I had my lapband placed by Dr. Roberto Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico on December 18, 2008. Please kick back and relax as you share with me tales of my journey with my new foreign friend, Senorita Bandita!
I have a UTI and was prescribed Cipro. I forgot to remind the nurse practitioner that I have a lapband. The reason for my complete unfill last year (and resultant acid reflux, swallowing issues, etc.) may have been due to my taking medication (not Cipro) for adult acne. Not wanting to go down that road again, I am hopeful that I can determine whether Cipro is safe at the outset. Since it is too late in the evening to call the lapband doctor's office (plus I have just changed doctors since my doctor retired on the 1st of February), I was curious if any of you have taken Cipro post-band (or heard anything about its use with the band)? What are your experiences? I have tried to look up what I can online, but it appears that there is a dearth of info concerning lapbands and Cipro.
Thanks in advance for your help! And I hope everyone is doing well.
P.S. I am still diligently reading all of your blogs...just don't comment as much because of some commenting link malfunctions on this end.
I had a pretty rough Thanksgiving this year. My grandfather passed away on Thanksgiving day. However, he was always thankful for his life and the blessings in it and always reminded us that we needed to be thankful too. With that in mind, my list is about him and his contributions to my life:
1. I am thankful that I had three decades with him. 2. I am thankful that I was able to experience his silly songs and drawings when I was a kid (he would create these songs and drawings just to get a rise out of us grandkids or to make us smile). 3. I am thankful that I lived close to or with him for most of those years. 4. I am thankful that he helped instill in me the importance of giving thanks. 5. I am thankful for all the other memories I have of my grandfather and the time I had with him...and the knowledge that he is in a better place.
It's the first Thursday after Veteran's Day, so I thought I'd do a Veteran's Day edition. I am thankful for
1. the ability to freely speak and worship, to vote, and to own land; 2. those people, past, present, and future, who have served to protect those freedoms; 3. the blessing of living in America with all of its many opportunities; 4. my family members and friends who have served; and 5. especially, those men and women who were injured or died protecting our freedoms.
Thank you, Veterans.
If you aren't able to watch the video above, which is a very touching memorial to those who fought and died, in it, President Reagan said, “Most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives--the one they were living and the one they would have lived.” There were other poignant things he offered too, but I just wanted to share that for the busy folks that aren't able to watch since I believe it really captures the essence of the sacrifice that was made for our freedoms. I am so very thankful to our servicemen and servicewomen. I hope everyone was able to tell a Veteran, "Thank you," last Friday.
From http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/26/8472045-desperate-to-qualify-for-weight-loss-surgery-some-pile-on-the-pounds
Desperate to qualify for weight loss surgery, some pile on the pounds
By JoNel Aleccia
At 202 pounds, Steffany Sears knew she was fat, but not fat enough to qualify for traditional weight-loss surgery.
Desperate for help, the Gold Bar, Wash., woman did what seemed the only logical thing: She gorged herself on chips and cookies, pizza and fried chicken so she’d gain at least eight pounds more.
Courtesy Steffany Sears
Steffany Sears, 34, of Gold Bar, Wash., lost nearly 70 pounds after receiving the Lap-Band stomach-shrinking device as part of a clinical trial in 2008. The trial led the Food and Drug Administration to lower the limit for obese patients eligible for the device last spring.
“I would have eaten myself stupid,” recalled Sears, 34, who was turned down by her insurance company for the $20,000 procedure. “I know friends who would have done that, too.”
In the end, she actually qualified to participate in a clinical trial that led the federal Food and Drug Administration this spring to lower the bar for obesity in people eligible for one form of weight-loss surgery, Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach-shrinking device. Because she had a body mass index, or BMI, of between 30 and 35, the target range of the new rule, she even got the treatment for free, instead of having to take out a second mortgage on her house.
Today, at 5-foot-6, she weighs 143 pounds. "I felt like I'd won the lottery, really, with my life," said Sears, a native of England.
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But Sears’ experience highlights what dieters and doctors alike say is a growing dilemma. Spurred by strict insurance policies that limit surgery to high BMIs of 35 or 40, some obese people are actually striving to gain weight -- in order to lose it.
Web sites devoted to weight-loss surgery are full of advice and anecdotes from would-be losers who claim they ate piles of bananas, chowed down on burgers and curly fries or swilled gallons of water to nudge the scale to the correct heights.
“That happens all the time,” said Dr. Robert Michaelson of Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, Wash., who was a clinical investigator for the FDA trial. “I’ve seen people come in with ankle weights on.”
