utahgirll

Good for you for all the great changes you are making. I echo the thought of some of the others... don't pursue too hard. Never seems to work. And, as much as you think these are relationships, and they are of a sort, but face to face is real. Might I suggest you try www.meetup.com. it is not a 'dating site' in that usual way, it is more a 'hang out at an event or concert and have fun with lots of like minded people'. It is free to join, and then just go to some of the events listed that interest you. I have had some great times, met people in a non stressful way, and dated a few too. There are so many types of meetups to go to, at least in my city. Give it a try, it is non threatening and fun. Best of luck

How did it go Nigel? Looks like you've been through a lot! tell us about your operation.

Since I started this thread, I should at least introduce myself... lol. Hi! I have been researching weight loss surgery for quite a few years. Yes, I have a problem when it comes to gathering information. Meaning, I LIKE A LOT OF IT. But it can be helpful. So I started years ago researching the band, went to Mexico to a bandsters ball, met a ton of surgeons, and even chose one i liked a lot. Then decided not to get it. YAY, GOOD DECISION. Years have passed, and I've put on MORE weight, and have come back around, to find the Sleeve is the 'latest thing' (kinda as popular as the band WAS), so I research that and this thing called the MGB. As well as the DS. I like all three, but after all these years, have come closer to the MGB as my operation of choice, of the three. Trust me, I like to research. Look in the "gastric balloon" forum. i also like to research NON INVASIVE, NON SURGICAL ways to lose weight. There i listed many ways to lose weight that are either in trials or available abroad. And gastric balloon is really not one I'm interested in, Alex just happened to make that the title of the forum. aargh. There are some amazing NON invasive ways to lose weight, but most of them are in trials. So my question to myself.. now.. do i WAIT until these amazing new NON invasive, NON CUTTING means of losing weight come to fruition in 3 - 5 years time, or GO NOW. After researching my brains out... i am waiting a little bit to decide. BUT if I had to make a decision NOW, I would definitely take the MGB hands down. AND in mexico or India. If you can afford to go stateside, DO IT. but I can't. I am not going to go into my methods of research, but just know I think it is worth the years i have put into it to KNOW what is right for me. And that would be the MGB. I am back here after a few months of waiting again, and focusing on other things, and disgusted with my weight. I may not be able to wait for the non invasive, non cutting type of devices to come to the general public. SOOOO mgb may be my decision very soon. Thanks for all your comments here in MGB. Its been the devil to find MGB forums, but there are a few on FB, and I have encouraged many FBers to come over here to educate and help us newbies. Keep up the talk, my friends. LET's talk about MGB!!!! love and blessings, tristan adair utah girl

Please post here if you went to Mexico, India or another country to have your MGB or OAGB. Please post 1. your doctor, 2. his experience (number of MGB / OAGBs performed), and 3. cost of your surgery. I want this surgery but my insurance will not pay and I cannot afford the $17-$20,000 cost at this point in time. Please know I have done my homework and even been to Mexico looking at surgeries and meeting surgeons (for a different operation I never actually got). I have been on Mexican surgery boards for over 5 years. So please, do not start on 'danger danger' advice, ok? I honestly have heard it all. Thanks a bunch! If you feel so inclined, you can post here your whole experience... I am aching to hear more about Mexican, Indian, and surgeons from other countries. THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Thanks everyone for all the great posts. I am so interested to hear how everyone is doing.. please report in and tell us your results too! I LOVE that alex has given us our own specific spot now, yay! Sending support to everyone in MGB land! best, me

I am posting an article I just found online from Psychology Today. I am posting it here because this could be a complication of any weight loss surgery, with the lack of carbs we are able to eat after surgery. I am presurgery and struggle with depression NOW, so I am interested in your personal journey or comments about depression you may have experienced AFTER your surgery. Thanks in advance. food that would feed a gnat, weight loss is inevitable. So little food can be eaten at a time that patients are told not to drink Water at mealtime because doing so leaves no room for food. Pounds seem to melt off, leaving the post-operative patients optimistic about improvedsupplements. Eating too much causes severe nausea and pain, another unpleasant but avoidable side effect if the temptation to take one too many bites is overcome. However, some problems don’t disappear as quickly as the weight, and for some, may persist for years. Anxiety, depression and chocolate again might put you into a permanent funk. But the depressions reported both in the scientific literature, and in the hundreds of personal anecdotes on gastric surgery blog sites, suggests otherwise. Some have associated depression with the very low-calorie Protein and supplements to prevent muscle, Vitamin and mineral loss. Even though tryptophan is one of the amino acids making up protein, studies done over several decades at MIT showed that when protein is eaten, little or no tryptophan enters the brain. Low and/or inactive serotonin is associated with depressed mood and anxious mood, sleep is by taking prescription sleep medication,” is not an uncommon description of persistent wakefulness of many post-surgical patients. According to some of their reports, the insomnia lasts for months and even years. Some people reported taking melatonin but in such large doses (the correct dose is 0.3 mg) that it shut off their body’s own production of this hormone and stopped working. Others would attempt to limit the use of prescription drugs for fear of addiction, but eventually give in after several sleepless nights. Would eating more carbohydrates help? Might more serotonin help calm and soothe the mind so it stops racing around like a gerbil on a running wheel and allow sleep to come? No one disputes the life-saving consequence of bariatric surgery as it removes or decreases the many health problems of excessive weight. But unless depressed, insomniac individuals find some way to feel and sleep better, they are a risk for regaining weight and losing their health. Call it an unexpected blindside of a surgery meant to make life easier to begin with.

