gmanbat

I have reached my goal and am in top shape. I am above average in strength and endurance for a man of 64 years as attested to by the 20-30 year olds I work with shoveling dirt and wheelbarrowing in the hot and humid Florida summer. If I try on clothes now I am making sure they are not too big instead of making sure they are not too small. I am set in cement on my resolve to remain in shape and train like an athlete for the rest of my life. The fat shall never make a comeback. Weight obsession took up a great deal of my attention. It demanded and received it because of the health drain that it was on me physically and emotionally. The enemy has been conquered but my body requires a garrison to be situated to guard against an insurrection. Peace is only sustained through diligent observation. I will continue to observe my exercise and diet but not obsess. I don't obsess about brushing my teeth but I do it several times a day. My time on this forum is also a part of that diligence. Isn't freedom what we are wanting through all of this? Free to move with ease, free to breath normally, free to wear what we want, free to look attractive, freedom from self-consciousness, free to have confidence, and most of all, freedom from obsession about weight. Now we can go about life's other aspects: love, God, family, work, fun, fulfillment of dreams,... exploring our hidden potentials and turning them into actuated realities. We can fill up the space formerly occupied by weight obsession with life itself. So in the end weight loss is not an end in itself, it is one leg of a journey to the goal of freedom to live out our humanity to the maximum.

I have found that the negativity of others only causes me distress when I am unsure of myself. If I have done my research and know what I know, I can listen to their negativity, analyze it for any possible merit, and quickly consign it to the trash can of my concerns. As Tigerbell observed, negativity is often about the self interest of the negator and not about the welfare of the negatee. You will run into many flavors of poo-pooers on your journey. We have the "I know everything" folks who think that since they know nothing about weight loss surgery it must be something to fight against because it challenges their lofty delusion. There are the "easy way out" morons who demand you to take a "natural" approach to weight loss, never defining "natural" with any consistency, logic, or self-application. Then we have the "position holders" who don't want you to become the slim, attractive gal because they lose their contrasting position as the "cute one". You be true to you, let the doofuses waller in their doof.

I was diagnosed in Feb. 2009 with prostate cancer, 13 biopsy grabs, all came back positive. I was put on Lupron, the testosterone killer, and subjected to 49 external beam radiation treatments, steroids, and chemo through the rest of the year. The tests did not indicate any spreading and my psa went down to 0.0001. I gain 60 pounds during that short time due to Lupron and steroids, my eating did not change, went down if anything. My psa has slowly risen through the years, now at 0.4, quite under the normal.. My chemo doctor says the rise is normal due to the prostate healing itself after the radiation. My urologist, whom I affectionately call "Dr. Doom", is betting on the cancer returning. He is wanting to put me on Lupron again, more hot flashes, tiredness, achiness, crankiness, hot flashes, night sweats, and most important, weight gain. I am resisting, believing in the chemo doctor. I have lost 60 pounds since my sleeving and feel great. I have no symptoms of cancer; urinary problems, pain, etc. I have 50 pounds to go. I do not want to get fat again and keep my heart and general health at risk for the small chance that the cancer is returning . So I am opting for no further treatment at this time. Any of you folks have any experience with prostate or other cancer combined with sleeving?

It was rather a serious matter. Not everything can be hearts and flowers. No normal person likes a fight but at times, fight we must. To me, this is normally a light-hearted forum. Lots of love goes out here. Sometimes support can be messy. Don't you guys have family? This was a disaster. I will stay. I've been in battles before when all the wimps cleared out from behind me. Not a good feeling.

I am used to reading typos, I figured it was gum. Either that our you had one heck of a hunger attack! I think the gum will pass.

Doc Luna needs to be saved from himself. One of his conquests could go all fatal attraction on him and turn the rooster into a hen. Boyfriends and husbands could also wreck the party.

Not you, the nurse probably organizes snipe hunts. :ph34r:

The taco that blew up a liver. Unless there was nitro in the hot sauce I wouldn't worry.

It takes food 3 hours tops to leave the stomach. This must be an amazing doc. Sounds like a crock.

Wow, you are way too tough on yourself. Your liver will be fine. Just do well the next 4 days. Eating a soft taco is better than fainting. You were likely low on electrolytes.

The cutie pie doc better avoid prison. Those monster bubbas will give him a graduate course in what it feels like to be taken advantage of.

Ya, I'm sorry for my rampant scepticism as well.

I gave you a like...1/2 for bravery and 1/2 for looking fabulous!

It was very difficult the first month. It got better as time went on. I was told just to do the best you can and not worry.

I cannot relate to being taken advantage of by someone in a position of power. It could be because I am automatically sceptical and somewhat antagonistic to folks who appear to hold power. That includes teachers, doctors, politicians, you name it. Any sexual advance on me would be only be successful despite their power. It would also get me dissected by my wife.

Yes, I get the slimes even now when I eat too much or too fast.

Hey, doc, looks like you've about "operated" yourself out of a career. You should have stayed awake during ethics training and been more in control of your surgical tool.

Sorry,blindsided, if you are for real on this but trolls are miserable little bottom feeding toadies who gather neurotic stimulation from riling up forumites with hassles and tall tales. It is hard for a rational, reasonably adjusted person to conceive of the possible benefit from trollism, but in creation there are bacteria that feed from dead skin. There realms of lowness that souls with some semblance of self respect would not venture to enter.

Anybody have any cocoa butter? I am trying to hold on to the credibility here but I'm being thinned out badly, want to avoid stretch marks.

20 miles from me. I'm in Zephyrhills thinking about buying a lottery ticket at Publix.

"happy and confident in your smaller body" Uh......post op smaller body? Sleeving or liposuction?

Oh, I've heard of Tampa, a suburb of Zephyrhills isn't it? WELCOME! From a fellow Floridian.

Right now I have a job working with my nephew on his seawall business here in Florida. I shovel and wheelbarrow all day in the brutal Florida steam with 20 year olds. When I am off of work my one thought is recovery and avoidance of cramps. I eat as much Protein as I can get in which includes lots of milk. I am perpetually thirsty because of the copious sweat that drips from me all day. I drink constantly on the job but at night it feels like I have eaten the saltiest ham in existence. I am in amazing shape for a 64 year old as attested to by the "kids" I work with. I won't have this job forever and am aware that this kind of eating could set me up in a habit that would put the blubber globules back on. It is all a matter of what we give ourselves permission to do. Bean is honest with himself and knows what leads to something else. Awareness is just as important as restriction, and a supreme and life long hatred of getting back into the fat cage.

puff........................puff.............puff.......puff...puff..puff.puffpuffpuffpuff The old steam engine trains and the sleeve: overcoming inertia and healing/transforming a body.

One of my favorite gadgets is the caller ID announcer on my home phones. Before I answered and was subjected to whatever crapola the caller spewed. Now they have to be answer-worthy. Failure is a choice. Don't answer.