Carlene

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome - caused by insulin resistance. The PCOS will go away after menopause, but the insulin resistance stays with you always. Besides making weight loss difficult, it also causes fertility problems.

Bands can slip for no apparant reason, though the most frequent scenario by far is being too tight and trying to live with it - not the case with you. You really should have a barium swallow test done, just to make sure. But even if there was a slip, it would not be you who had failed, but the band. Some people experience total restriction with a slip, and some are suddenly "wide open", so there are no definite symptoms. Don't be afraid to ask your doctor. Putting it off can do no good.

Eyebrow Threading...the video [ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=NK-QzPLgUTo]YouTube - Philadelphia Eyebrow Threading Ardmore Shanti Medspa[/ame]

Almost....they hold one end in their teeth and twirl the other around the hair, then pull it out.

The latest fad (although it's a very old art in some parts of the world) is eyebrow threading. A piece of cotton thread is used to remove one hair at a time. It sounds like it would take forever, but it doesn't - maybe 5 or 10 minutes per brow.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that this thread is in the Rants and Raves forum?

My only comment on the topic is this....LBT is a privately owned/funded enterprise. We, the members, don't get to decide how it functions. Alexandra offered the most constructive suggestion....post on the topics that interest you and THOSE will be the ones that show up "on top" because they will be the most active.

Should this bill pass, or not? Wouldn't you think that a group of black Christians would be the first to uphold the rights of, and seek protection for, other minorities? What about white Christians? Is it so important to you that your minister be allowed to preach against gays that you would oppose this legislation, which might actually save lives? Ministers oppose shield for gays By HAMIL R. HARRIS The Washington Post WASHINGTON -- A coalition of conservative African-American religious leaders is lobbying Congress to reject a bill that would extend federal hate-crimes laws to cover gays, saying they fear it would prevent them from preaching against homosexuality. Several ministers last week urged House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., a sponsor of the bill, and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against the proposed Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. They say it would pin the hate-crime label on their sermons against homosexuality, which they consider a sin. "This bill will offer a status for gays, lesbians and transgender people under the equal protection status that can muzzle the black church," said Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in suburban Lanham, Md. Gay activists compare the bill to civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

There is some good in the worst of us, and some bad in the best of us. What a nice gesture from a man who might, quite rightly, have left this world a bitter, resentful human being.

Mary... I am a closet Cheetos freak, too. But not a successful one, as the orange fingers tend to give me away. I basically had to start all over, after being unfilled for almost 3 weeks due to a dilated esophagus. Be careful with those fills. If you get too tight, you will likely end up with complications.

You're right....there is something about most everyone that will offend someone, at sometime. I think it's kind of sad to encounter toddlers that smell like cigarette butts, however. And smokers will assure you that they don't smell - and their kids don't smell. I know....I used to do the same thing. But the truth is, they do. My DIL was telling me about the new principal at her local junior high. No one likes the man, evidently, because he thinks he's running Alcatraz instead of a public school. Anyway, he gave a child in-school suspension because she came to school smelling like cigarette smoke. Her dad called the principal and explained that she had spent the weekend at her mom's (a smoker) and attended a family reunion, at the home of a smoker, but the child was not guilty of smoking. The principal said, "She still has to serve the suspension. Next time, wash her jacket before you send her to school." That is the most extreme case of smoker-phobia I have ever heard of. I am sooooooo glad my daughter's child is not going there next year. Poor kid....she would be in ISS all year because her mom smokes in the house, in the car, and everywhere in between AND she shares clothes with her mom sometimes.

Not all fat people smell bad - just those who don't practice good personal hygiene. I grew up in an era when smoking was synonymous with glamor and sophistication. My mother never smoked a day in her life (and was predictably unglamorous and unsophisticated). She was an elementary grade school teacher and complained often about the kids who smelled of second-hand smoke. I thought she was being her typical grumpy self....until I stopped smoking and my daughter didn't. When I held her babies and nuzzled their sweet little heads, I found that their clothes and even their hair reeked of cigarette smoke. I never smelled it on myself or my own kids, or my house, car, etc all those years. But if you are a non-smoker, you can smell one a mile away.

My only personal contact with Mormons was 3 young men doing their mission work. I was the director of a multi-denomination social service agency and these darling, clean cut Mormon boys showed up to ask if they could help in any way. They sorted donations, bagged food from the pantry, swept the parking lot - anything there was to do, and they did it with joyful purpose. I had almost no Christian youths volunteer during my 15 years with the agency, in spite of the fact that we were sponsored by over 50 Christian churches. Thousands of Christian young people and maybe a dozen showed up to help with this ministry. One of my "Christian" volunteers - an older woman who was conspicuous for her grumpiness - complained about the Mormon boys. She believed the Mormon church to be a cult. I rescheduled her so that she did not have to rub shoulders with the 3 "heathen" boys. These young men cheerfully answered questions about their faith and offered much insight into its beliefs. During their mission, BTW, they were allowed one phone call home - on Mother's Day. The dressed impeccably in white shirts and ties and rode bikes (in the Texas heat) because the person in charge of the mission trip did not feel that they needed a car, since there were only 3 of them. This was not a complaint, but merely an explanation. I have never met more respectful, dedicated, and genuinely HAPPY young men. If they are representative of the Mormon church, I can find absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I had a barium swallow test today, under fluoro. The good news is, my band is perfect - no slip, no erosion, etc. The bad news is, my esophagus is not. It is dilated "all the way up", to quote my doctor. I was prepared for the worst because I can't eat a lot, so I didn't think it was esophageal dilation. But I have a very tempermental band. Say the wrong thing to me at dinner and it closes up like a virgin on prom night. The net results of that happening a lot would be esophageal dilation, of course. Dr S took out most of my fill and made me swear to eat only liquids and mushies for the next 3 weeks (almost 3 weeks - May 7th). Then we check it again. I was banded 11/29/04 and this did not become an issue until a few months ago. My symptoms were on again/off again PBs and some reflux. But some days I could eat "normal" stuff - even ribs, chicken, etc. When the reflux became more frequent and I began to experience an irritated esophagus, I decided to have it checked out. This is probably an issue that will resolve itself. At least I hope so. But 3 weeks on liquids/mushies is gonna be TOUGH. Everyone, please send me good vibes and words of encouragement.

