Alexandra

The Best Me, I was here when all the deleting frenzy was going on last year, of course I remember. The difference was that at the time those threads were indeed a bit, um, dramatic (as I recall) and it wasn't all that surprising that things got pulled. What I don't like is the idea that perfectly benign threads can be pulled just because someone wants to take their toys (as it were) and go home. There's no reason for that and it can be incredibly disruptive. I also think a certain amount of responsibility should be encouraged in posting. Most sites I've been on don't allow any editing of posts after some given amount of time has passed. We seem to be different in that respect, and that's fine. But I now think we allow a little too much freedom. Oh, and if I were going to try to find a pic that showed me happy with the way I looked, I'd have to dig out my mother's baby book.

Once again we were posting at the same time. But I think we're on the same page, now. sleep tight!!

I see your point, too, StrawatS. And I completely agree about LBT and its environment. But threads aren't blogs, they're conversations. To my mind, they stop being the sole property of the starter the second someone replies. We have journals that actually are more like blogs and those are and should remain the property of the person who starts them. I think it's great that we have both elements here. On that note I have to say goodnight. Talk to you tomorrow!

Awwwww, that is so sweet! Your sister must be a very special person.

MelAnne, really do try to stay on liquids for at least a week. It's really important to keep your stomach from working while you're healing; solid foods will churn the muscles that should be stable and still while the band is healing into place. Don't test it, please. Explore the world of soup! You're not on a diet so don't worry about calories at this point. Go ahead and take in whatever you need that is liquid that will help you feel satisfied. Stay away from cheese and turkey at this point; stick to Protein shakes and Soups without chunks. You will be thankful that you gave your stomach this time to heal properly. Follow your doctor's instructions and you'll be just fine!!

People can always request that a moderator delete a thread, so that's a moot point. And closing a thread makes it drift to the bottom. The DFW example could have been handled in other ways; deleting the thread wasn't at all necessary. StrawartS, deleting your own words will always be an option. Don't you see the difference between that and deleting possibly MANY other people's words?

Sorry Strawarts, we crossed in cyberspace. Don't worry, even if I could I wouldn't be changing any features! All I'm doing is encouraging discussion about it. I've posted a thread in the moderators' section so we can all discuss the subject. As far as my being alarmist, it's just that I honestly have never considered this that closely before--obviously because this sort of thing has never happened. Literally scores of threads were just deleted by one person, and I'm not at all happy that that's possible.

Let's try not to ascribe reasons to actions someone took; we could debate that forever and it would get us nowhere. We're no longer talking about a specific situation, but what to do in the future. Thanks.

Hi MelAnne, and welcome to LBT! Congratulations on taking this huge step toward a healthier life. You are in the hardest few days right now, healing from surgery. Don't be afraid to sleep, rest, drink, rest some more, do whatever you can to be good to yourself. In a few days you can move on to full liquids and at that point you can address the hunger. There's lots of things out there to drink that really will fill you up and keep you satisfied, so try to focus on that. Do you have your Protein drinks? Your broth? Your popsicles? I know you're sore and scared, we all are just after surgery. It's a big, scary thing. But you are going to be just fine and before you know it the weight will start to come off and it will all be clear. Take care of yourself and please keep posting! We all know exactly how you feel. CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME TO BANDLAND!!! :banana

I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing, do you?

Cashley, it was Dylansmom, and I don't think any of us know precisely why she chose to take such a drastic step and delete all her threads. I know I have no idea, that's for sure. Photo, I completely agree with you about this being an ongoing discussion. But we never know what's going to mean something to someone and the ability to delete threads completely leaves a door wide open for chaos. Now that I'm thinking about it in a whole new way, I'd like to see this changed as soon as possible. My guess is that MOST people don't even know they have this ability. And now that we're talking about it, we might see threads disappearing right and left. I sure hope not.

Haloep, your doctors can't know what YOUR policy covers and what it doesn't cover, so don't take a sweeping statement like that for truth. Yes, Aetna has historically been difficult, but now they have changed their standard criteria so many people will, I think, find it much easier to get approval for banding. This change only went into effect recently, so it's possible your doctors' office doesn't know about it yet. But no matter what, don't let someone else tell you what is true for you and your plan. If you're up against an exclusion or aren't medically qualified for surgery you will have trouble no matter who the carrier is. If these barriers don't apply, then you may be in luck. What is your specific situation?

You're welcome! :biggrin1:

I don't think anyone has voiced the opinion that users shouldn't have the ability to delete their own posts. I certainly don't think that. And now members have the ability to change their own usernames, giving them more protection from inadvertent revelations. The technical details will have to be addressed by Alex the board owner, but I'd imagine it's possible to delete a starting post and leave the rest of the thread available.

