Melting Mama

Oh. Yes. She. Did.

Hold the Press Releases, Suz!  

How do you go from not paying your taxes, failure to ship orders since 2011, closing your store, foreclosure, shutting down all communication to... THIS?

Gastric Sleeve Gastrectomy

What is a "Sleeve Gastrectomy"?

Wikipedia -

Sleeve gastrectomy is a surgical weight-loss procedure in which the stomach is reduced to about 25% of its original size, by surgical removal of a large portion of the stomach, following the major curve. The open edges are then attached together (often with surgical staples) to form a sleeve or tube with a banana shape. The procedure permanently reduces the size of the stomach. The procedure is performed laparoscopically and is not reversible.

The following is from - Endobariatric.com - Dr. Alvarez

The sleeve gastrectomy is an operation in which the left side of the stomach is surgically removed. This results in a new stomach which is roughly the size and shape of a banana. Since this operation does not involve any "rerouting" or reconnecting the intestines, it is a simpler operation than the gastric bypass or the duodenal switch. Unlike the Lap Band procedure, the sleeve gastrectomy does not require the implantation of an artificial device inside the abdomen. 

Patients who should consider this procedure include:

1. Those who are concerned about the potential long term side effects of an intestinal bypass such as intestinal obstruction, ulcers, anemia, osteoporosis, protein deficiency and vitamin deficiency.
2. Those who are considering a Lap Band but are concerned about a foreign body inside the abdomen.
3. Those who have medical problems that prevent them from having weight loss surgery such as anemia, crohn's disease, extensive prior surgery, and other complex medical conditions.
4. People who need to take anti-inflammatory medications may also want to consider this. Usually, these medications need to be avoided after a gastric bypass because the risk of ulcer is higher.

It might also be a good option if patients have a problem with their lap band requiring revision, have already lost a lot of weight and don't want a full bypass. The weight loss seems to be a little better and more rapid than the lap band (60 - 70% EWL) over two years. There is still no long-term data.

What advantages does it have?

1. It does not require disconnecting or reconnecting the intestines (no dumping syndrome).
2. There is no malabsorption of nutrients therefore avoiding anemia, osteoporosis, protein deficiency and vitamin deficiency.
3. Only surgery that substantially removes the "hunger hormone" Ghrelin.
4. It is a technically a much simpler operation than the gastric bypass or the duodenal switch.
5. There is no foreign body inside of you.
6. It does not need adjustments or fills (adjustable band patients must come back for fills).
7. Preserves the pylorus (most patients should not get dumping syndrome).
8. It may be a safer operations for patients with a body mass index (BMI) more than 60. It may be used as the first stage of a 2-stage operation.

 

This is me, walking away ...

I am in week two of a very entry level math course for college.  I haven't done any sort of math, beyond retail or grocery-store calculations since 1996.  I suppose it might be frightening to know that yours truly was in fact, a Cash Office Manager for a retail store, and a banker at one time.  Yes, that means, I was In Charge Of All The Monies.  <shrug>  I did okay.

But, I am not great with working out math problems on the page -- especially if they get wordy.   "If a train leaves..."  Yes, no.  I cannot calculate.  You want the interest on how many months of what kind of loan for who, why?  I focus on the wrong details.  I am too literal. 

I  just  'walked away' from my work  before I threw it.  I'm taking an assessment, and quite frustrated at this choice:

...because I'm using it.  I don't know.  

I haven't done this stuff since high-school, and opening the book and reading about it is like *blank stare* to me, and worser still is LISTENING to someone else discuss math? <crickets>

Worser-er?  Is that in the time it took to open this blog page, click on compost, realize I had a chicken roasting in the oven, remove it, debone it and come back?  The school's program timed out and I lost my work.  Begin again.

But, in the way that I am a professional procrastinator, it's too late to start again, I'm too sleepy to attempt it and would likely fail the assessment entirely.  If I'm going to fail, I want to DO IT BIG.

A post filled with good news and a STFU.