DeLarla

Thanks for all the PMs asking when I'm getting a new port. I've been feeling blue and hopeless waiting for a port to magically appear. Today the Powers that Be spoke to me and told me to get off my ass and see my surgeon. The reason I haven't followed up with him is because I didn't see a reason to, considering I can't afford a port surgery now anyway. Why see him if there's nothing he can do for me? Sometimes we just have to take steps towards our goal even if we can't see light at the end of the tunnel. Earlier I posted that Dr. Billy hasn't returned my calls - that's cause I'm being punished! He had his staff call me to get my butt to him cause he wants to see me every 4-6 months (he wants me bad, I know he does.) Kidding - laugh there. So in order to discuss my issues, I have to see him in person. It's a huge ordeal for me to see him considering his schedule and mine totally conflict. I have to take off work to see him, but he doesn't even work Fridays so I'd have to take off 2 days to see him. (He does work Fridays but at his clinic in Northern California which is way too far.) He's actually meeting me at his office on 4th of July, this way I don't have to lose time from work. So I'm off to Penni's then for a check-up, and most likely, a few good laughs. It just makes me sigh deeply, because after making the huge trip, I still come home portless and will have to back again for the surgery, that is, if a port falls from the sky. The part alone could bankrupt a gal! I heard the port part is like $800.00, and that doesn't even include labor! We all know the labor gets us, right? Cha-chinggggy. That's Step-One... baby steps.

I've seen the list before but it's missing something: Grabbing Your Weiner and Twirling it like a Propeller Will NOT turn her on.

I have anxiety disorder to the point I spend my teens and 20s in emergency rooms. At once point it was so severe that my doctor put me on full disablity. It was awful because of all the people in the world that WANTED to go to work, I wasn't able to make it out the front door without a full blown attack. During those days I was treated like a guinea pig and given every med known to man, including the Zoloft and all the one's Michelle mentioned (except Wellbutrin, which is fairly new.) My point is that I've lived the hell of needing medications, so I've tried everything along the way. Then one day when I was ready to crack up completely, a plain ole ordinary paramedic told me to drink a 32 ounce cup of Water during an attack. I didn't think I could drink it because I couldn't even breathe, but somehow he helped me through it. Then he made me drink a 2nd one. I was so full and had trouble getting the 2nd cup down, but then I started running to the bathroom. Suddenly I realized that my anxiety attack never went full-blown for the first time in my life. The paramedic explained to me that the body gets so busy processing all that water that it can't process and have an anxiety attack at the same time. It works. Plain old water. To top it off, I got so desperate that I went to a psychic. She touched my hands and jumped back & said I burned her. She told me electricity was flying through my body, then she told me the only way to put out fire is with water. Lots of water. The last med I tried was Buspar, which nearly caused me to have a seizure. Now I use water therapy, and I haven't had a full blown attack in many years. On a horrible day you might see me with my hands shaking trying to get water down my throat, but soon the panic is gone and I'm just running to the bathroom feeling fine. Sometimes the answer is right in front of us all along.

Wow, you sound like you're doing amazing. I didn't feel hungry for 2 weeks because I was so bloated with horrific gurgling from the top of my new belly to the bottom of my abdomen. I felt plain old lousy. I'm hungry right now, so that homemade broth sounds good even to me! Welcome to the banded side! Good luck to you. Oh, my new "full" feeling is much different than before. Now I feel full high up, like inbetween my rib cage.

Thanks! It's fun and bouncy. I can't grow hair long cause it snaps and splits. I wish I had the nerve to go short-short!

Now y'all know my secret... I'm really Elvis. 'Cilla, make me another peanut butter nanner sammy.

There's a rash of office equipment being stolen here. They got one computer from our office but a bunch of stuff from others. They put it all in a van & sell it dirt cheap. They took our stamp machine! Like you'd ever think of protecting a stamp machine.

"Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks." SNORT! Good one!

Hmmm... I saw a SPJones posting here asking about band slippage. SPJones, is that you? Okay, I'm just kidding so no getting mad at me... but... you never see both of them in the same room at the same time.

BTY, thanks! Penni fixed it.

I told my hairdresser to do whatever she wanted. She gave me a blonde bob in the front and brunette flip in the back. She had me looking like a damn movie star, but I can't make it look anything like what it's supposed to look like. Thanks for the compliment. I look really old in the close up. I don't know if I have a program at work to shrink the pixels, so I'll do it from home tonight. Thanks

They denied it? Sitting here with mouth dropped open. I called her cell (the one she used while working for Lopez) and it's been disconnected. Did they just write her off and she no longer exists?

Okay, now I'm at work and trying to shrink the pic using Powerpoint. When I re-size, I only get options for percentages, not pixels. How do I shrink pixels?

That's what I did, but I should have cropped my face smaller first. You live, you learn (that's the song Alanis is singing me now.)

My weekends always suck since we socialize so much around food & drinks. But I've had my morning 1% with coffee, and my mid-morning yogurt.

They might bill your insurance $1000.00, but insurance will only pay a small portion, and they'll write off the balance. I never did understand this practice where the insurance only pays what they feel like paying. Nor do I understand why they bill us one fee, but they triple the bill to the insurance company.

