Carlene

You don't have Yahoo?

Mine is called Pet Safe. I bought it off the Internet (ebay). It works great. We don't even have it turned on any more, but our Lab doesn't know that. She won't go thru the gate, even if you leave it open, let alone dig under the fence. I have 2 grandsons who like to put Sarah's collar on and run back and forth thru the gate. They told me that their friend is jealous because his Nana won't let him do that.

Our church does a Trunk or Treat on the Saturday before Halloween, and we always participate. Then, on the holiday itself, we hand out candy and/or take the little ones around our neighborhood. I usually made my kids costumes. One year my middle son was the Hulk. I used green food coloring. Did you know that food coloring does not wash off with soap and water? I have made some awesome costumes over the years. I will dig out some pictures and post them.

Is someone in Nebraska missing their gift? It should have arrived by now. I mailed it Priority on Oct 11th.

Dr. Rumbaut has a sterling reputation, no doubt about that. My point was that when complications do arise, it can be very, very difficult to get someone in the US to treat you if you have had WLS in Mexico, and very inconvenient and expensive to return to Mexico for follow-up care. And not all of that "attitude" is due to bad temperment or greed on the part of US doctors. Some of them truly are scared stiff of getting involved in a case that might end up on the courthouse steps.

I absolutely LOVE the Vagina Monologues! I've only seen it on cable. If ever I have the opportunity to see it live, I will definitely go.

The fecal exam only detects blood in your stool sample. It's really more indicative of early colon cancer than anything else. Most polyps don't bleed, even pre-cancerous ones.

The big difference is that with appetite suppressants, you don't WANT to overeat and with the band, you CAN'T overeat. Saiety is a moot point with the band. Even if you have "head hunger" (meaning you aren't hungry, you just crave the taste of food), it's not physically possible to eat and eat and eat, once you have good restriction. It will, quite literally, come back up if you try. That, of course, assumes that you aren't eating around the band by consuming liquid or melt-in-your-mouth calories (ice cream, chocolate, chips, etc). The volume eater does very well with the band because it puts the brakes on after about a cup of food. And yes, you FEEL full. My band is pretty tight and even a cup of Soup, if it is thick and hearty, will fill me up.

I give up....what are ketchup chips?

My husband is banded. No cath for him either.

Oh, absolutely no offense taken. I just had to laugh at the idea of a BA degree being related to common sense because my SIL, who is so VERY well educated, is such a space cadet! The original "dumb blonde". I just wish she would go back to school for her PhD...then we could refer to her as "Dr. Dingbat". Right now, we just call her "the dingbat". As for Dr. R choosing this course of action, I am pretty sure this was something he sold Sherry on....one surgery instead of two, and she was self-pay, so having it done in the US really wasn't an option anyway. I have wondered, ever since hearing that she was going to have a gastric bypass to lose 40 pounds...would a US surgeon even do that??? Some people have said yes, because it was a revision of a failed procedure (her band eroded). Others said no....and some said the surgeon might consider it, but insurance probably wouldn't pay. I belong to many WLS boards and have encountered people who had their bands revised to RNY or DS, and others who had a band placed over their old bypass. Just goes to prove that you can out-eat any WLS.

Oh, yes...they give you good meds after any kind of surgery. My anesthesiologist doesn't like to give pre-op meds because he says it makes it harder to wake you up afterward. I wanted to say, "And your point would be?????"

No catheter. My surgery only took 30 minutes and I went home the same day. I walked to the bathroom before they released me.

Well, at least your obesity is YOURS. No one is going to die from "second-hand obesity". I can say this because I am a reformed smoker. I just hope no one has pictures of me from those days, as a nursing mother.

Will the Mods please tell me if it's okay to post a link to another WLS forum? Someone got criticized for doing that last week and I don't want to make a LBT faux paux. Should I PM Skye, instead?

