GeezerSue

Thing is...unless he's placed AT LEAST 50 bands--successfully--I'd consider him a beginner and wouldn't want him to do my surgery. As far as deaths are concerned, band-related deaths must be reported to the feds...I'll see if I can remember where. But, maybe he has had non-band-related mortalities. And, I believe the bypass mortality rate is approximately 1 death out of 200 surgeries.

Two of my cousins have kids with Down Syndrome. One is 32 now--going on 12--and a typical adolescent. He lives in a group home and has a job-coached job. The other is about eight years old. He is also autistic. And he has a 13-year-old brother who is in college. Talk about the cloudy corner of the gene pool...we are a strange lot.

I'm somewhat partial to "You farking ice hole." But some people seem offended even though I'm NOT using any naughty words...go figure.

Your punishment for this outburst is that we're going to ignore it. Deal with it. Geezer Sue Self-appointed Queen of LBT

And I can't comment on Penni because of her angel-ness.

...but too many cooks spoil the broth/soup/stew. And, Alexandra really is a genius at this moderator stuff. Not that the others are not great... but genius needs to be recognized.

Some very nice, hard-working, dedicated people just tried to plan a bandster bash in Chicago and it failed. IMHO--and the HO's of several others--the main reason it failed was OVERplanning the weekend. To save money and ease transportation, etc., the event was scheduled outside of Chicago, near the airport. And there was a buffet dinner on Friday, a brunch on Saturday, meetings with speakers at an undisclosed time during the day, and then a dinner dance with DJ on Satudrday and brunch on Sunday. It was a bargain for $150 (plus transportation and accommodations) for those who wanted to spend all that time together, and hear why the LapBand was a good choice (evben though the event was being marketed almost exclusively to people who were already banded) and almost NO time in Chicago. They needed to sell 70 tickets and, from what I've been told, got nowhere near that number. It didn't fly and was cancelled today. (And there were a few days of really hard feelings because some of us who might have liked to meet people for lunch or dinner, but do Chicago on our own instead of hear why the band is a swell idea, decided to go on our own...and were perceived by some as "distracting" from the original event, or being too cheap to pay, and a bunch of other things. Go figure.) A Friday night "Meet and Greet" and maybe Saturday Happy Hour and dinner or dinner only would have had a lot more participation. Just throwing it out there for those who are planning.

I'm on the cusp of weeks two and three post-op. I'm very tired of not being 100%. My surgery was painless and I'm progressing just fine. But the progress is not speedy. And one boob is sort of tender. And I want this to be over.

Marie...I REALLY didn't know how many people were involved and what exactly happened. If I had known it was only one moderator involved, I would have been more vague. Sorry that I didn't read every word. It was not meant to single out anyone...just the practices involved.

Writing as someone who was (for a change) not involved in (as they used to call the Civil War) the "recent unpleasantness," I have an observation, comment or whatever...or two. 1--I get a more than a little tickled when I read complaints ON THE LOUNGE PAGES or FEEDBACK PAGES, from people who say they only come to LBT for the support. It's like swearing that you just went to the magazine rack to pick up a copy of Family Circle but want to complain that Playboy has some dirty pictures in it. If you're just there for the Family Circle, don't OPEN the freakin' Playboy. Leave THAT magaine to the people who DO like dirty pictures. 2--I am really not aware of who did what to whom...but, locking a thread is certainly within the rights of any moderator. As is deleting an offensive thread. But becoming a Nazi in the interest of Sweetness and Light is still becomg a Nazi...and digging up and reposting something that a member wrote and then deleted smacks of digging through the trash to find dirt on other people...all National Inquire-y. Yuck. Just because I wasn't involved, I had to get involved after the fact. Going back to my bubblegum flavored children's Motrin, now.

We did..so have many others. IRS has no rule abut WHERE the surgery took place.

Thought #1--The area where stomach acid is NOT supposed to be--the esophagus--might, when exposed to acid, bcome swollen as well as irritated, and then the restriction could increase. Just a theory. What do I know? Thought #2--For those with pre-existing reflux, the band "cures" the problem more often than not. It's those of us who never had reflux pre-op who have to watch out.

Yeah...I had to empty mine, too. If anyone got ignored, there's room now!

All I have to say is that between my sleeping a lot due to antibiotics and a minor post-op infection and my being engaged in an online battle elsewhere, I'm feeling really left out. The next time all hell breaks loose, someone should call me. Thank you...and I'm going back to sleep now. Sue

There are so many kinds of cancers--some might impact the advisabiity of a band, others might not. I've had cancer...but it was almost 30 years ago and nothing from that would influence the band decision. Michelle--my best friend has had to bury two of her children. That just is NOT the way it's supposed to be. I am sorry for your loss.

Jack...from what I've read over the years, they don't want it...

from Aetna.com... Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG) and Laparoscopic Adjustable Silicone Gastric Banding (LASGB or Lap-Band): Aetna considers open or laparoscopic vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) or laparoscopic adjustable silicone gastric banding (LASGB, Lap-Band) medically necessary for members who meet the selection criteria for obesity surgery and who are at increased risk of adverse consequences of a RYGB due to the presence of any of the following comorbid medical conditions: 1. Hepatic cirrhosis with elevated liver function tests; or 2. Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis); or 3. Radiation enteritis; or 4. Demonstrated complications from extensive adhesions involving the intestines from prior major abdominal surgery, multiple minor surgeries, or major trauma; or 5. Poorly controlled systemic disease (American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) Class IV) (see Appendix). This is as of December 2004. If these conditions are NOT met, Aetna does not routinely cover the procedure. Go to www.aetna.com, then click on doctors on the left, then Medical Policy Bulletins, the look up Obesity surgery. Good luck.

He's around $10K. He used to have an option where you could pay him an the hospital separately and--usually--save some money.

There are not always signs. Who was your surgeon? I ask because some surgeons seem to have more erosion problems and if you've been to one of those surgeons, more of us would be encouraging you to get it checked right away.

Hi, Alex B! Thanks again for this forum. And, I think that people need to understand that anything they post anywhere on the internet is subject to being found. To assume otherwise is to invite disppointment.

She was off having unrelated surgery and I just got an email to her today. I hope she'll pop in here.

I know someone on another board...I'll see if I can scare her up.

I SOOOO have new boobs.

Back when I was but a lass of 42 (1989), I had purple hair, too. It was a mistake, but it was cool. They called it a cellophane...I think it was cabernet. All my grey hair--and there was a lot of it went PURPLE. It was a tad disconcerting when I had to speak against the new dress code at our daughter's junior high, with purple hair. It faded to pink. Then it grew and I cut it short. Returning you to your unjacked thread... (Except for, my kid--the one who didn't like the dress code--is also listed in imdb.) So we're related.

Hey...how come they make me pay $100/month to each of them just to let me keep posting here?