GeezerSue

Hey, BOH...I hear you on the-mom-thing. Mine is ONLY 83 and I've been on steriods for a month or so after hurting my back taking care of her. Luckily , it was about five months after my revision!!! (And my Volvo worked well, but their SUV might have been even better. LOL)

The problem with NSAID's (Advil, ibuprofen, Motril,Aleve, etc.) is NOT their physical form and getting them down, even though some have had problems with that. The problem is their chemical compositon. The chemistry that makes them work is bad for EVERYONE's stomach--which explains why, since the development of those meds, there has been a need for things like Nexium, Prevacid, Aciphex...the proton pump inhibitors you see all over the tv ads. What they do, along with relieving pain, is to thin the mucosal lining of the stomach. It's just the "bad news" part of the good news that whatever was hurting isn't hurting so much. But, after very little time, that thinned stomach lining can need help of its own. A banded person who takes NSAID's on a fairly regular basis has a thinned mucosal lining, too. The "pouch" area (I prefer to think of it an "an upper stomach") holds food for longer than the rest of the stomach. If the lining of the pouch is thinned, the food sitting there longer can cause more irritation and ulceration. BTW, I didn't learn this until AFTER I had purchased a cabinet full of liquids and chewables...

I think my TRAINING bra was a "D" cup...and I was probably 11 years old! But our daughter--not MO--took the first step and got her size 36-J's reduced to a dainty little 36-C. One of her friends summed up the results, "I know what kind of surgery you had and I still don't see it...you just look slimmer or something." For the first time in her life, she was able to wear pretty tops. She's a swimmer, so the biggest change was at her first post-op swim workout. I asked how it went and she said that, until the first flip turn all was well. And then, after swimming competitively for over 20 years, she FINALLY "got" the point of the flip turn. Because using the same force she had always used to pull off a flip turn but without all that ballast, "...I did two complete somersaults and about drilled my ass through the bottom of the pool. So THAT's how a flip turn is easier..." I had the same PS do my breast reduction two years later, while I was still MO. We agree that it was one of the best moves we ever made. The grooves and ridges on the shoulders are gone. No summertime under-boob rash. In case of earthquake (we're in So. Calif.), a bra isn't the first thing we look for. I can actually throw on a t-shirt and go get something out of the car. And for both of us, not only did insurance pay for it, but--except for the under-arm lipo area--it was pretty much painless! I'm popping in with this info because it IS a kind of scary concept. But neither of us wanted dainty boobs post reduction and I don't think we got them. We just got rid of huge, pendulous, asymmetrical, out-of-proportion things that are now normal. And perky.

Did you find any fellow vegetarians? I know of a couple on another board...

Medicare DOES pay for bariatric surgery...but there are often waiting lists for that service because Medicare pays so little. At my DS surgeon's office right now there is a one-year wait for--I THINK it's Medicare, but it could be MediCal, to get into the first appointment. But that's no reason to not get started. Figure out what you want to do and then start asking around for others who have already done it. The path will become visible. (But don't let your depression swallow you up...it's hard to see the future from inside a dark hole!)

Okay...about the "you get what you pay for" thing. Not always. Insurance sets the fees for most US banded patients...and whether it's Joe Blow, MD doing his FIRST unproctored band placement or George Fielding doing his several thousandth placement, the price is the same. For sure, Fielding is a good deal. But Joe Blow, MD coming out the gate? Not on MY body. Give me Rumbaut (my surgeon) at the hospital in Monterrey, MX. Boo, I have met Dr. Rumbaut, he did my surgery at the hospital in Monterrey, and I returned to Monterrey for follow-up. I ALSO went to Kuri's old place--about eight rooms; a birthing center, really; the price listed on the board was $47/night...talk about getting what you pay for! In that case, Kuri was a bargain, but the facility was just not (yes, I'm a snob) good enough for ME. I'm just not a share-the-restoom with the other FOUR patients in your room kind of girl. Some people are fine with that. But for anyone who hasn't visited outside the US to go there without understanding that "hospital" means something different there...more like a kind of rustic urgent care center or something...with a FEW doctors who work out of the place...maybe three or five. And, I see you are an Ortiz patient. He uses a much better equipped Radiological Center--I've been there several times--than Kuri's x-ray place. But there is no hospital in Tijuana that is on a par, in terms of staff size and training and equipment, with the even the most modest community hospital available in most areas of the US. Mexico City is different and there are banding doctors there in big ol' hospitals just like in Monterrey..and just like every US city of any size has. I'm not fond of Mexico-bashing. But I'm not fond of Tijuana hospitals, either. Many, many people ARE okay with them, and I'd never say, "Oh! Don't go there!" I just hate to see someone go by what they read online and travel there and then panic when they encounter a four-doctor hosptial or the like.

Hey! I'M the Geezer around here! LOL And I wrote a check...is how I'd paid for it.