I am NOT saying this is routinely done in Mexico or anywhere else. I don't know anything about it, except that the two doctors who saw Sherry here (in the USA) told her it was not usually done. It was a judgment call on Dr. R's part - not necessarily a mistake. If all turns out well (eventually) he will say, I'm sure, that he was right all along. If it doesn't, he will apologize and probably blame it on something else. (Just my opinion, and a guess on my part.) She was referred to a teaching hospital and they would have (presumably) evaluated her and recommended a course of action. She CHOSE not to go, based on Dr. R's advice. There is a big difference in a hospital and a doctor in private practice. A public hospital probably does have to treat you, if you show up in their ER. A doctor's office is entirely different. But, as I said, I have only had one personal experience and that was in Texas, in 1989. It could vary from state to state. By the way....I have a college education, too. It does not increase your common sense one iota. My SIL has two master's degrees and she hasn't got the common sense God gave a goose. Go figure.

Someone slap me (but not hard) if this is a violation of something. I hope it's okay to post this here but if it's not, just tell me and I will delete it. Here is the latest (Sunday, Oct 15th) post from the lady who had her band removed in Mexico and was revised to a bypass at the same time. I cut and pasted the whole thing. Hi everyone. Again I want to say I love you all and thank you for being my friends. Let me tell you the latest. I went in for a CT scan on Friday and was expecting just that but oh no, it was so much more. They put an IV in me and shot die in my arm that felt like fire, I had to drink gross stuff and well and shoving that same gross stuff into my feeding tube making me dry heave. I wasn't expecting the IV and so I started tearing up when I got the shot. You guys have no idea, my arms are all black and blue and I've been through so much pain, I didn't want anymore. So there I am sobbing and the doctor is telling me that I have the largest leak he's ever seen and I will have to have surgery again. Of course I start bawling and I can't believe what I'm hearing. He goes on to ask me why I got this done in Mexico and blah blah blah. I just asked for my husband and I was a mess. Nick kept telling me I don't believe this hunny, you are not in pain like you have a large leak, your drains are not filling up that fast, I don't believe you need surgery again. He calls the Dr. here. Dr. Oh (who I can't stand) and he instructs us to come to his office. On the way over Nick calls Dr. Rumbaut who tells him that I will NOT have to have another surgery and he was pissed that they upset me. If I do have a "large" leak Dr. Rumbaut said it will heal. He once had a patient that had a 300cc leak and it healed. He said a lot more but I don't have the energy to write. We get to Dr. Oh's office and again said, well they can do whatever they want in Mexico and not worried about being sued but here in the US we have to worry about our practices (yes he said this) and so your case is too complicated and I'm only one surgeon so I don't want to take on your care. He basically kicked us out. He told me to go to the U of Washington to see specialists. When we called Dr. Rumbaut he said NO WAY. He gave me the reasons why he didn't want me to go to UofW but I'm not going to share them on here. He swore he would find me a doc here who would see me through this. So basically I"m back to not drinking anything through my mouth. Nick e-mailed him all the pics from the CT scan. He believes in his heart of heart that I will heal and will NOT have to go to surgery. He said if there is some unforseen reason I have to he will pay for Nick and I to come back and he can repair the leak through the inside therefore going through my mouth. He doesn't see this happening. I'm so pissed because every doctor I see I face prejudice about going to Meixco and then have to justify why I did both surgeries at the same time. I'm sick of it and so is Dr. Rumbaut. I believe in my surgeon. I'm so tired guys and it takes everything I have to not get depressed. My husband is amazing and so is my family and friends but it's just so hard. I have a long road ahead of me, I need to find the strength. Love to you all. Sorry I'm not on here that much, but my energy level is for shit.

Evidently it is NOT common in the US to remove the band and revise to another surgery in one procedure. One of the two doctors this woman was referred to (a band surgeon) said it was more than he could handle alone (surgery to repair the leak), and he referred her to a large teaching hospital where there were a number of specialists. Dr. R (her Mexican surgeon) advised her NOT TO GO, although she would not say why. She has complete faith in her doctor and he says the leak will heal and no surgery is required. He determined this over the phone. I hope he is right. As for doctors in the US "having" to treat you, I don't think they do. My grandson was born with a rare GI abnormality (Hirschspring's Disease) and the pedi released him from the hospital, although he should NOT have. My DIL and I took him straight to another pedi's office and the guy refused to even examine him. He told us to take him back to the ER of the hospital where he was born....and this was an obviously ill (juaundiced, lethargic, vomiting, not eating, not urinating) newborn!

