enterprise01

Hate to tell you, but you're wrong on that one. The period belongs outside the parenthesis if the parenthetical is phrase that is part of a larger sentence. It belongs inside the parenthesis if the parenthetical is a complete sentence that stands on its own. Example: I hate shopping for swimsuits (as we all do). Example: (I’m practically suicidal after a day of shopping.)

You got that right. I was filled to 3.5 ccs on Wednesday and had no trouble eating Wednesday or Thursday, but today my lunch (same thing I ate on Wed. and Thurs.) got stuck and I had my first PB. That's true for me, too. I've lost 43 lbs, which is very significant for someone 5 feet tall, and not too many people have noticed. Or maybe they notice but just don't say anything. Good luck at the family get-together. I hope everyone is wowed.

When I have a Brazilian done, I'm on the table on my back with one leg relaxed and the other bent at the knee and out to the side. I wear a thong and pull it to the center, so the technician can work on one side at a time. I help the technician by holding my underwear in place with one hand and stretching my skin (either upper pubic area or inner thigh) with the other hand. It usually takes about 30 minutes to do a Brazilian wax. And, yes, it is excruciating. Being of Italian descent, I have much more body and facial hair than I want. A couple of years ago, I went to get my mustache waxed before going to a friend's wedding. A young Vietnamese lady, who had very little body/facial hair of her own, did my mustache and then looks at the rest of my face and says in a heavy accent, "We need to do your eyebrows. We need to do your cheeks. We need to do your chin and your neck. You so hairy!!" The part about my eyebrows pissed me off because I pluck them EVERY SINGLE DAY without fail and they look pretty damn good. And I have electrolysis done on my mustache and chin, so give me a break. I'm trying to get rid of it. "You so hairy!" Gee, thanks. As soon as I get down to 150, I'm going to start going for Brazilians again. It's gives you such better results than shaving does. I want to have laser hair removal on my legs but am afraid it won't work. I tried it on my mustache and it did not lessen the amount or thickness of the hair at all. Wheetsin, I'm going to try those nail scissors. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't think the BMI charts are necessarily realistic or even healthy for a lot of people. According to the BMI chart, I should weigh between 90 and 110 pounds. That will NEVER happen unless I have a leg amputated. I've been thin many times in my adult life (like a size 4 kind of thin) and that was around 120 pounds, which is what I'm aiming for now. The BMI fails to take in to consideration too many other factors, like muscle mass, bone structure, and breast size/density. My breasts account for a good 10 pounds of my weight, and I'm large boned as well. I think you should base your goal weight on where you feel comfortable and where you are healthy regardless of your BMI. By the way, my body-builder friend was recently denied insurance coverage because his BMI was through the roof. Of course, he doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, but the BMI chart doesn't know that.

Yes, that would be a great way of handling it. This isn't about censorship or free speech, it's about having to wade through the piles of crap in New Posts to find the actual support threads.

Neal, you've got my vote, too. I now avoid the R&R section for exactly the reasons you described. And it would be very helpful to NOT have them listed under New Posts.

Yes. Theorectically, it can be surgically reversed, but there's a good chance that the reversal won't work. And I can't imagine that any insurance company would pay for a reversal.

That's my boyfriend, too!!! He gets his feelings hurt if I shush him when I'm trying to hear the TV. And then he's so busy talking that he'll miss the dialogue too and ask me what the character just said. My response is always, "I don't know. Someone was talking and I couldn't hear the TV." He does the same thing at movies and we've had so many fights about it. It's just plain rude to talk during movies, and I don't see how he doesn't get that. And he reads out loud over my shoulder when I'm reading the news on-line. AARRGGHHH!!!!!

I've had both surgeries and the tubal was far easier on me. Of course, I had the tubal when I was 24 and only weighed 120 pounds, so I think that's why I had an easy time with it. At 39 yrs old and 218 pounds, any surgery is going to be rougher. The swelling and bloating from the lap-band surgery lasted a couple of weeks instead of days. The pain was also much worse. It was a good 5-6 days before I even felt well enough to drive. With the tubal, I was back to normal within 2 days. Even though the lap-band surgery was very rough for me, I don't regret my decision at all. Pain is temporary and it's well worth the results.

I have to admit I'm a bit envious. I went in for my 4th fill this morning and they filled me up to 3 ccs and put me under the flouroscope. When I drank the barium, the nurse said, "Oh my god, you're wide open!" So they put another .5 ccs in and the barium went through a little slower the 2nd time. I kind of want to be where you are right now with the level of restriction. And since your fill is recent, I'm sure you'll have less restriction in another week or so. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I probably would NOT get a slight unfill. Sunshine gave a good list of guidelines to follow.

