BJean

stcyt: My husband thinks I'm crazy for even reading about it. But it is fascinating stuff.

Trust me, if my doctor had anything but a sterling reputation and track record, I would not allow him to cut me. Money is important, of course it is. No one can argue with that. But this is the only life I have. If I die there are no do-overs for me. This surgery is not simple and not without risks. The biggest risks as I understand them are 1) leaks and 2) infections. Either one of those can cause death. When I read the comment that no doctor goes without having patients with complications, it made me think that the accusations and posts must be true and that's the only defense they could come up with. But that certainly does not explain the reason for the many problems nor does it offer any assurance that the conditions that caused the problems have been remedied and that the incidents of infection and a leak are no longer happening. If you know people who have had a great experience there and you are convinced that it is the right place for you to have this very serious surgery done, then that is great. And I certainly wish you nothing but the best. Undoubtedly this forum has called attention to any issues they may have had in the past and they are being extremely careful now. But if it were me, I'd want some kind of assurance that things have improved and these things are no longer a serious problem for their patients. And honestly I don't know why I even became involved in this discussion! I have had no personal experience with any doctor in Mexico and I do not plan to ever go there for medical treatment. The whole thing just captured my attention last night and I was transfixed reading all the posts for hours. After having read them I was more than a little surprised that people are still choosing that doctor. But I am sure that they are making the choice based on reliable information they have and they are not allowing people's posts on the internet cloud the issue for them. I must say that if legal action does take place against someone for false accusations, I would be very interested in learning of the outcome.

That's a little sad. :-) I don't drink a lot but if I can't drink at all I'll be a little disappointed. I've read that people can get really looped on one drink. I'm a cheap drunk so that probably means I will need to completely steer clear of alcohol. Good luck on your trip to Mexico. I hope you get some definitive answers to the questions you have.

You're sure right about that. I actually expected at least a 2 week liquid pre-op diet. So I'm not complaining! Good luck with your surgery. I don't have much time to think about mine.

Hi right back, Lee! Ok on the protonix. I'll get my head wrapped around that possibility. The best word I can think of to describe that feeling is - HOLLOW!

Holey mosus. If even one of those posts is true about the aftercare, why would anyone consider going there? If none of those posts is true, why isn't some legal action being taken to protect the innocent doctor and clinic? For someone new to this site, all this is very confusing. The people who are defending the accused haven't really said anything very convincing to prove that those posts were false. They sure sound like real stories. But if someone is lying and is the real author of all those posts, why hasn't Alex intervened? All I can say is that I am thankful that I am staying north of the border for all my medical needs. I'd love to be saving a big chunk of money but my health is the most important thing that I have. The revision surgery is risky enough with a fully qualified, competent doctor who has a flawless track record. To go to someone who really might be practicing bad medicine is seriously playing russian roulette. I dunno. I came late to this party. Am I just not fully understanding this thread?

Oh I'm such a goof. Remember I'm new to this site.... I hadn't read all the posts when I wrote that one, above. Sorry!

Information is why I'm here. Sleeve surgery is a relatively new procedure. I want to know all I can about what I'm planning to have done. Both the good and the bad as well as just general information. If someone has had a bad experience, it is important for them to be able to post it and hopefully protect others from a similar experience. I certainly understand not wanting people to post hearsay. It is always bad form to just post stuff you heard from someone else who heard it from someone who thinks that they heard it right. I get that. But personal experiences should be fair game here. If people are intimidated into thinking they shouldn't post their own personal experiences, then what's the point of bothering with this site? Life is not always a bed of roses. Sometimes there are thorns. We're adults. We can handle the truth.

9 lbs. - that's great. Sorry your boy has an ear infection though. That always makes for an unpleasant time for the little tykes. Hurts! I know you must be really tired, but you sound good and I am happy that things are going well there overall. I always enjoy reading your clever posts so I'm happy that you're posting again.

After my lap band surgery when I was only liquids only I reached a stage where I had that very uneasy odd feeling that you're talking about. Not exactly starving hungry but empty and feeling like you need to put something in there to make you feel better. I called the nutritionist and asked if I had developed a problem with the Protein powder (which was about all I was eating.) She said that it was something that would pass but I didn't really believe her. But it actually did go away pretty quickly and it didn't come back. Thank goodness. What is Protonix and what does it do for you?

