dawg

Its a big ball of rock. awesome.

*cough* You whispered while covering my eyes, I heard that you know :bananajump: Beside, goats are cool. It's a fact.

I agree with your entire post with only this one slight exception. I think losing the band could very realistically be seen as losing a loved one, or even your chance at life. Most who opt for any weight loss surgery are at their very limits of desperation. They typically suffer from co-morbitities and are in a very real danger of death. Having the band (or any other WLS) is an act to resolve these morbities and if it is removed and the weight is regained, so does the very real risk of untimely death. So, I wholeheartedly agree with you, but I think we must be totally realistic. To downplay the band as anything other than a determined attempt to resolve a life threatening situation is painting a false picture. The band, in a very real sense, offers the chance for life. Loss of the band, can (in terms of duration, happiness, general health) could indeed cause "loss of life". That is my humble opinion :bananajump:

Can I look yet?

Possibly, that or we are the token geeks.

There's one that I'll be sharing. chortle. Yes, indeed, chortle.

Awww shucks, scuffs a toe, looks embarrased. If you keep that up my badass image will be completely shot. As for why men are wierd: If we weren't different... you'd be married to a woman.

Board etiquette is an easy request, but hard to achieve. This, like any form of communication, is open to misinterpretation. I know my feelings have been most hurt by 'perceived' insults which end up being my misunderstanding. Text has no tone, no inflection, and unless specifically addressed, no target. It's hard for people to see that though when its on a 'hot' topic and passions are running high. I personally try and target any controversial opinion that I have (unless its a generic opinion) and if someone misreads me? Their problem. I think this was an excellently raised point and we all need to examine how we read things. And when I say 'we' I mean 'everyone' and I also mean 'you' in the specific 'you' of whoever reads this. We could of course invent a few new words: gyou: Generic you gyow: Generic You (women) gyom: Generic you (male) gyowb: Generic you (women) (banded) gyomb: Generic you (male) (banded) ryou: Really... YOU. iyou: If this applies to you, YOU. Hell, we could develop our own board language *snicker*

My wife's surgeon does the pre-op diet. As stated in other posts here - the focus is on shrinking the liver. It holds a great deal of fat and a 'fatty' liver can be quite obstructive for the target area. Infact, our surgeon made it clear that if he opened her up and saw her liver was massively fatty, he'd close her up and try again later. Every surgeon does things differently (despite what 'some' surgeons might have you think) and what they want - is what counts :bananajump:

For the record, I started ugly! To all the eroded bandsters: Your presence makes this place stronger and you are inspiration and hope personified. Now then, I shall go and sit in the corner and think about the bad things I have done.

Well no kidding Sherlock? You'd think Ortiz trained the man or something...

Sulk... self-pity... Muslims??? I'm speechless. Wait, no I'm not. Construct a sentence from the following words: a manner screw buy new me and to compassion fat you bedside need people mercedes 10 virtual points to whoever gets it right. and you better not be a Muslim or Dr. Pleatman will attempt to tell you about Jesus.

Fascinating thread. I guess I shall add my bit to stir the pot. Fantastic PR. If my business was getting negative press I'd certainly be here defending it. I would like to ask exactly how many erosions, or complications leading to band removal does Dr. Ortiz know of, performed by either himself or Dr. Lopez? He offered facts. That's a nice start. Dr. Pleatman - I am astounded that a physician would insult people and class them as obsessive. The steps it takes to decide on getting a band are monumental, and to loose it when so much progress has been made must be catastrophic. I can clearly see you were upset / stressed when you typed this: I'll ignore the fact that you seem to have difficulty with grammar and spelling. People here are friends, they 'band' together. If you insult one, you insult them all. We are all here because we share something. We either have been banded, have a spouse who has been banded (which is my situation), and people deciding on whether they should get the band. I appreciate both of you surgeons may be extremely skilled and have hundreds (if not thousands) of success stories. The concern about 'erosion' though is valid, and when there seems to be a large proportion of complications coming from one source, in this case <st1:country-region><st1>Mexico</st1></st1:country-region>, it grabs attention. I think Dr. Ortiz did a splendid job of trying to settle the nerves of patients who have had no complications and live in fear. Dr. Pleatman I think should just be quiet and shrink back from whence he came.

