GeezerSue

Never heard of it. (And I've been reading on this topic for a couple of years.)

sleep apnea can strike anyone, but (strangely enough) it often both causes and is caused by obesity. (Lab animals deprived of REM sleep--like apnea patients--eat more.) Anyway, just a word of warning from an old person. And while we're at it, yet another thing that is "easier" with band than with bypass. Fat cells are chock full of hormones. People who rapidly lose a lot of weight get a bit nuts. Sometimes it's mood, sometimes it's even more, such as hot flashes and all. You have lost a LOT of weight in a relatively short period of time. In fact, there are people who have hd bypass surgieries who are not losing as fast as you are. That said, you could be (excuse the unsolicited diagnosis) just a bit nuts right now. Nothing worthy of hospitalization or that sort of thing, But like your worst-ever PMS times 111. THAT kind of nuts. And add to that, that a woman who weighs 220-something presents an entirely different persona than a woman who weighs 330-something. Depending on how long you've been MO, you are dealing with having the world treat you in a way it has not in a long time. That's gotta bring up issues along the lines of, "So what was wrong with me this time last year, Bubba?" Good luck finding you!

I'm one of those post-band reflux people, so I just recently learned how reflux/GERD can impact one's life. I don't want you to think I'm encouraging you to get the band. I was just telling you what it is I had learned about the impact of the band on GERD/reflux. It's ALL a crap shoot and I'm not sure I'd go for it. If you want to ask Don Mills (whose job it is to promote the band so he is going to have primarily positive information), you can reach him at (805)683-6761, and just follow the voice prompts. Now, let me make you just a little crazier. Some doctors who do gastric bypass use a "silastic ring" which is a non-adjustable circle of plastic, placed at the location where the esophagus and stomach meet, to prevent stress on the area. So when you talk to doctors about that, find out the impact of the silastic ring, if they use one. Finally, there is also the DS. That SEEMS to be the bypass surgery of choice for banded people who have done a lot of homework. Again, it's not as popular with doctors. I wish you the best on this. GERD is terrible. I wish you relief.

Okay, I don't want to upset you, but here's where legitimate logic is at odds with the real world. He's right, you're right, I'm right and we all may be a little wrong, too. Here's why: The band can cause reflux in people who have never had it AND CURE REFLUX IN THOSE WHO HAVE IT PRE-OP, DEPENDING ON THE REASON FOR THE REFLUX. As a matter of fact, I had a conversation with Don Mills of Inamed about this topic yesterday. In patients who have GERD or reflux symptoms pre-op, the band provides one more place the stomach acid has to work its way through to get to the espophagus. For many of them, the stomach acid that used to work its way to the esophagus gets kept in the "lower stomach" because of the band. And, because the acid doesn't get to the "malfunctioning flap," it can't get into the esophagus. Those who do not have reflux pre-op and end up with problems after surgery do so because of the band placement and because now the acid gets trapped in the little upper pouch and finds its way to the esophagus. I could be 100% wrong. (Alert the media?) But many, many people who had GERD pre-op have had no symptoms since being banded. Keep checking. You may be giving up on your surgery of choice based on insufficient evidence. Good luck, Sue

Laura, I am older (55 at the time of surgery), have reduced esophogeal motility (which we assumed due to age, again with no pre-op testing and a surgeon who had planned over 1400 bands at that time) and have had (so far) only moderate success with the band...AND I'D DO IT AGAIN TOMORROW BECAUSE I GOT MY LIFE BACK. I went from using a cane to walk and a treadmill speed of 0.6 mph with a physical therapist and an oxygen tank at my side and sleeping or trying to sleep about 18 hours per day due to sleep apnea, and all that stuff. I now do a half hour of cardio on the treadmill at over 3 mph and/or eliptical trainer at about 50% resistance. I lost about 80 pounds, regained 20 when unfilled, lost about 5 of that, and am currently stalled. I'd get an additional tenth of a cc of saline to bump things up, but I'm about to have it unfilled again for plastic surgery. Did you have the test because of pre-existing problems? Is your surgeon one who accepts only "ideal" patients? (I just read a medical journal abstract about which are "better" bariatric patients.) Are there test results which can be interpreted by another doctor, or is this one of those deals that is read on the spot? Good luck on whatever you decide. But, if you have no history of esophageal motility issues (and especially if you're older), I'd wonder if the doctor was just trying to limit his surgical practice to only those patients with ALL of the pre-op predictors of success. Sue

