Welcome DSers!

As I stated, I was referring to the recent posters here, not all Dsers.  Now you are putting your spin on my words.

The best thing I love about this board was that there is no bickering over whose surgery was the best and all that fighting and unencouraging remarks that you get on other boards.. .. I came here looking for encouragement and support as most everyone does and I found it here.. this is the most encouraging and helpful and kind forum on OH.. 

Everyone thinks the surgery type they chose was the best or they would not have chosen it.. I do not think that people make the decision lightly to have surgery or to what type of surgery to have.. so please so not put any decisions on the line to say it will be leading to failure.. We have heard we are going to be a failure from our own minds. we do not need to hear it from others to make it seem like a reality..

We are here for support and to give support to all.. that is to everyone no matter what surgery type or even if they have not chosen surgery.. SUPPORT NOT JUDGEMENT..

I know people mean well and think they are going to be hepful in telling others how great the surgery is they have chosen and that is fine, but please do not include in that line that all other surgeries will lead to failure.. alos  ALL SURGERY options are not open to everyone ..many people have to choose a surgery that the insurance will cover.. so the choices do not always include the surgery type that you may have choosen.. so please do not say things that will discourage people and make them think they should just give up if they are going to fail. 

All of the surgeries have great results and all can be a great tool to use.. All surgeries can be sabotaged and made to fail not just one or two.. .. this is a process that involves a mind set as well as a change in lifestyle and that is the leading cause of the success.. the surgeries are a tool.. we can all make this work no matter what tool we use..

Please feel welcome to be here on this board if you are going to be an encouragement to people here no matter what surgery type or non surgery choice they have..As we will be here to be encouraging to you too.. no matter what surgery you have the encouragement plays a big role in the changes that are needed to make the tool work.. I am sure once you have the surgery you will find how important a positive attitude and getting encouragement from others will be.,.we will offer that to you here.. as we do to EVERYONE..

Lets keep this board a non judgemental one and a very encouraging, helpful and kind board as it always has been..  


Huggs..

Thanks Patti (and the other regulars) for posting this...this board is my safe haven from "surgery wars" and full of kind and thoughtful support. I hope it continues that way....

Who cares what WLS you choose or if you choose one at all...the point of this board is support. I have found tons of of it here and look forward to providing and receiving it for a long time.

I agree with the regular posters. It does not matter which surgery you choose. The fact of the matter is you are taking a step towards improving your health and that is what is most important.

I understand when you feel you have the greatest solution ever you want to shout it from the mountain tops, but as Teresa said, not everyone has every surgery available to them.

I don't like the surgery wars either. It undermines what everyone is trying to do which is to stay positive and make a life change. There is a lady in NY ( i forget her name) that had lap band and has reached her goal and maintained it. I have seen posts from people with every single kind of surgery that are struggling. It is a struggle for all of us, regardless of the type of surgery chosen. If worse comes to worse and a surgery really didn't work for someone that's what revisions are for. sometimes that is what's needed to get an insurance company to cover a procedure. But again, it is such a personal choice, and no one should be discouraged for making the decision they think is best.

Going back to what we were taught when we were little, if you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all. If you think you can be a personal help to someone that is ASKING for help, send them a pm, everyone else does not have to be bombarded hearing how you did what was right and it's the best thing ever and everyone else is doomed. that is not supportive or welcome here.

I really was sincere when I wrote the first post in this thread. The more people we have here, the better this board can be. I don't care what people are doing to lose the weight -- I JUST HATE SURGERY WARS. They drive away people who are looking for support.

A PREOP DS newbie came over here and responded to a post from a 9-month-out POSTOP RNY person who felt they weren't losing fast enough. They ended that response with: 

"Honestly, it's not you, it's your surgery..."

That is just plain rude.

This same noob had just posted on another forum that she was looking to argue with someone.

So, someone wanting to get into an argument comes on to our support board and tries to get all us BMI>50 folks all riled up. AND IT WORKED!! (I guess we were just lucky to avoided this crapola before.)

PLEASE, duodenal switch, RNY, lapband, VSG, Atkins, Weigh****chers, the voodoo swinging chickens diet , we don't care what you're doing to lose weight -- just don't bag on other people's choices after the surgery is done.

It's not like anyone has WLS surgery for fun.

We all did it because a life with super morbid obesity is not a life.

Post all you want about how much better your surgery is.  

Post how you lost 200 pounds in 4 weeks. (200 lbs/4 weeks? -- maybe I can get a revision?)

Share your wisdom!

Just don't be rude to people who are looking for help!!!

And the rest of us -- just don't respond to the posts. If you ignore people who are just out to rile up people, they get bored and go away. There will be some noobs who fall into their webs, but it can't be helped. 
 
It's time for this thread to end.

Thanks.

well said Patti....

Did somebody mention the VOODOO SWINGING CHICKEN DIET?!!??!    Hmmmm....I'm thinking that's one diet I've never tried!  Maybe you could send me the parameters Miss Patti?  It just could improve my chances of success ya' know, and I'll try anything once!!    Loving the humor girlfriend!  Have a blessed week everyone!  connie

I just want to add that I would be someone who wouldn't come around much if there were constant surgery wars over here. I avoid the main board for that reason and just go to my state one and usually this one.

The reality is that there are different surgeries for a reason, and people make different choices for a reason. No one surgery is totally superior to others for everyone. I felt I was too big for a lap band, while I know others who have chosen it and had success. I felt I had too many deficiencies to go for a duodenal switch, even if it might potentially be easier to get all the weight off. I also restricted myself to surgeries available where I live -- I have kids, it's important to me to be near my home and near them. Our paths vary and there should be no reason why we can't be respectful of other people's choices.

I think we could probably argue that if any of us was in fact perfect we wouldn't be needing to lose weight ;)

Wow - I thought I was being welcomed back to the BMI over 50 board.... guess that's not the case.  YES my BMI was over 60 when I started the process and YES i chose the DS.  Is the DS for everyone- NO.   Surgery choice is a personal decision but I will say during my research the DS made the most sense for ME.   I am here for support for everyone no matter what surgery you had.  The most important thing to me is success - if you start with a BMI greater than 50 and find the right tool for you and you loose your weight and keep it off then