ROFLMAO!!! Thanks for the entertainment.

If so, someone ought to consider asking for a refund.

I just "gave this lecture" yesterday, so perhaps you deserve the shorter version: The PRE-op liquid diet is the FIRST of MANY liquid diets you will have to endure. Pre-op "cheating" (and I hate using that term because it seems like it's kind of a game, that way) might not only make your surgery more difficult, it might also convince you that you can continue to "cheat" post-op...and THAT could cause physical damage to your newly banded stomach. So..the big question...are you READY to make changes...or not? If you are ready, bite the bullet (but don't chew and don't swallow) and get on with it!!! If you are NOT ready, postpone your surgery until you ARE. You won't be having brain surgery...and you WILL have liquid diets prescribed post-op and with some surgeons, with fills, and sometimes for irritations or swelling. And you will need--in just a couple of weeks--a way to deal with this very issue. So, make a committment or make a call to postpone, but don't try to play the old games (not that ANY of us here would recognize the games obese people play about food issues) on a newly post-op body...you'll physically hurt yourself. good luck.

Thus lowering the average overall IQ of internet BB's in general? Please reconsider. YOU are, after all, banded and this is a place that is designed to support people in your situation. Stick around.

Good job!! Eventually a three-day fast becomes child's play...really.

Yeah...I've had the same cell phone response from Rumbaut. He once answered my call and the background sounded weird. I asked. He was on a stage in Chicago, making a presentation to other ASBS dudes. I said, "I can call back later." He said, "No! It's not my turn to talk to the audience! Go ahead." I did my research and I "needed" a big city, full-service hospital for my psychic comfort...in addition to the best experience I could buy...so I went to Monterrey. (It was almost four years ago.) But yes, research!!

First, there's about six grams of fat in a medium skinless chicken breast. And, my surgeon used to go out to dinner with his patients the night before surgery...there WAS no pre-op diet in the olden times! LOL Then, and this is the serious part and is NOT meant to be "mean": post-op, you will be on another liquid diet. There will be days (maybe days on end) when you feel just fine and you are SURE that you have to have some solid food or you will die, during the time you are supposed to be on liquids. If you cannot go three days without solid foods now, what makes you think that you will be ready--in a couple of weeks--for this surgery? (Don't get hurt or mad...just think about it.) They won't be doing brain surgery. You will be fighting the same demons post-op, but the difference then will be that you can eat too soon post-op and create problems for yourself. Some people have to go on liquids after each adjustment, even after they have been banded for a long time. It IS tough, no doubt about it. But it is something you should be able to master if you are going to be banded. (You might need more protein--like in drinks from a Jamba juice place--or pills to help...but you need to be able to master this challenge.) Good luck.

jboy--not challenging your veracity, just curious. With all your research, what made Huacuz your first choice in Tijuana? I know that Kuri has been doing this forever, that Inamed has sent numerous cases to him for repair and that the only reason he doesn't proctor is that Mrs. Kuri doesn't like to be left alone while he goes out of town. And, although Ortiz is not my first choice as a person I'd like to hang with, there is no question about his ability to do the surgery. Anyway, I've been on these boards for about four years and Huacuz is one of "the lesser gods" so to speak in the Tijuana area, in terms of fame and all. I'm curious about what made that facility/doctor rise to the top in your book, especially since you have done more recent research.

Your English is great. Ya nee gavaru po Ruski. There was a time I could actually carry on a BIT of a conversation, but these days...Ya nee gavaroo. My German is...well...ich habe keine ahnung. But last time I was there I could still order a meal and all. Then again, last time I was there EVERYONE spoke English, so maybe I just THOUGHT I was speaking German. I did live there a while. I have survival skills in Spanish and because of that can ALMOST function in Italy. I once tried Japanese and as soon as I discovered that I had to learn four alphabets--Hiragana, Katagana, Kanji and Romaji--it was time to find the guy who bought used books! LOL But I still remember Lesson One and how to say important stuff like, "This is a book" and "that is a pencil."

Sa wa dee. But how the hell did you get the sanscrit font?

That's my partial list of stuff I could NEVER eat while banded. Dry, white meat chicken and dry beef and potatoes, pasta, pizza...PLUS raisins, breads, bread crumbs IN things (like meatballs or crab cakes), pancakes, waffles, leafy greens (as in most salads)...all that and more would plug me--and a lot of people--right up. Stewed chicken, baked or other moist fish...THAT kind of thing was always easier. Welcome and good luck, Sue

I told my hairdresser that I wanted to go back to my natural color(s)--mostly grey--because post-op from my DS I'd lose hair. She disagreed...said it's an urban legend. I went for my DS..and SHE went for a revision on breast reconstruction (cancer survivor). We BOTH lost hair and now she's a believer. (I also had hair fallout with my band and my abdominoplasty and the breast reduction. But way more with the DS because of the malabsorption post-op.) (I've just started taking Biotin and folic acid because the only time in my life I had decent nails was when I was on prenatal Vitamins. I asked my DS surgeon--a new daddy, so he's up on these things--what was in them that wasn't in the regular vitamins and he said biotin and folate. I'll let you know if it works.)

