gmanbat

Good angle on it. Ya, my baby has spit up a lot, woke me in the middle of the night crying for food, and cost me a lot of money. But now that he is growing up he is making me proud. I did a good job raising him and he is taking care of my health in my old age.

Thanks! I made the graffiti for an odd habit I have of posting on threads that I am sure will be deleted. Kind of like painting on a wall set for demolition. Unfortunately, the mods here are on their toes and the duplicate thread was gone before I got back. So I posted here on a regular wall. Hope I don't have to get a brush and soap and clean it off.

Beautifully written, Alnnmay3. You've made the scale a friend by being your own friend. Continue to do that and the scale will align with your smaller wardrobe and hightened energy for life that is sure to follow.

I used to wear my pants like Curly, now I have hip bones. Pants can now be shorter. Nyuk,nyuk.Nyuk!

Half of the battle is seeing the enemy. You know who he is and how he works. Courage has brought you this far. You have what you need within you. Do what your logical mind says. Let changeable emotion roll on by. Win.

The worst part of coffee is not the caffeine, it's the acid. Reflux is a present enemy of sleevers and too much coffee can aggravate it. What I've read says that the Water in coffee cancels out the diuretic effect of the caffeine. It doesn't hydrate you but doesn't dehydrate you either. As we know, coffee has health benefits as well. A google search will yield the pertinent information. My wife thinks coffee is a wonder drug. It makes her husband worth talking to in the morning.

It actually could help folks..if they let it. I have my own version...a wife that gives me the dickens when I eat too fast, too much. I will let her know she can be replaced.

ya...women come in here all the time...plant flowers in the urinal...

I lke this list: http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/tc/stress-relief-and-relaxation-overview

See you on the other side...my best to you!

I'm a year and a half out and still hit the shakes but not every day. After workouts or working hard all day shakes are mandatory. I sprinkle whey powder on my cereal sometimes. Whey powder tends to bind me up and being an old guy I place special value on my bathroom performance.

Don't buy expensive clothing on the way down. I had pants that had outgrown me before I had even taken off the tags. I learned pretty quick though. Thrift shop became second home.

Welcome! Since you have a 6 month wait before your surgery the 140 pounds before Dec. 2014 may be pushing it a bit. Not impossible, though. In either case, you will be intensely happy with the weight loss and the clothing change, not to mention the release of energy and easing of movement.

Zephyrhills. Had my surgery in Ohio,

You are most welcome here!!!! If I were a betting man I'd put the whole wad on you getting to goal and beyond. You will blow through the inevitable stalls and break the tape. My wife had the bypass, I had the sleeve. I am 64, she is 62. We have both gone beyond goal. We have never let the scale be more than an object to satisfy curiosity. Our closet has been the main indicator of progress. I have dumped mine 3 times and she 4 or 5 times. We have been reliant on thrift stores. This forum is an interesting place. This is where the rubber meets the road. The spectrum here ranges from breeze through experiences to dire complications. The same questions are asked over and over but those of us with patience answer them because of the humanity in us. Being a physician I am sure you understand. Welcome again!

Hi Jesse, My wife had the bypass, I had the sleeve. She is doing well, so am I. It seems the "gold standard" bypass momentum is shifting a bit toward the sleeve according to what I have been seeing. If you google comparisons you will see what I mean but be sure to note the dates on the articles. Here's one: http://asmbs.org/201...hed-procedures/ Researchers from Cleveland Clinic Florida reviewed safety outcomes of more than 2,400 of their patients who had sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass or bariatric and metabolic surgery between 2005 and 2011. This study found sleeve gastrectomy had the lowest complication and reoperation rates of the three procedures. The rate of a gastrointestinal leak, considered a serious complication, was three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) for sleeve gastrectomy versus four-tenths of one percent (0.4%) for gastric bypass patients. The percentage of procedures requiring reoperations due to complications was 15.3 percent for the gastric band, 7.7 percent for gastric bypass and 1.5 percent for sleeve gastrectomy. On average, patients had a BMI between 44 and 48, were 46 years of age and had at least two obesity-related conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. A third study on sleeve gastrectomy conducted by the Naval Medical Center in San Diego found while gastric bypass patients lost more of their excess weight after the first year, 72.3 percent versus 63.7 percent, there were no statistically significant differences in excess weight loss after two and five years. This study examined 486 patients, half had gastric bypass and half had sleeve gastrectomy. “Sleeve gastrectomy has proven itself to be a safe and effective option in patients with morbid obesity and this procedure should be considered a primary procedure for weight loss and obesity-related disease improvement and resolution,” said Robin Blackstone, MD, President ASMBS. My surgeon tried to get me to do the bypass like my wife but I opted for the sleeve not wanting any malabsorbtion and knowing that I had a mind to workout like an athlete for the rest of my life, which I have followed through on. This has as much to do with mind and heart as it does with body. Welcome and ask away, lotsa decent folks on here. Edit: The Cleveland Clinic in Florida is one of the best anywhere. My surgeon in Ohio studied there and they are sent cases that others can't handle.

Here's the idea: Take a picture or movie clip, same place, same clothes, same lighting, same camera or video camera, at about 1 or two week intervals. You could stand still or just turn all the way around and it changes every revolution. Put the pics or clips all together and at the end of a year you will have a neat history of your transformation. If you wear the same clothes you may have a hard time keeping them on but use belts and clothes pins. I wish I would have thought of this.

Hang in there, grateful1! Keep us posted.

They did...they are so uncouth! When I cleared my mouth I told them so.

Movies were major eating places for family and I. Major transgressors of theater policy, we emptied out the purses, (3 ladies in the family...makes for lots of room), and filled them up with various noshes at different times. Among our smugglings were dollar store junk (cheetos, candy bars, m&ms, nuts, chips, Jerky, etc.), fried chicken, sausage and cheese, Taco Bell stuff, Subway stuff, cans of pop, etc. Now we go in with....water....maybe a Protein bar. Now we can concentrate on the movie..too bad most of them stink.

Like having a team from MIT fix your computer problems and after they are done have a neighborhood kid on retainer in case anything goes wrong.

Is this your PCP?

I wore a catheter and bag for several weeks during the first part of prostate cancer treatment. I have the utmost compassion for folks who have to wear them all the time. Some folks pay a heavy price just to stay alive. The catheter I wore then was of greater diameter and quite irritating. The operation catheter was smaller, not a problem.

Oh, sorry, it's just one of the perks. Enjoy!

When your mind gets made up your tastes follow. I preferred brunettes because of a bad experience I had with a blond early on. I married a brunette and have been as happy as a clam with her. When she began turning grey she decided she wanted to be blond. Not being a control freak I supported her decision. I have overcome my aversion to blond hair. Just one of a multitude of ways she has changed me.