MacMadame

Does anyone know what happens to the vagus nerve when you get a sleeve?

I just voted for you too. Now I have two computers at work so I will try to vote from the other one too (it's busy right now updating itself with something or other).

I biked 5.75 miles today! (and I'm still sweating. Heh.)

I'm at work now. I haven't been here but a few hours and my machine is completely messed up. Stupid computers.

Interestingly enough, my surgeon does use the car analogy. He says Realize and LapBand® is like Ford vs. Chevy. That sounds about right to me based on my own research. The mechanism of both bands are the same. They give you a pouch or pre-stomach and a stoma. This allows your vagus nerve to stimulate your brain to tell you that you are full with a small amount of food. As long as you get proper restriction, this will happen. The idea that slight varations in design would have a dramatic impact on Excess Weight Loss is not sensible and is not born out by the scientific literature. These design changes may have a slight impact on complication rates but even that doesn't appear to be the case when you look at big studies and meta studies rather than hand picking one study for each band that supports your case. This is not true if you look at all the studies. A quick search of Medline shows that the Swedish band performed similarly to the LapBand in the FDA trials. In addition a meta-analysis of all studies of Swedish vs. LapBand came to the following conclusion: Note that in these studies, the mean EWL for the Swedish band was 56%, not 42%. Lapband was 50% (not 63%) but I don't think that's significant enough to scream from the roof-tops that Realize is better. :biggrin: There were more LapBand studies and the more studies you have, the more you see the impact of regression towards the mean. Btw, to make it clear where I am coming from: I do not have either band. (I am getting a gastric sleeve next week. Whee!) I started out thinking I wanted a band and did my research into both bands and concluded that they were 6 of one and half dozen of another. There are things I like about the Realize band and things I like about the LapBand (and things I don't like about either), but in the end there were things I liked even more about no band at all. :thumbup:

A shrink is not an expert on what the insurance companies will or will not approve. I'd just ignore him. :biggrin:

It was for kids who have a Nintendo DS of their own and a Wii for the family. They were talking about some new game. Mini-Mac has already spent part of her $75... on Nintendo DS stuff. So Nintendo made out on that one. I'm not at work and I should be. Hee.

My nine year old has now participated in a focus group and gotten $75 for it. What is the world coming to?

They are going to have to get in line.

I read about someone who never got a fill and lost 100 pounds. Don't forget that early out your stomach is probably swollen too. So you might need one later on even if you don't now.

I call Dr. Huacuz, The Butcher of Tiajuana. I wouldn't let him operate on my dog. If I had a dog. There are plenty of good doctors in Mexico, why go to one with a poor reputations when there is another down the street who has a great reputation?

Generally if they don't say, that's good. What you normally see in the booklet is the exclusion for weight loss surgery. The booklet can't possibly cover everything they cover so the main thing is to look at the exclusions and make sure it's not there. Plus, getting the same answer 6x in a row from an insurance company is a miracle. So I'd go with it. :thumbup:

I'll file a counter-suit: bacon, why are you so greasy and salty. It's disgusting. :thumbup:

Well, based on the answer, I was being overly sensitive. But you see, I was thinking that there was some logical reason to throw Ralph in there. I.E., that the idea that Ralph would see the picture would somehow upset BBK. But apparently not...

I can't figure out how to vote on MySpace. ??

Green hasn't got cancer any more? I missed that. Yeah, green! Sorry to Susan and Kat.

Hey, I was going to ask about Ralph too, but was trying to be delicate.

Congrats, Pamela! I hope to be you in a year. :tt1:

Your two statements contradict themselves. But first to correct some misinformation (again) -- the Realize band has been available in the US since Oct. 07 and some surgeons have been using them that long. Some were involved in the clinical trials and were using them even longer than that. But, since it's the same band that's been in use in the rest of the world since 1996 -- as you say yourself -- then there is other information available as to its performance, not just a surgeon's own experience. Also, the LapBand AP hasn't been out long enough to have significant long-term clinical data published in a peer reviewed journal as to how effective the changes that were made are. In the end, most surgeons that use both seem to think they perform the same and that individual differences in weight loss are due to other factors such as patient compliance.

So I guess that means when Lap Band updated their technology 3x it was because their band was no good... :tt1: Technology advances and changes are made. Many of the changes made to the LapBand AP system were made precisely because the Realize band was introduced into the marketplace and had improvements that the LapBand lacked. Now Realize is going to improve their band in an attempt to be the clearly superior band. If they succeed, LapBand will update their bands again. The consumer wins because neither company can rest on its laurels or the other company will put it out of business.

Is your mom always this much of a drama queen? Honestly, I couldn't get through her entire email because it was all so Dramatic! given how innocent the pictures are. After all, as she says, they "leave a lot to the imagination" (I assume she meant *doesn't* leave a lot to the imagination, but what she wrote was actually more accurate -- a Freudian slip, perhaps?) Now objectively speaking, she has a point about the work thing and about strangers seeing your pictures. You need to think about that and decide if you are okay with it. Having your MySpace set so only your friends see it is a good idea too even if you have almost nothing there. BUT The rest of it is so over the top that it makes the reasonable parts seem unreasonable. Your girls are going to see your tasteful pictures that don't show a lot of skin -- no cleavage, no belly button, not much thigh -- and aren't in a suggestive position and "take it further" ? Someone at school is going to make fun of them because their mom won a beauty contest? These things only make sense if you think the pictures are suggestive or skanky IMO. Plus your girls are kind of young for someone at school to be finding your pictures, aren't they? Now, I don't think she's calling you a whore, but she is being over the top and dramatick. She could have written maybe two paragraphs -- I saw your pictures, you are beautiful but people are strange, have you thought it all through -- and be done with it. By writing this LONG screed she is trying to make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. Sounds like it's time to set some boundaries. And I thought my mom was bad for getting drunk at my birthday dinner and telling embarrassing stories about me.

I'll ask some people at work and get back to you. (I work with a lot of people from India and they often get medical and dental problems taken care of when they go back for their yearly vacation.) Do you have the name of a doctor to check out as well?

I think you are missing my point. The poster I was responding too seemed quite indignant that people would dare to criticize the President on a WLS support site. I was just wishing her luck in her quest to find a support site where everyone agreed with her. Or, as she put it, no one was "stupid". :wink_smile:

Actually, you are tied for 1st place. That's close to winning. You need to post the link every day for us lazy people. :-D

Sounds like you are okay if you are having real trouble with controlling your HP. That is definitely a co-morbidity for every insurance company I've looked at.