And who exactly has to carry the luggage? hmmmm?

Snickers like a gradeschool kid.

I think the steps needed to make the forum private would outway the benefits of a lucky google hit. Lets face it, even if they made the whole thing tight as a drum, a person could still sign up and see everything. Its a simple equation. If you post information about yourself on the Internet, it can (and will be) seen by someone else. As for your IP or ISP Address being included in a post, to translate that address to you would require an exceptionally skilled hacker. Most (if not all) of you will be on a DHCP Server and the best someone could 'easily' do is defect what city you are from (which most everyone reveals anyway). My final summary: We need a very grown up approach to the Internet. It's designed to share information, good or bad - thats what it does. Periodically, Google trying to find yourself. If you can't find yourself - you are as secure as you probably can be. I think we all stand infinately more risk from someone breaking into our homes, or stealing from our garbage to get your SSN than from any data we post here.

And as an echo "Floater" was a splendid word to use.

Force can be the dark side. Resentment, Anger, Fear you must avoid. For me? 1. No bastards cutting into me with a knife damnit, and I'm certainly not paying for the privilige. 2. I can handle it on my own, thank YOU very much. 3. I'll eat what I want, when I want. I'm grown up and you can't make me (stamp foot in petulant six year old way). The decision when, and how to lose weight, has to be taken by an individual. I've tried dieting because the doc has told me to, I've tried dieting because family and friends told me to. I more or less ended up saying "whatever, this just isn't worth it". Now? I see the light at the end of the tunnel and if I don't change my life, I will get to the end of the tunnel really damn soon. Sad to say but most guys need a 'short sharp shock'. I finally figured out after being miserable all the time after I ate that things had to change. The wife got the lap band, and I decided to do it under my own steam. Control has to play a part as well. I see the band (or any WLS) as a last ditch, Holy Crap! HELP situation. I would have to admit total defeat to get the band. As a man, I refuse to admit defeat. I wish I could say there's easy advice, but we are stubborn creatures. Every man will have his breaking point. I can only imagine how hard it would be for a chef to not eat his own wares. Hope things work out.

I can certainly empathize. I'm more than a little disenchanted with the medical profession as a whole. The onus is on the patient and family to keep ontop of medical staff anymore. Picky? no. Apparantely (and sadly) you had 'unrealistic' expectations. Like... to get the medical care you payed for.

Cli..damnit camera broke.

I'm offended. Despite that fact that I have an impressive pair of boobs. If this keeps up one of the gals will start a "How the lapband affects the man's assets" (ie his ability to earn money and maintain a good standard of living for his family, of course). I'd also like to state for the record I'm only in the 'topless' thread because the wife told me I'd laugh.

Pla.. Pluto...Plate-o...pl... P... Oh... here we go... Plato. And... more seriously. food is half the equation. Don't forget the activity. If you are exercising you may be doing some weight re-distribution. NSV's may abound while the scales stay obstinate. And if you aren't exercising... tsk tsk tsk :xena_banana::Banane03::Banane20: ....obey the Bananas and get moving!

Select "Quick Links", "Edit Profile", "Edit Avatar", Select Custom Avatar then use the browse feature to upload your image Think that should get you sorted.

Quoth my wifes Surgeon: "The first six weeks are about healing, You shouldn't even think about the scales until after your first fill". Plus: "Are you exercizing? are you keeping your Protein up?"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer. Oh and Beer. With a beer on the side please. Did someone say beer? If there's no beer, I'll settle for a Lager. What? Fine, I'll have a bitter... Good bye old friend.