Penni60

Dody I think you should at least call Vandy and let them know what is up. They might have an option you haven't thought of. I have faith it will all work out.

OK I need more info, why are you taking Prednisone to begin with? And what is the dosage? What else did you have to eat that night? I mean everything! What Vitamins are you taking? What Birth control? Stay away from Shell fish for the time being just to make sure. HUGS

Hey just saw this post. It sounds like your father is really in pain and I have sympathy for him. Back pain is the hardest to control due to the nerves surrounding the areas. Ask your pharmacist if any of the meds he is currently on are conflicting with each other? Most times Pharmacists know more about the compatibility of drugs than doctors or nurses. I would start there. Has he tried Physical Therapy? If this is not an option then I understand just exploring all non pharmaceutical options first. Has he tried a regimen of light exercise (ie: walking, sitting and lifting his legs, using 2 lb weights for arm lifts, just keep the exercise LIGHT, etc)? Have you heard of a TENS unit? My mom used this on her neck pain and it kept the pain at bay till they fused her neck. There are some Herbal muscle and nerve relaxor remedies he could take as well. Everytime I went to my Chiropractor he gave me a "Calming Formula" to help my muscles relax and nerves to stop being stimulated after my treatments. It works great. I will see if I have a bottle left and if so I will send it to you but PM me your address. If I don't have any left then I will email the doc and get the ingredients for you. The procedures you mentioned are all something to consider but they too can have their own concerns. Look at what can happen in the long term if he has one of those procedures. Yeah it might fix the pain but does he give up some function? Is he forever gonna be numb in that area now? Just ask the long term questions. You should look at one ailment at a time and see if a diet change, meditation, herbal remedies, change in pain meds will work before doing anything more drastic. I am so sorry he is in such pain and I know how that can affect the mental state. Depression is a product of chronic pain. So keep that in mind as well. I will keep your father in my prayers. Same goes for your mother Jessie.

Happy Nurses Week!! To all of those that I am sending this to Happy Nurses week YOU MAY BE A NURSE IF……… 1. You believe that every patient needs TLC. Thorazine, lorazepam, and Compazine. 2. You would like to meet the inventor of the call light some night in a dark alley. 3. You believe not all patients are annoying, some are unconscious. 4. Your sense of humor gets more warped each year. 5. You know the phone number of every late night delivery place by heart. 6. You can only tell time by the 24 hr clock 7. Almost everything can seem humorous….eventually 8. When asked what color that patient's diarrhea was, you show them your shoes 9. You know the smell of different diarrhea to identify it. 10. Every time you walk you make a jingling noise because of all the scissors and clamps in your pocket. 11. You can tell the pharmacist more about the medication they are dispensing that they know. 12. You refuse to watch ER because it is too much like the real things, and it triggers flashbacks. 13. You check the caller ID on your day off to see if anyone from the hospital is trying to call and ask you to work. 14. You've been telling stories in a restaurant and made someone at another table throw up. 15. You notice that you are using more 4-letter words than you did before you started nursing. 16. Every time someone asks you for a pen you can find at least 4 of them on you. 17. You can intubate your friends at parties. 18. You don't get excited about blood unless it's your own. 19. You live by the motto "to be right is only half the battle , to convince the doctor is more difficult" 20. You've basted you thanksgiving turkey with a Toomey syringe. 21. You've told a confused patient that you name was that of you co-worker and to holler if they need help. 22. Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly normal. 23. Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago's water tank. 24. When checking the level of a patient's orientation, you aren't sure of the answer. 25. You find yourself checking out other customers veins in the grocery waiting lines. 26. You can sleep soundly at the hospital cafeteria table on you dinner break and are not embarrassed when you wake up. 27. You avoid unhealthy looking shoppers in the mall for the fear that they will drop near you and you'll have to do CPR on your day off. 28. You throw a party for a co-worker and use a urinal (clean of course) as a lemon-aid pitcher and use a bed sheet for a tablecloth. 29. You hate to get dressed in "real clothes" because scrubs are what you live in, and why can't they make jeans that comfortable 29. You often stay awake for 24+ hrs at a time when you work nights and realize you don't need alcohol or drugs to hallucinate, just lack of sleep. 30. You pull over in some parking lot after working nights because you are too tired to drive home and wake up to someone knocking on your window thinking you have had a stroke because you are passed out in you car and drooling. 31. You finger has gone places you never thought possible. 32. You've sworn to have "No Code" tattooed on your chest. HAPPY NURSES WEEK

I removed the names from the initial post out of respect for privacy. We do not know the reasons someone does not follow through. We should not post names to shame people into doing just that. Jolynn has started a thread of what gifts she has received and that is suffice enough for accountability. This thread will be locked.