Hi there, Hi Anyone on the board here have been diagnosed with sleep apnea? Me I am trying to learn more and more about it! More of expeirences then facts, I have read a lot about it, but would like to hear the experience of someone who has it. I have questions like: How many times total did you stop breathing during the test? Enough that we didn't even have to do the whole test. The diagnosis was a given, the issue then became WHICH machine. How many times in 1 hour? I know it was over 30. How far did your blood ox level drop? I have no idea. What device are you using?? My numbers indicated that I needed a Bi-Pap. One level of pressure inhaling, a different level exhaling. Any experiences like that would be really helpful! Once I lost about 10% of my total body weight, I was able to stop using it. MOST IMPORTANT PART...I WAS ABSOLUTELY SURE I DID NOT HAVE SLEEP APNEA. Duh. Thank you! Baileym You're welcome, Sue

I used to live in Boulder City. (I used to live almost everywhere.)

Darcy, When my favorite fish restaurant brings the freshly baked little round loaf of sour dough bread, I immediately grab it and start searching for the very brown, slightly overcooked parts of the crust. (The part I used to hate.) I can have A LITTLE, with a lot of butter. But the doughy stuff just kills me. Sue

Bob, the foreign doctors almost always make individual decisions about how much saline each patient needs. Many US doctors have decided to go by a fill schedule. I think it's stupid. Here's why: Let's say, that when it's all said and done, you're someone who will need 2.2 cc's of saline. The Mexican and European and I think Austrailian doctors do the fill under flouroscopy and get you as close to restricted as they can. They may need to tweak it once or twice. But, you'll be pretty close and need only tiny adjustments wheich they do "as needed." Meanwhile, the "schedule" guys will put in 1 cc, then titrate you up 0.5 cc's at a time. That means it will take you three fills to get to 2.0, which won't be enough. And then, at the fourth fill, you'll get to 2.5, which will be too much. That will probably take about six months and it tends to drive the patients who do need over 2 cc's completely mad. The doctors get frustrated and claim that the patient isn't trying and the patients get depressed and give up. I wish the schedule guys would convert to doing what their patients need and not going by some artifcial chart. Excuse my rant. But now yu know that IN CASE this happens to you, to either get yourself to a doctor who isn't afraid to provide some restriction (which is how the flippin' band works) or to cut yourself some slck and not get depressed when it isn't your fault. Sue *a mom who nursed the baby when she was HUNGRY, not when the clock hit a certain time. (Because boobs have been around a lot longer than clocks, go figure.)

The ones I have found will cost you about $1300 per adjustment, IF they decide to accept you. (They have to be in the mood.) I also have a calll in to Dr. Billy, in Ventura County, but no response yet. After that, Tijuana--as inconvenient as it is--is the least inconvenient. I think that, for REAL emergencies, Quebbemann in Newport/Huntington might be available to other doctors, but last I checked he didn't do routine stuff for other doctors' patients. I think Inamed needs to recruit a radiologist in Southern California who could just do adjustments all day. But I think they would still charge quite a bit. (Up north, Cirangle's office adjusts for others, I think. But I think that was about $1000, plus travel up to San Francisco...WAY over an hour away.

Finally, something I THINK I know a little about! I happened to be nearby when someone went through something like this, and I am very observant. This is what I THINK I figured out. Inamed wants to make good on any defective product. If you/they know what's happening in advance, they will get involved and and work out the doctor's fees and arrange for the doctor to bill them. And they provide the replacement materials at no charge. I don't know exactly how they work out the hospital, as this event was out of country. And, I'm pretty sure they even reimbursed for mileage and hotel. SO, if all someone wants to do is have it made right and not get paid for pain and suffering and mess with lawyers, Inamed seems to be right there. HOWEVER, I believe there is also a non-disclosure agreement to sign and that nobody who was involved in one of these deals can actually comment on it.

The opposite of Laporoscopic Surgery is not Major Surgery. The opposite of Lap Surgery is Open Surgery. You can have really major surgery that (like the RnY, for example) done either laporoscopically or open. The LapBand is, as was stated, designed for laporoscopic placement.

What Donali said, except I'm yelling. NO BLOOD. Thank you.

Loosen the band, grow the baby, TRY to be reasonable, and come back to weight loss when the important stuff is done. (PS--Will you be breastfeeding? Usually, that REALLY helps with weight loss.)

