Kathybad

Sorry Jeanie, I had to go put Jesse to bed... too bad I missed you. Anyways, here's a recent picture of us while we were at camp a few weekends ago.

Jeanie, this is the first time in weeks since we've both been online at the same time!!! Yeah. Are you all set for school on Wed? Sounds like you must be by now. Jesse has one week left of day camp before he starts back to school the day after labour day. He keeps asking if he has school yet. I take that as a good sign. He gets a new teacher this year, which is a man. This is the first new teacher he's had in 4 years. I'm hoping it will help push him a bit more outside of his comfort zone to learn a bit more. Well its official. My daughter's adoption court date is set for Sept. 14th. We heard from our case worker that we made it on the court schedule. Finally, 1-1/2 years after bringing her into our home we can make it official. We are so excited!!! We've invited our family to the court appearance and then we're throwing a big party to celebrate. We can show off the new kitchen at the same time. It's finally done (except for the light fixture). Still anxiously awaiting my first fill... need it big time.

Hi everyone, yes it is quiet, but that's ok, we're still here for each other. Peaches, good luck on Monday! Don't worry about driving in Toronto, just take it slow and easy. Remember, go south on Avenue Rd, so that you can turn right onto Lowther Ave (can't turn left on this street from Avenue (going North)) Jeanie, I miss you. Hopefully once school is underway you can rejoin us! Chimboree, how's life on solid food!!! Sunny, how you feeling? How'd the fill go? Dini, Congrats on your success... Have fun on your vacation. Anny, mmmm salad! Glad you could enjoy that. Everyone else, hope you're doing well.

Wow, I guess the group woke up!!! For the last few days, its been pretty slow on our thread. Then since I was on last night, I had 6 pages to go through. I love it!!! Sunny, my deepest sympathies on the loss of your baby. I have a dog that I cannot imagine not being here, and 6 years ago my cat of 16 years died. It devastated me, and I still think of her all the time. Our pets are our children, especially when the house is less full. It must especially hurt given the unexpected and quick nature of her death. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Lynette, I've read the posts and discussions around the pre-school situation. I have to say I am horrified by your experience. At first I thought you had applied to an exclusive school, which would explain their selectionism style test. But for this to occur at a public school is just unbelievable. Public schools are supposed to be inclusionary, aka "all kids belong" type of attitude. Having said that, the main thing thing that bothers me is the expectations that they have for 3 year olds. As a mom of 2 speacial needs kids, my two have been tested up the ying yang. I know all about "age appropriate" skills. Believe me, printing your name, catching a ball, using scissors, etc. are not 3 year old skills. These are more appropriate for a 4-5 year old, but still not delayed prior to enterring grade 1. I know I'm in Canada, but our cirriculum is not that different. I know you will fret about this, but check the internet for age appropriate skills, and it will show you that Hunter is bang on normal. NOT delayed, and NOT a failure by anyones standards. Jeanie, what's your take on Lynette's situation... as a teacher of 4 year olds, this is right up your alley. BTW, how did your fill go? And good luck tomorrow with school.

Yes, I get the rumbling too and the burping. It's funny, I know when my stomach rumbles I am hungry, but for how loud it is, I would expect to be ravenous, but I'm usually just starting to be hungry. I guess it will be my little trainer to help me recognize hunger. The burping usually happens when I've finished eating. I kind of welcome it, as it makes room in my stomach. It certainly provides good entertainment for the family! They are loud and long! LOL. Lynette, you really can tell people are now back to work and getting on with their lives. Now that we're all banded and over the initial fright of the surgery, the misery of the pre and post op diets, we are just rolling with the punches so to say. Peaches, 6 days to your first fill!!! That means 20 days until mine!!! Hope your holiday was good. Today was NOT a Jellyfish day!!:biggrin1: Talk to everyone later.

