Penni60

Awww shucks!! And holy moly how cool is that. What a way to bond with your sis! I highly encourage anyone to make the effort to do a marathon. Doesn't matter if you finish or not just try. Makes you feel GREAT! Great sense of accomplishment. And I think you will be greatly surprised at what you can do.

I posted earlier on the "Weight loss challenge" thread, that I had weighed on the hotel scale and it showed I was 239 well I reweighed myself on that same scale it is showing me at 250 lbs now. SIGH!! I asked if the scales were calibrated and they said they hadn't been in a long long time. So they calibrated them. Now I have gained 10lbs. YIKES!!!!!!!! I hate this. It is awful. I hate this. I hate this. My clothes are not fitting any tighter and I don't feel any different. So I don't really know if this scale is accurate either. I know I am not eating right. Eating too much junk that is for sure. Have bruised the bottom of my left foot and can't really walk as much till that heals. I just bought a 20 min Pilates dvd to use on my laptop so that will help me get re-focused. I can stop eating the junk stuff. I can drink more Water. I am not going to let all the issues with my mom, with the death of my son in laws girlfriends, and any other emotional issues keep me from losing the battle on weight. I have to fight this every single day. I have to get stronger and be more diligent. Stay strong guys!! I just get so disgusted when I see that scale creep in the wrong direction. Heck I wouldn't mind if it creeped. This time it bungee jumped in the wrong direction. SIGH! I guess it could have been so much worse. I still feel good. I just need to work harder I guess. This is just a wake up call for me. I knew I had not been eating properly for awhile now and not getting the right amount of exercise. SO this will just jumpstart my battle again. OK you little f%^&king fat cells. Gonna fight now. Watch out here I come. LOLOLOLOL

I just realized that flying usually causes me to gain some. So hopefully it will resolve once I get home. The pilates dvd will help lots too. Thanks guys for reminding me of the travel issues. LOL!!!

I gotcha ya back!!

AWWW babs: want me to kick that medical director's ass? What a complete and insensitive sot. I think these people just sit there and look at pics and reports and close their eyes and point a finger at a file and say ok that one gets the surgery the rest are denied. I agree how can they make a call like that? I don't get it. IF you were approved once for the first surgery and surgeon why would they now deny it? Hmmm! Is there a suit in the making? Babs it will get better. IT WILL!! I will keep you in my prayers.

Thank you so much for all your kind words. I have spoken to Jeremy (son in law) and he says Jacob, his brother, is walking around in a daze carrying the teddy bear he gave to Amber, his girlfriend that died, the day she left for college. Amber's mother is breaking down then being normal. Amber was an only child. I have suggested the counselor to Jeremy for Jacob and he said he would pass along the suggestion. My daughter, Erin, is coping as well. She calls me to talk about it and we work through it. Jeremy talks to me as well. I think they will be fine and get through this. The person I am concerned about is Jacob. He typically is a quiet and withdrawn person and Jeremy says he is very animated now. He is not coping well in my opinion. SIGH!! I told Jeremy that if his brother wants to talk to someone outside of the family just to listen then I would be happy to do that. If he isn't comfortable talking to me then he needs to talk to someone. So we will see. Keep them in your prayers or thoughts or whatever. LOL!! HUGS

I posted earlier that I had weighed on the hotel scale and it showed I was 239 well I reweighed myself on that same scale it is showing me at 250 lbs now. SIGH!! I asked if the scales were calibrated and they said they hadn't been in a long long time. So they calibrated them. Now I have gained 10lbs. YIKES!!!!!!!! I hate this. It is awful. I hate this. I hate this. My clothes are not fitting any tighter and I don't feel any different. So I don't really know if this scale is accurate either. I know I am not eating right. Eating too much junk that is for sure. Have bruised the bottom of my left foot and can't really walk as much till that heals. I just bought a 20 min Pilates dvd to use on my laptop so that will help me get re-focused. I can stop eating the junk stuff. I can drink more water. I am not going to let all the issues with my mom, with the death of my son in laws girlfriends, and any other emotional issues keep me from losing the battle on weight. I have to fight this every single day. I have to get stronger and be more diligent. Stay strong guys!!

