piercedqt78

Ok, here is my lucky dog story of the day. I did the poop in the hole thing and she is no longer digging. She is however still trying to eat my kitties. They of course want nothing to do with her, they think she is the devil. Her newest trick is to throw her toys over her head and then go and get them, she is playing fetch with herself. It is a riot to watch. She also skins tennis balls, and then plays with the fuzzy skin not the ball, also a riot to watch. I have to invest in a video recorder, I could win $10,000 with Bella and her antics. ~Mandy

I sm sooooo much less hungary when I am doing low carb. I was told that eating carbs makes you want more carbs, hungry or not. Not sure how true that is, but I know that when I have carbs, I get all crazy for more carbs. ~Mandy

I make mashed cauliflower, just steam it until soft and then blend with a bit of butter and milk or cream. I also add garlic and parmesan cheese. You can do them loaded with sour cream, cheese, and bacon bits. They are a great low carb high fiber sub for mashed potatos. I have also made them and then put them in the taoster oven for that twice baked texture. ~Mandy

I am a rescue mom 3 times over, every animal I have ever had was a shelter rescue or a side of the road rescue. The best cat I have ever had came from a box on the side of the road, I lost him to cancer when he was just 4 years old and it just about killed me too. My 2 cats that I have now are both rescue boys and they are great, my big guy (24 pounds) needs a band, he lets my daughter push him in a doll stroller and he willing sleeps with her even though she is a very rough sleeper. The other cat is more my husbands cat, but he allows me and my daughter to live in the house, if he had his way we would be banished to the garage. I am not allowed to go into the animal rooms at the shelter for a while as every time I do we get a new baby. I am a big softie when it comes to the sad eyes that they all seem to have. I also have to buy my pet food at petco because petsmart has shelters in there with animals and my husband says there is no more room for anymore babies in our house. I would bring them all with me if I could. I love Bella, she steals my heart every day with her goofy antics. Do they all snore like a chainsaw? She is soooo loud, and she sleeps right through everything. Some guard dog she is....~Mandy

We have a waterfrog, 2 of them actually. They are cool to watch but you can't hold them or anything. It's funny, both of my sisters and myself have "mean breeds" that are just big babies. My oldest sister has Rotties, my middle sister has boxers and I have the staffie. I am putting her in the local "badass dog show" it is for dogs of known mean breeds that are really sweet hearts. It gives the community a chance to see how sweet they really are. I can't wait, she is so goofy around other dogs people will crack up about her. ~Mandy

I spoke with LadySplenda on the phone last night and we both agreed that we have come a very long way in the last 11 months for me and almost 7 months for her. We can both do things we never would have dreamed of pre-band. I think that we are both on the same plateau and it is frustrating. I also think that most band surgeons will consider a patient a success at 80% of access weight lost, and that is hard to swallow. I don't want to do this 80% I want to do this 100% and that is what I plan to do. I think some doctors get you at the 80% point and say, well I did what I said I would do, the rest is up to you. I also think that they should continue to encourage and push us to lose that last 20%. I am glad that my doctor says to me "you are doing great, don't give up now" I am also glad that he explained to me that if I got close to goal and had plastic surgery, it would take off a few pounds of skin. I am 18 pounds from goal and the plastic surgeon says I will lose anywhere from 8 to 12 pounds of skin off my stomach and thighs. So really I am only about 10 pounds from goal. I want to be between 140 and 145, that seems reasonable to me. Don't get me wrong, I am totally happy where I am right now. I have gone from a 22-24 to a size 12. My life has totally changed for the better, I love my band. My band saved my life, I was rotting in a very unhappy pain filled life, now I am living life to the fullest. I am a better wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend because I am living again. Most of all I am a better me and I owe that to my band so I am happy with what my band has given me even if it has given it's all. ~Mandy

The doctor had been hounding me to start taking meds for cholestrol. I refused and wanted to give the band a chance to make a difference. My last check-up my cholestrol was 155, down from 294. Ask your doc to check it out and ask about coming off the meds. ~Mandy

