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@@lynneanne WARNING, WARNING, WARNING long post, grab a glass of Water sorry you've haven't lost weight since WLS I do relate to how you must feel not that this helps much, but there are other people in similar situations not loosing weight (even gaining) YOU are the RN, so what i say is from a laymen who is 3+ years WLS. 2+ years GOAL maintaining 105 lb weight loss (little fluctuation) One very healthy, happy camper!! "don't feel well , metabolism out if whack and no confidence in him at all (surgeon)" I'm not the RN like you, (not being sarcastic) but i don't think the metformin in this case is the culprit of how you feel your tummy has gone through major surgery surgery also would/can effect your whole body making it sore/tired My A1C was a little lower pre-op than yours PCP told me to stop taking my diabetes meds (avadian), high blood pressure meds and using my CPAP one day after surgery I also questioned how could we do this so quickly. he said something like these problems should improve quickly after surgery in two weeks - follow up appt - blood pressure considerably down finger stick # lower than i have ever seen, and i hadn't been wearing my CPAP i saw him 2 weeks later after blood work A1C was down to 5.1 - blood pressure was good too no problems at night without CPAP another follow-up two weeks later - blood pressure was down further testing sugars - they continued to be great, wasn't missing CPAP as far as your surgeon............... he doesn't sound good to me earlier post you said he didn't want to check your incision area til you pushed him if there is a question that a surgeon needs to help you with - of course call him you asked in an earlier post if you should just see your PCP only - i vote YES you/me/others should/need to have confidence in their surgeon, be comfortable feel better don't give in/up hopefully things will improve soon good luck kathy Thanks so much!! I called my surgeons office and his receptionist called le back - that's right not even the nurse with the message " go ahead and take your Metformin". So I am. No labs, no consult, no rational from WLS. I have gone to my PCP for 20 years. I believe he can handle my concerns that aren't specifically surgical complication related from here on out.

I was done with you a long time ago and yes you continue to harass me with your insults by sending me private messages now. But I can tell what sort of person you are (SDS) so they don't bother me. I feel sorry for you and hope you have little complications with your upcoming surgery :paranoid

Yeah, see, the other thing is I'm not scared of complications, pain, drains -- any of that. *I went to Mexico and had my stomach cut out.*. I was prepared to throw up endlessly and have my stomach blow apart six times with complications. I was on an airplane drinking apple juice out of *another country* two days after my stomach was removed. I don't care about that. I don't even care about the money. I *have* the money. I mean I suppose I should be investing it in something more practical like gold bullion or long term care insurance or some annuity for my old age but....okay, let's face it, we should all be doing that, right? Accepting ourselves completely and working towards not being a burden to society in our old age and all that. But the thing is one thing people spend A LOT of money on also is the attractiveness of their bodies. I don't think this is an industry that preys on our insecurities anymore, I am starting to think it's a human need, like the need to feel useful and loved. How silly is this really? I'm in a place in my life where I have to start everything over. I know it's vanity but at the same time it also means I'll be able to walk around knowing I look pretty good to other people. When you have to start over -- that really, really helps, is what I'm thinking. And I also keep thinking, well, listen, I'll just take care of this one last thing and *then* I'll concentrate on the loveliness of my soul and so forth. Then, like, I *promise* I will.

I'm on short term disability and it has been great. I did it backwards though, used my PTO for two weeks, had some complications and then applied for it. Doing it before-hand would have been much better. I have six weeks off if I need them and if I go back part time, they will cover the other half while I work my way back to full-time. It is a great relief of my mind too, I am protected at work, still have an income, and just have to focus on getting well and strong. I'd recommend you plan for 3 weeks, so you will be on puree and feeling stronger. You can always go back early if 2 is enough for you. Good luck!

