DontSignUp

I have posted on the general forum about my experience. I was banded on 9/16/2008. On 1/31/09 I had emergency surgery to remove the band and repair my stomach - I had a hole along the bandline and I was leaking air into my body cavity. Luckily I had gone to just yogurt with probios because I though I had gaz so somehow there was no food to infect me even worse. This was followed by a second surgery on 2/2/09 to help stop a massive infection. I spent three weeks in the hospital - left on 2/20/09. My symptoms appeared about a week/11 days earlier. I woke up bloated on my left side. No pain. I disregarded for another 6 days where I went to my generalist. She felt a mass. Called the bariatric surgeon and they thought perhaps a hernia. A cat scan was arranged another 3 days later. Two days later, Sat 1/31/09 I got an urgent message to get to ER because the Cat scan revealed air in my abdmoninal cavity. A lot of it. I called the bariatric surgeon and got her partner. I was told by this surgeon: " You dont sound like you have air in your abdomen (this is a critical situation), the Cat scan must have been wrong. You should have them redo it. It cant be the band, they dont erode at 5 months" Luckily, I still went to ER and from there was taken in an ambulance to another branch of the hospital which did bariatric surgery. I was wheeled into the operating room and soon after operated. I would have likely died had I not gotten to ER and been operated. Out of the whole 3 weeks, I only remember about 12 days. I was delirious the first half of my hospital stay. I was confined to a bed with a nasal gastric tube, and 24/7 Ivs pupping me full of antibiotics and hydration. It appears more like a leaking staple or a staple that pulled? then erosion from what I have understood. I am unclear how that would happen. Anyone Its taken me 3 more weeks to be able to take a shower without feeling faint. Two weeks before I could even drive/walk to my mailbox. I was exausted. My voice has been altered by the nasal tube and its gotten squeaky. I HATE it. I am almost back to normal except I must eat very little to protect my stomach. In 2 days I will graduate to 5-6 oz 3x a day. I was on 2oz of food 3x a day the last 2 weeks. Basically I must pretend I have a band though the scaring is so bad, I will never be a candidate for bariatric surgery again. The original surgeon has not called to ask how I am doing. However they have been asking and trying to get my hospital records. That's been very dissapointing. Finally, I think my insurance is picking the tab after I have paid my deductible but I am not 100% sure. If not, I am really concerned what 3 weeks, 2 surgeries, several cat scans and other tests with cost. From what I understand I am now at a higher risk of intestinal occlusions. My stomach was attached to my abdomen and I feel it. I am no longer a candidate for bariatric surgery, and therefore at a very high risk of regaining the 62 lb I have lost. I forgot, a very important thing. My surgeon told me that sometimes in obese people there is not always a fever to reflect an increase of white cell and an infection. That was my case. Zero fever until after the operation. So, if your stomach gets very bloated, call your doctor. Oh, and I missed a 2 weeks 1/2 trip to New Zealand. Grrrr.

Thank you for all the support and the recommendations. I do have the serial number for the band. I agree with everything the previous poster said and I will miss my band.

Thank you. I am going to find out and write down what model it was. I know my bariatric surgeon who is extremely experienced had mentioned it was a newer model. I am no longer a candidate for bariatric surgery due to the scarring and I will miss the band. I had lost 44 lb in five months easily and without stress and was very happy with the pace of loss. I have lost another 16lb for a total 60lb between the hospital and home. The irony is I am on the post lapband diet and eating basically a yogurt for Breakfast, a sugar free pudding a lunch and an apple sauce for diner because of how traumatized my stomach was. As I get more details I will post them here.

I wanted to share my experience. I was banded on 9/16/08. On 1/21/09 I woke up feeling bloated. I though I had gas. The following Monday, 1/26 I went to see my regular physician, palpation revealed a hard mass at the port and she contacted my bariatric surgeon. The word that came up was hernia. My doctor ordered a CAT SCAN. I had the CAT SCAN on thursday 1/29. On saturday morning 1/31 I received a call from my doctor indicating that there was air in my abdomen cavity and to go to the nearest ER as soon as possible. Called a friend and went to Kaiser in San Rafael. The CAT SCAN made the rounds and the situation became very severe. I had surgery that same day 1/31to remove the band who had eroded and created a hole in my stomach. My stomach and liver had begun fusing and it showed a have a lot of scarring. Two days later on 2/2 I had surgery again to fight wide spread infection. I then spent 3 weeks in the hospital fighting for my life. I do not remember the first 10 days. 1/31- 2/20. My lapband is in the pathology dept and I am seeing my doctor tomorrow to remove one last drain. I am extremely weak and recovery is expecting to take weeks. I understand this is very rare but I wanted to give everyone a heads up that you must go to the doctor if you are feeling gassy or bloated for more then a day. I was not very uncomfortable and the only reason I called my doc was because of a friend who insisted. Had I not, I would have died as the surgery was just in time. The band was supposed to be the new and improved one.