Do NOT use a "bulking" laxative. It can plug up the stoma requiring surgery to clear out the ball of bulk it creates. Water. Maybe Colace...

I hear you...I didn't go to Tijuana, even though both Kuri and Ortiz are more-than-qualified surgeons. The reason was not the doctors, but I had respiratory problems and I wanted to be in a hospital that was set up to deal with that and probably had a pulmonolgist standing there or with an office across the street. In Monterrey, with Rumbaut, I was in a full-service hospital, which was what I needed to feel safe. OTOH, a lot of experienced nurses were very comfortable with Kuri's old little place, which was kind of scary for me.

A few years back, when I was going to Ortiz for adjustments, I told him that what people who were banded out of the country needed was a chain of places to go for adjustments and that some smart doctor would set that up. You don't suppose he actually listened? He and his pal Grossbard are two of the three "advisory staff" and the only California Fill Center I see is in Ortiz's backyard in Cardiff...so I'm just sayin'... Anyway, the fill centers are being marketed--among other things--as a way for the person doing the adjustments to make $150/hour. So there will be--like in ANY line of work--those who are doing it because they love it...and those who are doing it because they have rent to pay. http://www.aftercareprovider.com/2_life_for_yourself.html#howmuch

Misfortune...I'm sorry that you had a bad experience in Mexico, but as I just wrote on another thread, my friend had her health permanently screwed-up by a surgeon in the US (in Wisconsin.) I don't think anyone should jump from that information to the idea that it's too dangerous to have the LapBand placed in Mexico OR in the US. (And we had a major kidnapping in L.A. this week and the baby was taken to Houston. Some people might think that we shouldn't let our kids be here?) There are uncaring physicians working out of filthy dumps all over the world...and there are caring physicians working in sanitary facilities all over the world. Don't blame the location, blame the bad guy.

I have a little experience with some of these issues. Back in the olden times, when I was banded, Quebbeman--who is just down the street--had placed someplace between 30 and 50 LapBands and charged about $30,000. Rumbaut had done about 1400 and charged $10,000. I had the $10,000 and I had the $30,000. If I had thought I was taking any chance at all, I'd have written a bigger check. But if I can buy a good product/service for a third of the price from someone who has 3500% more experience, it isn't just the money that's calling my name. I went to Rumbaut and think he's a wonderful surgeon and a caring guy. Hell, he hooked me up with his endodontist because I needed an emergency root canal...and he got me in post-op when her office was closed for a conference...he's a mensch. If I had an MO child who was debating where she should go, I'd send her to Rumbaut WAY before I'd send her to half the doctors on Inamed's current list. (That doesn't include Quebbemann; he is now very experienced.) And that's because I've been to a couple of the newbies and some of them have done fifteen bands or thirty and I actually think I've read more publications regarding the topic than they have...and they just don't cut it FOR ME. And, I have a friend who was banded in Wisconsin. That US surgeon damaged her diaphragm, and she has had several follow-up surgeries and even had the band removed, and is STILL in pain. Based on her experience, we COULD say that having band surgery in the US is dangerous. But it just isn't good logic to take one--or a few--good or bad experiences and then assume that that experience can be generalized to the population at large. willbethin--you had a bad experience and, apparently, a suck doctor...and talking about that makes all the sense in the world. But to assume that there is something wrong with Mexican surgeons in general just doesn't fly..unless we get to say that, because a doctor in Wisconsin screwed up my friend's surgery, it's too dangerous to have surgery in the US.

What everybody--mostly Elizabeth--says, but adding... I was also sure I did not have sleep apena. Imagine my surprise when on a machine that scaled from 1-20, I needed a setting of 18. That's pretty close to maxing out the current technology... Anyway, I have a Bi-PAP machine. It's a CPAP that assists you with one level of pressure on inhaling and a different level of pressure on exhaling. I'm ashamed to admit that I stopped using it and I NEED to go for another STUPID test or just have the techs keep lowering the settings...because with my BMI changing from about 49 to about 35, the current settings about blow me out of the room. OOOHHHHH!!! The purpose of all this is that sleep apnea can kill you. Essentially, your heart's lack of oxygen sends an "emergency alert" to the brain which then jolts you into breathing. The body is not built to do this on a regular basis. And, after years of receiving too many of these signals, the brain will stop "listening" and not send the message and you stop breathing and die. And sleep apnea on someone under or coming out of general anesthesia is a really bad idea. Because the message to breathe doesn't get sent or received very well when we're drugged up. And...even though a lot of skinny people DO have sleep apnea, a very high percentage of the morbidly obese have it...so we are prime candidates for that testing.