I sure have a hard time with beggars and with begging. My parents came from Europe and survived the Second World War. My mother came from minor Scottish aristocracy and this was a culture where any discussion of money was considered to be dreadfully vulgar. My father was a Polish Jew who ran away from Poland in 1937 and made his way through pre-war Europe on his wits. He was lucky in that he eventually washed up in England. He was luckier still that he eventually hooked up with my mother. They chose to come to Canada because they were aware that their marriage would not stand a chance in class and race conscious Britain. Their life in Toronto was fairly difficult but they ended up doing well in their new home. We children were raised in an environment where we were expected to make our own way. What our parents contributed to us was unlimited access to education, something which they viewed as a tool. We were never given cars, designer clothes, or anthing of that nature. And we were shot down whenever we asked for this stuff. In many ways this was terribly humiliating for us as children for we saw our peers living much better than we did. At the same time, all three of us sibs grew up to live financially solid lives. None of us had debt load, all of us owned property, and we all had additional investments, ones which could carry us through a rainy day. Still, I carry emotional wounds from being forced to live poor when my family was living in an upper middle class milieu. I still hurt from being forced to wear geeky loser clothes when all the other girls were wearing cute trendy gear. When it comes to those who are asking for tips or who begging for money in such a crass and irritating fashion, I find myself thrust into an array of complicated emotions. There is a part of me that says that it is vulgar to ask for money and that if you want money you should work for it. This is what I have been taught by my European parents. There is another part of me that says that these are hard-working individuals who are working in low paying service jobs and that these people are as desireous of and are in as much need of money as any corporate lawyer or plastic surgeon. They simply can't raise it as easily or as gracefully and so they must resort to tacky reminders that their services are also not without value.

I originally booked off 1 week and because of a minor complication, was off 2 weeks.

I needed 2 knees and 2 hips my ortho and md suggested losing weight for obvious reasons , healthy people recover with less complications and anesthesia risks are greatly reduced. Got my first hip replaced in jan. 13 months out from my sleeve I honestly can't imagine rehabbing +150 lbs. next hip is in sept. and after 2 series of hylagan injections my knees feel much better but still need replacing.

Whilst sitting in a waiting room for many hours (fill problems, blah blah blah), I had a surprise visit from the coordinator of the Lap Band program at the hospital. I had dealt with her about a year ago, when setting this thing up. She runs the local support group meetings, but as of yet I have not attended any of them. So she sticks her head in the room, and asks "do you know me?" Strange question, but I do in fact recognize her since she's "in context" in the hospital. She then says that she doesn't know who I am, but that she had been told by the nurses that one of her lap band patients was in the room. At first, she didn't even believe that I was a lap band guy, but I pulled out the driver's license and she recognized me from that photo. We had a long discussion about the journey, and what this has been like. She was taking copious notes, apparently she's trying to get follow up info for patients to meet some regulatory guideline. I told her I was blogging about this ("what's a blog? Do I use Netscape for that?") and that she could read that if she wanted. Normal platitudes, "ya look great", etc. She's trying to get me to come to the support meetings as a speaker. I'm thinking that one over, not sure that I want to get in front of anyone to talk about this stuff. Talking physical changes is easy, but if they ask about the emotional/mental ones I'm not sure what to say. Besides, my complications would scare the bejeepers out of the newbies.... So my Q to the group, and the reason for the post -- has anyone been put in the position of talking to support groups and potential WLS people? If so, was that worth doing, and would you go talk to them again? I'm not a big fan of public speaking, but a small group might be ok.

I haven't had any complications with the band. I have gained some weight back lately, but it was due to my own problems and had nothing to do with the band. I had gotten down to 192.4 and now I am back up to 207 :rolleyes2: it wasn't the fault of the band...it was just me. The only "problem" I had was when I went in for my first fill they had some trouble finding it and had to wiggle the needle around a little bit (doesn't really hurt, just felt weird) other than that things have been great!!!

You won’t need a drain tube unless you are a bleeder. Sticking to the pre-op diet and guidelines cuts down on complications. I did not need to stay in a hotel. I used Trinity Medical and flew in on a Wednesday morning at 8:45 am and was taken across the boarder to hospital Guadalajara. Once we signed in I was taken to get blood work and then directly to my room. The hospital gave me a nice bag with toiletries and slippers. The room and bathroom were very clean. The tv had many channels in English and I didn’t have to watch any of the movies I downloaded to my iPad. There were plenty of movies on the tv. (Commercials were in Spanish). Dr. Pasten was awesome and hospital staff were great! They all were amazing! The two other people that had surgery the same day I did through another agency went to a hotel on Friday when I flew home that afternoon. I chose my agency based on the length of stay. (I have toddlers and it was more important for me to return home than to stay an extra day to shop for souvenirs) . After my leak test on Thursday they brought Gatorade, apple juice and chicken broth.

