MacMadame

My nine year old has now participated in a focus group and gotten $75 for it. What is the world coming to?

They are going to have to get in line.

I read about someone who never got a fill and lost 100 pounds. Don't forget that early out your stomach is probably swollen too. So you might need one later on even if you don't now.

I call Dr. Huacuz, The Butcher of Tiajuana. I wouldn't let him operate on my dog. If I had a dog. There are plenty of good doctors in Mexico, why go to one with a poor reputations when there is another down the street who has a great reputation?

Generally if they don't say, that's good. What you normally see in the booklet is the exclusion for weight loss surgery. The booklet can't possibly cover everything they cover so the main thing is to look at the exclusions and make sure it's not there. Plus, getting the same answer 6x in a row from an insurance company is a miracle. So I'd go with it. :thumbup:

I'll file a counter-suit: bacon, why are you so greasy and salty. It's disgusting. :thumbup:

Well, based on the answer, I was being overly sensitive. But you see, I was thinking that there was some logical reason to throw Ralph in there. I.E., that the idea that Ralph would see the picture would somehow upset BBK. But apparently not...

I can't figure out how to vote on MySpace. ??

Green hasn't got cancer any more? I missed that. Yeah, green! Sorry to Susan and Kat.

Hey, I was going to ask about Ralph too, but was trying to be delicate.

Congrats, Pamela! I hope to be you in a year. :tt1:

Your two statements contradict themselves. But first to correct some misinformation (again) -- the Realize band has been available in the US since Oct. 07 and some surgeons have been using them that long. Some were involved in the clinical trials and were using them even longer than that. But, since it's the same band that's been in use in the rest of the world since 1996 -- as you say yourself -- then there is other information available as to its performance, not just a surgeon's own experience. Also, the LapBand AP hasn't been out long enough to have significant long-term clinical data published in a peer reviewed journal as to how effective the changes that were made are. In the end, most surgeons that use both seem to think they perform the same and that individual differences in weight loss are due to other factors such as patient compliance.

So I guess that means when Lap Band updated their technology 3x it was because their band was no good... :tt1: Technology advances and changes are made. Many of the changes made to the LapBand AP system were made precisely because the Realize band was introduced into the marketplace and had improvements that the LapBand lacked. Now Realize is going to improve their band in an attempt to be the clearly superior band. If they succeed, LapBand will update their bands again. The consumer wins because neither company can rest on its laurels or the other company will put it out of business.

Is your mom always this much of a drama queen? Honestly, I couldn't get through her entire email because it was all so Dramatic! given how innocent the pictures are. After all, as she says, they "leave a lot to the imagination" (I assume she meant *doesn't* leave a lot to the imagination, but what she wrote was actually more accurate -- a Freudian slip, perhaps?) Now objectively speaking, she has a point about the work thing and about strangers seeing your pictures. You need to think about that and decide if you are okay with it. Having your MySpace set so only your friends see it is a good idea too even if you have almost nothing there. BUT The rest of it is so over the top that it makes the reasonable parts seem unreasonable. Your girls are going to see your tasteful pictures that don't show a lot of skin -- no cleavage, no belly button, not much thigh -- and aren't in a suggestive position and "take it further" ? Someone at school is going to make fun of them because their mom won a beauty contest? These things only make sense if you think the pictures are suggestive or skanky IMO. Plus your girls are kind of young for someone at school to be finding your pictures, aren't they? Now, I don't think she's calling you a whore, but she is being over the top and dramatick. She could have written maybe two paragraphs -- I saw your pictures, you are beautiful but people are strange, have you thought it all through -- and be done with it. By writing this LONG screed she is trying to make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. Sounds like it's time to set some boundaries. And I thought my mom was bad for getting drunk at my birthday dinner and telling embarrassing stories about me.

I'll ask some people at work and get back to you. (I work with a lot of people from India and they often get medical and dental problems taken care of when they go back for their yearly vacation.) Do you have the name of a doctor to check out as well?

I think you are missing my point. The poster I was responding too seemed quite indignant that people would dare to criticize the President on a WLS support site. I was just wishing her luck in her quest to find a support site where everyone agreed with her. Or, as she put it, no one was "stupid". :wink_smile:

Actually, you are tied for 1st place. That's close to winning. You need to post the link every day for us lazy people. :-D

Sounds like you are okay if you are having real trouble with controlling your HP. That is definitely a co-morbidity for every insurance company I've looked at.

Good luck finding a support site where everyone thinks President Bush is wonderful.

Maybe you have too much fill? :wink_smile:

I think it depends. My insurance wouldn't accept my hypertension as a co-morbidity because it's easily controlled with very little of the first level medicine. If I went off my medicine, at most my blood pressure would climb to about 145/85. This isn't good, but I don't think it would *really* be life threatening if I did it for a month or two. In fact, at times my PCP has me go off them for other reason for a day or two. But to make work for insurance purposed, I'd have to lie and say that I was taking the medicine and it wasn't working. That would be insurance fraud and *that* is definitely a bad idea, whether or not going off my blood pressure meds was a good idea.

There are a lot less hoops if you self-pay but there are still hoops. I had to do a nutritional consult, a psych eval, an EKG, an Upper GI, a Cardiac Stress Test, labs and a physical. The physical usually includes a PAP and Mammogram but I had them done less than a year ago so they accepted those instead of demanding new ones. What tests you get depends on your pre-op symptoms. I probably didn't really need the Stress Test as it turns out. But no 3, 6 or 12 month diet, no classes, no documentation of 2 - 5 years of weights, no having to submit a list co-morbidities and other documentation of medical necessity, etc. I could have had surgery 2-3 weeks after my first surgical consult if I'd wanted to.

My snack fairy buys me cherries and cheese sticks. :-D

I'm done with all my pre-op testing. And now I'm working the forms for the disability leave. I thought that it started the first day you were in the hospital but it appears that is no longer true. Bummer.

This is why we have chinchillas. They live about 12 to 20 years. Unlike the hamsters, guinea pigs, rats and mice we had before. The Yankees jersey belonged to my late MIL and I feel guilty for never wearing it and for even considering throwing it away. But if it gets to be way too big .... well, I'll have good excuse then, right? :sad: I like to wear a Christmas-y sweater on Christmas morning so I can look festive in the boring holiday videos Mr. Mac makes. As you can see, this amount of use did not justify buying a new one every size. The one I have now is only wintery anyway, but I still bet I get rid of it before I wear it again. That's a good idea! Make a Facebook page and we can talk.