I was banded on 9/16 and as of this morning I have lost 31lb. I had lost 33 but gained back two. I am going for my third fill sometimes this month since I am not feeling any restriction right now.

I was banded on 9/16/08 with a 10cc band which contained 3.5cc. On 10/7/08 I got my first fill, increase to 4.5cc. On 11/6 I got my second fill to 5.5 cc. I have lost 29 lb total. I can eat what I want. I have had one unpleasant moment with roasted turkey that lasted just a couple of minutes but was painful. In the last 7 weeks I have made a real effort to eat Protein first, greens and vegetables second, and then carbs. I have eaten tilapia and salmon several times a week because I want to make this work. I have had a sliver of cake maybe 3 times -and I mean a sliver - because of social situations. Mostly, I try hard to eat a lot of variety: cauliflower, mushrooms, broccoli, spinash, things I dont love but are good for me. I buy organic food, and if I have a turkey sandwich, its hold the mayo and only one slice of cheese. And, I have a dog who is getting a lot of workout. We walk at least 3 miles a day. I am starting pilates 3x a week next week - had to take a break to heal) and in another 30lb, I am going to start riding 3, 4x a week again. I also have an agreement with a friend with whom I will be going to NZ next year to go and start doing little hikes weekly. I totally agree with Jachut and others that exercice is going to make a difference. In the meantime, I can eat everything but I am working on my head hunger not to, and instead focus on what is good for my body.

I could say of you to be so brain washed and obtuse and be able to vote. But now its a moot point because Barak Obama is now President Obama. And by a huge margin too. God Bless Barak Obama and our Beautiful, awake, smart America.

Well then dont cry when you dont get what you want. What is the saying again, the future belongs to those who get up early? As to the video, I am sorry for this lady if she is confusing Obama with Santa. I have been watching reactions from the rest of the world on TV5 and everyone is very clear that Obama is a capitalist, concerned first and foremost with the welfare of America and Americans and they are not expecting him to be much more different then say Bill Clinton. I think those who are expecting Obama to turn into a socialist, marxist, communist are going to be very dissapointed.

Oh, and about socialist countries being losers, or whatever you called them here are some interesting statistics related to your perception about socialism and capitalism relative to corporations andmbusinesses. Cause business is what defines capitalism. The Ease of Doing Business (created by the World Bank) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.....ness_Index The top 20 countries in the world for ease of doing business include many that are considered to be "socialist" countries by conservatives like you. Index of Economic Freedom (compiled by Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.....ic_Freedom Quote:The index scores nations on 10 broad factors of economic freedom using statistics from organizations like the World Bank, the IMF and the Economist Intelligence Unit: * Business Freedom * Trade Freedom * Monetary Freedom * Freedom from Government * Fiscal Freedom * Property Rights * Investment Freedom * Financial Freedom * Freedom from Corruption * Labor Freedom The 10 factors are averaged equally into a total score. Each one of the 10 freedoms is graded using a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 represents the maximum freedom. A score of 100 signifies an economic environment or set of policies that is most conducive to economic freedom. Again there a number of "socialist" countries including Belgium and a host of Scandinavian countries in the top 20. How do you explain that?

Rashid Khalili? First he is a scholar, not a terrorist. Second, McCain is the one who gave him a 1/2 million dollar, not Obama: "John McCain served as Chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), which gave out grants to different organizations including the Palestinian Research Center, which was headed by Rashid Khalidi. In 1998, a tax filing from IRI shows $448,873 that went to Khalaidi’s group. The relationship existed for at least 5 years as in 1993 IRI funded several of Khalidi’s studies on “sociopolitical attitudes.” See grant number 5180, "West Bank: CPRS" on page 14 of this PDF: http://big.assets.huffingtonpo.....901998.pdf" More info on the relationship between Obama and Khalili: Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama - Los Angeles Times And, have you been to Israel? Because I have and while I am pro-israel, the manner in which Palestinians live is not ok, in great part due to their own dirigants. If Obama can help resolve some of the issues great. I dont think he will be anymore successful then the other Presidents who have tried. And, do you know that the Economist endorsed Obama? Hardly a liberal rag. This is what they have to say about Obama and Raila's relationship. Mr Obama saves Kenya | Saving the world in his spare time | The Economist Not at all how you portray it. I dont know where you get your information, I think you might want to investigate more closely whatever is sent to you because as you can see when you look at just the facts, your stuff just does noy stand up to scrutiny.