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Since @Proud2BMe seems to be the only person over 1 year post op to post. He is the only person that offered a realistic answer. I'm 20 months post-op. I could eat all the mashed potatoes and gravy. They are a slider. Luckily I hate mashed potatoes. I could eat all the stuffing, another slider. I could probably eat all of the veggies too. Noticed I started with sliders and kept going with sliders. If I started with the turkey with no gravy, I would just be able to eat the turkey, nothing else. Since the turkey has gravy on it, I might be able to eat something else. It just depends. When you see people at 2 to 5 years post op and they have regained, do you think theyou regained on protein shakes and dense protein? No, they regained on sliders. I can eat basically infinite amounts of chips or cookies if I want. They offer no restriction. As time goes on and you learn your sleeve and what slides through you learn what you can eat. I can eat an entire bag of baby spinach in one sitting. Salad greens are a slider. A good slider but a slider. The idea that you are only going to be able to eat one cup of food for the rest of your life is completely ridiculous and totally false (unless you have some kind of complications like a stricture and even those people can eat a lot of sliders and usually do since sliders are easier for them than dense protein.).

I have been on 6 cruises, two post banding, one I postponed my first fill to enjoy. I actually lost one pound during that one. Do not get an unfill for it, unless you fear complications and will be to far from home. That is why I postponed my fill. I did not know how I'd react to the first one, and he had to fly cross country and would be doing Panama and South America. Not easy to get home if I had problems, so I waited. But getting an unfil to have fun? Slipery slope, as has been noted. For what do you unfill, then fill again? Vacation? Long weekend? Family event? dinner party. If you do buffets, scope them out first and choose what you want, then go back and fill your plate. I also took advantage of things I don't usually get to enjoy, like sliced, fresh pineapple and other pre-cut fruits. On our last cruise over a year after banding, I got stuck a couple of times. All due to operator error. DH and I rarely go to the main dining room during a cruise, which actually works better for me. I tend to be more likely to get stuck when eating in a group, like at a table for 8 in a dining situation and having a conversation. So, at the buffet, it would just be the two of us. Just remember, you are there for the fun and sightseeing, not for the food. I've found the food did not live up to the hype anyway.

I had my surgery on 2/27/12 and was supposed to get my fill today, but getting back to Mexico (they are having transportation issues) seems to be too complicated. I got in with a clinic closer to me and now have a scheduled fill for May 9th. UUUGGGHHHH, I want the fill now LOL. Oh well, it will happen I just have to be patient and keep telling myself "I'm not hungry, I'm not hungry"

Hello fellow bandsters, ex-bandsters, and bandster wannabes. I am not posting this to beat anybody up or anything like that so please don't take it that way, but I'm just writing because I can't understand why so many people feel as though the band has fell them. So I'm ranting basically. I have been reading many posts in which people who have had surgery around the same time as myself and even after me are having or has had complications with their band and I can't understand that. Grant it, I do understand that many have had success and because of other issues with their body they had to have their fluids removed for either pregnancy or other surgeries and for whatever reason, the band is selfish. It doesn't apparently want us to have babies or other surgeries that we need for our continued overall good health. Okay, I get that and the band stops working and needs to be removed. Okay, cool. However, I have read other peoples stories and apparently funds were not available for aftercare to get the proper adjustments needed to stay restricted. I keep reading posts that state they never achieved the "sweet spot" and all I can say is I'm sorry. If you are self-pay, again, I'm sorry that you weren't able to keep getting your fills because proper fill capacity is the key. Yes, I realize many of you also have to drive miles and hours just to get that and believe me, I understand gas and money these days. But at the same time, you should have been given the guidelines to follow in order to successfully lose weight (types of food to eat and avoid and amounts) and if your bariatric team did not do that, then shame on them. The band can't say, however, "Don't put that ice cream in your mouth. Don't drink this or eat that." Only you have total control of what goes in your mouth. I have also read many people's journeys in which they didn't even need fills and have lost impressive amounts of weight. To you I applaud and congratulate you because I was not that fortunate. I had to get my fills and unfills when I was too tight. That's another problem I keep reading about over and over. If you are too tight, you will not lose weight you are in the red zone and are setting yourself up for failure. I hated that I had to get an unfill or two or three because I loved that tightness and I wanted to lose weight so bad, but I'm so glad that I listened to my professionals because it paid off in the end. So what am I saying, the band does not fail. YOU FAIL, I'm sorry. There are some unfortunate souls that well your body just doesn't want as you say something "foreign" in you. Well, God bless you and I hope you have found another way to lose weight. For you new people, IT IS NOT EASY!!!!!! Even in maintainence, it's not easy. Again, if you have the proper restriction YOU WILL NOT OVER EAT PERIOD. Can you eat anything you want? Yes for some of us but not everything. After being banded, some foods and drinks we just can't do and that is a plus for many of us because we don't need them in the first place. Why is it still hard in maintainence? Because you have to still be careful about not eating too fast and chewing your food really good so that you don't get stuck. For me and I'm sure for a few others, that is a daily struggle. So all in all, the band is a great tool to help you lose weight if YOU REALLY WANT TO, but YOU have to do the work. The band is just placed around your stomach and that's it. It doesn't think for you. Again, I'm not trying to disrespect anyone but just clarifying the fact that the band doesn't fail by itself. Best wishes to all of you.