Lady In Red: I laughed so hard at your sentence. I have actually said those similar things outloud and shocked my 18 yr old son. He just busted out laughing. Then he said, "Mom you are fine just like you are." So thank you for making me laugh. Geezersue: I love you. You are such a breath of fresh air. I am so thankful for this forum so I can come and get several different views on their experiences and opinions. To all the rest, my appt now is in July instead of June. I simply cannot face my doc with this extra weight on me right now. I need another month to at least try to get some off. This morning I now weigh 264 lbs. That is almost a 20 lbs gain since debanding. I am devastated. I am trying not to focus on it too much but I have to focus on the meals. I am just so tired of all the crap of dealing with counting calories, weighing portions, drinking water, avoiding sugar and white flour, exercising (like I did anyway), etc. I am just so tired of it all. It just gets too depressing to know that I can't have a piece of cake because my mind doesn't register that I should only have ONE piece or ONE bite. NO I HAVE TO HAVE IT ALL!!! It's like I am hoarding food in my cheek pouches for later. I would go to the fast food place buy (2) two double cheeseburgers, (2) french fries, and (2) drinks. What am I thinking? I am ONE person and no ones stomach is that big. But what do I do? I eat every last bite of those two meals. Yup every last bite. Then I feel like crap. Would I learn NOPE?!! Two hours later I am asking everyone what they want for dinner. TWO HOURS LATER PEOPLE!!! STOP THE INSANITY!!! And that is exactly what it feels like. I feel like I have this other personality that says "EAT EAT EAT now because you might run out of food." Now how insane does that sound? LOL!!!! Anyway, thanks for listening to my rantings. I know eventually I will either do one of two things in my life. 1= I will finally "GET IT" and begin the road to weight loss finally 2= Never "GET IT" and eventually blow up and explode from too much food in my cheek pouches.

http://www.reincarnationstation.com OK I was a HORSE. Only 20% of the population will be higher reincarnated than me. WHOO HOO!!!

I danced with a Mexican because I hate my family. TOO FUNNY!!!

Omamoon that was too funny. The Tootsie Pop Lick Test. LOLOLOLOL!!!!!

If I am not around frequently and you draw names then please email me my person as well as PM. Here is my email. penni@pennimerrick.com Thanks

Here is the website: www.startingovertv.com These links are somewhat outdated. Josie's is anyway. Josie: Graduated and is doing well. She has moved in with her mom and still raising Chloe. Here is her update link: http://www.startingovertv.com/wherearethey/josie2.html Tess: is the lady you are referring to when Towanda (Toni's sis) was in house. Here is her update link: http://www.startingovertv.com/wherearethey/tess.html Deborah: Rude lady and there is NO update link for her. Rachael: No update link for her either. She is the Luau lady I think that was her. Christie: She is the one that had gastric bypass lost 120 lbs then had boob job, tummy tuck, and her arms done. The doctor botched the arm surgery badly and left her with a horrible scar down one arm. She is currently in the house now. She is planning and implementing a 5K and I imagine she will graduate once she crosses the finish line. Anything else ya wanna know from your resident Starting Over TV trivia person? LOL!!

Sandybwells, I LOVE LOVE your art. I do abstract paintings like this as well. What medium do you use? I work in acrylics and canvas but want to branch out to watercolors?

Cassie got a call from her son out of the blue one day. He said, "I understand you are looking for me." Yes the adoptive mother told him Cassie had died. So all these years he thought his mother was dead. It was a very poignant episode and I was thrilled for Cassie. Morsaille that is the RIGHT quote. I am so glad you remembered it for us. I am going to write it down and post that on my Refrigerator. Also, I just started reading Rhonda Britten's book, "Do I look Fat in this?" WOW!! That is all I can say. I highly recommend this book for anyone that has body image issues. It is very enlightening not only about how we look at ourselves but how we handle the perception of what we "THINK" we look like to the rest of the world. Here is Rhonda's website where you can order her books. www.fearlessliving.org She is a phenomenal woman. Iyanla Van Zant has a book out too. But I can't seem to recall the title right now. It is inspirational and teaches us how to pray effectively. I keep it at my bedside and read from it almost every night.

If you have never experienced INSOMNIA then you can't even begin to imagine the frustration of not being able to sleep. You are physically tired but just can't shut off your mind and relax. Or you get sleepy and lie down thinking at last I will now fall asleep only to be wide awake when you do lie down. GRRRRRRRRRRR!! Tossing and turning all night long. Hoping you don't wake up your sweetie. Then getting mad at them for sleeping because you can't sleep. Then feeling guilty for being mad that they are asleep. LOL!!! So then you get up and go watch some TV or read a book hoping that will make you sleepy and the next thing you know the sun is up and you have been awake ALL NIGHT LONG!! If you go to sleep now then you WON'T sleep that night. LOL!! Vicious cycle. I have been this way most of my life. About three years ago I started taking Ambien. It was a lifesaver. I had some of the best nights sleep with that medication. Over the last year my system has become immune to the Ambien. So I was taking it and a benadryl to sleep. Then that didn't work. I was starting back on that track of being awake all night again. So, I called my doctor and asked about LUNESTA. He agreed that it might work better for me. I said what if I build up an immunity to it like I did with Ambien? He said we can alternate the two drugs and see if that will work. So, I took my first does of LUNESTA last night. OH MY GOD!!! I thought I had been sleeping a restful sleep with Ambien. I now know what it means to wake up refreshed and rejuveniated. It works fast, like within 15 min of taking it. I did wake up to use the bathroom and immediately fell fast asleep within minutes. I never did that before. Even taking the Ambien if I woke up I would have trouble getting back to sleep. The LUNESTA can give you a hang over effect if you don't get at least 8 hours of sleep. But I can deal with that by just making sure I take it so I can get those 8 hours. I highly recommend it if someone is suffering from INSOMNIA.

