Carlene

GL....never say "never". There are circumstances that I'm betting could change your mind. End-stage Cancer, for one. Some types are not so bad, but then again, some are unbelievably painful.

Bush did not push Medicare Part D thru for the benefit of senior citizens. He did it for big business. Seems too many Baby Boomers were retiring and taking their health insurance plans with them, as they were promised they could. Once Part D became law, those big corporations were allowed to duck out of prescription coverage for all their retirees. Instead, middle America now bears the cost. And the insurance premiums of big business went way down. But not the premiums the retirees pay. They stayed the same. Only now they have a "donut hole", during which there is NO coverage. And most are paying about double now. In addition, Bush will not permit Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for discounts, although the VA does. He has threatened to veto any bill that would allow said negotiations. Is that for the good of the seniors? No....it's to protect the profits of the drug companies. Clinton was in bed with Monica, but Bush is in bed with big business. I prefer the former.

You know what's scary? The HUNGRY MONSTER. I had forgotten what it felt like. Being unfilled sucks!

I had at least 3cc in a 4cc band. Some people can handle a big fill like that, but evidently I'm not one of them. Today is my first full day on liquids/mushies. Only 18 more to go!

The primary cause of slippage is trying to live with a band that is too tight. Symptoms seem to be either/or.....either you suddenly have no restriction, or you can't swallow spit.

If you have no fill and still can't eat solid food, I'd say there is something definitely wrong. Sounds suspiciously like a slip to me, but I'm no doctor. You really need to have this checked out. If your band doctor has fluoro available in his office, that's the cheapest route. Give him a call and tell him your situation.

That was my understanding, too - that you need a scope to rule out erosion. My doctor can diagnose a slip in his office via a barium swallow test under fluoro. I had one yesterday. The barium was YUK, but the results were "no slip". I do, however, have a dilated esophagus. Bummer....but much better than a slip or erosion.

I wish LB doctors would do a better job counseling people pre-op about this issue. You will learn to eat around the band (soft foods, chocolate, chips, etc). The hard part is not letting yourself. You cannot get your band tight enough to keep ice cream from going down. (If you do, it's too tight.) If you are a sugar addict, the band journey will not be an easy one for you. It can be done, but it won't be a walk in the park. You will have to invest some self-control.

Oh, no....absolutely not! I just really hate sticking my nose in other people's very personal issues. I loathe abortion, but I think most everyone does, too. Even women who feel it is their best option, I still think it's a gut-wrenching choice most of the time.

I will have to learn to work with less fill in my band. Some people can co-exist with a tight fill, and even some degree of Reflux, but I cannot. Probably 2 or 2.5cc in my 4cc band will be my max.

GL....I have to agree with you. Although I usually try and stay out of other people's innards, this truly is a barbaric practice. This procedure is performed on late-term pregnancies that would otherwise be viable. They deliver the baby's head, then jab a pair of scissors into its brain. I don't know how those doctors live with themselves.

No, the reflux is a symptom of the dilated esophagus. There are several ways you can cause esophageal dilation. One way is to simply "pouch pack": over-eat until the food fills your pouch and then backs up into your esophagus. A too-tight band, over a period of months, will cause esophageal dilation. The food simply cannot go down fast enough and, therefore, it backs up into the esophagus and stretches it out. In my case, the band was always tight, but sometimes totally closed, due to stress. Same effect as a too-tight band, but an intermittent thing instead of constant. I have the 4cc band and it had 3cc in it. For some people, that might be just right. I thought it was for me, too, but if it causes reflux and/or esophageal dilation, it's obviously too tight. Just because you can get a decent amount of food down most of the time does not mean you aren't over-filled. Over-filled is not a measure of saline. It just means your gut isn't working right and you need to have it fixed. I am hoping I remember that the next time around.

I don't know....depends on A. how many members there are, and B. what it costs to run the site. B divided by A should give you the answer.

Me, too!!!!!!!! Send me a bill....lose the ads!!!!!!

Down, boy....down. You're gonna have a heart attack at this rate.

Me, too. I e mailed support and they responded that they are updating the site. Anyone else hate the new ads on the right hand side?

