Penni60

Thank you all for the continued support. It is much appreciated. I can't emphasize enough to listen to your bodies. That little voice in your head that tells you something is wrong please listen to it.

I am so thankful that you listened to your body and are getting this taken care of. Please do keep us informed. I will send you lots of healing prayers.

Here is the port protrusion thingy that happened two weeks after the redness appeared. This is when the MX doc told me to just lose more weight and it would reposition itself. SIGH!!

Redness around site that doc called rejection which was really infection.

OK I just downloaded and filled out their questionnaire for the next one. I just need to do a video now. :eek: Of course those of you that have seen me in the trailer of our movie should know that me being on FILM will NOT inhibit me in anyway. LOL!! :eek: Keep your fingers crossed that I will be one of the few chosen to actually be on the darn show. By the way, I looked over the rules and regulations with a fine tooth comb. It doesn't say you can't have had 'any' surgery for weight loss. At least I didn't see it in anything I downloaded and copied. But I did disclose that I had the lapband and then that even didn't work for me as I had to have it removed this month. So, that should qualify me for this show. Maybe more so than anyone else since I tried weight loss surgery and it didn't work for me. Well in the since that it wasn't long term not that I didn't lose weight. Anyway, It will be a cool experience to just apply to "Biggest Loser". Here is hoping. Of course you know you guys will be the first to know. LOL!! HUGS HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HANUKKAH MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY KWANZAA

OK so I lied. There is one more but you have to admit you can't have all these pics and not see what we ate. I was so full that day. I couldn't even eat a piece of coconut cake my daughter made. SIGH!! Such good food and company.

OK OK I think I am done!!

How about now? LOLOL!!!!

Are you bored yet? LOL!!

And more still!

Just more pics.

So far my insurance is covering the surgery. I still have yet to get a bill so the final talley hasn't arrived as yet. I can't tell you how much it cost to have the band removed. I never thought to ask and I was never told. I was too caught up in the moment of having the Endo one minute then the surgery 8 hours later. By the way, I am doing GOOD. I am fighting the head hunger vs the physical hunger. I gained over the Christmas holiday. I expected that. But come the new year (absolutely NOT a New Year Resolution though), I plan on getting back to basics on eating and exercising. I go see Dr. Billy on the 19th of Jan to discuss my options. I can't even begin to think about getting re-banded for 6 months. So I have to wait it out with eating and exercising discipline. It is really scary though to know you can eat things you couldn't eat being banded. I ate a sandwich the other day with actual bread and without any problems. SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the support. PS: Michelle if you see this. That was me that called your cell phone the other day. I was in your area and was gonna swing by your restaurant and say HI. By the time, I got your message we were already half way home. I will call you in the next few days.

Alex Dr. BIlly put in a couple of stitches into my stomach to close up the hole left by the band. He sent me for an UPPER GI the next morning to make sure the stitches hadn't come lose and to see if there was a perforation. I could not drink even water till that was determined. If a perforation was seen then I would head back to the OR for repair of that. Thank goodness the UPPER GI was clear. Scary to know that you have a hole in your stomach and that to not make it work hard right after surgery so that hole can heal. THe stitches dissolve eventually. He was so sweet when I had my surgery.

OK Delarla you went out drinking last night and having fun and so did I. I had to get away from the weight gain demon. However this is the holiday season, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I am facing those hunger pains every day when I wake up till I go to sleep at night. IT really sucks. Vera thanks for the sweet phone call yesterday. It is calls like that which will keep me on track. Lisa we both will be able to do this. I am gonna fight this tooth and nail all the way. You can do this. We can do this together. Have you filled out your Biggest Loser application yet? LOL!! I say we start a talk circuit of Eroded Bandsters and encourage all 1 year or more bandsters to get Endo's. We can get local docs to give discounts on the Endo costs and give them away as door prizes. :Bunny Anyway, try to enjoy the holiday and I will see you when I get home. Offer still open and on the table to come stay at the house. HUGS Give Chris a hug for me.

Can't tell you when I eroded. I had an endoscopy in June of 04 and that one was all clear. Then I had one on Dec 05 and that one showed erosion so mine was removed on Dec 6, 2005. Two weeks ago.

