Adjustable gastric band

I got the adjustable gastric band installed in June and I've gone from
330 to 270 in the meantime. It's not a magic wand, I have to be
invested in using it as a tool (eating right, getting some excercise),
but I've been very satisfied so far.

The most important reason my wife and I both had this operation was
because of the low mortality rate and the fact that it's reversible.

Your mileage may vary, of course. Both my wife and I agree that the
gastric bypass is probably appropriate for some people, but the
adjustable band was right for us. We used Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana for the
operation, and it was an excellent experience.

I've been lurking here for a few weeks. Great advice, and not as many
trolls as I thought there'd be.

Just how difficult would it be to reverse it?

As I understand, it'd be a 10 minutes or shorter laparascopic
operation. The adjustable band is just wrapped around the top of the
stomach and stitched once to it, so removing it should be as simple as
just cutting the stitch, unlatching the band, and pulling it out.
That's one of the things we really liked about it versus the gastric
bypass, that it doesn't involve replumbing the stomach. The alimentary
canal is un-violated.

I am curious about something. Gastric bypass, more or less, forces
you
to eat less for mechanical reasons. Do you feel hungry most of the
time?

This works the same way, I think. The 'squeeze' is made just below the
top of the stomach, essentially making a little pouch at the top that
the doctor called the 'stoma'. When I eat, the food enters the stoma
and then slowly filters through the tiny hole that the squeeze point
makes (visualize the midddle of an hourglass). When the stoma is full
(a few ounces), the stomach FEELS full, so I can eat a little bit and
then have no more hunger. My understanding is that people who try and
starve themselves by eating just a little bit often fail at weightloss
because their body feels the hunger and puts them into 'famine mode'
(where it holds onto every calorie like it's a diamond). The gastric
band works by fooling the body into thinking that it's full on less
food.

The thing that makes this really work is that it forces you to chew the
hell out of everything and be picky about what you eat. For example,
the body needs protein, so I HAVE to eat protein first, anything else
second. I don't really eat breads anymore, and cutting those carbs
seems to really make a difference. Second, since you're spending extra
time chewing (there's no wolfing down a meal with this) your body has a
chance to indicate 'yo, I'm full'. If you're cramming food down your
gullet because you're eating fast, you could eat another half pound
before the signal makes it to your brain. This enforces better
chewing/slower eating.

Here's the million dollar question: _HOW_ does it enforce this? If
you don't chew something enough, it gets stuck. And it stays stuck
just long enough for you to get the message that this is a bad thing.
I ate a boiled egg once and didn't chew enough, and a piece got stuck.
I pulled over (I was driving) and sat at the side of the road for about
5 minutes while I was breathing fast, covered with a fine sweat, and
feeling a big pain right at where the band was. Eventually, it passed
through the constriction point, and I immediately felt better. Another
time, I didn't chew and I ended up spitting up the food. My mouth
slimed up, I felt uncomfortable, and then the unchewed piece of food
'burped' up and I spit it out. This has happened only a couple times
in the last 5 months.

You CAN 'outsmart' it and keep the weight by eating the wrong things
(eg, lots of sugar, calories) but it IS a very useful tool. I'm down
50 lbs so far, and it feels great.

Absolutely, I agree 100% that it's not unusual. Like I said, it's just
a tool to help give structure to some normal, good dietary habits.

The one area that it differs from a non-assisted diet (and this is a
small thing) is that I'm not hungry, and by not being hungry, my body
never goes into starvation/famine mode so I have a lot more energy.

Anyhow, just sharing in case anyone is interested. Losing weight with
a straight up good diet/excercise program is the best, I just hope that
people don't go from that straight to the barascopic surgery without
reading up on less invasive alternatives.

"Ignoramus21494" wrote in message
...

Most of the trolls here crosspost to sci.med.cardiology or
soc.support.fat-acceptance,

Yes, or such as yourself, to life extension wierdo groups.

Martha