Literature is full of stories of unrequinted love. So sad....to love someone who does not love you in return. People sometimes get taken advantage of in these situations, like poor Christina Onasis. She loved Thierry Roussel and was so keen to be his bride, she paid him $30 million dollars to say "I do". I would say, though, that it's not a love affair unless you're both onboard the Love Boat.

Leatha... The last thing I would deliberately do is ridicule you for taking part in one of these discussions. Although it's hard sometimes for people like me (who are passionate and frank and just plain argumentative by nature) to pull in our claws when we feel challenged. I like the give-and-take that goes on in R&R. I enjoy the verbal and mental sparring. But I don't call LBT members names. I call George Bush names. I do....I admit it. But he's a public figure and that just goes with the territory. And I think he can handle it, don't you? He's probably been called a lot worse. As for building myself up at someone else's expense, I don't have self-esteem issues. Lots of other issues, yes. But not self-esteem. And you have no idea how many times I have had to bite my tongue (or would that be fingers) in order NOT to humiliate another poster, just because I could. If you really do watch my posts, you know that I've never gotten really nasty unless I was seriously provoked. And even then, I think I have shown admirable restraint sometimes. But back to the young woman who inspired this whole discussion. True, she isn't here to "defend herself", but I'm not sure there is a defense for her position. Although I wouldn't have said anything about her being stupid if she had been here, I still say that if you are so closed-minded that you won't accept a world map as evidence, then you might have a lot in common with a doorknob.

So it's disrespectful to say "you just can't fix stupid" in response to a story posted about an anonymous sister-in-law? Is that what you're saying? And the story had nothing to do with being Liberal or Conservative. Yes, the SIL happens to be a supporter of George Bush, but that was totally irrelevant to the story. I didn't say she was stupid for being pro-Bush. I said she was stupid for arguing with geography.

Twelve years of Reaganomics? He was in office 8 years; where did the other 4 come from? Nevertheless, one should remember that much of the deregulation of industry that made Reaganomics look good was actually initiated under Carter. So who's riding whose coattails? In addition, unemployment was HUGE in 1982 and 83 - almost 10% of the labor force. Kind of shoots down your theory regarding the benefits of tax breaks for big business, huh? Clinton's second term set a record for the nation's longest peacetime economic expansion. That would be long after any remnants of Reaganomics. After enormous deficits in the 1980s and early 90s - including a $290 billion deficit in 1992 - by 1998 we saw the first balanced budget since 1969. The stock market tripled in value and the country enjoyed the lowest unemployment rate in almost 30 years. And I'm sure you remember what Bush Sr called Reaganomics....."voodoo economics". One of the few things the Bushes and I agree on.

Leatha.....I was the one who said you "just can't fix stupid" and it was NOT directed at you. Someone posted a story about a SIL who seriously believed we are at war with a country called "Iraqistan". Now, it's one thing to me mistaken, but when you dig in your heels and refuse to even look a the evidence (a map, in this case), what would you call that, if not "stupid"?

Hey, I tried. But you have to remember, the B&$%#@* was governor of Texas before he set his sights on the White House. So my opinion of GWB goes back a LONG way, and with with good reason. This statement is absolutely not true. Just because we don't respect the shrub does not mean we don't respect you, and your right to support him. You shouldn't take our Bush bashing personally. It is not directed at you. No, I don't think so. The majority of the posters here are not Bush supporters, just like the majority of Americans these days. His popularity is WAY down. In the cellar down. And he earned every bit of it.

This is not good. Try some OTC stuff like Prilosec and see if that puts a stop to it. Otherwise, you really need to see your band doctor. Nighttime reflux can cause aspiration pneumonia, a very serious infection.

April sucks, doesn't it, TOM? April 16th - Anniversary of my first marriage. He was killed in an industrial accident at the age of 27. April 14th - My grandson's BD....the one who died of SIDS 3 months later.

Great post, Morsaille. I fear that you are preaching to the choir, however. Like your clueless cousin, Bush supporters will simply turn a blind eye to any evidence that does not glorify and support their man's snake oil show. It breaks my heart to see how this man has taken advantage of the trust so many have placed in him. He does not care a fig about the average American. He does not care about children, or the poor, or the elderly. His agenda is to enrich the wealthy, and if the only way to do that is at the expense of the lower and middle classes, then that's fine with GWB. He simply does not care.