carb-canned-no nutrition Pasta and sauce. I flat out gave you alternative examples of cheap healthy foods.

The cheapest I can find chicken at the store is currently about 90c/lb.

Just today I saw chicken thighs/legs for $0.29 a pound. A big chunk of dead bird/cow/pig does not have to be the main portion of the entree. It's not even very healthy to do that anyway.

My mother was known for her apple pie as well. But she only made it maybe once or twice a year.

Mom isn't Mrs. Ingalls. ;o)

I any case, I wouldn't expect a magazine to provide examples of typical cuisine.

In this case I beg to differ, this is Ladies Home Journal. That is what it was in print for, for ladies to exchange ideas.

Anyway, you should post some of the recipes. I have friends who I'm sure would love to play with them. Anything for stewed bison.. maybe with some rosemary? I'd settle for lamb if LHJ contributors were too east coast for it. This reminds me: I still have some wild boar in my freezer I need to eat (Thanksgiving).

OMG I love these mags! They are priceless. A version of "Dear Abby" is in there, beautiful dress patterns, just beautiful. Not that I would want to wear that stuff today (itchy, tight, hot, uncomfortable) but absoluletely beautiful dresses. Ads for tape worms (their diet technique of the time), ads in general. recipes for everything made from scratch... I adore these mags.

But back to something resembling the original thread -- has anybody found any calcium citrate pills that *can* be swallowed whole without PBing? I can take my ursodiol no problem, but the only chewable Calcium I've been able to find as been calcium carbonate, which I'm warned against by virtue of the decreased uptake it provides.

Yes, just ordered some today. It's a capsule so the capsule will dissolve in your pouch and the Ca Citrate will drain to your stomach. Take three daily:

NSI Nutraceutical Sciences Institute - Vitamins, supplements, Herbs and Nutritional Formulas

Or they have nasty chewables.< /p>

I think that to overcharge someone for something does NOT make that person appreciate it. BUT if you really REALLY think it does, you and Veronda could start sending me $100 a month for your LBT membership! :frown: LOL

I'll email my address....checks or cash please!

And WASa it's good we disagree occasionally, otherwise it would just be too clone-ish sci-fi odd. :tongue_smilie:

Ever hear the phrase... Nurses eat their young? ;o))))

No, I'm not more willing to "get rid of freebies" and I feel that you are unintentionally implying that those of us with insurance won't really value things as much. You are a pharmacist; do you REALLY think people who pay full price for a drug value it more than those who have insurance? And realize that most of us work our TUSHIES off in jobs for which one of the "benefits" IS insurance. So I disagree with you. Not many people would cheerfully pay for something that should be "free", either. Do you ever say "Gee I really want that. It's free over there but I want to pay for it anyway so I'll appreciate it more"? I doubt it.

This isn't a personal attack and usually, as I say, if I disagree I just let things go, but I feel Greta almost had that money stolen from her in an end run around her "legal" insurance payment. I don't think that will make her appreciative, just bitter. I don't know her, of course. Nor do you. But I think your logic, while well intentioned, is flawed.

I almost always agree with you but this time I do not. I agree with Veronda.

I know soooo many people that are obese and well to do and if insurance won't pay for WLS they won't self pay. It's not as though they have no choice, they can well afford it.

Do you honestly think a person with that mindset is going to do as well as someone who wants it soooo badly they they sell off wedding rings and such to get WLS?

I've seen every type of person there is posting on these boards over the last three years and I've seen people write things such as... I really don't think the band is going to work for me, I probably need a bypass but if it doesn't then insurance will pay for revision surgery to bypass. Do you think a self pay person is as likely to say that?

And btw, we self pays work *really* hard busting our butts for our benefits, too. ;o)

I highly recommend the book Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Yes, he, like anyone else who writes on this, clearly has his own bias. But the book seeks really to question the bias of many of those who set policy and write the food pyramid etc. He questions many of the theories that have been adopted as Truth but are not.

I consider it one of the most important books I have ever read.

Based on your opinions I just ordered the book.

If anyone is interested, they are pretty inexpensive and you can get it new (hardcover) for under $10 here:

AddALL Rare Used and Out of Print Book Search

I LOVE this site for used and new books. You can usually find just about any book you are looking for, in or... out of print.

If you're in poverty, the only foods you can generally get are primarily variations on starch mixed with more fats than needed for flavor, nutrition, and satiety: rice, potatoes, white bread, Pasta, ramen, with oil, butter, cheese-colored-substance, salt.

That is not true, it is absolutely wrong.

MidwesternGirl's Profile

I highly suspect most folks you're referring to (farmers, etc) didn't have much in the way of desserts, except on rare occasions when they could afford them (I certainly don't remember Laura Ingalls mentioning frequent desserts). Bacon, eggs, meat, potatoes absolutely -- this is what they could grow themselves. Sugar? Not so much. Maple Syrup? More often, but you had a limited harvest time if I recall (eg, winter). What sweeteners they could grow would be most likely: berries, fruits, beets, all of which have much more to offer than straight fructose. Sugar and hard candies were available, but how often could a family afford it in the volumes we'd consider "normal"? We have more purchasing power for stuff we shouldn't eat than existed in the past. We've become very efficient at making cheap swill.

I disagree, Mrs. Ingalls was known for her apple pie and chocolate cake. ;o)

I collect antiquarian books and mags. I have a couple of years worth of Ladies Home Journals from the late 1800s and they list menus and recipes and every single main meal has a recipe for a dessert. It talks about having a variety for main dishes as well as desserts and I have to tell you, the recipes do sound kinda gross.

Eating healthily means spending more per bite. The fact that we can afford to take fewer bites is a seperate issue. I think you allude to this when talking about your local dollar store.

See above link.

Did you tell her she had to change, to save her daughter? I would have, in no uncertain terms.

What do you think? ;o)))))

Hello Friends,

I'm sorry that I haven't checked in with you for a few days. I have been on an emotional rollercoaster. I have had to cancel my sleeve surgery on the 15th. :svengo:

My mother is to have by-pass surgery on the 16th. She has numerous health issues and I need to be with her. I'm worried about her.

On the other hand I feel guilty because I'm disappointed for having to cancel my surgery. I feel so selfish. I know that I can get it done at a later date. I will have to wait until end of Oct. or Christmas break before I can get time off work.

Please tell me to just shut-up and get over it. LOL

I only have one Moma and I need to take care of her first. Please remember her in your prayers.

Thanks for listening to me whine.:001_smile: Judy

Oh Judy, I am so sorry! That must be so hard, you had your date and everything!

Nobody is going to tell you to shut up, we are the ones that understand how you must feel!

Hang in there, we are all there for you!

Wow, That is such a great success story! I cant wait until I can have my sleeve.

Life is sooooo much easier as a thinner person. I want the whole world to get WLS, even skinny people just so they never get fat! ;o)

Congrats on your date! You won't be sorry you did this for yourself!