It's damn creepy. My real estate office was robbed through the roof. There was a skylight in the building, and he shimmied down it and back up and out with all the goods. They should cut off a finger for the first offense, then a hand for the 2nd and both hands for the 3rd offense. My house was robbed, too. Bastards.

Dr. Billy might not be such a good idea any more. He hasn't returned any of my calls or e-mails for over a week already. I spoke with his office, who explained the problem. He takes on too much. He has good intentions by taking on Mexican patients. I've called 4 times & sent 2 e-mails but he's so bogged down now that he can't return my call. She gave him a huge note last week to follow up on me, but still no response. I keep answering everyone's question of when I'll get a new port, but now Billy won't even communicate with me, so what I supposed to do now? Penni, you might want to ask Billy before referring anyone else to him to see if he's got the time.

Scary, yes. Shocking, no. Unfortunately, there are countless stories like this coming out of Mexico. While some are thrilled with their experience, this situation isn't as rare as we'd like to believe. It's a huge relief that she's in good hands now and getting better every day.

Somebody just shoot me already! I'm not doing great, but at least I'm doing better. My husband needs a lot of food since his job is physical, and he's a goodie junkie. He has a candy bar, a snack pie, chips & a Pepsi with his lunch every day. The other night my skinny pal, Shelly, stayed with me. We packed his lunch together. He was SO good and ate the whole thing without complaining. Sandwich, grapes, dried apricots and a tapicoa. I noticed he snuck goodies in, too, but that drawer is looking pretty pathetic since I'm not restocking it for him. I'm not making much progress, but at least I'm making some. Been snacking on dried apricots & mangos & sugar free lofat ice cream.

My Phen-Fen doctor was fat. So was his nurse.

I just read on another post that carbonation causes band slippage. Susie says Dr. Ortiz & Martinez told her this, so I asked Susie to contact them for more information and post it as soon as she can. Has anyone ever heard this? Does anyone have a good relationship with their doctors that they can call & find out more?

Sue, this is the first time EVER that I heard cabonation can make the band slip. I've been asking many doctors about carbonation, and all of them say to avoid it but for different reasons. Some say it stretches the pouch, others say it's just uncomfortable. If Martinez & Ortiz say that it causes slippage, that's news to me. Thanks for sharing that. Now I have a reason not to drink it since it never hurt me at all. Any chance you can call Ortiz or Martinez and ask them for more information? Even start a whole new thread, or do a search for another "carbonation" thread to add this? Could carbonation cause slippage after one use? After long term use? How? Why? Did I miss another post? HELP! Has anyone else ever heard this? Thanks, Susie!

It's Saturday morning. Part of my problem is I'm a caffeine addict, which makes me nervous, which makes me eat. So why not quit caffeine? Cause I have been trying for 30 years, and I'm a mental case. I'm not giving up coffee, just cutting back to 1/2 cup mixed with 16 oz milk, cinammon, and sprinkle of fake sweetener. I finished off the 2% and restocked fridge last night with 1%. I yelled out for help, and one girlfriend rushed here to rescue me and even spent the night. She calls me several times a day, and today is the day we'll sit down and talk for real. No excuses since I managed to grocery shop last night, and somehow healthy food fell in the cart. Lots of fruit & dried fruit. Chris won't know what hit him because I even passed up the meat section and only got chicken and fish. If I'm goint to maintain any sort of weight loss, I can't do it with a drawer full of crap in the house. I planned on buying 1/2 gallon ice cream as my last binge last night, but I heard all these supportive voices and bought a contaniner of pudding instead. Sure, that's fattening and not the best choice, but I would have eaten all the ice cream, while I only had a cup of the pudding. Big, deep sigh. Baby steps. I'm going to the site to log in my milk now. Wish me luck in sticking with the plan for just one day. One day, one night.

Time for true confessions. Michelle, you WERE right until today; I had maintained nearly a 70 lb weight loss. Today it's official though. I've gained 9 solid pounds. I'm crying as I type this because I screamed out for help, and rescue came. My size 2 friend is sleeping in my bed right now. She showed up last night to rescue me from eating and is going to help me. It's the end of the line at my house. Once the junk food drawer is empty, Chris is going on a health food kick whether he likes it or not. I went shopping and didn't buy his candy bars or chips. I got fruit, dried fruit, more fruit, seeds. Today I'm filling the drawer with nuts & pretzles. Zero hour. My Band journey started when I posted a personal ad at Yahoo out of desperation, hoping some therapist or shrink would find me and talk to me. Somehow Karen, a stranger, saw my ad & responded. Eventually she came to my house and showed me her band, which I'd never heard of. Soon I was in Mexico following her footsteps. Unfortunately, she eroded & had her band removed a couple months ago. Anyway, Karen is also coming to my rescue. She's not letting Band-removal get the better of her, and she's fighting and winning! Karen's the one that gave me the milk web address. She's sticking to the plan, logging in her food, and we're going to meet on a regular basis. She's working on her "mind" which is what I need. Anyway, I'm going to the milk site now to log my 16 oz lowfat in.