Uh-oh. Pretty soon you'lll stop dressing like the dedicated mommy you are and start looking like those Sex and the City types. I can see you already!

Also great. He does my fills now. And he has a new pretty hospital as well as his old one. It's just that, as a big city girl, I am more at home in the larger hospitals such as Rumbaut (and I think Sanchez) use in Monterrey. In a way, it doesn't matter, because what I should really care about is what my doctor is doing. But I guess I operate under the fantasy notion that if there's a problem, there's a better chance I'll survive if there's an assortment of other physicians of other specialties nearby. Maybe I'm way off base, but it's just what makes me feel safe. And. Monterrey is a center of industry and education and Tijuana is a border town that got big. All of these guys are competent. And Leo has yet another doctor in Tijuana, but I don't know him. But ya know...you need to figure out SOME local backup. For example, I'm having the abdominoplasty thing done, so I think need to have the saline out. And I'll need it put back in after that surgery. And if you end up with any reflux or GERD symptoms, you may need someone who can empty the band nearby. Have you asked around of others in your area?

I've been to both of them. Their prices are similar. Rumbaut (my surgeon) operates in a state-of-the-art training hospital such as we are used to here. there are many surgeons of many specialties available 24/7. Ortiz (used to do my fills) uses a nice, modern place, but it is essentially an alternative treatment place for cancer patients, with just a few doctors on the staff. They are both proctors, which means Inamed thinks they are competent. But Rumbaut has placed twice as many bands as Ortiz has and is a band patient himself. The adjustments issue thing is HIGHLY individual, and depends on how YOUR body adjusts and what other stuff you've got going on. Sue *who didn't mention which one is a nice, down-to-earth guy, and which one went through three costume changes at his own wedding, scheduled at the same time and in the same location as a major bariatric surgeons' convention, so that EVERYONE could watch his performance.

In Bandlandia, "leakage" usually means something happening inside, like a leak from the plastic tubing. I think you have drainage. From your port incision? Is that right? if so, I think others have had that too. They can comment.

From the Aetna Policy Bulletin: ...Aetna considers any of the following laparoscopic procedures experimental and investigational because the validity of their effectiveness has not been established in prospective, randomized studies with long-term follow-up: 1. blah 2. blah 3. blah 4. Gastric banding for morbid obesity, including laparoscopic-adjustable silicone gastric banding (see CPB 157 - Obesity: Surgical Treatment) 5. blah 6. blah... So, since their only grounds are the incorrect claims above, then I'd contact Don Mills at Inamed and Walter Lindstrom. Someone, somewhere on another board was reimbursed by a company. I don't recall which or why, only that they did collect after the fact. And that was before there was good research, so I'd think you have a better case. Good luck, Sue

I understand, intimately, government disability retirement. So, that leaves selling stuff, and you can always replace it later. Can you move down on cars? Got a boat? Yard sale? The deal is, $14,000 ÷ 365 = $38.36/day. You can do that and have the money in a year!

Denying you because _____? What's their reason? Do you and/or your husband work at a company which has a "Section 125" account for medical expenses? (Most people are used to seeing them used for child care.) Which prices can't you get a loan for? Any? The fees for LapBand run from around $8500 and up. Don't give up completely. Sue

Just for the record, I DO know how to spell "well." (Went to school, graduated and everything. Did NOT do well in the typing class.)

Just to confuse things...I wish someone HAD told me. I can eat the "dried" friuit if I rehydrate it first. But when I eat dried fruit--with the slow moving esophagus that often goes with being old--it spend so much time getting from mouth through the esophagus that by the time it gets there, I might as wasll have eaten a bag of concrete. I'd say...proceed with caution and see how it works for YOU! Good luck, Sue

Some days, getting on and off the scale becomes my only aerobic exercise.

DeLarla... LMAO. The good news: once you get your band AND HAVE APPROPRIATE RESTRICTION, you will lose weight. The bad news: if you have been a hundred pounds overweight and had a big belly for any length of time, and then lose the weight, your hangy pannus (or sometimes it's called panniculus) will get hangier. As will everything else that stuck OUT...boobs, belly, even my double chins have become a wattle...not so red as the average wattle, but swaying in the wind nonetheless. Just check your insurance to see the criteria for "reconstructive surgery," ususally listed under abdominoplasty or panniculectomy. Sue