I don't have a schedule for food intake post-surgery yet. I had a feeling that it wouldn't take as long as 7 weeks before regular food. Do you all think that's the same with every doctor?

One of my doc's patients decided to take a whole bunch of vitamins and supplements like he did before the sleeve surgery. He aspirated them instead of swallowing them and it was a life or death emergency situation. Doc had to go in and get the pills and he said he found an entire handful clumped together that the guy had taken. It really scared the doc and nearly killed the patient. So this is an important thing, for sure. He says that any vitamins or other supplements must be chewable or liquid, etc. Like B-12 needs to be in the sublinqual form. So I knew taking pills was dicey but I wasn't sure when you might be able to take a pill at all after surgery. I figure it'll be ice chips first, right? And I should only be in the hospital overnight and I had read that Wellburtin wasn't crushable. So hearing that they do make 100 mg. crushable Wellbutrin is a big help. My doc just said that we must be very careful taking any kinds of pills, but he hasn't said that we should not take them at all. And his surgical assistant said that I'd be able to take my little B.P. pill the day after surgery. Were you in the hospital long?

The whole idea of weight "falling off" sure sounds awesome. I hope I will be as successful too Tiff! You're an inspiration to all of us. Right now we're wannabees - soon to be an inspiration too I hope. Terri I hope you get insurance approval soon. I'm originally from Tulsa and worked for a while in B.A. when I was young. I have been gone for 35 years but I still miss Tulsa.

The things Sarah Palin said during the presidential elections showed her true colors. She's willing to say whatever they tell her to say and she says it with total conviction. Even if they told her to say that the earth is flat, she would rant about it and be totally convincing. Of course if she's in a Q&A she has big problems. I watch Rachael Maddow sometimes, but not as often as I'd like. The one thing that I respect her for is that she often gets people on the other side of the argument to come on her show. Like the head of the right wing religious group that provided housing to certain Republican congressmen - I cannot for the life of me remember their name right this second. Senior moment, I guess. But he came on her show and had been nearly completely silent until then. She respectfully gave him plenty of time without interrupting him, to say whatever he wanted to say. You sure don't see that on Fox. They interrupt and argue in a very insulting way. They are even known to lower the sound on the mike that someone from an opposing viewpoint is using so viewers can't really hear them when they make a good point. No, I didn't see Tina Fey on SNL. I heard she was going to be doing her again though. And why shouldn't she? She's great at it and Palin herself tried to take advantage of the mileage Tina Fey has gotten by being on SNL herself. As Bug Bunny would say, "What a maroon."

Well that sounds great. I hope you're feeling great too, not just skinny. Everything else okay?

Oh boy. An accountant is an accountant, eh? How can you argue with logic like that? People who have not worked for the government have always been quick to decide that anyone who works for the government is a simple servant and doesn't work hard and makes more money than they deserve. It's simply not true. You cannot compare apples to oranges and expect to actually get the whole story. This kind of discrimination against government personnel has been going on for 50 years. The fact is, it is not the easiest thing to get a government job, especially by someone who is only capable of making $15,000 a year. So much of what you read is pure jealousy and ignorance of the facts. That is not to say that some government jobs do not pay more than some similar civilian jobs. But for really well-educated, competent workers, the private sector has more perks and better pay over the long haul. By a pretty long shot. Been there, done that and got the hell out so I could make some real money.

People like patty who watch the Rupurt Murdoch insanity like it and believe it because it is exactly what they want to hear and believe. It panders to their hate and fear; their dislike of the government, their revulsion toward viewpoints different from theirs and people with skin color different from their own. They listen to the ranting and raving and crying and hand wringing and they absolutely LOVE it! Anything that is critical of the president, the Democrats in congress and progressive thinking is music to their ears. And that's exactly why patty, for instance, can't stand to listen to Rachel Maddow or other commentators on MSNBC. They are presenting the opposing viewpoints and that makes them squirm. They're so uncomfortable they can't stand to listen for more than a minute or two. I doubt seriously if they last 5 minutes. If they were to give the progressives an opportunity to show how wrong Beck, O'Reilly, Linbaugh and the others are, they would be crushed. So we can't expect them to be able to handle the truth. They're settled into and love that bastion of lies that they call the Fox network. And yes, I do think that if they are incapable of listening to both sides on a regular basis and being able to sort it all out, they aren't the most intelligent tools in the box. If they aren't capable of logically assimilating the facts and coming up with something other than chants and buzz words, they're intellectually inferior. There, I've said it. So sue me.