OH MAN LISA! Just let me know when the surgery is planned and YOU KNOW I am so there. I will take you and bring you home to my house for a short recup and then send you home to Chris. This just sickens me to think there is this "cluster" of us that were banded by the same doc in MX and now face erosion and band removal. Pretty scary stuff. I am just heart broken over this. I know you heal from your band removal and we will both go on "Biggest Loser". Wanna play? LOL!! We could really shake up that show before we get booted off. LOL!! OR we could be the winners. LOL!! HUGS!!

When you click on the GO ADVANCED link it takes you to a whole new page. In the middle of the page it should say MANAGE ATTACHMENTS. Click on that and it will show you how to add pics. If that doesn't work then click on the upper left hand POST REPLY link. That should take care of the problem. If not then let me know.

OK that was a really sweet thing to say Pam. I love this time of year. Just loads of fun and enjoyment and fellowship with family and friends. You make it special for each and everyone of you and yours. Paula: I promise to get a pic of this tree posted before I leave on THursday for Nashville for my family festivities. I want to send out a special prayer of good will in support of all the displaced people from Katrina and all the other disasters.

Here is a few guests that arrived early and decided to take up residence in our upper loft area. Hmmm! Wonder if I can entice them to stay all year. LOLOL!! Enjoy!! Loving this time of year now that we have the tree in our house and it smells heavenly. I will post a pic after we decorate. TREE TRIMMING PARTY today. WHOO HOO!!

Ronny Cox - Captain Bogamil in Beverly Hills Cop and he was Kinsey in Stargate Beverly D'Angelo - Chevy Chase wife in the Vacation movies. She is just as beautiful in person. Ned Beatty - Starred in Deliverance with Ronny, Jon Voight, and Burt Reynolds. He was the one that had to "SQUEAL LIKE A PIG!" All three of the above movie stars are in my house recording a song for a benefit CD. HOW COOL IT THAT?

Nancy - I am in Van Nuys, California. If you are ever this way let me know. We would welcome a visit. PJ - I was born and raised in Princeton, KY. It is about an hour East of Paducah and 3.5 to 4 hours South of Louisville.

Ned forget his guitar here last night so he called this morning and swung by to pick it up. His wife Sandra and he stopped by and Ned and I chatted endlessly about Kentucky (my home state) and how growing up there was so cool. He plays a washtub bass. I told him that my grandmoter would kick his sorry butt if he were to have put a hole in her good washtub. We laughed about that. I told him that was my swimming pool for the first 5 years of my life. He and Sandy are just the coolest people. They wanna come and visit again the next time they are in the city. They live on the 'mountain' according to Sandy. Not sure where exactly but it is within 4 hours drive of here. Ned gave me his personal CD of old bluegrass cover tunes. I can't wait to play it. He made a special point of coming back after they walked out of the house to give me the CD. What a cool guy. Sandy is a hoot as well. Ronny is like an old friend now. He has very kind and soft eyes. I have known him for almost 2 years now. What a thrill it is. Ya know I get all giddy inside when I meet celebrities, but I don't show it. Yes, they do love it when you treat them like normal people. Because let's face it they are normal people. THey just have their lives out there for us all to pick apart. Anyway, it was an uplifting experience at a time when I could use some uplifting. It really puts things into perspective. Happy Holidays, Merry CHristmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! HUGS EVERYONE!!

Are you saying that your Band Doc wasn't there to perform or observe the procedure? This concerns me greatly. Sometimes the band is a tricky thing to view on an ENDO unless you know what to look for. My issues weren't seen till the band doc turned the scope around in my stomach and looked back on itself. Then my erosion was discovered. I hope for your sake the person doing the ENDO did this. The comment about taking the band out is totally uncalled for. Unless he has reason to suspect it needs to come out he should NOT have made that comment. I would ask to see the pictures since they are YOURS. You paid for them. Dr. Billy gave me mine without me asking. He made me a copy and offered to put them on a disc for me. I just took the hard copies. SO yes get them pictures. Keep us posted.

Here is Bev and the Producer, DUB of the session. Don't know his real name. That is what everyone was calling him. He has produced HUGE HUGE people. Bryan Adams is one I can remember right now. He was a sweetie too.

Here is Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in the studio rehearsing.