My doc uses a topical numbing agent, not an injection, so it truly is pain free. Sky, Dr. K has a really good reputation on this board, so I would think that he's a very competent doctor. Maybe that seroma is causing all the problems. I've heard that a seroma can result in a knot of calcified tissue, which is thicker and harder than regular scar tissue. If that happened near your port, I can see how it would be difficult to find the port. Good luck with the next try, and please do use a numbing agent. The topical stuff only takes about 10 minutes to work well enough for a fill procedure.

1. Was your procedure outpatient or did you stay overnight? Outpatient - In at 7:00 a.m., out at 9:00 p.m. 2. Did you have complications related to surgery? Debilitating nausea. 3. What you were given for at home pain? How many days did you take it? Darvocet - 10 days 4. Pain after surgery for how many days? 14 days 5. Degree of pain...10 being your arm was cut off and 1 being a paper cut? 8 6. Doctor and state where surgery was done? Dr. Hadar Spivak, Houston, TX I've had more than a dozen surgeries and this was by far the worst. With many of my other surgeries, I was up and about the next day. With this one, I'd say that at 4 weeks I still wasn't fully recovered.

Candice, I'm so happy for your success. I bet you look great. Please post some photos some time soon. You had exactly the same 3 procedures that I want done! The arms bother me more than anything. I'm many months away from goal, so I'm planning for surgery next January. Glad to hear you're happy with your doctor. I'm anxious to see your before and after photos. Take care.

Sunshine, Juno, and Tulip -- Thanks for your encouraging and supportive words. I'm going for another fill tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will give me a jump start and I can get back on track. And, no, I'm probably not getting all my protein in. I'm close, but I know I've been eating too much fruit, which in my opinion is just as bad as candy. Yesterday I'm sure I did get all my protein because I ate an entire "family style" plate of Hunan Kung Bo (scallops, shrimp, beef, and chicken). It concerns me that I can eat that much without even feeling it. Sunshine, do you worry that they'll put 4 ccs in your band and you still won't feel enough restriction? Because I sure do. I'm amazed at the bandsters who feel complete restriction at 1 cc. I'm envious of them, too. Tulip, I can relate to the evening hunger. It's much, much, much worse than during the day. And it doesn't help that I'm exhausted at the end of the day and my resolve is weaker as a result. I need to try to make it to Dr. Spivak's support meetings on Tuesday. I think it helps to keep me in the right mindset.

What bothers me is that they play the same 3 phone chat commercials over and over and over during the same program. They are more annoying than car dealer commercials. My new peeve for the day: Cashiers who don't know to give change correctly. They put the dollar bills in your hand first and then the coins on top. This is especially bad at the drive thru window because you have to pull your arm back in the car while trying to hold your hand palm up to avoid dropping all the coins. Why don't their managers teach them that the correct way is to put the coins in the customer's hand first, allow the customer to close 3 fingers around the coins, and then put the dollars in the customer's hand so she can close her thumb and index finger around them? Is that such a difficult concept?

Sunshine, I love the new avatar! You are looking fantastic! Like some others on here, I'm having a hard time at the moment. The weight loss has stalled. Work has been horrible for the past 3 weeks -- I'm only sleeping in 2 hour intervals here and there; I'm not keeping track of food because I can't even keep track of what time of day it is; my cat is getting sicker so when I'm home I'm tending to him (sub-q fluids twice a day, injections, and oral meds); when I'm not working, I'm napping - sometimes even on my office floor; and my body aches all over from lack of sleep and physical/mental fatigue. Life sucks at the moment, and I'm lapsing back into old habits, like nervous eating. I'm pretty sure I'm staying under 1300 calories, but I really need to stick to 800 to lose weight. When work gets like this, I feel like food is the only good thing I have. It's the only thing that gives me any solace from the misery of my job. I'm scheduled for a fill next Wednesday and just pray that I can sneak away from work long enough to do it. By the way, the only reason I'm able to get on this forum tonight is because the power went out in my building, so I got to leave work at 9:30 p.m. Yay!!!!! Of course tomorrow I'll be even more stressed because the power outage is causing me to fall about 5 hours behind in my work. Yuck!!! I think I may take some phentermine until my work situation gets better. Too bad they don't prescribe real speed anymore - I could use a burst of energy. Or maybe just a new job!

