MacMadame

Thanks, guys!

Actually, there is tons of video on YouTube that predate YouTube. I watch skating videos from the 80s (and even earlier) all the time. But that doesn't matter because this one is labeled 2007. But it's definitely not the current Realize band. It looks positively ancient -- just look at the port!

Care to share who? I'm looking for a surgeon in this area and narrowing it down to just one is nerve wracking!

I quit diet soda cold turkey about 2 weeks ago and now I can't even look at can of soda without feeling gassy and gross. I thought that would be the worst thing to give up (which is why I started early), but it's turned out to be pretty easy.

I knew there was a reason I liked you. And you're from the right state too. Maybe it's an earlier generation? Because in spite of what lsuza/redstar keeps saying, the Realize band being sold in the US is not the first generation. In fact, the first generation band (put out in the 80s) didn't even have a buckle, but was sewn shut! Luckily, all the bands have changed a lot since the 80s.

I think depression is even considered a co-morbidity by a lot of insurance companies.

Interesting, because I feel that way about Rumbaut. But I'm still hopeful that I can work the insurance angle even though my company has an exclusion for weight loss surgery. It appears there are some loopholes. Have you tried appealing? Some insurance companies just reject out of hand the first time. Also, make sure your doctor documented ALL your co-morbidities.

When I hit 47, I started to feel really creaky. Some days I'd have to roll out of bed because I was so stiff. Then I got plantar fasciitis. Finally, my blood pressure went over the magic number and I'm now on blood pressure medicine. I am hoping that a lot of this will go away if I lose weight, but I've been over 200 lb. before and not had these problems. At first, I figured it was just a function of getting older. But now I'm wondering if it's a mixture. Maybe as I get older, my body is less able to handle the excess weight? I worry that I'll get a band and lose the weight and then not have some of these issue resolve after all. What have other people who are actually banded found? How much of your healthy problems were entirely due to weight and how many are due to age?

But if people didn't post their experiences with their doctors, how would newbies like me know who to avoid?

I sometimes get ignored at stores. But my kids get it much worse than me. They can stand at a counter for days being ignored if I don't go up and rescue them. So I guess being a kid is much worse than being fat!

Thanks for the link, MichelleInCA. I love to read research... I'm weird that way.

There are a couple of ways to get your food into The Daily Plate. You can type in the search box and get a list of foods that match your keywords. If I get too many results the first time, I look at what is coming back to figure out a way to express what I ate more precisely to get less results. Also, it remembers everything you've typed in though so you can bring up a list and just check off what stuff you've ate today without having to search again for them. There is also a list on your page of foods you eat a lot so you don't even have to bring up the full list if what you want to input is right there in the sidebar. ETA Looks like HeatherA and I were typing at the same time!

I just have to say that whenever I see this thread title, it makes me smile. Congrats on seeing your ribs!

I think it has to be a partnership. The doctor is an expert in medical things, but we are an expert on ourselves. So both have to have input into any decision, IMO.

I had staples for gallbladder and c-sections. Sometimes it stings when they take them out. But sometimes it doesn't. I guess that's not very helpful, is it? :tongue2:

The part about no health problems related to being overweight isn't exactly true. In fact, if you have "co-morbidities", you only have to have a BMI of 35. There are certain health problems that will mean you can't have surgery (like serious heart problems) but not every health problem related to being overweight precludes it. In fact, having WLS is the recommended treatment for a number of weight-related health problems. Some obesity-related health problems that people with the band routinely report are hypertension, diabetes, PCOS, sleep apnea, GERD and joint pain. As for being overweight for at least 5 years, it really varies by insurance company. Aetna just changed their policy to only having to provide 2 years of weight histories, for example. Also, you don't normally have to be morbidly obese for those 5 years, just "overweight". What qualifies as overweight will probably also vary but one definition is any BMI of 25 or higher. By that definition, I've been overweight for 25 years!!

I was poking around various surgical group web sites and found one with a 73 old woman who has had her band for years, lost tons of weight and has never had a fill! :cursing:

Ooh, that must be frustrating! I'll cross my fingers for you that the approval letter is already in the mail.

Well I'm going to argue it, because you are wrong. (Period. :cursing: The Realize Band is not 1st generation. The first generation Swedish Band was invented in the 80s. The Realize Band that is being sold in the US was put on the market in 1996. That makes it 11-12 year old technology, not 14. You can't even get your basic facts straight and you accuse everyone who disagrees with you of being swayed by the J&J site or being stupid or lying or whatever, which is RUDE and also unnecessary. The idea that someone has done a lot of research and disagrees with you doesn't seem to have occurred to you, I guess. Well, I'm someone who does my research and I'm quite satisfied that the Realize band is a good one and that most of your complaints about it are off-base. The new Lap-band is modification to a 14-15 year old technology to make it more like the Realize band (and the French Midband that is not yet available in the US). I'm glad they are doing that as making the bands softer and wider seems to help them work better with less long-term complications. But it doesn't make the Realize band "crap" and the softness of the Realize band, that you knock, is actually a good thing IMO.

I lost my gallbladder 27 years ago. I was on Nutri/system and lost 70 lb. and that gave me gall stones. Of course I gained all the weight back and then some ...

Actually, that's not a lot of problems reported. It's an average of 8 a year during an approximate 4.5 year period. I don't know how many bands were installed during that period, but I imagine it's thousands. I also can't believe there were only 36 reports in all of Canada so I'm wondering exactly what sort of data is being reported. Also, the conclusion of the report is not that the Swedish (Realize) band shouldn't be used, but that "until reliable selection criteria for patients at low risk for long-term complications are determined, alternative treatment options should be considered and gastric banding should be performed only in carefully selected and fully informed patients." IOW, banding isn't for everyone. And to answer the original question, surgeons in Mexico use all sorts of bands including ones that aren't even approved in the US. I hope, since there are people here from all over the world, that we can get some reports on those other bands. In particular, I'm interested in the Midband (French) band as it's even newer than the Inamed and Realize and has some nice features. Does anyone know if it's being evaluated by the FDA yet?

It was first released in Europe in 1993, as I said. This is from Inamed's own site. The company that makes the Realize band was the first company to do bands at all, back in the early 80s. The band being sold now is not that same band however; they have made changes to it just like the Lap-band has evolved. The band has only been approved in the US since Oct/Nov. so it is not in wide use. OTOH, there are a lot of doctors who use both so you can have a choice and some that have switched to this new band entirely. So I don't see a big consensus of opinion in the medical community that this band is crap. And I live in the SF Bay Area which has some of the finest medical care in the US. As I said, the best bariatric surgeons here are starting to use the Realize Band. Luckily, I can't get surgery until the Fall so there is time for more data to accumulate. :cheers2:

Just think about going through the day not being hungry all the time but still losing weight.

But getting old is good... think of the alternative.

This is something I worry about. When I had my gallbladder out, they couldn't go in the normal way because my rib cage was in the way. This was before laparoscopic surgery and I have no idea what that did to that area. They split me open from just under my breasts down to my belly button. It's 28 years later and I still have some scarring.