Thanks so much all of you for your great reporting of your experiences. Please feel free to post how you are doing.. there is just too LITTLE information on the foreign doctors that do the MGB and I love hearing every little detail. Weegie did you get your operation? How did it go.. detail details PLEASE. Thanks again to everyone for your reports. Very excited to hear about Dr. Rod because he was one of my faves. Thanks!!!

I am so excited to hear about all these different doctors doing the MGB. I interviewed Dr. Rod for a lap band some many years ago, and decided not to get it, but he was my favorite doctor by far there in Mexico, and I met some 7 doctors. Please write a detailed report for us telling us all the information about your MGB. I'd love as much detail as I can get, as Dr. Rod is a favorite of mine. Thanks in advance. TODAY IS YOUR DAY! GOOD LUCK! AND it is my birthday! lol Thanks everyone for posting about your MGB.

please tell us how much dr. rodriguez charges in Mexico and how much Dr. Kelly charges as well? I adore dr. rod, so might consider him if he has done a great amount of them. experience is important.

This is the place to post research / articles / papers and all things "do your homework" on the MGB / OAGB. Post it here! 1. Excellent paper listing advantages and disadvantages. "Single-anastomosis gastric bypass: better, faster and safer?" http://sjs.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/12/10/1457496914564106.full.pdf+html 2. Paper by Spanish doctors, in English. "One anastomosis gastric bypass: a simple, safe and efficient surgical procedure for treating morbid obesity" http://www.nutricionhospitalaria.com/pdf/3512.pdf More: borrowed from another posting. http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/24913595 http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23011462 http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/22411569 http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/24805912 more later.. feel free to post your own.

The New Full Sense Device - The Invention that could end obesity http://www.buzzfeed.com/joeloliphint/the-invention-that-could-end-obesity#.lwOEymdgZO

Alex I'm so psyched about this invention. Looks similar to the flexible one, the Endobarrier, I posted in this area. The bad thing about that one was I think cramping and pain at times. I think I might be ok with it.. Weight issues have only been a problem for me the last 10 years or so, and I think once I lost it, I would hope perhaps with the freedom of my body to move, as I used to, be able to maintain it. Anyway, thanks for posting this on facebook, where I saw it.

I think its marvelous. Gonna call and see if i can get in on a study. As the Mexican surgeon A. Ortiz, said regarding the successful use of the endolumenal balloon in his practice, speaking of endolumenal type devices .... in future years, the bariatric surgery performed now will be considered quite primitive. Me personally, I don't mind getting it put in and put out multiple times... a 10 minute procedure done out patient.. if i can avoid getting my stomach cut out and tossed away permanently. Cool breakthrough. If I can get it, I will. YAY SCIENCE.

Sue, Did you get any kind of insurance coverage for this operation? I wish it could be so. Let us know. Also, I set up a kind of MAIN heading for Introductions, for all of us... would you consider copying your introduction over there? Please remember... give LOTS of info, as much as you can... I am starving for it. Tristan

Thanks for posting that article.. good one. I should put down the French bariatric surgeons involved in these studies and operations.

Hi SUNNYNYC.... thanks so much for posting here.. would you consider writing a comprehensive diary / posting of your experience in India? I am EXTREMELY interested in this and would love to hear all the deets of your experience. Please? Feel free to copy and paste if you have written this before, somewhere else. I am so anxious / excited for information about this. I have heard about Dr. Kular. He is really going to town with the MGB in India and i have been to his website and watched the videos from his patients. Do you know if he does the 'stitch' to combat reflux? A Dr. Carvalho and other doctors in Spain do the MGB (they call it the OAGB) with a special method, this stitch and I hope to find some doctor that does that also. I had hopes also of finding someone who does robotic MGB, but that may be a pipe dream. I think there is another doctor in India that does the robotic MGB. I need to go google that. Anyway, please write up your experience, whenever you can... I am so interested. Tristan Adair in Utah

I belong to a FB page called Duodenal Switch and have been researching and considering this surgery. I can only afford Mexico, and the word in that group is the only Mexican surgeon to go with for DS is Ungson. They are a pretty supportive and amazingly intelligent group of ladies, with years of experience to share. I call the DS gals the BACON and FAT clan. Its rather amazing what they can eat or rather MUST eat to keep themselves alive. They have some 3 doctors they recommend in the states and the only one in Mexico is Ungson. The other thing they stress is the importance of the Vitamins they MUST take to stay alive. The vitamins again, are essential to stay alive. I am talking 4x a day. AND the importance of doing a blood draw to gauge the Vitamin levels very regularly, like every 6 months. It is a very complex operation, but it really works. And I am quite amazed at the food they must eat. Kinda my dream food. lol. I am pretty sure that I would choose DS over RNY if I needed to get re-done. Good luck, and hope you find the info you need. Personally, I am looking to getting the Mini Gastric Bypass (MGB), my first WLS. I know it is not me involved here, but if i were in your shoes, I would look to doing everything possible to not have to re-do the surgery... this DS requires a kind of extreme vitamin monitoring that I just don't know if I am capable of... also the cost of the vitamins is rather high, up to $150 per month. The weight loss is assured with it, you cannot NOT lose weight. The stateside surgeons sound pretty dang amazing.

prayers and support your way.

