the best me

Very Cute Cindy! Well done Penni, as always. Oh my word, Jane!! What a mess!! Yep, what else can you do but laugh Happy Potty training!!! You are a great Mom!

Bandita, is this you? I replied to this thread yesterday? or some time age. Anyway, here is what I said... http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8226 Maybe you can reply there? Anyhow, it appears you are now the proud owner of two screen names!! Congrats!

Kimber-lilly, how do you take the gel? I'm imagining having to rub a gel onto...something?...you get my drift (!) but I'm sure that's not it. Keep my imagination from running wild! What do you do with the gel? BTW, Dad's calling his Doc Monday. It all adds up for him now and I think this will really help. Ya'll keep posting your advice, etc and I'll pass it along to him. He'll appreciate the encouragement that this is the right thing for him. Thanks!!

Welcome thinjen! Looks like you are doing things okay so far...you started a thread!! If you read a thread you want to reply to, just start typing under quick reply and it will post at the end of that conversation. Then go searching for more convesation, well, you get the idea. Keep browsing, it will click! Looks like you are coming along nicely in your pre-op Band journey, too! Let us know when you have a date. The August 2005 Bandsters have a list going. I'm sure Septemeber will get one going too, if your date settles there. Yep, the little band tool makes all the hard work pay off. I'm liking mine these days, although sometimes it's a bit frustrating I just got my first fill and it was so tight I got an unfill but things are smoother now...it takes some work and a bit of patience, that's for sure! Anyway, welcome to LBT!!!

Good luck to you Glenda! I hope you are banded soon, too! My insurance wouldn't pay either, so "out-of-pocket" it came, but so far, worth it!! Be ready to fight if you can. I wish you the best! Welcome to LBT!!

Thanks Laura! I called my dad with the list that Penni posted above and I knew he would be floored. He has been complaining about his memory, lack of motivation, scattered thoughts, low energy, etc for a good while now. Now it all makes sense and he was eager for me to e-mail him the info Penni posted. I'll let him know about your hubby, too. You said something good..."give it a try" I'll mention that if he doesn't like the results, he can simply stop the shots. My bet is he will love the results. I am also encouraged that he can take the pill form. At his age, a steady daily dose may be more in line with the results he's wanting. As MY hubby put it, otherwise, my Dad will be "all dressed up with nowhere to go" I liked how he put that!!! HA! Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!!!

I lost a good bit of hair during the post-op liquid diet, then again after I got my first fill and did liquids for a week (due to a needed unfil). I'm eating now so it's a bit better. What I HAVE noticed is my fingernails are a mess. They keep cracking and peeling and GONE is the length I used to have. Well, my left hand is okay but they are more brittle. I should eat more Jello but it take forever to get them back and healthy again!!!!!

Wahoo! You are SOO cool in so many ways today! Thank you!! I'm going there now.

Okay, I think I know my problem. I have Photoshop 2.0 Starter Edition. Now I gotta pay money for an upgrade. I hate spending money. I'm so cheap. I stay home because I don't like putting gas in the car. If it's farther than the grocery store, I avoid it. Dang. I'm going to find out how much it is and let you know. sigh. I hate being cheap. I gotta get a job. But THAT's another issue!!!

Here's another technical question that I think only Penni can answer (!) Well, maybe someone else can. I have Adobe Photoshop but I can't figure out how to get two pictures side-by-side on the same picture screen. If I can get them side by side, I can browse and choose one attachment when I make a post. Anyone? Penni?! (Luv ya, girl!)

What goes around comes around. And you can bet the impact of her words was not just on you. It was on her. There were others there that heard what she said and saw the ugliness of them. Badly done, vulgar girl. She will regret those words in so many ways...come Monday morning, no doubt. Hold your head high. Use her words not to wallow, but to encourage your determination. Just be careful to keep them in perspective. Don't allow them to haunt you at the expencse of your self-esteem. "I can lose weight, but UGLY is to the bone!"

Hey Trish...and everyone!! I finally got my first fill at about week 13. It was 2cc. My US fill doc said that's what Dr Kuri recommends for the first fill so he went with it. All was fine drinking Water on the way home, then I got tight. I got really tight! All I could do all weekend was take small sips of liquids, so last Monday I went and got a small unfill. The doc took out a mere .4cc and I feel SOOOO much better! So I'm at 1.6cc for my first fill at 14 weeks out, I have lost 24 pounds and finally hit Onederland! I'm 199.8 now. And have been all week. So I'm looking forward to a bit more weight coming off but really, I'm not in a huge hurry. As long as it's a fairly steady loss, I'm happy! I still worry that my band will erode, as if it's hanging out there, starting to happen and I'm in denial. The ball will finally drop, I'll lose my band, and my hope for getting all of this weight off will end. It's a sense of foreboding, I can't seem to shake it. It kind of hangs around out there. "I could lose my band" Yuck. Other than that, banded is life is going well. Thank God for LBT or I'd be nuts. Well, maybe I am a little nuts anyway because I do spend a good bit of time on the 'puter. Oh well. Good job everyone! We are doing it!!!

