RestlessMonkey

HEADHUNTER! Hugs my friend! How nice it is to see you back on here...even if just for a short while! How've you been? I've often thought of all your even, fair advice about choosing the correct WLS FOR YOU....you always were a sound, reasonable source for facts about pretty much any WLS. And of course, while I would expect nothing less from you, how pleased I am to see you congratulate "Failure" for her loss. You always were quite a cheerleader for people's success :redface:

If I may approach this from a different direction.... If you are being screened for, say, Diabetes, and you don't have the disease, then the screening may be a waste of your time and money. If it is done incompetently it doesn't harm you because you don't have the disease. BUT if you have it...IF you have it... you would expect the screening to be performed properly, you'd want the information interpreted correctly, and you (probably, unless you're in denial) would want medical intervention to prevent worsening of the disease, future loss of a limb, an eye, kidneys, your life.... In much the same way, the psych consult is a screening tool. Not everyone will test "positive" and unfortunately, some who do the screening are lackadaisical or flat out incompetent or apathetic. But the facts are that some people get the band and freak out. Some sane, happy, "normal" people who pine, yearn, DREAM of the band come to and thank "Oh my dear GOD get this OUT of me". Some "normal" people, when they find their food intake is restricted, turn to alcohol, drugs, sex. It's funny unless it happens to you. SO...our best bet is to get the consult, HOPE it is performed properly, and HOPE it catches those who need it. We aren't all alike, you know. We may all be fat, but that's a minor similarity. Each person is, of course, entitled to think it's a waste, and some of the consults described here ARE wasteful. That's too darned bad. Bottom line, though. Spartan, however flamboyant, is correct. No WLS should be undertaken lightly and without research, thought, and every medical and psych test we can get. If you are one of the many who have no issues with the band, the surgery (or bypass, whatever) then good. If you are one of the few for whom the band would be a dreadful disaster, let's hope it catches you.

I think that if you don't want advice, you shouldn't ask. It's tacky to get "advice" that isn't what you want to hear, and insult the person or persons who disagree with you. But some people thrive on drama, apparently. Whatever. Ignoring the rules early on is a recipe for disaster. I agree with Spartan; lets see a year from now how well doing what you want works for you; it didn't seem to keep your weight down preband (it doesn't for most of us) but the band is magic, right?

AH! I thought, like the rest of us, you were here to give advice, not just brag on your alcohol consumption! Apologies! As long as you are just "sharing" and not implying that it's ok for the OP, at 4 weeks, to drink what s/he wants, then forgive me for misunderstanding!

Minime I can not believe that you truly think that if something works for you, that it should work for everyone. For some reason, something Spartan said apparently got your dander up, but bottom line, we're individuals and following our doc's advice, at least initially, is the smartest thing to do. And sounds like AA might be in your future....

Apparently the advice "do what your doctor says" is hard for some people to accept. That's cool; the band IS reversible.

of course eventually you have to "finesse" the band. Four weeks, though, is a little early. If I may pull an example from my personal experience; carbonation is one of the few items that most surgeons agree should be forbidden (and they do seem to disagree about a LOT, I know). Once I'd had my band a year and was doing well, my surgeon told me to go for it if it didn't cause me discomfort (in my case I missed beer, not diet cokes or such LOL) So I do very occasionally indulge. I still have a lot to lose, though, and have to "weigh" (oh ha ha!) my desire for a beer against my desire to lose weight. So we DO have to use judgment; however to start off disregarding your surgeon is imprudent, at least in my experience. We need to learn the ropes before we start to modify our approach.

Personally, I initially ignored my physician's advice, because, HEY I'm human, Right? No one is perfect, right? This is life, right? uh huh. I didn't get the band because my liver didn't shrink. I learned the hard way to do what my doc says, and if I do not trust him/her, I NEED A NEW DOC. Ignoring your surgeon's advice is akin to playing Russian Roulette or having unprotected sex. You may get away with it, you may not. By all means, as grown ups, decide what you want. But don't expect those of us who know better to applaud or recommend acting recklessly. If you are 4 weeks post op and know better than your surgeon, well good for you. I'm pretty bright, and I didn't.

Bypass impairs absorption and can make you intoxicated more quickly. If you have the band and it happens, odds are it's psychological. But by all means, do what you want. Why on earth would you listen to your doctor? What a foolish notion.