Manatee

See http://killthefatman.livejournal.com/27690.html

I had the sleeve after two slips, a revision, and a band removal. I strongly recommend those considering the band to go look at the 2005,2006,2007 etc forums and see how the thing holds up long-term.

I had the lap-band done back in 07, and while I don't have it anymore (long story) I was blessed with a good doctor and support function. My friend got one in 06. He hasn't seen as much success as he would like. The doc and support staff are inaccessible and refuse to admit there may be anything wrong despite years of adjustments, pain and disappointment on his part. We have found it impossible to get any other physician to take him on as a patient. We get the same story everywhere: if we didn't put the band in, we cannot touch it. "Liability, don't ya know." Right now he's having all the symptoms of a too-tight fill (reflux, vomiting, coughing, etc). We contacted the emergency rooms of the two local hospitals. Both do bariatric surgery. Both told us that their bariatric doctors would NOT do an unfill on someone who hadn't been banded there. God help you if you get a physician who moved, closed, is incompetent or died.

Did anyone else receive an email via LBT from this guy/company?

Why the red hate? They are playing the game. Remember? This. is. a. game. With $$$ waiting at the end. Hell, if they had really played it right, they should have both laid up this week. I think green has had a piss poor attitude the whole time, and them attacking red when the extra weight made absolutely no difference just looks bad. I also don't like Jillian's attitude this season. Maybe she's burnt out or something, but I'm rapidly losing my Jillian Love, and I've never really liked Brother Bob.

Well, it -is- edited for TV. How do we know there wasn't a team that simply doesn't show up in the final cut? (*shhhhh* everyone, here's some $$$)

Interesting. To me it's the exact opposite; these folks are so big that even massive weight loss doesn't come across as that dramatic. Sure, they lost 150 lbs on the show, but they're still morbidly obese. Is that success? Is that inspiring for the mass majority of the viewing audience that is likely overweight/obese, but not at these extreme levels? I think they've gone too far in casting, IMHO. This was a better show when it was a little closer to most folks' real circumstances.

Well.... Nasty gimmick to play on the teams early on. As far as eliminations go, they might as well flipped a coin. Freaky though that both twins weighed within a pound of each other and lost the same weight. Crazy losses this week, but you know everyone was waterloaded like a camel. Besides, I haven't run the numbers but I suspect those high numbers actually translate into similar % losses as earlier seasons. How long before a 600lb contestant shows up? Jillian's right, these folks are starting to be too big to safely 'beat on them'. Wasn't Allen from Big Medicine just a bit bigger than some of these folks?

Here they go again, on Jan 5. Place your bets: The Biggest Loser - NBC Site Frankly, last season was a bit of a bore after the Tara Machine and Ronfather, but hopefully it returns to form. The great thing is that the show only takes 15 minutes to watch, once you skip the crying

So... I thought Rudy had won this thing, and Danny thought that too. He looked ready to cry before the weigh-in. Danny turned out to be really handsome under the fat suit. Rudy....not so much I think Rudy's in better shape overall though. Liz obviously gave up, she didn't lose much of anything at home. Wonder how that bad marriage is doing? Oh -- and get some hair dye, lady. Speaking of, Rebecca looked really bad in that hair color and streetwalker outfit. I wonder if she's going though the post-weight-loss promiscuous phase that is so common? Still, congrats on the win. I think Tracey looked -better- than Rebecca, certainly more toned, but gaining muscle is bad for your chances of winning this game. A lot of the contestants were flat unrecognizable. I wonder sometimes if this is all a scam. Get fat people for the start, and then hire other folks to play them at the finale. Too paranoid? Amanda? Meh. Still Anonymous Blond, and she'll be back to 280 by the time she pops out the third kid.

Danny already looks sick in the face, but I guess he needs to thin out and impress the girlfriend Liz. Those two still creep me out a bit, so I guess I'm hoping for Rudy. Amanda is still Yet Another Anonymous Blond, and will no doubt plump back up after finding a man. This season has been pretty boring, after the Tara Machine and Ronfather last season.

Maybe 'Amanda' is a dude...that would be a twist!:confused:

You might call your local big hospital and see if they have a bariatric division. If so, they can probably pull a little bit out.

Get some taken out. Too tight can be dangerous to your health. Too tight cost me my band. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Buh-bye Rebecca. At least she turned out to be a hottie. The best revenge is living well. Nothing can help Liz, not even the makeover. Rudy looks a LOT younger without the beard. Unlike others, I have no problem with his gameplay. Take out the threats. I do wish we had been able to see the trainers' reactions to Shay and Daniel being gone. I wanted to see that vein burst in Bob's forehead. Ah well. The nice thing is that this episode only took about 15 minutes to watch via DVR.

