paula

Marie, you are so FUNNY!!! **??? who else would remind you to shave your legs???** Weve got BIG expectations for you girl.... good luck and know we are thinking and praying for you!

Great pic kim... maybe Penni can make you an avator? What a beautiful family!

Michelle/LaMadam doesnt have a picture anymore either... Where's everybody going??

Im not sure about echinachea, but adding to what Big T said, I would stop taking this and consult your local herb specialist. Also, vit. C is great for healing, and thats something safe you can take throughout the surgery. As anxious as we all are to have this procedure, you certainly would not want to put your body through extra stress with being sick. If your doctor thinks you are ok, then go for it, but if he wants to postpone it, then I would accept that as Divine Will.... Good luck!

Alex, several WLS patients that I know take extra B vit's. Have you noticed if they help your energy level?

Welcome to Bandland!!! The only way my shoulder pain was relieved was through walking... gas-x didnt really help me, and I didnt try a heating pad... only walked! When I felt that sharp pain start up, I took a walk down my street - not to far, but just enough to feel those gas bubbles work themselves downward. That was really the only discomfort I had during the entire recovery phase. Good luck.

Ive noticed the same thing - and I also miss them! Betty, Blossom, Lisa... and now Greg. And Darcy, Becky and Ryan left, so they deleted their pictures. I miss everyone's smiles!

My daughter is 4yrs old. She finds areas around the house to make her "nest"... obviously she is a pack-rat and with my O.C.D. it drives me nuts. This is a condensed version of what her nest usually looks like. Ive already picked up several things before taking this photo. ...is this normal???

Wow... glad you and your kids are ok. Just remember it was an accident - and accidents happen. It certianly wasnt intential. Funny how our weather is so different. Youre having snow and me (down here in the bayou state) is having the most gorgeous day... sunny skies, mid 70's.

Christina, (((hugs))) youre gonna make the right decision, what ever it is!!! (Kathy... of I ever run for President, I want YOU to handle all my debates)

Pat, I truly laughed out loud on that one!

(((Melanie))) big hugs to you!!! First of all, I did the math on this - and you had surgery on Nov 30, right? Roughly 14 weeks ago. And a total loss of 37 pounds since your surgery date. Thats about 2.5 pounds per week... so you are right on track! Next thing I want to address here is the tuna issue. Are you eating albacora tuna? This is going to sound crazy, but I am living proof that this is real. About 2 weeks ago I started eating lots of tuna (albacore). A 6oz can a day. After a week I started noticing my hair falling out... alot! I started getting really emotional... rage one minute/crying the next. Even depression -and VERY tired all of the time, no energy. When I was trying to figure out what was going on with my body, I checked into the tuna. I found that albacore tuna has very high levels of mercury, and when the body consumes too much mercury these symptoms surface. IF you are eating albacore, try chunky light tuna for a week or so... see if this helps the hairloss. Hang in there!

Penni, 1 inch off your arms??? wow! WOW!!! you havent been with a PT very long either.

I guess boys are different. My oldest is a boy and he never did this. Whats really funny is that their fights usually occur over this stuff. Just before I took that picture, I started picking it up. Among many other things, I found 2 action figures and a pair of binoculars The action figures and binoculars do NOT belong to her....

How funny! ALL of that - EVERY night??? ...what we have to look forward to! LOL! Thanks everyone, I guess this really is normal! How about Polly Pocket? Any of your girls discovered Polly Pocket yet?

Gano cafe. (ganoderma) Its a coffee/hot chocolate mix. Supposedly very VERY nutritious. Ever heard of it?

I eat crawfish... and I suck the heads! grossed out yet?

twice now? that makes it official.... Penni60 is the LBT guinea pig!

Penni, had you ever heard of this before today??? since they are gonna send you samples, we'll let you be the guinea pig

Hi Kim and Welcome to LBT! Wow, your date is really close... congratulations! Dr Spiegel is my surgeon too, he banded me back in July. Good luck, and like Kelly said, ask anything you want... were pretty open minded around here!

I just read in my mom's Woman's World magazine that taking extra Fiber on a daily basis can aid in weight loss (geee, wonder why). Without copying and pasting the entire article, Im going to put down a few things that i can remember... 1. the article recommened taking fiber 15-30 minutes before each meal. 2. fiber actually expands in the stomach, creating a fuller feeling sooner (eating fiber with the band, gosh, we'll never be hungry again) 3. the article also stated that one can NOT take too much fiber (same as vit. C - cant overdose on it) It also gave names of 'better' brands of fiber to take. Metamucel is good, but may cause gas problems (like we dont have enough). Benefiber is supposedly the 'choice' one. Ironically, I bought some benefiber over the weekend. Very tasty... citrus flavored chewable wafer - no Water needed. It works!

Kellygirl, my bottle says that the serving size is 3 tablets and 3 grams of fiber per serving(not per tablet). So, for me, that means each tablet is 1 gram of fiber.

Hey Wade...God bless you too! Welcome to the other side!

LOL.. I love it! You are right though. Thanks Penni and Michelle. So Michelle, you do only 1 minute on each exercise? Im gonna find that magazine!

Amen! You'll be in bandland before you know it. How much weight are you wanting to lose?