I believe this idea that we must consume a minimum of 60 grams of protein is another one of those things that has taken on a life of its own. Years and years ago, the guideline was 1 gram per kilo (not pound) of lean body weight. Then it became 1.5 grams per kilo of lean body weight for body builders and athletes. Then everyone is in the U.S. failed to notice the kilo part and the athlete part, and it became 1.5 grams per pound of lean body weight. And some people even leave off the "lean" part and try to make it 1.5 grams per pound of body weight. And some people think that if 1.5 grams is good, then 2 grams must be better! Going back to the original formula that I learned in nutrition class in college, if my ideal weight is 110 pounds, as a female I can estimate that 75% is lean body weight. (I think it was 85% for men.) 110 x 75% = 82.5 divided by 2.2 to convert to kilos = 37.5. So I should be getting about 40 grams of protein per day. Some days I get more than that and some days less. I do my best to make good choices and to eat protein first at every meal, but I'm not going to obsess about my protein intake. And I'm not going to drink some horrible tasting protein shake that will make me gag. My doctor tells his patients to avoid liquid calories because they do not give you the sensation of being full and you'll end up consuming too many calories in a day, and that sounds like good advice to me. Most importantly, one personal rule I try hard never to break is that if it doesn't taste good, don't eat it. Protein shakes fall into that category for me.

If you do the auto delivery, you get a discount. And if you're really good about sticking to it, you won't have to buy groceries, other than some veggies. If I weren't eating my Nutrisystem lunch everyday, I'd be eating out everyday, so I figure Nutrisystem is actually saving me money.

I just the BEST Nutrisystem snack! It's new, so this is the first time I've had it. It's the Chocolate Crunch Bar and it tastes like a Nestle Crunch bar but not as sweet. It has 8 grams of protein and only 130 calories. I'm going to order a whole box of these things!

When I was on here 2 days ago, I could see everyone's rep points as well as my own. Now they've completely disappeared. Are you all seeing them right now? Since the new changes, I seem to have a different technical problem every time I log in. Anyway, I agree with Sunta and Marjon9. And anyone who spends more than a day in this forum will easily figure out who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't.

I make a grape/walnut/blue cheese salad that I eat all the time. Never had a problem with grapes or nuts. Perhaps your doctor thinks the skin of the grape will get stuck or that people won't chew nuts well enough and they'll get stuck, too.

What a great thread, Carlene! My #1 "can't-live-without-it" product is Diet Snapple Iced Tea (any flavor). It is the only, and I truly mean ONLY, diet beverage that I can tolerate. It also satisfies my sweet tooth. Most days, I drink three 16 oz. bottles. My #2 "can't-live-without-it" product is Lactaid Milk. Without it, I'd never be able to enjoy a bowl of Cereal. For household products, I'd have to say that I can't do without my Chore Boy Golden Fleece in the kitchen. They are these thick terry cloth cleaning pads that work on everything. Sponges, even the ones with the nylon scrubby side, don't work on most baked-on messes and steel wool is too scratchy for most surfaces. Golden Fleece is perfect. Swiffer would be the #2 household product that you'd have to pry from cold, dead body before I'd give it up. Oh, clumping cat litter, too! With 5 litter boxes, my life would be miserable without clumping cat litter. My #1 personal care product is Rogaine. I'd be bald without it. And my #2 personal care product is my Chi straightening Iron. I have curly, frizzy hair and you know what the hot, humid Houston weather does to hair like that. My Chi iron gives me smooth, straight hair that lasts all day.

I do the same thing on my feet. I swipe a little deodorant on the soles, and, voilà, no more sweaty feet or stinky shoes.

You'd be hard pressed to find a negative post about Dr. Spivak. All his patients love him, including me. His staff is wonderful, too. And unlike many other doctors, he has a good after-care support program. My friend who is an anesthesiologist says that Dr. Spivak is the best laparoscopic surgeon in Houston. He was concerned about me getting the lap-band because of potential complications, but when I told him I was considering Dr. Spivak, he told me I couldn't be in better hands and supported my decision to have the surgery. Two of the nurses at Park Plaza who helped take care of me also had Dr. Spivak do their lap-bands. They said the same thing as my doctor friend -- Spivak is the best.

Yes, it's a terrible shame that there are so many more bad odors in the world than good ones. I have horrible sinus problems and after 12 sinus surgeries, my sense of smell is highly acute. My doc jokes that he's going to write me up in a medical journal because I shouldn't have any sense of smell after all the surgeries. Sometimes, I can't even tolerate going to a crowded venue because I can smell the natural oil on people's skin and it gets to be too much. A smoker, a person with BO or halitosis, or a person who bathes in perfume just about kills me. Airplanes are torture. And newspapers are as bad a cigarettes to me. A dear friend of mine who has been battling obesity his whole life is currently on a liquid fasting diet. As a result, he's having a problem with BO -- something about being in ketosis makes your body release toxins that come out in your skin and breath. Fortunately, he's aware of it and is making every effort to quell it. But for the most part, I don't think fat people have any more of a problem with BO than skinny people. It's all about good hygiene.