Welcome Imfine and Car. Anna, I love the Fall too. It's my favourite season. I really like the cold, crisp days and wood fires at night. The only thing I don't like is knowing winter follows Fall. Anna, as for your new addiction, Sex, count me in. That's the best replacement addiction around. I can also personally say that it gets better as the weight comes off. Spring of 2006 I weighed 75 lbs less than I do now (yes, I know... lost it fast, gained it back faster). And believe me, as the pounds dropped the sex drive went up and the enjoyment was amazing. I'm looking forward to that . Lynette, I bet you'll have more success training Hunter than I will training Sarah. She wants to go on the potty... every freeking second, but just doesn't do much... kind of hit and miss. Drives me insane. I'm just about ready to say "NO PEE" and let her go in the diaper. I don't remember Jesse being this difficult! I had a really good day today. I went back to work after being off for two weeks. My co-workers missed me, and better yet, my boss missed me. She looked pretty run down and told me that she knew I did a lot for her, but she didn't realize how much until the last few weeks. It's nice to know the place doesn't function as well without you (job security). I also had a few people say I look really good "well rested" "have you lost weight". That was fun!!! Remember, I've only told 2 people at work and they are sworn to secrecy (one is my boss and the other is my employee). I said many times the last little while that I have no restriction. But I think I actually do. Although I've had no trouble with lots of different foods, and haven't had any sliming or PB expriences, I do notice I'm eating about 1/3 to 1/2 what I was before. I know I'm still eating more than I should because it's no where near 1/2 cup (lots more), but it is certainly less than pre-op. So I'm feeling better about that. My weight is also creeping downwards. I've read where a lot of us are following the drs diet suggestions, which is great. But I think we should be questioning the information over the long term. Certainly right now its best to follow their instructions, as it is a healing diet. But unless the diet is coming from a dietician, and can be modified to you, the surgeons are really not trained in weight loss nutrition. They are experts at surgery, not nutrition. I just caution everyone on this thought. I know my dr's office has a dietician, who I will be consulting, but I also plan to consult other dietary specialists for nutrition advice. Since I've got Type 2 diabetes, I want to follow the GI Diet methodology, which is really healthy. This is something that can be followed for life and will give slow & steady weight loss.

Yes, I told him a week ago. He was thrilled. I created a powerpoint presentation using photos from the resorts website. The presentation took him through the itinerary and snapshots of the resort. The final slide told him how I had arranged for babysitting. I then reminded him that I had 3 other business trips this fall that I had to go on. He said "Yeah, I know... but I'm going to Palm Springs Baby!"

Jackie, cottage cheese (low fat to boot) is not a cheat. You are probably craving it because of the nutrition it provides. Personally I hate it and cannot get it past my lips. But if you are craving it, go for it. I would be more concerned if you were craving ice cream or cookies (which is what I crave all day). Don't be so hard on yourself. Your exercise plan is amazing, and you are making such wonderful food choices. The stall in your weight probably has much more to do with Aunt Flo and the stress you have placed on yourself than anything else. Relax, and let your body heal. Wait until you have some restriction before expecting anything amazing with your weight. Lose the stress, and enjoy the moment.

Hi everyone. Vipertireswife, welcome to the Lucky 7's. I was banded on July 26th, and am awaiting my first fill on Sept. 10th. Ohhhh I wish it were tomorrow. I have no restriction at all. Jeanie, wow, you've overcome a major hurdle that many people losing weight never do. Your mindset has switched to "thin person" mode. This can only help you achieve your goal!!! Jackie, OMG!!!! I think I would have ate a whole bag of Cookies if I received those phone calls. Good for you to turn to the treadmill to help with the stress!!! As for the $29,900... that's ridiculous. I imagine if you were a self pay, that price would be less. They probably increase the price whenever its through insuance. I'm a self pay and my bill was $16,000. That includes all lifetime fills and other appointments. Today was the last day of vacation for me and my DH (without the kids). We went to lunch and then a movie. I was able to eat way too much popcorn. :cry Then we enjoyed a nap ;) before picking up the kids. I have a question off topic of banding. Does anyone have a friend or family member that has Tourettes Syndrome or Chronic Tic Disorder? We think our son might have Chronic Tic Disorder, and would love some first had advice. Take care everyone, I'm off to bed.