Why disappointed? He did precisely what he should have done to Win.The.Game. I'm sick of the "big happy family who all deserve to be here" hypocrisy from some of the contestants. You are all broken in some way (or you wouldn't have been selected) and you should be playing the game to win. I didn't realize that Danny is younger than me. Holy cow, the dude looks ancient. Liz even older. I would have put Danny in the mid 50s and Liz late 50s.

Ding, dong, the Orange team is gone....Jillian will blow a gasket next 'week'. Oh, and I think the producers and contestants have no concept of basic math. "Fastest to 100 lbs"? Well, when you start at dang near 500 lbs, then yeah, you're going to lose some of the weight quick. I still think this whole show & the yellow line should be based on total % loss since the beginning. It was interesting that the young/old alliances finally showed on TV -- there's been discussion of those ties in other forums for a while. Also the Daniel/Rebecca thing shows up for a moment too. No, they didn't show Shay's new look. Did anyone else get the feeling David and Daniel have moved pretty far apart since they're no longer eating buddies? My overall thought on this whole season is 'meh'. No fun contestants like the Ronfather and the Tara Machine. It's all just a bunch of estrogen-overload drama queens -- including the guys.

Right. Let's review again, contestants: This. Is. A. Game. These folks forget there's money on the line?

Just a couple of quick comments: 1) The other players love to hate on Tracy, but each and every one of them with the exception of Abby wanted the power, and they would have -all- done the same thing. Sour grapes syndrome seems to be rampant among this particular group of Losers. 2) I think a lot of these folks are losing the majority of their weight via tears. Seriously, what's with the blubbering this season? Did they producers go looking for emotionally unstable folks, or are they being fed a steady diet of Lifetime TV? 3) Anyone who has watched this show would not have picked BOB as their trainer. Silly Tracy, nobody from the Cult of Bob ever -wins- this game. Then again, Lady Popeye doesn't seem to bright. 4) There's some really weird vibes coming out of the former Brown team. Those two are each married, aren't they? 5) To quote another forum, "Shut Up, Shay." I'm so tired of the crackbaby whining or whatever her story may be. I just tune out and hear <whinewhinewhine life's hard I'm fat pity me whinewhinewhine>

So Danny's playing the game too -- but since he's not Tracy all will be forgiven. Kinda dumb of the show to say "see how the eliminated PLAYER is doing now" before they show us the vote. I'm beginning to feel Pink Team Irritation. Kinda bitchy, aren't they? The teams still don't like Tracy, but she's doing ok with a huge handicap. In some ways I think there should be some understudies to come in when the trainers break people. Next to "Dancing with the Stars" this show has the highest body count in reality TV. Coach Mo needs to man up and quit deferring to Tracy in every decision. Hard to believe this guy can coach a team -- how does he ever pick a play?

Frankly I thought her gameplay was fine. Where I have the issue is the fact she wouldn't take responsibility for her actions. If you're going to be a bear, be a grizzly! She should have been completely unapologetic and just said "hell yeah, I'm playing the damned game." Instead, it was all "oh, I made a mistake" and "I learned my lesson" and "I don't know what I was thinking." Horsefeathers! She just didn't want to deal with the consequences of her decisions. Sadly (and here come the flames), this isn't unusual in the MO. It seems a majority of us view life as a series of things that happen to us, rather than a result of what we choose to do.

Well well.... Looks like we have our villain for the season. I -knew- I didn't like her. Tracy reminds me of every whinging little secretary with a power trip, every meter maid, every elementary school teacher showboating at the PTA meeting. She better watch her back, because nobody else will be.

Well, it seems like the 'no elimination' shows don't generate much interest. I do think I like the 'all for one' approach in week 2, when the waterloading is gone and the real losses begin. In some ways I wish they would just dump the person who lost the least each week, but that would eliminate drama. Anyone else find themselves not liking the Purple Hospital Chick very much?

No picks yet for me. Frankly I never really care about the backstory, and so the sobbing doesn't win me over. I want to see how they act -On The Ranch- That's all. Do they want it enough to get over themselves and kick their own rear? Tens of thousands of other people would gladly be where they are; will the contestants realize just what a gift they've been given? I suspect this is why I never cared for Bob, and like Jillian's methods better. At least this season we don't have to worry about blood ties messing up the game strategy.

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