I don't know if the lap band has been around long enough to generate good stats, but that seems just as freaky to me.... Inserting a whole device with moving parts around your stomach. That sounds like a grizzly death from standing too close to a microwave waiting to happen.

I am not a fan of unnecessary surgery, but I will say my cousin who had GBS had reached a point where he literally could not walk up or down stairs without getting out of breath and stressing his heart in really dangerous ways--and he was only 35. Since his surgery 6 years ago, he has started working again and fishing and riding a bike, etc, so for him it was a true lifesaver. He is developmentally challenged, so eating "right" was not really possible for him, but he responded well to the re-education about portions, etc. the surgery kinda made him learn.

On the other hand, a lovely man I work with lost 100 lbs through eating right and exercising for the same health reasons, so....

My biggest bugaboo about WLS is that it seems to be promoted so, SO cavalierly, making it seem like the easy way out for people who just don't want to diet/exercise, without explaining what the potentially dangerous side effects can be.

There are good reasons for some patients to have the surgery, definitely. I know a handful of people who have had it, and they all did a lot of research about it and made an informed decision that was the best for them. I have no quarrel with that.

How awesome would this have been?

We're watching American Beauty and the scene where Kevin Spacey spits out the root beer in their kitchen--I swear, it's Point Root Beer (locally brewed here). I need a screen cap to be sure, though.

Yeah, for data points, the two people I'm personally acquainted with are over the honeymoon period and doing well, but they received plenty of counseling and support, pre- and post-surgery, including talking to post-Honeymoon patients with the same exact operation, did their homework, et cetera, etc. Both were facing serious health problems that the risks of the surgery and post-op lifestyle health complications made it a calculated bet.

DCistas -- At the Freer tonight: Zombies with guns! [link]

The one alarming by-product of gbs that my client was not apprised of is a sharp increase in alcoholism. The toxins go straight to the brain and her depression and addiction got transferred to another substance. Plus, alcohol abuse contributes to even worse malabsorbtion of nutrients.

We did a lot of research together, prior to her making the choice for the surgery and neither of us stumbled across this issue. That was about 10 years ago, so not as much was known.

The absolute worst part...and this is where I'll stop even thinking about this, much less talking about it in Movies...is that she feels like such a failure that she won't come back to treatment to work even the preliminary issues. I had such a terrible feeling about her choice and did what I could to dissuade her, but what could I say to a 400 lb woman who was sick of thinking about new ways to deal with her pain? The panacea was just too tempting. I can't believe how sad I still am about this, so many years later.

OMG, Strega! Thanks for the link to the Freer. I may not be able to make tonight's offering but the rest of the summer series looks great.

I never liked Sex in the City, but the film described as the Beijing SiTC sounds like fun.

The "Zombie Mermaid" trailer on that page is awesome.

T-shirts that are made of awesome: [link]