gmanbat

Sorry is this is redundant but I just got an e-mail from my surgeons nurse, a forward from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. It's a call to action to advocate for the sleeve to the bureaucrats who decide this. Here is their letter to the CMS: http://s3.amazonaws....ISION-FINAL.pdf Here is a guide to advocacy for the surgery: http://www.obesityac...nsideration.pdf Here is the Obesity Action website on the coverage decision: http://www.obesityac.../advocacy-alert We can make a difference for people who need this. EDIT: Apparently the CMS website was only accepting comments up to Apr. 28. Sorry I got this to you late. I just learned about it this morning.

I have used baking soda. The generic acid reducers are cheaper and sometimes help me, like Equate Acid Reducer, WalMart. I have used 1 Alka-Selzer tablet and drank it slowly which helped. Tums help sometimes. I am more likely to get heartburn now when my stomach is empty. Just eating something stops it.

I make mouth-watering, buttery, cheesy mashed potatoes! Do you do ex-in laws?

I was not offended by the rant. Most rants I've heard, including this one, are based on the truth. I am amused by them and women in general. They rip on men with impunity but pursue them with a passion. One of those mysteries I doubtless will never understand. In fact, it is a mystery to me why any woman would want a smelly, hairy clod. But they do. Good thing for me.

Good one!

I had a feeling someone was stalking me! :ph34r: Welcome!!! This is an understanding bunch here. They are used to the good, the bad, and the ugly who are getting pretty. Make yourself at home. Raid the fridge (but eat small portions.)

My problem is concentrating while I eat. If I don't pay attention I take big bites like I used to when I consumed buffets. When I notice I have too much in my mouth I have to chew a lot and try to swallow small, not easy. I'm going against 63 years of programming. My dear mother was always concerned about me not eating enough due to times when I was skinny and sickly. As mothers do, she couldn't get that skinny kid out of her mind. She had a hard time adjusting to me being me being overweight, she still asked me if I was eating enough.

I like it! I used to call my pot gut a "table tumor" anyway.

I don't think anything is definitely off of my menu. Some things I will pay for and rightfully think myself stupid for eating. In my case, high sugar junk. Not worth the cost. Most real food can be eaten when you are completely healed up, just not very much. Why is volume of supreme importance? Chew food slowly, it stays in your mouth longer and you get a good dose of the taste.

What is natural? If we were dogs we'd be naked....natural. If we were grizzly bears we would rip open deer bellies and eat them raw....natural. We are humans, humans have big brains although some don't use them a lot. Our appearance has a great deal to do with how we think as does most everything else in our life. We have subjected ourselves to having part of our stomachs dragged out through a slit by our belly button. Not a natural thing. Our brains ordered it. Our body's objections were overruled and now they profit from our brain's dominion. I have encountered many instances of being grateful that women opted to use that unnatural substance: makeup.

They need to come up with a variety pack, size x down to size y, made especially for WLS losers.

I went to the mall with my family last Saturday and found my way to the Macy's men's department. I started trying on sport coats and suit jackets. The more I did, the more giddy I became. What a joy to stand in front of a mirror in good clothing and and look good! I wouldn't even go over there a couple months ago, nothing fit and a trial of depression was certain to occur. A sales lady came over and I gushed out my entire WLS story to her. I don't know if she shared my enthusiasm or not, drunk people like me are more concerned with self expression than communication. I didn't buy anything. At those prices I will hit my goal first. Got high nonetheless. Sleeving is so very worth it!

Write him a list and put, "Please do these things" on it. Be sure to specify how often each needs to be done. There, you asked him.

If you feel that you should give the money away, by all means do it. You have to live with your own conscience. Looking for backing for giving it away is useless. Looking for justification for not giving it away is also useless. Is this a test of your own morality or a survey of ours? Getting the operations is not evil, giving the money away is not evil. Which one is better? Only you and God know. No one here is in a position to know your deepest feelings and motivations and make moral judgements on them.

