Frederic

So assuming I may have misunderstood your point I just looked up the medical papers you cited and read the abstracts in full. I also read the associated articles. My assessment is that you have misinterpreted the data. I interpret the data to be saying that the surgery is equally successful to other WLS in long term application but due to the possible complications it should only be used in patients with a decreased likelihood of long term complications and should not be used for patients where the cited complications would likely be life threatening. I do think the more complete paper is a bit misleading though since it lumps all complications occurring between 30 days post op and 12 years in an aggregate sample. Whereas in the paper MIssy cites they break down the occurrence of complications showing a decreased occurrence the longer the time frame from the initial surgery before a complication occurs. They also aggregate surgeries with no complications post revision (which hade a much lower incidence of further complication) with complications which were no treated with revision. The data is actually relatively consistent (in statistical terms) with the data from the Australian study. The difference is the Austrailian paper is highlighting information for people who are prime candidates for WLS (the relatively young morbidly obese who suffer from co-morbidities but are otherwise healthy) while the American study you cited highlights the risk to people who may not be good WLS candidates (people who are simply overweight or have additional non-weight related health risks).

It's fine to be a devils advocate to prompt discussion and encourage closer examination but it rides a fine line with "trolling" when using a forum format. If you mean to highlight possible shortcomings of lapband versus other WLS that's fine but you should present your arguments with context and ideally present reputable alternatives. it's unfortunate you're having second thoughts but your experience like mine is anecdotal standing alone neither of our experiences should be the deciding factor for someone considering WLS. It is a life changing decision and requires a lot of consideration regardless of the specific procedure selected.

I'm day 10 post op I struggle to get in 300 calories most days and have been losing 2 lbs a day on average. I think the hunger and rate of weight loss are heavily influenced by how overweight you are. In my case my body seems to clearly think it's easier to break down the calories in storage than get the stuff coming in through my gob. I would actually appreciate a little more hunger so it would be easier to get my protein in.

I used the Gas-x strips and they worked like magic within minutes of dissolving a strip the shoulder pain just vanished. Once I stopped taking my pain meds it was easier to simply pass gas and I didn't really need the strips anymore.

One of the things that convinced me to go with the lap band over other WLS was the fact there were no absolute "no's" it became obvious there were some commonly problematic foods but even those hardly ever applied all to the same person. As a diabetic I've been no carb and/or low carb for years so that took a lot of my concern away. I'll admit I'm still nervous about steak and rice which I really enjoyed pre-surgery but my post op seems to be going well so I just need to wait a few more weeks until I can start experimenting.

Oh and to bring in personal stories I had no problem eating 1200 calories and doing 500-600 calories worth of exercise. At my weight I should have been losing dozens of pounds a week but I'd only average 1 or 2 lbs a week at other times I'd change absolutely nothing about my diet or exercise but I'd get a new diabetic medication and I'd lose (if my blood sugar started dropping into normal range) or gain 5 lbs in the matter of a few days.

All weight loss surgeries require dietary and exercise changes. If a person cannot make those long term changes they simply shouldn't get WLS of any kind. That's why the psych and nutritionist evals are necessary. WLS isn't for people who can't diet or exercise it's for people who diet and exercise weren't enough. Missy just recently posted a long term evaluation of lap band procedures in Australia and it seemed to point at some pretty solid results in reduction of co-morbidity factors. I guess my problem is you seem to be coming down pretty hard on lap-band when your arguments would generally apply to any WLS. Meanwhile the original poster was comparing 2 specific WLS options.

I was able to start puréed on day three and am exclusively on puréed for 2 weeks. Week 3 I can start experimenting with mushy foods. I'm not really hungry I just want the wider variety in flavors and textures.

That would depend on how much protein your body has to spare. You body will use protein it needs to heal your injuries from surgery. If it can't get it from your food it will get it from your body. If you've got plenty of muscle to spare losing a chunk of it won't be hard to get back but if you don't have the muscle mass your body will target your other organs next. I was on broth and clear liquids for 2 days after surgery so I didn't even have V8 as an option until day 3 post op. But it seems we all have slightly different post op diets.

To clarify I'm not discrediting stories because they appear on Facebook I'm just pointing out Facebook aggregates anecdotal evidence which makes it less objectives. It would be like trying to study worldwide weather patterns by only talking to people who live within 100 miles of each other or trying to learn about sexual disorders by only speaking to women in their 20s. The Internet puts huge amounts of information at our fingertips but unfortunately many of the systems intended to make it easier to review that information either intentionally or accidentally reinforce our own subtle biases. Also as humans we're predisposed to believe our personal experiences are more common than they actually are since we often surround ourselves with people who have had similar experiences.

No Costco nearby. Walmart's protien shakes have too much sugar for my taste since I'm diabetic.

I can only get unjury online apparently and with less than a week to go I don't want to spend the extra money on something I may not even use. I'm already regretting th small amount of baby food I purchased to try. I tried muscle milk today and I'm not impressed.

I'm doing pretty well. Still surprised hw quickly I get tired and sneezing hurts a bit but for he most part I'm only feeling minor discomfort. I have grown tired of most of my allowed foods textures and flavors but I'm not hungry so I have taken tiny bites of foods I will have to wait another week before I can eat; I practic chewing them to mush and spitting them out it helps. It's getting harder to get my protien though I'm just so tired of the taste of whey. There is a price to having refined taste buds.

I'm a week out yesterday and I notice if I drink Water too quickly i get pretty uncomfortable I takes me an hour or more to drink 8oz. of water (and not feel like I have a rock in my gut) and I used to be able to literally drink that in under 30 seconds.

I had my surgery a week ago tomorrow and I seem to be healing fine. No bleeding from the incision sites no problems swallowing or following the liquid diet other than trying to get enough Protein in. Lost about 10.5 lbs this last week and no issues with hunger. Haven't needed pain meds for the last 2 days. But when I sneeze one of my incisions feels like it's getting a hot poker inserted and I expect to find the suture torn wide open when I check it out. The pain goes away quickly and then just tingles for a few minutes afterward and there doesn't appear to be any actual tearing. So any suggestions from anyone who had a simliar experience?

Actually the day after I posted this I no longer felt any pain coughing and sneezing still hurts but it's much less painful (more like being punched than stabbed). I'm guessing I had a minor adhesion and the sneezing tore it free so it's healing in a proper position now but I'm watching for any signs of bruising to make sure something that sholdn't have tore free.

As long as you're having bowel movements I wouldn't worry. If you haven't yet; then you might want to talk to your Nutritionist or doctor. It might be as simple as adding some prune juice or taking a laxative.

Personally I think the best part of the pre op diet was how it prepared me for the post op diet.

I can sympathize. I've been making sure I always have a big glass of Water next to me and I've been working on a massive to do list of personal projects. I find it's important to keep both mind and fingers engaged so I've also been playing puzzle video games and writing also. I will admit yesterday I did take a bite of pizza and spit it back out just so I could get some variety on my taste buds. I tried some of the baby food options and I'll admit I'm not really jiving on them but I did enjoy the gerber spaghetti with sauce which I thinned even further by adding regular spaghetti sauce. sugar free popsicles are also a nice change of pace.