DeLarla

Girl, now is the time to dig deep and find all the strength you can muster. Time to tell your family to make their own meals. I know how great cooking is when it pleases others, but their insulting comments and fat jokes make me physically ill. Nobody can help you but yourself, and it's time you took care of YOU instead of the ungrateful people surrounding you. Your husband isn't perfect so he has no right judging you. The Band gave me MY life back. I didn't ask anyone's permission or advice because I didn't care what other people thought. I did this for me, not for anybody else. I personally could never stay in a relationship where anybody insulted my weight or made me feel bad about who I was. It's time for you to pull a "Marge Simpson." That's when Mom puts her foot down and splits to the spa for a weekend letting the family fend for themselves. I don't care how bad your high school kids need you, that's an age where they should have learned respect by now. But they learn respect from parents, and you haven't set such a great example by allowing them to insult you or allowing your husband to insult you in front of them. Everyone sees Mom as a joke, yet Mom keeps cooking for them. If you're serious about losing weight, you first need to lose that low self esteem. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but sometimes tough love is the only thing people respond to. So your first assignment is to schedule a manicure/pedicure for tonight at dinner. Don't ask your family if they mind, don't make a caserole for them to pop in the microwave, and don't stock the fridge with frozen dinners or leave them money for a pizza. Start slow and show them who is boss!

It's always a better week when you start out laughing! Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits. Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying "Booya". Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants. Chuck Norris was banded without novacaine. He doesn't get endoscopies.

I'm going to submit my ugly belly photo later. Work is always getting in my way of all the fun :puke:

I can't even imagine how amazing you feel! Congrads to you!!!

Please, somebody send the men in the white coats with some pretty pills that will keep me out of this whacky thread! I'm literally laughing my ass off over what this thread turned into. It's getting nowhere. If anyone wants info on erosion, here it is: IT HAPPENS, and it sucks! And it can happen to you! And even if you don't feel like getting an endoscopy, it can still happen to YOU. YOU might be eroded right this very minute. But if you're like Chuck Norris, you won't care. What else can I help you with? GOOD NIGHT!

SMOOOOCCH! :puke: P.S. I figured maybe Eileen was from a country where they called the backside, "bups." So I figured she wanted leaner bups. I'm glad I asked!

Hey Doc, I've talked to Dr. Rumbault on the phone, but we've never met. However, if I ever had to go back to Mexico, he's the ONLY surgeon I'd even think about considering because he's got a stellar reputation. I have never seen a negative word printed about him or the facility he practices out of. I hope that makes you feel good :puke:

I can't even imagine. No way. Uht uh. Crazy. Wild. Wow. So proud!

Erosion doesn't only happen in Mexico. Dr. Lopez recently came to Vegas to teach Fisher how to remove an eroded US band, and a Florida bandster is currently recovering from band removal due to erosion. These are two that I personally know of, so I'm sure there are many more eroded US bands. Meanwhile, while US erosions seem lower (FOR NOW) please keep in mind that the Band has only been approved here for a couple years. Before jumping the gun, let's see how things unfold in the next few years before thinking that Mexico is the only problem.

This will all be a moot point as soon as DeLarla's At Home Pee Stick Erosion Kits are released.

Part of being human is having an array of emotions that range from silly to angrily outraged. Some people think it's bad to show emotions, but I think it makes us all honest. I would rather see someone's true feelings than wonder if they feel at all.

P.S. What's a leener? And what's a bup?

"Just because somebody says something that you consider to be assinine and stupid doesn't mean that you have to add to it by making your own possibly assinine and stupid comment." Bean, yes it does (and I say this laughing.) Some of us (me for example) come from mentally ill parents or are mentally ill ourselves ~ the apple doesn't fall far from the tree ya know. So I often lash out because I'm unable to hold back. Then five minutes later I realize I was acting like the child of a lunatic, so I delete my words hoping I didn't hurt anyone yet. Make sense? I'm a work in progress, but at least I catch my faults and correct them when possible.

For the record, Karen and Francesca went all the way to Mexico for a fill. Both were shocked to learn they were eroded. Neither had port problems or complications. Kathy, I was in the same shoes as that poor girl. When I finally decided to see Dr. Billy, it was with the knowledge that I might eventually have to file bankruptcy over the band. I had to swallow that option because my health and life depended on it. Billy will see Mexican patients, but not for free. He's more reasonable than some doctors, but you're sill facing American hospital bills. Meanwhile, the girl's nurse sees her probem as an emergency. Even though some doctors feel erosion isn't an emergency, I certainly do based on common sense. Ignore a foreign object eating into my stomach? No thanks.

I know people that went shopping the next day. But I've also known people that were down for 2 weeks. There's no way of saying how you'll feel. Do yourself a favor and make sure your life is in order before you go in case you're forced to go back to work. At least when you get home you'll have already cleaned and stocked your house after work all you need to do is plop on the couch. Also, make sure you have plenty of clean, loose clothes. You'll be swollen and bloated, and ANYTHING around your waist could be miserable. I lived in dresses and sweats - no bra for me either since it rubbed against one of my scars. Be prepared, just in case.