I got some spray tan on a whim. I remembered way back when using Quick Tan....instant orange. I globbed it on one night before my high school rock band, The Spyders,(1966), had a gig. I was quite embarrassed but tried to play it like it was part of the act, ...the citrus look. That was before the Oompa Loompas copied me. Anyway, I bought some at Sally's beauty supply on one of the many times my daughter and granddaughters dragged me there. Tanwise is the name, $10. I scrubbed my face; surface preparation, then had my wife spray it on. Having never worked in a body shop she ran it pretty bad so we had to sacrifice a washcloth to even it out and wipe up the floor. I must say it turned out better than anticipated. It got darker as the day progressed, the simulated time-at-Daytona Beach effect went from 2 days to 2 weeks. The color is a believable brown. It blends in my many freckles and age spots. Unfortunately, if you have really dry spots they suck more in and will be a bit darker. It did make my scarred up belly look better, minimizing the surgery evidence. I think my saggy skin looks better, healthier, although I know it is just a mind game. I am of German/British descent and have red-head type skin. Sun is something I love but have to guard against always with bajillion power sunblock. This is not a big deal, it's just fun.

http://www.webmd.com/balance/caffeine-myths-and-facts The pros and cons of coffee from WebMD. I hear medical people spouting myths sometimes. Old "science" is the culprit.

I go through the same trepidations about concentrating on body concerns at the expense of spiritual priorities. My conclusion is that body, soul, and spirit are all connected and that improvement in any one of them will help the rest. I personally feel the pleasure of God with me because I did this "temple maintenance". My spiritual life has improved as well as my mental and emotional elements. It certainly makes it easier for others to relate to me, which in turn makes it easier for me to be a good witness of His kindness. Yes, my body looks better. I believe the only time that improving appearance becomes a detriment is when it takes priority over loving others. You can make yourself a god or improve yourself as a thanks to God for life. You are grateful for what He has given you, you take care of it. What if a billionaire gave you a beautiful house? If he would return in 2 years and find it run down and neglected he would think that you are not grateful. If instead he found it beautified he would think that he made the right choice. You have the money. Enjoy your life!

I am down to 253 now, 335 at my highest. My classy nephew gave me a very nice Kenneth Cole watch that I couldn't wear for a long time because it was too tight. Yesterday I looked at the time and just saw watch band. The thing had spun around my skinny wrist and the face was now underneath! My wife had to put a little plastic tube thingy on my wedding ring to keep it from flying across the room during one of my gesturing rants! The pants I bought a month ago now look like Bozo pants on me. These things would be annoying if they weren't indicators of a tremendous victory in my life. I am still me underneath. Fat, you never did define me!!.!

I am 3 months out and have been a hard core coffee-head for a long time. I have found that coffee itself doesn't bother me other than the added acid and the fact that it increases my appetite. The biggest problem is the volume. I have solved that by ordering straight expresso. At this precise time I have a quadruple expresso in front of me and I am in the World's Greatest Coffee Shop.....Grounds For Thought in Bowling Green, Ohio. Their coffee is the max, no better treatment of a bean has ever been accomplished. The cup is just half full but the coffee-ness is intense! Just the right volume for a leisurely rainy day trying out my new IPad 3 at my favorite shop at my favorite forum. You may have surmised that my excess verbosity has somewhat to do with my caffein indulgence. I would have to concur.

The way I look at it is that my appearance is not a big problem for me because I don't stare into a mirror 24/7. I feel better, my clothing does not annoy me as much, and I am healthier. If folks think I am too skinny that is their problem, not mine. I don't have to look at me, they do. My problem starts when I care what they think. When they start talking like nincompoops my care level recedes quite rapidly. I have enough folks around me that love me no matter what I look like. I have no dire need of the superficial that express their vacant opinions at my expense.

Welcome!!!! There are a lot of great, supportive folks on this forum. You can ask just about anything and for the most part get compassionate answers. If there is something you are worrying about, that would be what to bring up to doc. Are you settled on the sleeve or is he talking about the Roux N Y as well? My doc tried to lean me toward the Roux N Y but I opted for the sleeve which he was good with. The only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

$100 for me. I made the mistake of telling him I was a hippy in the 60's...for 2 years. The insurance company rejected me because of my "drug abuse and radical lifestyle". I was clean since 1968 and was cured of hippytightus. The surgeon sent off an immediate appeal, I was accepted after the new year and the new co-pays were in force. Be careful what you tell them. I think some get kick-backs from the insurance companies.

Puberty again! Does this mean the involuntary yoddelling will return?

I know I am out of place in this thread but might I put forth my theory? Burning fat and eating less may release toxins that are excreted out of these various places. I have fasted at times and my breath was lethal, ketosis does that. I would think that eventually the smells would leave as the body cleans up itself. Water speeds it along and proper elimination. Like I said, just a theory. Ok, I will duck out.

I know I am quite capable. But I know that I am much less a jerk than I was when I was younger and quite arrogant. My dear wife stayed with me through my thoughtless self-centeredness and somehow saw something appealing in me. I am now very embarrassed about the way I was then. Her touching care for me during my prostate cancer treatment broke down the last of my resistance to her love. I now have the emotional freedom to treat her like my dearest and best friend.