My doctor routinely checks the gallbladder during lap band surgery. Mine didn't need to come out but many of them do. I do not know if he checks them when he does revision surgery, but I hope he does. Of course if the problem is caused from quick weight loss, my gallbladder could be perfectly normal before the sleeve and then develop over time afterwards and there's not much the doctor can do about that. I'm going to try to not be too extreme with the high protein/low carb thing. Maybe I can prevent the sludge development. Sure sounds like a real uncomfortable ouchie, having pancreatitis or gall bladder sludge or inflammation.

Once again I know that big business Republicans were very happy with President Reagan who they supported and helped to elect. But regular Republicans, like many Democrats were really not happy with President Reagan during much of the time he was in office. Like the regular folks in California didn't like him when he was their Governor. The Californians tried to tell everybody when he was running for president, but of course the monied Republicans used a misleading PR campaign that got him in office. Now Republicans of all stripe remember it differently. And they've done a good job of rewriting that history. Now he was a wonderful president - brilliant, fair and incredibly awe inspiring. Those of us who lived through it remember it the way it really was. He was a puppet, an actor who was very convincing to those who weren't paying much attention. That's the way those who were paying attention remember it.

rodriguez you only have 28 lbs. to go? Fabulous!

It really makes me want to cry. How can people put the value of money over that of human life?

Well you're a couple of inches taller than I am. So you weren't quite as chubby as I am. I was always the smallest in my family when I was growing up and as a young adult. When I was 42 I started putting on weight and grew steadily and dieted in a serial fashion until I reached my all time high. When I got up to 220, I couldn't lose weight no matter what I did. Guess my metabolism was totally confused by then. I have a daughter and son who are slender. She's 5'4" and weighs around 118 and my son is 6'1" and probably 155. It's very hard to be an obese mom of two good-looking and not overweight kids. I'm sure their friends all wonder what happened to me. My kids are one reason I look forward to being normal again. I thought the band would be just the right tool for me, but that didn't turn out well for me. Now I'm hoping I can do what I need to do with the sleeve surgery. I've read lots of success stories, like yours, about the sleeve. But I read lots of success stories about lap bandsters before I got that. So I am really nervous about my ability to make it work for me. I don't have much confidence and I have, of course, lots of bad habits to break. When I was slim, I really ate very little, and I was happy and felt great. So I am thinking that if that's the way I feel with the sleeve, I will be so happy that I will be successful. I just hope to heck that I'm not kidding myself!

That's very kind Hummingbird. I have a really hard time getting past the hard edged tone she has toward people in her posts and the very hard line she takes with politics and religion. You obviously have a very generous spirit and that's a good thing.

Was anybody really surprised about the truth of the Acorn tapes? Well yes, of course the Republican sheep were. They had bought the terrible lies about Acorn long before the "damning" tapes were made and shown on Fox. Those tapes were just the nails in the Acorn coffin. Talk about a lynching. It was a metaphoric lynching, but it caused the death of Acorn so it seems to be an accurate depiction of what's been done to them. None of us should trust one thing that comes to us labeled as news from the Fox network. Or from the numerous mouthpieces that do all the media dirty work for the Republican party. And if we put all the pieces together over the past 40 years (and maybe more, but before my time) it is easy to map out the way the Republicans plan and carry out their political strategy: make up terrible stories that are shocking but seem plausible and repeat them until everyone believes them and keep repeating them until your opponent is defeated - both physically and at the polls. It works for them time after time. And we allow it. Can anybody understand why or when this is going to crush them, as it should? I know it isn't easy. that's abundantly clear since there are still people who believe that our president isn't an American citizen by birth and that "death panels" are a reality of the health care reform bill and that Joe the Plumber is just an honest good old boy trying to eke out a living as a plumber.

Good for you Hummingbird! My thoughts are probably influenced too much by the very hard edge she reveals of her personality and the hard line she takes toward others in her posts. You seem to be very generous of spirit and that is a good thing to be.