Ssankofa, My dr. basically said, when I felt like it to go ahead. So I waited about 6 days post-op, and have resumed my normal marital relations (wink, wink) with no problems. I think your surgery was on the 30th. so your scars should be well healed by now, so don't worry about it. Take it slow and see what develops! LOL.

Brandy, your post-op diet is the most restrictive and longest I have seen on any thread. Did your doc. explain why its so long? When do you get filled? How are you coping?

Thanks Indiogirl. I did choose my daughter, or at least Children's Aid chose her for us, and we said YES. My son is my biological child, but I would have chosen him in a heart beat. So thank you. Some days can be very emotionally draining, but then we just try to find the humor. Here's one for everyone... I laughed for a good long time. I'll start by reminding everyone that my son is also intellectually challenged, so although he is 9, he's more like an innocent 6 year old. The other day he came into my room to complain that "Dad keeps telling me to go pee. I don't want to go pee. He always say pee, pee, pee" So I said to him (I have to modify terms) "If you don't go pee, your pee pee will get broken". He looked at me funny and said "NO, it won't break. It get HARD". I laughed so long and hard, my sides split.

Marcy, have a safe trip, and don't enjoy the fair food. It's a bunch of cr@p anyway. Chris, welcome to banster hell. But sounds like you're managing it well. I know I'm not. I don't feel much different today than I did pre-op, so am having a difficult time being motivated right now. It will be different when I go back to work on Monday, as I've been on vacation last week and this week. Took my son in today for a 3 hour EEG. That was not fun. Usually his EEGs are just 30 min or so, and he sleeps for part of it. Today he had to be awake and I had to keep him engaged so they could measure his seizure activity. My son suffers from absence seizures (blanks out for a few seconds), but has upwards of a few hundred a day. He usually has them when he's being asked questions, not when he's watching TV or playing video games. So although he was playing his gameboy at times during the test, I had to stop him and try to get him to read with me or do puzzles. Man did he fight that. He doesn't like those things at the best of times, let alone when he's hooked up to 22 electrodes monitoring his brain activity. Oh well, we did get through it and the technician thinks it was a good test to measure the activity during his seizures. Then we took him to the other hospital in town to have his hearing equipment checked. He likes that, so it was a breeze. I still find it amazing that he was born totally deaf, and now that he has a cochlear implant, he can hear as low a 20 db across all frequencies. Thats close to normal hearing. Pretty amazing what technology can do. So, that was my day.

Clean Plate Syndrome: Seems to be a common thing amongst us. I know my parents both came from poor families, where good food was hard to get, so when I was growing up, it was expected that you eat everything. I can remember two meals my mom made that I hated: Sheppards Pie and Maccaroni & Cheese. I loved everything else, including liver. But when she would serve those two meals, I would be sitting at the table until bedtime and not eat that night. It used to infuriate her and anger me. But I'm sure it helped to shape my issues with food. I can't blame my parents. It was certainly not their fault, as they were dealing with their own food and money issues. Plus, its not their fault I stuff myself with junk food. Today, I don't push my kids to eat everything. Instead I push them to eat healthy choices. I like the fact my son is a bit of a graser. It means he is getting nutrition every few hours, which helps even out the calorie intake. My daughter, however, is a bit of a pig. She will eat anything and everything, and has no shut off valve. I'll have to watch her nutrition as she grows.