You got it wrong. Turns out Al-Quaeda endorses McCain not Obama. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26kristof.html?em Because McCain's plan to keep occupying Iraq, attack Iran and god knows what other country will keep turning average muslims into jihadists, not Obama's diplomatic efforts.

And as far as your post about socialism and communism being "this" close, you really need to do some research because that is simply not the case. Further, eventhough Hitler's regime was called a social-democracy, it had nothing to do with modern socialism, think of it as a fascist regime. And, Obama wont bring a social democracy around, Sarah Palin and McCain might, Bush's attacks on the constitution have been the closest to that shift. ANd, Obama is not considered a socialist anywhere in the world but here in the USA. To socialists everywhere he is really a centrist republican. I dont think you realize how tiny the differences are between republicans and democrats compared to lets say the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), the the centrist party Union for French Democracy (UDF) and the the Socialist Party's (PS). Most european countries show much more marked differences in the core values of their parties. People in europe are rolling on the floor laughing when Obama is described as a communist, a socialist or a Marxist. It exposes some Americans for the ignoramuses that they are.

A. Class envy? I dont think so. I am educated, european born, was an upper level executive in a global firm, made loads of money and dont have to work. So, thank you, I am quite happy with my "class". Oh, and my income has not come from putting Americans in arms way. Its not built on American blood. B. To maintain that Bush is a liberal is to reveal your lack of critical thinking and great ability to spew propaganda. Just Google Bush and neo-conservative and you will be quickly desilutioned of your Bush is a liberal fantasy. This would be one: The Neocons in Power - The New York Review of books this another Bush is a neoconservative Of course no one disputes that Bush was so inept he has made his neoconservative buddies very unhappy. C. Joe The Plumber. If the not a plumber, not an entrepreneur, con man Joe the Plumber is all you have to throw at Barack Obama then I pity you. He is a huge joke, but if he is you idol, hey you can have him.

Context being everything, here is the speech your video was excerpted from. It was delivered on the 2nd of July: During that speech he: . Note that the AmericanThinker article is not complimentary to Barack Obama but they state the TRUTH about his speech, unlike you. American Thinker: Obama's Civilian National Security Force Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Obama

Again you are doing no research. Obama was speaking of massive community organizing akin to the Peace Corp not about creating a homeland army - see below for more on that. You got it backwards. McCain and Palin may lead to a social democracy which is what the Reich was. Again check the Patriot Acts and see what McCain voted for. Ever heard of Homeland Security? This is what your administration has done: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/ Our own Homeland ready to intervene. And Kellogg Brown & Root was awarded four years ago a contract to provide DOMESTIC portable detection centers that can be deployed and set up to house detainees in short notice with an estimated holding capacity of between 1 and 5 million people. That's not Obama planning to silence the opposition, that's was your administration making sure they have the infrastructure to emprison Americans under very short notice. You say the current administration is not "your" administration. Well, in voting for McCain you are voting for 4 or 8 more years of the same failed policies that have created the crisis we are in. As far as I am concerned, there is no choice. It has to be Obama because the republicans were not able to provide a rational, intelligent candidate with a platform that addressed the current problems of America. Instead we have McCain and worse, Sarah Palin. For McCain to have chosen her shows his contempt for Americans or early onset dementia. You pick.

He wont be spending it on Iraq. He wont be spending it making Halliburton executives millionaires and billionaires. And the idea of Bush as a liberal is risible. He has ushered the neo-conservatives era in the White House. The rewriting of history going on in this thread would be funny if it was not a reflection of how scary America has become. Basically, Joe McCarthy is alive and well.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. --Abraham Lincoln Go read the Patriot Act 1 and 2 and tell me who has been actively destroying America. Tell me who the real domestic terrorists are. I got news for you, your freedoms, they have already been seriously eroded or destroyed by your administration. The same administration whose decisions John McCain voted to upheld 90% of the time. The folks who have plunged this country and the world in the worst economic crisis in history, the folks who are spending 10 billion a month in a war we entered under false pretend, the folks who declared it unlawful to show American soldiers coffins and funerals to keep the public ignorant, the folks who made the torture of Americans legal, never mind our prisoners of war. The folks you can thank for America slipping far down the world ratings in terms of education, healthcare, sciences. Those are the people who are destroying America and their names are Bush, Cheney and yes McCain who did stood up 10% of the time and aquiesced the other 90% of the time because it served his interests!