I'm a safety girl myself, so I'm glad you're getting the Upper GI. Who knows, maybe some day they'll think anxiety, stress & worry causes erosion! Better safe than sorry

Oh yes THEY ARE mine!

Topsy, didn't they do an Upper GI right after band removal? That was the worst part of having my band removed. I was in no condition to get out of bed, let alone wheeled to elevators and into the x-ray room. I hurled into a bucket during the entire trip, but they still made me stand and drink barium to make sure there were no leaks. They wouldn't let me leave the hospital till I did the Upper GI.

"We now recommend that every band patient gets an upper endoscopy around 18 months after the surgery." Dr. Ortiz. "Many people complain that insurance companies are reluctant to pay for LapBand. I humbly suggest that the best thing we can do to REALLY piss off the insurance companies is to willy-nilly require endoscopy on all our patients every year! Imagine the cost! And for what benefit? Actually not much. In fact, erosion, though devastating in its implication for the band (mandatory removal), is otherwise benign." DR. PLEATMAN Now we have two surgeons and a moderator disagreeing in one thread. First everyone thanked Ortiz, now everyone can thank Pleatman, and then everyone is back to Square One to decide which good doctor to believe. How is this thread helpful to bandsters trying to figure it all out and make wise choices when all we see are the opposing opinions of two surgeons? How? By making your own choice. Read everything, dispute nothing, then go with your gut. For anyone to say erosion isn't dangerous hasn't experienced it themselves. The band eats into the stomach while the skin around it repairs and closes over the outside of the band. But how are we to know how strong those bonds are? According to my surgeon, one bad PB or stuck food episode might cause a potential leak. So while suggesting people walk around that way, at least suggest they live on a diet of mushy foods sipped through a straw till they can be sure the band is safely inside the stomach with no weak tissue ready to leak. Maybe I'm making a medically incorrect statement, but I know my body, and I knew I felt "off" and uncomfortable during my erosion. Note: I sometimes edit or delete posts when I see people taking them out of context and misquoting me. I do it to protect people from relying on something I might have written out of sarcasm or as a rhetorical statement, such as when I said Pleatman owes the entire obese community an apology. Being the entire obese community consists of millions, it was obvious to me that my statement was rhetorical. Read, think, process. Then respond.

After my first projectile vomit, I felt green and queasy. Instead of a normal PB, liquid and food shot out 1/2 foot across the sink with force. I don't consider having an endoscopy insurance fraud after my dramatic experience. For me, I'd rather have a cavity filled than a root canal any day of the week, which is why insurance companies not only pay but also encourage clients to have an annual cleaning and full set of dental x-rays as part of preventative maintenance. I never see or feel pain and/or cavities, but I get the x-rays anyway. The expense of an endoscopy is nothing in comparison to a 3-day hospital stay for band removal and repair of a perforated stomach. But like I said before, the band is a very high priced device that should never be considered unless you have good insurance or a chunk in the bank. I'm not Chuck Norris so the thought of a band potentially eating into my stomach gives me the queebies - call me odd. But I suppose there are lots of tough guys who could watch an episode of Nip Tuck then fall asleep with no problem. YIKES! Even Dr. Billy says erosion "isn't always" an emergent situation. He said a completely eroded band would just end up as a blob inside the stomach and might eventually cause problems. Hats off to anyone willing to live in the unknown. Creeps me out.

Pleatman owes the entire obese community an apology. I haven't received one. Babs, several of my eroded friends didn't know they were eroded. The only reason they found out was because during their fills, their surgeon wasn't happy with how the barium flowed around the band instead of through it, which prompted an endo to confirm erosion. There aren't always symptoms, and the longer the band erodes the more damage it can do to your stomach. My current surgeon never required regular endoscopies, either. But now that he's seeing so many people erode around 18 months out, he said he’d start requiring them on everybody at least annually. I was also denied an endoscopy when I requested one. Insurance doesn't pass them out, your doc has to find it medically necessary. I had a projectile vomit and went to the doc holding my guts. At that point he felt it was medically necessary. ** Edited because my sarcasm was taken too seriously.

Paula, don't feel bad about DRY chew on the floor. My friend's husband spits in the bathtub. I'd leave a man over that.

Girl, you gotta take it really easy. I lost my band due to erosion, but it really helped me learn how to eat like a human. Your band is there to force you to eat slow, take baby sips, chew till mush mush mushy. But you should still call your surgeon so he can document your file so that when you are ready for a fill he'll know you were really tight from the band alone. How long have you had your band? Chances are that it will loosen up in the first month or so. You little sensitve thing you

Good news, you're normal! I had good restriction before my first fill, and my friend lost 70 pounds before getting a fill. The band alone offers a good amount of restriction for some of us.

I'm with Penni, however, this is actually a very serious question for obese folks. I now have Barrett's Esophagitis (long story, but I have precancerous cells on my esoph that don't always eventually lead to cancer.) But I'm sure I caused the problem by eating too much too late, then laying down with all that food backed up in my stomach into my esophagus. So it's best to stop eating 3-4 hours before you lay down, even for a nap. And who else is tired of trying to spell esophagus?