There is an LA Fitness very near me, but it's a tiny place - not many options, etc. I am looking at Lifetime - farther away but wow....it's a country club without the golf course. I love the pools (2 indoor, 1 outdoor), sauna, whirlpool, etc. I want to do more than just sweat!

I was unfilled for almost 3 weeks and now have just 1.25 cc in my band, whereas before I was accustomed to having more than twice that.

Josie... I am not a doctor, but this does not sound right. You have no fill and should not be PBing. An unfilled band is, essentially, no band at all. I hope you are going to have your first fill done under fluoro so the band doctor can check your band.

Wow! Will you be able to get fills? Usually aspiration only occurs when you are too tight.

You are absolutely right. For years people told me I should quit: my mother, my children, my doctor - to name a few. It went in one ear and right out the other. Everyone who quits has some kind of wake up call, just like with the weight. My wake up call was when someone I dearly loved was diagnosed with lung cancer. I watched her die for 18 long months. She left 5 children and a husband behind. She, of course, quit the day she was diagnosed. I just kept thinking, if she'd only quit 5 years ago, none of this would be happening. I didn't want that to be me. I always said I would quit "someday". I finally realized that my someday might be one year or one month - maybe even one day - too late. It's been 12 years and God willing, I hope I dodged that bullet. If so, I owe it all to someone else's untimely death. How sad. RIP, dear Mary....and thank you for sparing me (and my family) the agony of lung cancer, which spread and became brain cancer, bone cancer, etc.

Good news....my esophagus is back to normal and I am the proud "owner" of 1.25 cc of saline in my band. I go back in a month for another fill. They make you fill back up slowly when you are coming off a dilation. I was limited to liquids today but tomorrow I will have a good idea of how much restriction I have. I'm thinking not much. Now for the bad news....I gained 8 pounds while I was unfilled and on mushies (almost 3 weeks). What a bummer! So tomorrow I am going gym shopping. Since Christmas I have gained a total of 18 pounds and I am not a happy Bandster. I am also a near naked Bandster, since I cannot wear most of my clothes. It's always something, isn't it?

Janell....you are too new to have aspiration issues, as you have no fill at this time. I suspect you have plain old heartburn and the OTC meds should relieve it. If they don't, contact your doctor. Your throat may still be tender from the surgery, especially if you had a breathing tube.

I was banded over 2 years ago and have experienced reflux, aspiration pneumonia, and esophageal dilation. None of that is fun, but aspiration can be deadly. You really don't want to try and live with that. One Bandster from another online group ended up with a huge abscess in her lungs from aspiration. My latest series of problems resulted in having to be unfilled for almost 3 weeks and limited to mushies. During that time, I gained 8 pounds! I just had my swallow test today and my esophagus is back to normal and I got a small fill. The bad news is that if you keep stretching it, the esophagus will eventually NOT spring back into shape and you (me) could end up losing our bands. I'm on antibiotics for THREE MONTHS as a result of the aspiration. And I haven't even gotten to the esophagitis, which can lead to Barrett's Esophagus and cancer. You may not think you are too tight, but if you are suffering aspiration, you ARE too tight. Everyone reacts to banding differently, so what's "too tight" for one person may be not tight enough for another.

Actually, Green, it was the Flight Attendants union that lobbied to have smoking banned on airplanes. The sky is their workplace, so to speak, and they felt they were trapped in a smoking environment. I heard one say that anyone who wanted to smoke should feel free to step out onto the wing.

WHAT??? I said that I do not believe pedophiles have a choice regarding their sexual orientation (though you obviously think they do), and because of that, you think I was putting gays down? I compared you to a pedophile only in the sense that I believe everyone's sexual orientation is beyond his/her choice. That same comparison could be drawn between heterosexuals and pedophiles. I thought that you, of all people, would have some sort of compassion for people who are victims of their (unchosen) orientation. Guess not. But for the record, I do not believe that homosexuals are deviants. I believe they are what they are....and what they were born to be.

Oh, I totally agree. Some places, however, should be totally non-smoking, since we don't have a choice as to which courthouse etc we use. But smokers can get very pushy. They will light up in the bathroom of a non-smoking restaurant, or even a church. Non-smokers aren't always the picture of politeness, either. I have a friend who is a CPA. She offered to do a tax return for a woman from her church for free, because the woman was out of work and had little money. She came to Carol's house for this service and when Carol lit a cigarette, she asked her not to smoke....in her own house. Now that takes nerve. While we were waiting for my oldest grandson to be born - in the waiting room set aside for smokers - my DIL's father sat there the whole time complaining about the smoke. I pointed out that there was a much larger non-smoking waiting room and he said it was full of "screaming little kids". He obviously wanted an adults only, non-smoking area. Some people are never happy.