I'llsucceed

Great job ya'll- Nikki - Kelly - Sue - Darcey - Kat ---- WOW!! Banded & Tatooted- You can use a much smaller shirt now;0) Congrats on your new SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try some OTC Chewable Gas-X They really help alot & the more you walk after eating 2 or 3 the better you'll feel. It took me 3 wks before I had a normal BM. So don't worry at all about that. I exactly 1 month out now & very normal & burp with the best of them (unfortunately ;0))

What A clever idea from an even cleverer man! If thats even a word-LOL

You SKINNY LITTLE THANG YOU!!!!!!!!!!! Way to go Zoe! I am SOOOOOO Jealous;0)

So Sorry Teresa- I didn't read all the post- shame on me- its just that reading things about dogs lately is hard on me. So I simply glanced at them - I didn't know you had tried a trainer & they said it was a lost cause. So I wish you luck & know that if you do have to put your sweetie to sleep that you did ever thing possible to help her. I just know you'll make the right decision.

HOT DIGGITY DOG!!!!!!!!!!!! WHHOOOHOOOO & All that kinda stuff! Hope everything is as smooth as Butter;0) Or should we say low-fat I can't belivev its not Butter;0)

One more thing- I just glanced at some of the posts. you say she is a Corgi. right? Well that is a very natural hearding breed. She sound like she really needs to be kept more busy using her natural insticts to guard & direct. Look up on the internet fun things to do with your Corgi to keep her active. Most dogs need a job everyday that they enjoy doing. It makes them feel usefull & removes their excess energy.

Four Ideas on advice for crazy Pooch: #1 NEVER EVER give human medicine to an animal without checking with your vet. They may be "like" the human equivalent BUT probably a very very different dose. Please be careful. #2 Exercise your pooch more- typically when you gain FULL control in a walk with a leash the "chain of command" switches to the owner & the dog will naturally fall into a more submisive roll. A well exercised dog is always a calmer dog. A min. of 30 mins a day- everyday!!! #3 The more calm & assertive you are with commands the better the pooch will be in her aggression. Try to AVOID the situations that make her lash out. EXAMPLE: If she bites you when you are walking up the stairs- teach her to come away from the stairs & stay first. Than always tell her good girl(once command is mastered) try not to reward with food & than proceed up the stairs. Once up the stairs give the dog a "release command" like OK(say dogs name) & than if done well "good Girl". You than have removed her from the situation. #4 Work on training even more than before. Only work with her alone - not w/both dogs- give her "special time" with you only. Only train for 10 - 15 mins per day. Never train in the same spot all the time- mix up the locations. If all else fails try & contact a professional trainer in your area that deals with problem pooches-- I wish you tons of LUCK Teresa- You can do this & can create a great relationship- It will just take a HUGE HUGE HUGE amount of patience & time. Good Luck

thats were i got mine. Its over 8 yrs old now & still works great. I did get their in house warrenty & they came out once every year & replaced any belts or pieces that needed it & they cleaned it all up. I even renewed my warrenty for an additional 2 years after because i felt it was worth it. I think its a good place to go- sears.

PATI- HERE ARE YOUR CAPITAL LETTERS:0) WELL SAID. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE DR.PLEATMAN. HE HAS SO MANY OUT OF STATE PATIENTS & DOES HELP SO MANY WITH COMPLICATIONS FROM OTHER SURGEONS. I THINK HES A GOD SENT TO MANY.NOT TO MENTION REPLYS TO ALL EMAILS -WITHIN SOMETIMES LESS THAN 10 MINS!!! NOW THATS WHAT I CALL A DOCTOR ON CALL! Dawn I really think you should at the very least check out his web site & email him with any questions or concerns. he is very straight forward & factually not a sweet, mushie bedside manner. Just straight to the point & very forward. i love that. Dr. Pleatman web is- www.laparoscopy.com

Maybe consider Michigan- look under "Dr.Pleatman" post. He is only $12,500 & includes two FULL years of follow up & FILLS. You may be saving more money with him in the long run & his backround is awesome. One of the TOP Laproscopic surgeons in Michigan. Do lots of research here before deciding on Mexico. Some have had success, some have had many, many problems. Be careful & think before you compromize on your health over saving one or two grand. I personally think the long term complications on finding a fill Doctor & after care out way the small amount of cash you save in the beginning. I wish you good luck!