You could take them out for drinks instead. Or a little weed...pass the bong around - a very bonding experience. Just kidding. I know...I'm bad. :hippie:

There are lots and lots and lots of successful band patients who had their surgeries done in Mexico. My surgeon trained in Mexico, as did many others. Speaking strictly from hearing about the experiences of others, I think Mexican doctors are not as conservative as those in the US. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. There is a young woman on another forum I belong to who was very successful with the band (-148 pounds) but her band eroded when she had about 40 pounds to go (to goal). Her band surgery was done in Mexico by one of the most respected surgeons in the country. She went back to him to have her band removed and revision surgery (to gastric bypass) in one operation. That was a month ago and things have not gone well for her. The surgery took 9 hours and she spent 11 days in the hospital. She flew home on a feeding tube (plus drains, etc). She has seen two doctors in the US and was told she has a massive leak that will require another surgery. They told her she was foolish for doing both procedures at once (removing the band and bypass). Her doc in Mexico disagrees - says the leak will heal - and she's going with that. This is a very serious situation and even though I agree that it's her call, I am very concerned for her. According to her US doctors, they HAVE to err on the side of conservatism because they can be sued for malpractice, whereas Mexican doctors cannot. I don't know if that's true or not, but I would be somewhat concerned about the checks and balances for physicians. Is there a Mexican version of the AMA? Do they carry malpractice insurance? What about civil liability? Do American patients have any recourse at law? This woman has not eaten for a solid month. She has a feeding tube in place, which I am pretty sure requires some professional oversight (or am I wrong about this???) and no local doctor will touch her, for fear of legal consequences. Is that shame on the doctor? I don't know. I'm not certain that I would risk wiping out my reputation and my financial security that I had spent years building to try and "fix" someone else's screw up. People choose surgery in Mexico for good reason (expertise AND $$$), but once you've made that choice, I think responsibility falls back on you and your surgeon. American doctors are not "honor bound" to help you out and IMHO, it's just wrong to bash them for not stepping up to the plate, just because it's inconvenient for you to go back to Mexico, your Mexican surgeon screwed up, etc. She posted the surgeon's name, so I guess it's not inappropriate for me to do the same....it was Rumbaut. My opinion is free and worth every cent...

Actually, I read about someone on another forum (OH or Spotty) before I was banded that was turned down because she had too many missing teeth. The surgeon told her to have them replaced and then come back and see him.

Wow! Who would have guessed that smoking costs more than doing drugs? Maybe there is more competition in the drug "industry"?

You need to stay hydrated, so don't give up the liquids. Sip instead of gulp, and choose warm instead of cold. I would not be concerned unless it lasts more than a couple of days, or if you find that you cannot swallow water.

TOM, that was a cheap shot and very much uncalled for. I will be leaving this thread now, with dignity (I hope). So sorry I can't stick around for the holier-than-thou pissing contest. Please let me know who wins, though.

I don't think you exaggerated your memories or the in-laws story, as they related it to you. My second husband's annulment was in 1979. My current husband's (two) annulments were granted in 2002. I was not the person seeking the annulment, so my involvement was pretty minimal. I gathered the paperwork, was about all. There are some standard grounds for annulment and if the case meets the criteria for one of those, it goes much more quickly (and it's cheaper). I do know that sometimes people have to pay for the hearing, advocate's time, etc but my point was that you cannot buy an annulment - meaning that you are guaranteed to receive one if you "donate" $1,000 to the Church. It just does not happen. Maybe in the 16th century as TOM pointed out, but not today. Most parishes will not baptize a child unless the parents have registered with the parish and attended baptism classes. Those are generally started when the mom is about 6 months pregnant. If they are started in another parish, they can be finished up in the "new" one. You just need a letter from the priest. I have heard of people who were denied baptism for their child because they could not document parish affiliation, but not because they hadn't donated money. (You would have to register in the parish, by the way, to get the personalized envelopes.) I didn't have my first child baptized until he was 17 months old. (See earlier post wherein I explained that I was mad at the Church. Like they noticed...LOL) I had to register in the parish, take baptism classes, AND go to Confession. Bummer. My second child was baptized at 6 weeks. I went to the classes like a good girl and everything went smoothly. My third and fourth children....well, let's just say they were old enough to walk and talk. And they still made me go to those damn classes. I was the only one in there who wasn't either pregnant or the mother/godmother of an infant. Serves me right, I guess. I keep challenging the rules and they keep enforcing them. Will I never learn?