Oh, so glad to see you posting. Rest up, take it easy, heal well. Thinking of you!!!!

Just wanted to say HI! and Welcome! Eliza (ecbailey) saw Dr Ponce for her band surgery. You might could PM her? Good Luck!

I remember it hurting a bit to take a big breath. I would lie down and breathe just as deeply as I could stand it just to "exercise" that out and be sure I was using my lungs to the very bottom. I did this at least nightly for the first few weeks.

Are you talking about your port? The place where they fill the band? Wait, you have the French Midband? Oh no! I can't remember which band is French!! Is it adjustable? So where's it sticking out of? Confused!!

Chin up Jodie. It will all seem like a distant memory as you get older. The only things you will remember are the lessons you took with you. I like your insight on how your boyfriend just wants to be a normal teenager and he deserves it and SO DO YOU! So you won't be in High School much longer (Thank God! I promise HS stinks and I have great memories of my HS years!) but there is So So So much ahead of you. Good grades are important, no doubt, but you will go to college and learn and have fun, too! I know it's hard not to be distracted by the things that get you down and it's hard to see how things will be so much better. Not only do you not know what you have missed, but you have no way of knowing what's ahead of you that's OH! so much better! Just wait!! Adulthood is SOOOO GREAT!!!!! By then, you will have grown and matured even more because of your travails, and who knows what God has planned for you! I guess what I'm trying to say is, perspective is everything. And attitude is the ONE thing you can do something about. I'm not saying your situation is something to smile about. I know it sucks. And if there is any one place you can wallow in self-pity for a bit, it's here! However, you simply cannot give up, nor can you stay so down on yourself and victimized like this. KNOW that you will make it through and keep trudging forward. Don't give up! It gets nothing but better from here. ((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))

I totally cannot disagree with Karen and Michelle...I like their advice better than mine, now!

Good Golly Miss Molly! How's about that for a reply? Well done, Michelle!

Congrats!!! Wishing you the best...keep us posted!!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6942&highlight=medic+alert http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=992&highlight=medic+alert Here are tow threads about medic alert bracelets that you all might find interesting. They have links, etc. and some great comments. BTW, I received an Inamed card from Dr Kuri with band info and his name and phone number for emergency contact if needed. Keep it in my wallet next to my Drivers Lisence. But read the medic alert threads, interesting!! As for restaurants, I like to take home leftovers so a full portion is fine with me...I just make a few meals out of it! I have considered using my Band ID card at the buffet at the beach when we go. An adult buffet is usually $25! Now THAT'S when I'd be interested in "pulling rank" with my band. There is NO WAY I could eat $25 bucks worth of food at a buffet!

Yay Melissa! So glad it all went well...are you ready?!!! Get that pesky Psych eval done and over with, it's coming!!! Can't wait for you to get your band date!!

Almost, yep, yep, and yep!!! Almost a PB, by my own personal definition of things. A PB starts with getting stuck (the chest pain, golf ball feeling in the lower chest, you know, where the band is) then it turns to sliming, where the saliva builds up and then gets kind of frothy. This can be quick or last for hours with the sliming, but if my sliming doesn't make it pass, I give up and quit fighting it and let the PB rip. This is when whatever is stuck actually comes back. Did it come back up? If not, you got stuck and slimed. ewwww. and yep, I suppose it could be the carbonated Water, but yep, more likely not chewing carefully enough and the biggest YEP is the fill kicked in! This is your signal to slow down. Ain't it grand?! That's my take on it, your mileage may vary. I'd definately take it very mushy if not liquid for dinner, er, maybe Breakfast where you are? Welcome to restriction! Avoid steak for a while, eh? hehe

I found mine at the grocery store but it was labeled as Tylenol Sore Throat. It's basically Adult Strength liquid tylenol. Check the active ingredients to be sure, but that's what I got. It also may be a seasonal thing? Make sure you have a pretty good stash of pillows around. I really needed to pillow up for sleeping, and even slept on the recliner with the heating pad on my upper back, that helped. The extra pillows were most helpful in the bed, though. All the liquid foods listed above are great...you'll be well-prepared!!

Hehe! Good luck on your research! One hurdle just jumped: MOM! I don't care how old you are, that one is a toughie! Yay! Let us know how your research is going, what the insurance says, etc. Others will post with SoCal doc contacts, I'm sure. Do a search here? Anyway, good luck!!!