So, last night I went to my first lapband support group (after 3 1/2 yrs). Thought it might be good for me. There were 3 of us. Just the nitht before, the sleeve support group met (same program director for both meetings) was standing room only. What's going on with all the banders? The program director (not my surgeons office, its 3 hrs away) said they hardly ever do band surgery anymore. People complain about complications and maintenance. Im so afraid we're gunna be dinasours, only referenced in medical journals as bariatric failures. Has anyone else noticed this? And amongst the 3 of us, I was the most successful. One lady has been banded for 4 yrs and has only lost 40 lbs. The other for 2 yrs and lost about 50. Made me feel good. And I was starting to feel like a failure. Marci

Many band patients later have to revise to sleeve due to complications or ineffective weight loss.

There's this great great SUPPORT GROUP on Facebook.. go in there, it will help a lot, still helping me, and I had my surgery done a couple of months ago...there's a lot of real patients, but it is a really active group, even surgeon answer your questions..it's call Dr Carlos Altamirano Support Group, he's not my doctor, but he also works for bariatricpal, but even though I didn't use him, they left me in. And here is my experience... I will like to share my experience after 9 months because now I'm closer to my goal, but first of all because I know I made the best decision ever, it's not just how I look, but how I feel inside, I'm a healthier and happier person now, I have improved my relationship with family and friends. My self esteem was in the ground, therefore I wasn't too friendly, now people like to be close to me, and it's only been 9 months like a I said, Im doing all kinds of outdoor activities, I'm going to the gym, I have a new wonderful wardrobe, I'm dating, I love myself more than ever.... and everything started like this…I tried all kind of diets and diet pills before going to surgery, they helped, but only for a short period of time, and if I dropped 10 pounds, after a couple of months I gained 15, I kept going like this FOR YEARS, I just couldn't keep that weight away FOR GOOD, I went into depression, the worse year of my life, but yet the better, in January of 2014, I wasn't getting out of my house or job, obviously my family was a bit worried, I even went to therapy, I felt petty about myself, then I signed up in forums of people with the same issue I had... OUR WEIGHT, met this girl that was doing the same thing as I'm doing right now...sharing her story and helping people, I had made my own research, I looked up for doctors in Tijuana, and this girl told me about Bariatric Pal, they were so helpful, I started with them from nothing.... and they guided me in every decision I was taking, first, they gave me my options, I visited the doctors they recommend, and I stayed with Dr. Lopez,I felt really comfortable with him, It felt like he knew me, well to make the story short, Bariatric Pal made all the arrangements for me, the day of my surgery, they picked me up in San Diego, they took us (my brother and I) to the clinic, as I hoped, they made me feel so welcome, I signed up, a few papers, they explained to me everything I was signing and they gave me my room, they did all kinds of pre-op tests, EKG, etc.. they gave me a pill to calm me down, since I was really nervous,I had Dr. Lopez visited me before surgery, I liked that, because sometimes you never get to see your surgeon, I think he gave the attention every patient deserves, we deserve to be treated as humans, if it is not too much to ask, well SURGERY went great, no complications, afterwards a Lil bit of dizziness, nauseated, but that's just normal, I stayed two days in there, then Mike from Bariatric pal drove us to the recovery house where my brother stayed while I was at the hospital, they didn't have a room for him, but the guys from BP take great care of him as they did for me the two extra day we decided to stay at their RH, then they drove me back to San Diego the day Dr. Lopez discharges me...I will be in debt with all the staff the rest of my life. My recuperation, had its ups and downs, but I did a lot of reading, about what I could eat, which is one of the hardest parts of it, I learned my vegetables, my Protein, and I learned to eat, I would cheer myself up every time I felt this was too much to handle, my family and friends helped a lot also, but now I know it was the BEST DECISION EVER, I'm proud of myself, and telling my story because I want people to feel the same way I do, I'm still dropping weight, and I will keep telling my stories, my progress and my humble advice in case you need support.