Sometimes, it works. Elizabeth Marks, 32, of San Diego, Calif., was turned down for surgery once by her insurance company for being less than 100 pounds overweight, but accepted after she gained more.
“I just had two weeks of eating all the junk I could,” Mark said.
In general, a person who is 5-foot-6 and weighs 220 pounds has a BMI of 35. At 250, the BMI climbs to 40.
Weight-loss doctors definitely discourage patients from gaining more and instead urge them to pursue non-surgical options, or to find other ways to pay for the surgery. One good reason? Some insurers regard the practice as fraud.
“I tell them go home. You don’t qualify,” said Dr. Namir Katkhouda, a bariatric surgeon at the University of Southern California who has performed 2,000 procedures. “They come back six months later and their problems are much worse.”
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The dilemma has been exacerbated by the recent FDA decision, which approved the use of Lap-Band in patients with BMIs as low as 30 with at least one weight-related disease, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. The agency left the BMI level at 40 for heavy but otherwise healthy people.
The move opened the door to an additional 27 million people eligible to access surgery and prompted experts to predict a sudden rush toward lower BMI procedures. So far, despite great interest, that hasn’t happened, said Dr. Robin Blackstone, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
“The insurance hasn’t expanded to embrace that indication,” she said, noting that less than 1 percent of those eligible for bariatric surgery actually get it. In 2009, nearly 63,000 Lap-Band devices were implanted in the U.S., according to estimates from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Insurers prefer that people try other less-drastic weight-loss options, including medically supervised programs, said Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans.
“Many, if not most, insurers look to less invasive, less-risky approaches before they move on to the more invasive, more life-threatening approaches,” Pisano said.
As far as Sears is concerned, the January 2008 surgery changed her life; she says she doesn’t regret gaining a little to lose a lot.
“I would do it again, now that I’ve tasted what it feels like to be normal and not overweight,” said Sears.
I haven't ever watched an episode of New Jersey housewives, but I was wondering what you all thought of the housewife who was donning the 'fat suit' in the video below. Does that help her and other non-obese people open their eyes, or do you think that they still have the biases (like obese people are still lazy, etc. and should do something about it before it gets to that point)?
Yes, here's another annoying article (see Lapband Gal's blog for a couple others from the last week). Evidently, we don't deserve to lose weight. What do you all think about this?
By the way, I have posted the whole article below so that you don't have to give the Miami NewTimes any more hits than they already have; however, the link is below the posted article if you want to check out the reader comments there.
Weight Loss Surgery Is the Easy Way Out By Ily Goyanes Wed., Aug. 10 2011 at 10:26 AM
US News & World Report recently noted that gastric bypass surgery not only cuts your appetite but also might reduce your desire for high-fat foods. Over the years, I've had friends who have suffered through gastric bypass or lap band procedures. They've all shed weight as if they had made a pact with Satan -- quickly and what appears to be easily.
People applaud their weight loss and congratulate them on how thin they've become and how good they look.
Not I.
I don't like cheating and I don't like short cuts, especially (at least) when it comes to such a big thing (pun totally intended).
My weight has yo-yoed during the years. I've been normal weight, thick, chubby, and obese. When I was at my heaviest, 250 pounds, I did the unthinkable. I cut my calories to less than 500 per day and began exercising two hours daily. Guess what? I also lost weight as if I had a pact with "he who must not be named." (Oh, wait, that's Lord Voldemoort; I mean the other guy.)
It was difficult, especially at first. But every day I -- and my will -- grew stronger. And after three months (in which I lost 80 pounds), I was very, very proud of myself.
How can I be proud of someone who takes the easy route? Someone who decides that having a surgeon cut them open and rearrange or modify their insides is easier than eating less and exercising more? It's just lazy.
And if you're too lazy to cut calories and exercise, you don't deserve to be skinny.
Before I get a ton of comments about how some people are so obese they don't have a choice -- chill, please. You're the type of person who enables drug addicts and criminals. I have the Learning Channel. I've seen those shows about the heaviest people on the planet, including Manuel Uribe from Mexico, who weighed more than 1,000 pounds and was dubbed "the Fattest Man on Earth." He began losing weight by exercising and cutting down on eating. Sure, his exercise consisted of doing arm circles while lying in bed, but it burned more calories than lying there eating tacos.
And if the fattest man on Earth can say no to food and yes to exercise, so can all of the self-indulgent, overweight, spineless jellyfish who take the easy way out.