I have never been so touched as the episode today with Niambi. She made a CD of positive affirmations to replace all the negative ones she replayed in her head every day. When they played the CD I just bawled my eyes out. I was just blown away by her transformation when she heard that CD for the first time. She blossomed and shined. "I'm Shining!" And she truly was.

Cassie: She met her son in a hotel room. They did not show his face but he did speak in his normal voice. They hugged and cried together. Rhonda and Dr. Stan was there to support both Cassie and her son. Her son's girlfriend was there as well and she was bawling as well. Cassie wrote her son a poem and read it to him and it made me cry so hard. Also, Cassie gave her son the gold leaf locket she bought the day after she gave him up for adoption and has had all these years. She gave it to him in the porcelain music box Cassie's adoptive mother gave her years ago. It was a very poignant and touching episode. They are staying in touch. He was asked to come to the Starting Over house to start the healing and journey to having a relationship with Cassie but he declined because he doesn't want to do this on TV. I respect him for that and so did Cassie. She has just grown and matured since she first went on the show. Sommer: There was three people that might come back to the show. Tess, Sommer and the other black lady from an earlier show. Sommer was chosen to return. She has just matured so much and is not as scattered as she was before. That is all that is new with her cause she just came back last week I think. So it is all new for her. She is picking up where she left off as far as her steps go. I think that is the updates so far.

You are the daughter that is enough in God's eyes! Or it was something to that effect. I was crying my eyes out. I felt such compassion for Niambi. WOW!! I am so happy that Cassie finally met her son. WOW!! Sommer is back in the house. That made my day. I was hoping she would come back and WOW what a change in her. She is calmer more sophisticated and so Humbled. Antonio needs to take her own advice she gave Niambi and surrender to the process. Jodi I just knew was gonna graduate. But she has some work to do still. Christie is my baby. I just love her. Can you tell I watch it alot. LOL!! I never miss an episode. I tape them all and watch them all at once sometimes. I just skip through the commercials. LOL!!

I have been watching this almost from the beginning. IT comes on at noon on the West Coast on NBC. I tell you I have learned so much about myself and about being a woman. I just love Iyanla and Rhonda as life coaches. And am I the only one that thinks Dr. Stan is a HUNK?!!! WOFF!! LOL!! I would love to go on that show.

UM, I am SHOCKED!! I am not a surgical nurse but it might be normal to take the stitch and the surrounding tissue but I can't think of a reason why. Unless it just saves time. LOL!! Trish, make that list and think of everything. Did he use local anesthestic to numb you when he took out the port. First I think taking the port out in his office is a little strange to begin with. Second, that is just WRONG!! What if you had some complications!

Awww Leener I am so sorry for all you are going through both emotionally and physically. It just sucks bigtime. I too will keep you in my prayers and lift you up. We are all here for you. FYI: WINK WINK I have been known to call a doc's office up to three times in one day to get someone to return my call. I am a RN and I know how busy an office can get but I also know it takes just a minute to answer a question. HUGS!!!

Please tell me that you have called your doc! That does not look good. I too am a health professional.

Here is my pride an joy newly bought this past January 2006. I was drooling over this car since it came off the production line. 2006 Chrysler 300 Cream colored (MINE ALL MINE) 1996 Lincoln Towncar White (son driving now) 1999 Red Ford Van in background (John's vehicle)

Aww Trish I am so sorry for everything you are going through. I really am pissed at how that doc mistreated your issues. Makes me wanna throw Zoe's Boot at him. Hello, He didn't even give you pain meds. YOU HAVE A GAPING HOLE IN YOUR BELLY. What a piece of work.

I have found that if I eat an apple every day it seems to keep me pretty regular and it is natural. Also, try 8oz of Prune juice every morning till you have that easy bowel movement then cut back as needed. The more water you drink the easier bowel movements are as well. So try to get in your 64 oz every day. These seem to work for me. The apple really works great. Nice and soft but not diarrhea movements. I know I know TMI!! LOL!!

YUP Paula found me too. I was avoiding you guys for awhile. Been busy with my other biz and just check in every now and then. Paula made me come and post. LOL!!