Hi Rocky, Could you please let me know if Dr. Ungson does the MGB MINI GASTRIC BYPASS also known as the OAGB. I am not interested in the Gastric Bypass. Only the Mini. It is much less complex operation than the Gastric Bypass. One thing I do know is that Dr. Ungson is the ONLY Mexican dr. suggested by the DS community on facebook. Tristan Adair

Hi AV RIDDLE, Could you please, if you like, write a comprehensive story of your operation with Dr.Zavalza? I hadn't heard of him before doing the MGB. I am so excited you responded and wrote here. Please tell me more, how are you doing, what made you decide on the MGB, and as many details as you can give me on your experience to Mexico. Please do tell everything. Hope you are feeling well. I would love to join your FB page you mentioned. I struggle with finding other patients that have had this operation and especially, there are very few that have gone to Mexico for it. THANKS! All the best, and thanks for responding. Tristan Adair looking into MGB in Mexico

HI... I am pre surgery and LOVE LOVE LOVE Water. Is it hard to get it down? I mean, I carry a huge container in my car and drink all day. I might really have a hard time if it is hard to drink water. Thanks!

Hi there BLERDgirl... Yes, I do know how to search, thanks. Each TYPE of WLS has its own complications and issues. I have read many complications for the sleeve right in its spot under the specific classification for SLEEVE surgery. It was very helpful to read it right there under Gastric Sleeve. So there it is, for you, a link, the complications for the sleeve. That specific thread helped me realize that I really am moving towards the MGB / OAGB. http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/429-gastric-sleeve-surgery-complications-support-group/ As you can see, it is easier to read it all in one place, specific to your surgery, the sleeve. So THIS thread is set up to be just like that one. I would like specifically to list all of THIS SPECIFIC surgery (MGB/OSAG) to be listed by the patients here. I would like a place (as it is on all other types of WLS per Alex) to be able to go to one place and see it easily. Listing it here, others having MGB can comment directly, we can read it easier, scroll through easier without back arrowing, click, back arrowing, click. Thanks for the concern, though.

COMPLICATION STICKY / LIST / All of us, please use this place to discuss any problems you may have experienced with your MGB / OAGB. COMPLICATIONS - ISSUES - PROBLEMS Please list here, your individual issues or complications with your MGB or OAGB surgery. We newbies and pre-surgeries want to know the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY. It is really important to go into this surgery with eyes WIDE OPEN. PLEASE tell us what issues or problems you have had, be it small or big. In my research, I have heard just a little about these as possibles: 1. Gastritis 2. Ulcers 3. Cancer in the region (I read this in one place... don't freak) 4. Gerd, reflux, that burning sensation that comes up 5. Leaks? I haven't heard of this, but it is a possible. and .. GO.

in a word.. YES! I am pre surgery and am looking to (probably) get the MGB or mini gastric bypass, also known as the OAGB (one anamasteosis gastric bypass). don't know if i am spelling that quite right. Anyway, I have been researching for more than 5 years and went to Mexico to investigate the band (didn't get it), and met some amazing surgeons down there. I can't afford the $17,000 to $20,000 the operation cost here in the states, so I am researching Mexican and Indian surgeons with LOTS of experience in this operation. Sadly, there are not a ton of patient forums on this operation, so I am out googling my heart out, and being in contact with doctors directly. I am most interested in the OAGB that does the stitch that prevents that burning reflux that happens and is common in most WLS. I am also interested in robotic surgery. I found a doctor in Spain that does it (Dr. Carbajo) ... he does both the stitch and robotics, but costs $20,000 which, sigh, i can't afford. So, there's my story. Would love to meet and hang out and support each other. I am in North Salt Lake. Tristan

Here is my research for doctors outside the United States who are doing the Mini Gastric Bypass. Understand that prices may be negotiable, so when you ask for a quote, you may receive a different number from what I have written here. These are from previous MGB patients. Mexico dr. sergio verboonen dr. Ponce de leon dr. Jesus Lopez Dr. Juan Francisco Zavalza Dr. Rodriguez $7,900 Dr. Ramos Kelly $8,500 INDIA Dr. Kular http://www.kularhospital.com/Home Dr. Mohit Bandarhi - robotically i think https://www.facebook.com/IndiaObesity http://www.indiaobesity.in/index.php SPAIN Dr. Carvalho BELGIUM Dr. Chris DeBruyne Personally, I have not met any of these doctors except Dr. Rodriguez in Mexico, and I may choose him for my doctor after feeling very good about the meeting I had with him in Tijuana some 15 years ago.