I did a search about erosion on LBT & it brought up lots of comments & concerns & some actual cases. BUT I was hoping someone could tell me the FACTS on actually what causes the erosion of the band into the stomach. NOT rumors or I think this kinda comments but real FACTS. For example it was always my impression that the band eroded "into " the stomach & the stomach ends up growing or flabbing over the band. NOT THAT THE stomach erodes from the inside & than out by Meds & stuff. BUT I truthfully do not know. Hoping someone actally does.

Yes I did get that card, but there wasn't a serial number on it. I will ask next time I see the Doctor. I also recieved a card for tracking the fills & weight loss. I hope I remember to use it. I don't know the correct definition of ulcerogenic meds (on the card) verses NSAIDS but I will ask that also when I go in. Infact I'll email him maybe tonight. thank you & Good info;0)

It was faith that I got to see this thread this morning- haven't been on the boards all that much lately- Today Is my Gunnar's Memorial nite (dog passed away) & after that I promised myself to only focus on me me me me me me !!!!! I am sooooo in this & ready to exercise my BUTT OFF & I mean that Literally!! My goal a min. of 2 pds a week!! Ohh I soooo want this !!! Whooo Hooo lets go-!!! I am starting right now!!! ;0) Thank you very much Jonathon

lets face it- my friends & total strangers are soooooooooooooooooooooooo much more supportive than my Family! I hear you & your story hits hard. That stinks but just try & talk about diets & food & losing with friends who are supportive. I tell anyone who I feel( I feel ) being the opportune words that isn't supportive that I don't care to discuss those topics with them. It usually works. Congrats on your GREAT success!

good for you!! Great JOB!

My Doctor said the same- but since I am not filled right now I have been chewing & been very very careful to spit it out pretty quick.

Many of you have seen photos of my sweet boy Gunnar. He was my child for all intensive purposes, I have no husband or children. I raised him since he was 6 1/2 wks old. This last 2 1/2 years we were never a day apart & he traveled everywhere with me. I haven't had the strenght to type this and tell everyone but my sweet baby boy is gone. It happened so fast I am still in shock. Last Thursday we had a week of storms which always upset him & I found that he had peed on his beds instead of using his dog door to go outside. I though it was the storm but that nite there hadn't been any. Than another day(no storm) I smelled yearn on the couch in the sunroom. Finally Monday June 20th at 6 am he fell with a crash off the couch peeing through the living roon,kitchen & sunroom trying (God bless his heart) to make it outside to through his dog door. I opened the door for him & when he stummbled out he couldn't support himself to poo & fell down into the wet & tall grass(He hates getting his little feet wet). It was horrible. 15 mins later I got him inside & for the next 2 hours he just shook while lying down. I knew it was bad. Gunnar had gone through complete liver failure back in July 2004 & also recently pancreitis failure. He had artheritis in his spine & was shuting down. I called both the vet & breeder several times asking for validation of what I was about to do. Both agreed he would not get better but worse & that I should let him go before he breaks a leg or hip or worse. I was so not sure if it was time or not & am still struggling with what I had done. I put my sweet boy to bed for the last time at 12:55am June 20th. My heart is broken & my eyes have been swollen for days. I am crying now as I try & type this. The vet couldn't find his veins because they had begun to collapse & it hurt him a bit. The vet had to try 3 times & inbetween I fed my Boy meat w/sleeping pills to try & ease his mind. That just devastaed me. It should have been more smooth & peaceful, but in the end I held him & told him to go & play with his friend Cooper who had gone to heaven years before & that my Dad Papa Chuck would be waiting. Gunnar was the BEST DOG EVER in the WORLD! He got me through my Grandparents death , My Fathers death, My divorce, My back problems & most of all his last gift to me was getting me through this surgery. Oddly enough the very first day I DID NOT TAKE meds to go to sleep was this last Sunday. Has many of you know I had a huge hematoma from surgery & this past week it had got much better & I had slept on my stomach. Gunnar must have senced that I was better & would be OK, for when I awoke Monday morning he was already starting to leave me. My sweet boy had done that one last favor for me by staying strong & healthy for this past month & gotten me through another tough time. What a perfect compainion. I will miss him forever & ever. My home is lonely, he was all I had. I don't know what will happen with my life now but I will try & not let this grief over take my body has it has done so many times in the past. Here was the note placed at his favorite park that we went to everyday of his life. Sorry if the photo doesn't come through. God Bless you Gunnar & Thank You Boy - Run, Play, Smell the flowers & feel no pain ever again-Mommy:0) GUNNAR FISCHER.doc

DAMN! If I were into girls, I ask the both of you out!-LOL LOL Sorry but that ain't my thang! You two look Fabulouso!!!