I had complications with my gastric plication from OCC in Mexico (nausea, not surgeon error), and I also had to have the lap band that they placed during my plication revision removed in an emergency surgery here in the states (not due to surgeon error though). I saved up and now I'm getting sleeved here in the United states, but I have heard good things about Mexicali bariatric center. With that being said, the care I recieved at OCC was very good, and the facility was clean! And Dr Ortiz has great bedside manner, the sleeve patients when I was down there were practically bouncing out of bed right after surgery! Just email them and theyll get info to you ASAP

i have booked my surgery with dr. Garcia in december, he has done lots of surgerys and he works from the MI hospital (which had good ratings) I did lots of research into lots of doctors in Mexico and the prices varied reatly. we all have to remember that the drs in Mexico do these surgerys all the time, and the death rate is very very low. I don't think it matters where we go or who with have the surgery with, we all take the risk of complications or even death. we just have to go with whom we feel safe with......follow your gut instinct. good luck :)

I am leaning towards the sleeve because of that reason. I have done a ton of research and have noticed there are so many more complications with the band. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Tryingtogetmylifeback, Call your surgeon. You don't need to go this long without hydration. This is extremely dangerous. You may need to go to the ER but certainly call your doctor right away. I know mine gave me a number to call for complications and emergencies. Not being able to drink for two days is an emergency.

Agree you are making a wise choice by sticking to your diet plan and not adding the fruit. Point of diet is to shrink liver so your surgeon has better access to your stomach with out any complications like a laceration. Sorry to tell you that IMO the preop diet does not get any better. I suffered horribly but never cheated. Worth every second of gut wrenching hunger during those long days and nights. Little did my stomach know that its days were numbered. Countdown to a new you. Good luck!

That's a tough one....I'd be in the same boat, if I told my children. I chose not to tell either one of my children exactly for this reason. They also watched a program with me about a 693 lb woman who had bariatric surgery & died within a month of complications. The last thing I'd do now is tell them but I have told my oldest son (17) that I'm having "hernia surgery." My 11 y/o son is autistic so I'm not going to worry him so far in advance (still have no surgery date) but I will tell him of the "hernia surgery" maybe just a few days prior to my sleeve surgery. With all that said, if my children DID find out in advance of my surgery plans, I was going to approach it with before & after pics of the wonderful people on this site that have shared their photo's with us. This way it's "visual" proof that not only did they not die from surgery but that they all looked so healthy in their "after" pics. We've learned to do a lot of visuals in my household due to my son. So that would be my suggestion, especially being that he's so young still. Pics might do the trick! Good luck to you! I'll be anxious to see what some other responses are!

Fears - I've got some! (I've just had my initial consult too so I've got a few months of obsessing over these fears - yeah! Mainly: the SURGERY. I've never had surgery before, other than wisdom teeth. I'm freaked out that they are going to make these incisions in my stomach, that I'll have scars (and have no idea how well they'll heal), that some other complication will arise, that I'll feel weird that after 33 year of no knives being stuck into this body, it's going to get all cut up and I'm getting rid of a perfectly good stomach just because I can't cool it on the eating. It's like I like the idea of what the surgery *does* but not that I have to have *surgery* to have that. Make sense? I'm a ball of up and down emotions about it. I totally talk myself out of it one morning, then by the afternoon I think it sounds good. I try to tell myself that FINALLY being under 200 lbs for the first time in 10 years will be all worth it. That buying clothes and working out will be more fruitful ( I love Body Pump but I feel like all this muscle is just hidden under years of fat). My mom is very supportive (almost TOO supportive - she doesn't understand why I wouldn't be willing to crawl through broken glass just for the chance to be thinner again) and my husband is supportive, though he doesn't understand my surgery phobia. So there - my fears!

Hello everyone. I have had a lap band for about 15 years or so and it hasn't been filled in years because of all of the problems I was having. I have recently decided to have a gastric bypass. Saw the surgeon for an initial consult, but he refuses to remove the band and do the bypass in one surgery. He says I have to first have the band removed, then wait however long and then have the bypass. The reason, he says, is that there is a higher risk of complications if the lap band is removed at the time of the bypass. Is he right? I'm wondering if I should get a second opinion. However, I'm self pay for bypass so I don't want to pay for a surgery that could be aborted due to complications, which makes me want to follow his advice (and the lap band removal is covered by insurance). On the other hand, I really want to have the bypass as soon as possible. I know this is a marathon and not a race, but I'm anxious to start my new journey. Does anyone have any experiences, thoughts, etc. they can share regarding these issues? It would be greatly appreciated!