Murphles

Oh and misfortune-I am so glad you survived. I hope you continue to recover-it will get better.

Last thing that I should do is weigh in here but.... here I go.

Complications are awful in health care. Some are preventable. Some are not.

In choosing a surgeon, your best bet is someone who has done the procedure many, many times (research supports this) and who still cares. Because if they are experienced and they still care, your likelihood of serious complications is decreased.

Now how the heck is the average consumer going to discover this.

My big gripe with lapband in the US is that these surgeons just are not trained to do it. In Mexico and Europe and Australia, they have ten years on us. Our surgeons have not been trained in residency to do it. They moslly have not done it in fellowships. Finally, our insurance structure in the US drive Gastric Bypass and disallows lap band.

I am a self pay individual for whom location was not a barrier, i.e. I can pay to rates here and in Mexico. I also thought about Europe. Didn't think Australia would "fly" on the home front. I went with the trainer of trainers. I am very happy with my decision. I had a minor problem and I was glad that I was near the hospital. Most of the late complications of gastric banding do not require surgeon to necessarily work them up. And the treatment is usually fairly simple-removal of the band. Simple medically-but really cruddy if it is you (and not simple).

Post op complications can happen at any time-any medical person can tell you about the kid in for a knee scope who develops a PE during anesthesia and dies. Or the gall bladder that goes septic and dies. Or a prosthesis that becomes infected years after implantation. Always seems to happen to nice people.

I think the real issue in this thread is how do people choose. Consumers really do not have all of the facts. You don't get a report on you physician saying how he or she has screwed up in the past. I was researching one well respected local US doctor and contacted a woman on the boards and she admitted that this doc perforated her stomach. And yet the burden is on all of us.... And we get defensive about our decisions.

Tragically, I also think this is a disease that makes people desparate on so many levels. That is not a place for good decision making.

There are a bunch of low bmi'ers. Search for them. Recent study from Australia suggested that in their hands and experience, BMI'ers from 30 to 35 were pretty darn successful. I am a lower bmi'er but I was just banded-we will see how I do.

I think both tricia and telly joined around the time as I did. I don't have much time on the boards-but I love both of their "effervescence', i.e., sparky bubbly qualities. Great role models. I hope both of them do not leave us. But I realize this can take a lot of time and our friends and family always trump the boards. I have noticed the negativity in some places-but I am not here as much and I think most of it has been edited and erased by the time I get to it. I am sorry that this has affected some of our patrons. We are all working toward the same goal and I really hope -while we can debate with passion- that we support with love and compassion.

My breasts are small to begin with-I wonder how it will end up.

Wow-tips are really helpful - I had no idea (in my liquid phase) that chips might be in my future.:faint:

Rumbaut told me that some of the shoulder and back pain came from the stitches anchored in the diaphragm. I had several so I had a lot of back/shoulder pain-mostly gone. I haven't noticed the horrible gas. A little gas. Burping still hurts and feels weird.

Well guys - I made it. I had a really hard time. A lot of pain the first evening. They found a paraesophageal hernia. Then after discharge to the hotel I took a nap. Jumped out of bed raring to go and took my antibiotic without crushing. I immediately had vomiting and kept vomiting all night. Then it settled down. The next morning I started vomiting again. That settled down around noon-they finally thought I was having sensitivity to the medications on an irritated stomach.

Now I feel that I have a sort of dull ache in the stomach. I have no desire to eat but emotionally I feel a little bereft. You kinda don't realize how much food fill in your life-when you are bored, tired, frustrated, angry and joyful. I haven't weighed myself.

After all of the vomiting, I really realized I would not eat normally again....Eating "normally" got me here so I guess this is not so bad. But whoa... heavy.

Congrats!!!!!!!!:clap2:

we recommend avoiding extremes of trunk rotation for implants for six weeks.

This is really good news for insurance patients and lower bmi patients. This type of study is the exact type that insurance companies expect to change their coverage..... It could totally change the way the lap band is used. And it is in a prestigious jounal. Finally, it is a "foreign study"-way less likely to be published here-again attesting to its importance!!!!:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

Adjustable gastric banding is much more effective long-term than a very low-calorie diet for people who are about 50 pounds overweight, a study shows.

Medical guidelines support this surgical procedure — which puts a band around the top of stomach to create a feeling of fullness — in patients who are extremely obese, about 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight, or those who are almost as overweight and have serious medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia, recruited 80 patients who were on average 52 pounds over a healthy weight. Half had the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery.

The other half followed a medical program that included a variety of strategies such as a very-low-calorie diet (500 calories a day) with liquid Meal Replacements, prescription weight-loss medication and behavioral therapies.

Findings in today's Annals of Internal Medicine:

• After six months, both the surgery patients and the low-calorie dieters lost an average of 14% of their starting weight.

• After two years, the gastric band patients lost 22% of their starting weight. That was about 87% of their excess weight, or roughly 45 pounds. They also showed marked improvement in their health and quality of life.

• At the end of two years, the dieters had regained much of their lost weight but were still 5.5% below their starting weight. They had lost 22% of their excess weight, or about 12 pounds.

Researchers are still analyzing the weight-loss data. "I'm very happy that the gastric band patients are continuing to maintain their weight loss," says lead author Paul O'Brien, director of the university's Centre for Obesity Research and Education. Since the study, he received grants from INAMED Health, maker of the LAP-BAND System.

In this study, the surgery was as safe as the diet program, but O'Brien notes the procedure does carry risks, and some may need follow-up procedures, such as readjusting the band position. The surgery costs $14,000 to $18,000 in the USA, he says.

Insurance companies vary widely in coverage of gastric banding or gastric bypass, a more complex surgery that creates a much smaller stomach and rearranges the small intestine. Average cost: $26,000. Under certain conditions, Medicare covers both surgeries.

All I have to say is that people act strange around people losing weight. (Like divorcing people too). You upset their apple cart of expectations about you. Many more people than you suspect will be upset.

Everyone I am scheduled on May 25th a Wednesday. I am supposed to go back to work on the following Tuesday. Is that realistic?

How much time off did you take off??

I want to figure out where it should go so I can have a Tummy Tuck later!!!

Are you 25 and 26thers going to Monterrey-for Rumbaut? Look forward to seeing some folks from LBT!!

Well we do business in the Middle East. Maybe we could coordinate visits.

I am with you. Totally nervous. Have fantasies about clothes buying (and Idon't like to shop)! Thinking about all of the activities that I have been not doing because of my weight. But scared, really scared.

You forgot me!!!

May 25, 2006

Boy- i am going to to start making my list

How many days are you taking off?

I am arriving on the 24th and leaving on the 28th. I have a six hour flight but it is split. Not too worried about ironically....

May 25:faint: :omg:

Oh my gosh:clap2:

Well this is a bit tangential-but when I realized that my career was not all that I hoped with respect to life satisfaction and my darlling children would be soon leaving- I realized that Iwould actually have to figure out what I was all about.

I know that having loving relationships with other women is really important. I am blessed with really good friendships with women. Having said that, I am not particularly good at this. I have always been a introvert. But it is the most important part of my thirties and forties. I really did not got that my women friends were so critically important when I was younger.

I have alot of adventures planned for the next stage of my life. I am really excited about it. My life is ssooo full with plans. And that is OK. I really thrilled with my lifeoptions.

My friend is going through a really hard divorce. Now what I hear in this post is really what I asked her-what does she want in five year. She could not answer this questions. My blessing is that, with much reflection over the last few years, I know what I love so much more. It lead me in part to lap band surgery. I am really blessed.