We had a small swarm around our Koi pond and our pool last year. We couldn't figure out where they were coming from. JOHN is Highly allergic. He almost died as a boy when he got stung by ONE bee. So the exterminator came and said unless we find the beehive there isn't much we can do. They were coming to get a drink of Water. Now we find out the beehive was in our rental house next door. SIGH!!! I could not believe how many bees there were. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Our exterminator came and gassed the bees. I was just thankful they were the Killer bees. We would all most likely be dead. Those things are nasty. Hugs

Hey Paula: I had the following health related problems prior to being banded. High blood pressure: The highest it got was 150/98 was on medication High cholesterol: Pre-banding it was 250 Arthritis: Knees were so bad I could not get out of bed some mornings without help Short of breath: I could not walk across the room without getting out of breath. Just putting on my tennis shoes was strenuous. Back: My back would hurt at least twice a week from the weight I was carrying around. I threw it out several times and would be bedridden for a couple of days. Sleep: Was non-existent because the fat around my neck impaired my breathing. Heart: I was having palpitations and my heart rate was increasing and I was carrying around Nitro for the chest pains. Diabetic: I was borderline diabetic with the last visit to my doctor pre-banding. One month after being banded ALL not most but ALL of the above health related concerns had resolved. Everything for the past year has steadily improved. My PCP is impressed with my progress. He has taken the information I gave him about Lapbanding and is distributing it to his patients. Encourage your mother to visit this site and read the benefits of being banded as opposed to continuing her lifestyle. I pray she gets the answers loud and clear. HUGS

Hey there! How are you these days?

Well Bright, you take all the fun out of everything. I would have had to excuse you for the blow off. It would be worth it to attend your baby sis's wedding. Can I still kick your arse anyway?

You guys are just the best. I just got back from visiting Mom at home. She ate a half a subway sandwich and didn't get sick NOT ONCE. That is a HUGE accomplishment for her. I didn't realize how much weight she had lost till I saw her get up and walk across the room. She is very thin but not too thin. I am so thankful that she is eating now. I was so concerned about this. My stepfather, Keith, who has been my dad since I was 10 is sick wiht the crud now. LOL!! He is a trooper though. He struggles along with it till he can't anymore then he goes to see a doctor. He didnt' want to give it to me so he didn't hug me. I miss those bear hugs. LOL!! He is doing fine just feeling like crap. His appetite is great. LOL!!

CONGRATULATIONS!! Brenda, on your weight loss journey. ALL ABOARD!!

I think it is time for a merge. You know that Stef has an alliance with Tom, Ian, and Katey on Koror? I just found that out the other night. And why would they keep Katey over the other women? I can't stand her. EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! If anyone should win this thing it should be Stef. She has worked the hardest and longest on this show. GO STEF!!!!!!!

And doesn't she know she is supposed to check in and let us know when she is leaving on vaca so we can all drool over where she is going. HMMMM?!!!! Bad BETTY!!! Ride like the wind Betty and have a blast.

:D :banana :banana :banana :banana Hooray Mom went home today from the hospital. They gave her antibiotics to take while at home. She sounded really good on the phone. I plan on going to see her on Sunday for the day. I am so thankful for her she is my inspiration and my support and simple the most wonderful woman I know. I get my strength from her and my intelligence. She inspires me to be a better person. She is my heart.

It has come to my attention via the grapevine that some of you are asking "where does Penni get her money?" First, if you are that curious about another person's financial status wouldn't you ask that person? Second, if you ask me I will either tell you or not but. So have the common courtesy to ask me not my friends. It puts them in a tough position. They don't wanna betray my confidence and they don't wanna lie either. Finally, this seems to be a hot topic to some of you. If you really want to know then feel free to contact me via PM or email. I will either tell you or not. I think it is rude and tacky to ask that particular question of someone unless you are close to them. Also, I have never wondered about any of your financial situations and would never dream of asking one your friends how you get your money. SIGH!! You wanna know something about me just ask but ASK ME not my friends.

I am planning on doing some research on this new male escort business to buy. LOL!! Who wants to do the research with me? Paula: I don't have any good tips other than to save your money as much as you can. IT doesn't go as far as we would like.

AWWW so cute. I love when he crawls back in the pocket. TOO CUTE!!

That was fun. Thanks

Praise the lord. I am so happy for you.

I lost about 22 lbs in my pre fill time. I have not gained any of it back. It was three months prior to my first fill and I lost weight that entire time. I have periods where I gain 1 to 5 lbs but then I get back on track and it comes off plus more. Hope this helps.

Nykee: PLEASE please go call your doctor. The fever suggests that you have some sort of infection brewing. The redness also suggests it is brewing in your abdominal cavity. I had the same thing the same redness. This is not something to mess with. Call whoever you need to be seen immediately. You might need the port removed. Might even need an endoscopy to look at the band to make sure nothing is going on there.

Do do do do dododi do do. DO THE HUSTLE!!! I love that song. I used to dance to it all the time.

Pretty cool pics. It is very interesting to see the barium go through. Great diagnostic tool.