A Bariatric / Weight Loss Surgery website you should look at

(Also a brief story and pictures at the end)

I occasionally write articles for Bariatric Surgery Source, and thus have been following the fortunes of this website for about a year now. It’s based in the United States and its location-related information encompasses Canada as well, but its base is an advantage to British, Australian and NZ readers. The US has by far the largest English-speaking market of overweight people reaching for a solution to their obesity, and comprehensive websites such as this one are there to provide it.

They certainly don’t pay me anything, so I’m free to say that I think it’s packed with essential information you need to know before, during and after weight loss surgery. In fact there is so much to see that if I was to pick fault with it I would say that the amount of information can at times be bewildering and it can take a few minutes to find your way round. It’s also not biased, because it will discuss very frankly the pros and cons of each procedure, with a lot of links to other websites.

People also write in with their problems, and Jeff Quinlan, who founded and runs the site, invites WLS  contributors if they would like to comment. One of these is Beth (Who Hid the Donuts), and this week we had a fascinating to and fro about the differences between gastric band and gastric bypass surgery. Beth's forthright manner has ensured that a very lively discussion has resulted.  I know that the lady in Florida asking the question will have a lot to think about after all the replies she got.

If any of you out there like the idea of writing the odd article (however long or short, it doesn’t matter), Jeff would love to hear from you. He also wants to hear from people who have read a WLS book and would be willing to review it.

His only request is that it can’t be copy and pasted from anywhere on the internet, i.e. your own blogs. The work has to be original to comply with the regulations to which he is subject, i.e., it mustn’t contain strings of words which when Googled bring up both your blog and his website. I would add that you have to submit it either by typing direct, or if you need to compose first, to do it in Notepad, because if you use Word you’ll find all your apostrophes etc fallen by the wayside.

These are the articles I’ve written so far:

1. If hunger is not the reason you eat then eating is not the solution.
(I’ve always liked this phrase, and I’ve discovered recently that I probably got it from the blog of LapBand Gal, and if it was hers, many apologies for 'borrowing' it inadvertently!)
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2. Financing LapBand surgery & Follow-up Visits, in a lump sum.

3. My LapBand recovery.

4. Weight Loss Surgery Support Groups. Group therapy and how it can help you.

5. Getting stuck with the gastric band.

6. Keep your honey in the bathroom: The Gastric band and diabetes.

7. Weight loss surgery – plateaus, doldrums and being becalmed.

8. To Tell or not To Tell about your Weight Loss Surgery

All they want is to hear your story, how you got to where you are today and your thoughts about weight loss surgery, and the gastric band. There are all those readers out there who want to feel they aren’t alone, and you could help.  If you're trying to gather your scattered thoughts, there's a long list of topics to inspire you.

Jeff has always been supportive and friendly - and there are pictures of himself and his team up on the site to add a personal dimension and make contributors feel that they know them.

Good luck with Bariatric Surgery Source, Jeff!
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From my Eavesdroppings & Stories blog.  253:  Soliloquy at the Petrol Station

Scene: I have filled my car with petrol and go in to pay. I hear the radio blaring as I make my way to the till, where the 20+ year old cashier has just finished serving a customer. As I step up to the till I hear the radio disc jockey mention that after the news he'll be playing the latest song of "the delectable Lady Gaga".

Cashier: Delectable? I tell you I'm sick and tired of hearing about her. Can't STAND her. She looks awful, dresses worse, dead artificial. People just talk about her, not about the music. She's supposed to be a singer...

Me: Mmm. Pump No. 14 please.

Cashier: Like that Madonna - all the rage in the 90's she was. Couldn't STAND her. Them pointy tits. Always had to be in the news about other stuff. She was supposed to be a singer...

Me: Mmm. Do I put my card in this way up?

Cashier: Yes love. I tell you, these women are there to sing, but all they want you to do is look at them, not listen to their voices. Can't STAND them.

Me: Mmm. Can I take my card out now?

Cashier: Yes love. I mean, look at footballers. We want to watch them play and all they want to do is screw around and appear in newspapers and demand a lot of money. Can't STAND that. I've read that they used to pay footballers £20 a week back in the fifties, and look at them now. Just for kicking a ball around...

Me: Mmm. I know, it's a scandal. Well, bye for now.

Cashier: Bye love. Nice talking to you.

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Photo Finish -
from Lonicera's non-digital archive

Photo-stew...

A stream in the Blaise Castle grounds, Bristol

View of Bristol and Wills Memorial Building Tower,

the heart of the university

Rust can be beautiful too...

The windbreak:  the only way to sunbathe on a British beach

Dirty and busy windowsills - one of my

favourite subjects

One of the first pictures I ever took in the early 90s with

my Pentax SLR camera - a view of Clifton, Bristol, from the

Suspension Bridge, evening.

Japanese garden, in Wales

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