I believe the empeach definition is quite broad I meant it as: impeach c.1380, "to impede, hinder, prevent," from Anglo-Fr. empecher, from O.Fr. empecher "hinder" (12c.), from L.L. impedicare "to fetter, catch, entangle," from L. in- "in" + pedica "shackle," from pes (gen. pedis) "foot." Sense of "accuse a public officer of misconduct" first recorded 1568, via confusion with L. impetere "attack, accuse."

"Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth - not released." Not true. Check the link I provided, its there.

Its all moot because your US citizenship cannot be renounced for you when you are a child - you have to be 18 to make that decision yourself - so I doubt very much that Obama had an Indonesian passport if that meant renouncing his US citizenship. A step that would have required paperwork with the state by the way. This is another attempt at making Obama inellegible. And if you think that McCain and in fact Hilary would not have by now brought that to light and empeached him if they could, I have a bridge to sell you.

FactCheck.org checked this thoroughly including examining the document and this is their conclusion: FactCheck.org: Born in the U.S.A. And, by the way, Obama's parents ran an annoucement in the paper back in 61: "...In fact, the conspiracy would need to be even deeper than our colleagues realized. In late July, a researcher looking to dig up dirt on Obama instead found a birth announcement that had been published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday, Aug. 13, 1961: Obama's birth announcement The announcement was posted by a pro-Hillary Clinton blogger who grudgingly concluded that Obama "likely" was born Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu..." I suppose its easier to claim this is also part of a vast conspiracy rather then stop spreading lies about Barak Obama.

Yes the guy is a democrat and a nut. And yes its all about taking Obama down. And oh, yes, ignorance is bliss - but in this moment in time, its also criminal. Here is the snopes record on that lie: snopes.com: Is Barack Obama a natural-born citizen of the U.S.? And there a copy of his birth certificate. By the way with the governor of Hawaii being a republican, dont you think if there was any chance this was true -the clinic's records would have been leaked?

What is shocking is how low the McCain campaign is willing to go in the hopes of swaying votes their ways. First Obama is not American, next he hangs with terrorists, third he is a marxist. It is pathetic and embarrassing and explains why records numbers of true republicans are voting for a democrat for the first time in their lives. I hope for the republicans that out of the rank someone will emerge that truly represents the party's values as they once were. Right now it is the party of Karl Rove and it will lead to a social democracy and further erosion of the constitution and the rights of our citizens. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10.....ref=slogin The Constitution and the Rule of Law Under Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the justice system and the separation of powers have come under relentless attack. Mr. Bush chose to exploit the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the moment in which he looked like the president of a unified nation, to try to place himself above the law. Mr. Bush has arrogated the power to imprison men without charges and browbeat Congress into granting an unfettered authority to spy on Americans. He has created untold numbers of “black” programs, including secret prisons and outsourced torture. The president has issued hundreds, if not thousands, of secret orders. We fear it will take years of forensic research to discover how many basic rights have been violated. Both candidates have renounced torture and are committed to closing the prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But Mr. Obama has gone beyond that, promising to identify and correct Mr. Bush’s attacks on the democratic system. Mr. McCain has been silent on the subject. Mr. McCain improved protections for detainees. But then he helped the White House push through the appalling Military Commissions Act of 2006, which denied detainees the right to a hearing in a real court and put Washington in conflict with the Geneva Conventions, greatly increasing the risk to American troops. Basically our enemies are winning. The current administration has plunged America into economic and constitutional turmoil and used our stupidity as a people in keeping Bush on his throne to destabilize our country and turn it further and further away from the constitution.

Personally, if Obama was from Mars I would still vote from him because the alternative is voting for more of Bush. But, no, he is not from Mars, he is from Hawaii. McCain voted to support Bush's decision 90% of the time. So, if you think we are doing great as a nation, vote for McCain and Palin and get more of the same or worse. But dont come whine about no money, no house, no healthcare, no job, no schools, and your kids being forced into the army to go fight pointless and costly wars.

I had surgery on 9/16 as well. Then two weeks liquid, one week pureed during which I lost 18lb. For scheduling reason the doctor decided to have me come back in a do the first fill on 10/7, three weeks after the surgery rather then 4 to 6 which is what I had read. Since the feel, I have had one unpleasant episode with roasted turkey, but overall, I feel less restricted then the first 3 weeks and that is a problem. I am planning to go back in 3 weeks (will make 4 weeks) for my second fill. Is it normal to be able to eat more after the first fill then after the initial surgery?