StrawartS, normally I'd completely agree with your view on the idea of message board postings being "work product" that should be protected in some way. But that was before I realized the potential exists for a user to delete what could be very important reference information or something that someone else really did put a lot of work into, possibly for no good reason. It could be turned even into a tool of spite, come to think of it. People can delete their own posts now. I'd love to see that ability remain, but the complete deletion of a thread become a function inaccessible to users. Until now I'd never seen the potential for misuse of that function, but now it's obvious to me.

That's the problem. Only the thread-starter can know why he's moved to delete a thread, and there's nothing to stop deletions that aren't based on anything at all except the starter's whim. And sometimes that whim can really disrupt things for other people in a big way, as we've seen here.

Sounds like you're doing great, Shelly!! How cool to get a whole new lease on banding so long after your surgery. Cool beans! You're going to be the most beautiful thing in Hawaii. :biggrin1:

Hi Aligirrl, You just got your fill today? I'd say give it another day on fluids only, don't try to eat any solid food until Friday, and then only mushy foods. Some people react to fills by swelling and it's a good idea to take it really slowly until you know how you're reacting. Did your doctor tell you to stick to fluids for a day or so? Most docs do, it seems to be a pretty routing post-fill protocol. If you're having trouble drinking (sipping, not gulping) THAT'S when to call your doctor. Otherwise you may just want to give it a couple of days and see how you're feeling. You won't starve, I promise. Good luck!!

Vines, I think you've made some excellent points and you've changed my mind, at least. I agree that it's perfectly fair for people to delete their own posts, but no posters should be able to delete the work of other people. I think you're right, that by allowing people the ability to delete entire threads they have too much leeway to alter the board as a whole, to the detriment of all the other users.

It's a clear liquid, yes indeedy.

Well, there are two ways to look at this. People are sharing what is sometimes very personal information. Threads might get started when people are in very vulnerable moods that they think better of later on. We kind of think that it's not too much to give people power over their own threads. I definitely agree that it's a pain when a thread that was popular gets deleted, but honestly, it's hardly ever been a problem. Most times deletions are just a brief thread the poster has re-thought, or something posted by mistake. Dylansmom deleted all of the threads she started, for some reason, and unfortunately some of them were pretty long. All of this is true. So how about it? Do y'all think we should change or alter the ability for users to delete threads they started?

I'm sure it does, and that's something we can talk about. Personally, I don't put anything online that I wouldn't be ready to come back to me some other way. It seems to me that on a board of this kind where posts might contain personal information people regret sharing, it makes sense to allow user-level access to deletion and editing. But I honestly don't understand anyone's deleting a thread that has turned controversial--discussion and debate are good for the brain and words are just words. What purpose is served by taking them away? Personal attacks have no place here, of course, but I don't think that was the problem. Another board I'm on doesn't even allow editing of posts after five minutes or so. Thread- and post-deleting are disruptive to everyone, is the thinking.

Wow, Ruthie, that sounds rough! :confused: To tell you the truth, I was a little worried about something like that myself. We've been banded about the same length of time, and all of a sudden two months ago I found myself extremely tight. I never got dehydrated--it was never THAT bad--but I had constant reflux and heartburn. After a complete unfill everything is just fine, and an endoscopy and barium test revealed no problems. But I still have plenty of restriction even with no Fluid in my band and it occurred to me that perhaps this is due to scar tissue. I haven't had nearly as many adjustments as you--maybe a total of 9 over three years. But my understanding is that every band creates a certain amount of scarring in the surrounding tissue; it's a foreign body, after all. How are you feeling now? Is there any reason to continue to have the band adjusted? Why not just leave it unfilled for the indefinite future? If the scar tissue isn't causing any trouble by itself, what's the point in having it removed? I'm a big believer in less intervention, if possible. What would be the downside in just leaving it all alone, as is (that is, empty) for a while?

Hi Betsy, Your mom probably has the larger VG band, the one that can hold up to 10 ccs of Fluid. If the doctor is "sneaking up" on restriction each fill may only have been a small amount. It's hard to be exact on the amount of fluid, so being told they "put in 8ccs" may not really mean anything--some of the fluid is in the tube, for example. Does she get her fills under fluoroscopy? Or are they just done by "feel"? If the latter, she might request that a fluoroscope be used next time so they can see if the fluid is really going where it's supposed to go. She may have a leak or a kink in the tubing, or possibly the tech is just missing the port. Don't automatically assume another surgery will be needed--there are lots of questions to be answered yet. And it may indeed just be a matter of more fluid being needed. Everyone is different and I have heard of amounts of upward of 9ccs being used to get good restriction with the larger band. Good luck and let us know how it's going!

Skyeblu, you haven't said whether you've got a large-group plan or not. If you do, then Carlene is right and it might not be a UHC issue at all. Do you have a human-resources department at your company that can give you straighter answers?