YOU"VE DONE A GREAT JOB!!! Please don't get down on yourself. Sometimes family members are the last to notice anything. Remember also that you probably were always wearing loose fitting clothes around them & not showing off those beautiful curves. When you changed you clothes this time they were probably (Iam guessing ) A bit more form fitted. So maybe just maybe your family didn't think you had lost so much weight. I really don't know. But the important thing here is YOU & I & LBT all know how great you've done! So Hipp Hipp Horray for ALEXRA!! Ps- I am down, not nearly as much as you & only one neighbor has said something. Not my mom -not my sister. Only my mom out of those people knows about the band also. But I know;0)

Tammy-Shai & ZOE- Thanks for the links & the poems I finally had the nerve to read them the other day. Today is the first morning I didn't cry the moment I got up. I took a nap this afternoon & got to see him in my dreams. The only bad part was I called him & said- "Oh Gunnar - come here - your really not dead-Thank God" The really good part is I got to hug him in my dream & I thought I was awake- IT FELT WONDERFUL. I didn't cry when I woke - Instead I said " Thank you Lord- for one last hug." By the way he seemed really happy:0) This Monday , tomorrow I decided to spread flowers in his HONOR along that path that we would walk together everyday. He loved smelling flowers- kinda funny & silly for a dog- But he really did. So I am hoping to have a little closure & peace when I am done. Besides that I know that Gunnar will truely love it! Thank you again everyone- re-reading this post the last few days has gotten me through a tough time & even though I know it may be awhile before I stop crying when I speak of him, your words have helped me remember that MY BABY HAD A GREAT LIFE & I COULDN'T HAVE LOVED HIM MORE! Thank you all ! (HUGS)

Not that its for everyone BUT when they put me on paxil & than later on zoloft they both made me feel worse. Infact I even was one of the people that had thoughts of not living anymore. This all took place during my divorce. I eventually took myself off of everything . I don't recommend that because in some cases you need to be weined. But I did it cold turkey, it had only been about 3 to 4 mnths I think. Anyway the first week or so it was hard but than I started to do more stuff & care about what was going on around me. Most importantly wanted to live. The drugs were actually making me more depressed than just dealing with my problems with a clear mind & body. Sometimes, like with mine, the answer is to just tough it out & not to go to meds for help. Everyone is very different but I thought you should hear what happened to me. I hope your feeling better soon. Oh & as to my shrink - I lied about still taking the drugs for months & he said how much better I was getting;0) Than I eventually told him as well that I wasn't going to continue to come & I was O.K.- Good Luck to you

How do I begin to say "THANK YOU " to everyone of you. My eyes are so swollen with both sad & happy tears its actually hard to see. Your words truely, truely help me so very much. Like some of you said he wouldn't want me to be sad for too long so by the end of this weekend I promise my sweet boy I will morn no more! I will only look to our memories with smiles & laughter:0)At least I will try. I have yet to click the links that some of you listed- not enough strengh right now but maybe tonight or tomorrow. What is the hardest is I have such a routine everyday & have for coming up on 3 yrs & it all was revolving around him. every dish every walk every ride every door opening or closing every sunny day & every rainy day. I just feel lost without him. It wouldn't have been this bad had I had a job & not been with him every waking moment. But than again that is why my love for him was so strong & our connection one that I will never have again. Do you know that since the age of 2 1/2 he has NEVER had a collar or leash on except when in a public arena. He was trained in the Schutzhund clubs of America for 2 yrs by me, 3xs a week. He was 100% off lead trained & I used all German commands. He did however fail the over all attack work & traking. He hated the cold & was too much of a sweet heart to hurt a butterfly. Lord I miss my boy soooooooo much! I have been blessed a few times these past days to see him running super fast in a very green hilly field in heaven. He looked so happy & very proud. Twice I have seen him smiling down on me & it brings me great joy. Like some of you have said he has his DIGNITY back & what a very proud strong boy he was & will always be. God Bless you all- Thank you for your support- I've needed it very much.

Bumping To Celebrate The Life Of My Boy Gunnar! You Were The Very Best !!! Please see the post under support entitled My Heart Is Broken. Penni thank you for helping with his photos.