Lynette, my DH is such a clutz that he would widow me for sure. I know this is a sensitive situation for you, and I'm sort of joking about it, but my joking is really based in reality. He is such a distracted driver, and has had many near misses because he isn't paying attention. He also doesn't always obey the rules of the road. He hesitates, doesn't turn when its his turn, then turns when its not, etc. It can be very frustrating as a passenger, not to mention as a passenger that likes to be in control of her own destiny! :omg: So last year a friend of ours got a new bike. When my DH asked his wife what she thought of it, she said "I don't care, he had a $2 million life insurance policy, so what do I care" So my DH turned to me with a smile like "can I, can I, can I" So when he saw Jeanie's picture and asked if he could get a bike, my answer was... "can you afford a $2 million dollar policy?" So I guess he won't be getting the bike. :whoo::whoo:

Jeanie, I keep missing you online :girl_hug: I love the new picture. Showed it to my DH and he said... wow, nice ride. Can I have one! What do you think my answer was!!! LOL

I had a great day today. I love being on vacation. I started my day with a really good protein shake, which held me over all morning. My DH and I went golfing... first time since the surgery. I didn't do well, but my DH did worse!!!!!! Ate some yogurt and cheese for a snack and then had beef and beans from the inside of a quesidilla for lunch. Now I'm getting dinner ready. I feel like i did much better today and its made me feel more in control. I have had a few bouts of loose BM's over the last week. Sort of comes on for an hour or so, and then resolves itself. Kind of weird. Anyone else having this happen?

Only, I can tolerate spicy food just fine. But I always have loved it, so if I couldn't have it, I would be rather upset.

I'm so glad I found this site (thanks to Mango from Lucky 7's). I was in need of some encouragement. I'm post op, but pre-fill and in what we are calling bandster hell. I love reading your successes! I will be adding to this thread someday soon!

I'm in need of a little encouragement. Does anyone know of a thread that has before and after photos and stories on this site?

I've just added another recipe to the recipe thread. Yet another soup!!! This one is Cajun Sweet Potato Soup. It's hot and spicy, just the way I like it... mmmm.

Mango, instead of olive oil, how about fish oil. It's loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids, which is great for you. You can get it as a supplement in any store, or you can eat it by having salmon with the skin on, and each the fattier part. Olive oil is good for you too in small quantities, but fish oil is a lot better.

Auntie Phyl, It's so nice to hear from you. I'm glad you're enjoying your camping trip. Sorry your DH is giving you trouble. Mine is pretty good, but every once in awhile he raises an eyebrow. Your DH is probably very concerned and wants you to succeed. He probably thinks he is helping you and doesn't understand how much it annoys you. You've been married for 43 years... be staight with him and ask him to back off. It worked for me. I told my DH right at the start "I don't need you to tell me what to eat or what not to eat. I want your support, but not your guidance. I need your support to be silent on the food and strong on the praise." This is working pretty well. So when I see the raised eyebrow, I just remind him of the conversation, and all is well. Good Luck.

This one is spicy... I like it hot!!! 3-4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up 1 large onion, chopped 2-3 cups chicken broth (less salt version) 1/3 cup cajun seasonings 1-2 cups cream (light cream or milk) Simmer sweet potatoes, onion, cajun seasonings and broth for 30 min, or until really soft. Using an emersion blender, puree until smooth. Add more broth (can be cold) until it is a slightly thick Soup consistency. Add just enough cream to lighten the colour and make it creamy. Enjoy. If you've seen my previouse soup recipes, you will notice a pattern. I like root vegetables and I like spice!!!

Ok, I'm having a difficult time now as well. When I was away, I really had no choice on what to eat, so I tried to be good. Now that I'm home, I can't seem to get back to the recommended eating plan, which would be mushies. My brain keeps telling me... well it worked for the weekend, why not. In fact, today my DH and I went out for sushi, which I'm sure is a big no no. The fish is fine, but all that rice is not good. Plus, I ate well over the amount I should be eating. This no restriction thing is bothersome. I know I shouldn't eat more than a few oz, but my band is letting me, so I do. I've got to shake this off!!! Tomorrow I'm going to try to stick to my plan!!!!