I have the butcher run any cut through the tenderizer and I haven't had any problems. I also order steak med and ask for it to be butterfiled, so it cooks less time and is more tender. a bit of steak sauce or gravy and I am good to go. I take small bites and chew well and can eat just about anything. ~Mandy

Mandy (splenda's daughter not me) is doing fine, 27 pounds in 11 weeks is almost 3 pounds per week, the average for a banded patient is 1 or 2 pounds per week on average. And the first 6 weeks are for healing, not weight loss. ~Mandy

I too am stuck at 163ish, some days I weigh 159 and others 165. I am in a size 12 comfortably, some 10's but they are snug, I refuse to be this size forever. I am going to make it to the 6-8 size range. My original goal was to get to a size 10-12, I am here and want to be a bit smaller. I would like to lose another 20 or so pounds. I would be great at 140-145 range. ~Mandy

Darcy, there is something about the pure undying love of a dog and the honesty in their eyes, that just melts my heart. I am also a cat person. I think I am just an animal person all around. We have a dog, 2 cats and a bird, not to mention the 55 gallon fish tank and the 2 gallon tank in my dd's room with frogs in it. My mom calls it my little zoo and I couldn't be happier being head zoo keeper. pplqueen, There is a difference in the breeds but I don't blame you at all, people are closed minded sometimes. The Staffs are *smaller and not as strong. * pit bulls around here are as large as 110 pounds, the breed standard is much smaller, but breeders are getting crazy about it. The staffs have bigger heads, and shorter legs, my Bella is 54 pounds. ~Mandy

I figured they gave us the blessing that is Bella, the least I could do was make a donation to the furbabies I had to leave behind. I wish I could take them all, ya' know? ~Mandy

Thanks, like I said I think she is just digging for the worms, she is just amazed by any other living thing. She is funny, she puts her toy on my leg or arm and then chews on both me and the toy. The other thing I have to do is teach my dd (almost 5) that toys left on the floor are fair game. She has started closing her bedroom door when she isn't playing in there and we put a baby gate across the playroom doorway. Bella LOVES my little pony and anything stuffed. We have a crate that she likes and she willing goes into when we leave and at night. The crate is big but not too big, we bought the size that the vet recomended. She seems to be happy in there, often sleeping or chewing on her rope toys. I am doing the crazy praise thing for good behavior and I bought really small treats so she wasn't getting too much junk, and they seem to make her happy too. The shelter didn't have the funding for treats or any sort of extras, like toys and such. We just donated a whole box of cat and dog toys and treats. I went to the dollar store and bought all the "big" dog toys they had, they are pretty durable and only a $1. The staff was overwhelmed, and I believe the animals had a good day that day. It was like playing Santa for the furbabies. I know that my Bella has it good, she has more love then she knows what to do with, a nice cool home for the summer and heat for the winter, a food bowl that always has food and pleanty of treats. I think she will be just fine with us. ~Mandy

They were calling my Bella sweetie pie and she is a real sweetie. We do the crate thing with her but she still manages to have accidents while we are playing she will not potty outside if we are out there, I have to put her out and then watch from the basement window to make sure she is going. The digging I think I have discovered, is because there are HUGE earthworms in the black dirt I put into that hole. That is where most of the digging is happening. Other than that she is great. It confuses her when the neighbors dog barks at her, she just dosen't understand that everyone in the world doesn't want to be good friends. I love her regardless. ~Mandy

I think this is more work then an actual baby. I thought I was done cleaning up puddles when Abigale was finished potty training, and here I am doing it again. Does anyone have advice on potty training and also how to stop her from digging in the back yard? I had to fill in a hole that was there when we moved in and she is just amazed with the black dirt I put in that hole. I want to plant grass soon and I think her digging will be a major problem. My DH says to just really limit her time outside to going potty and then make her come right back in, but she has spent so much time in a cage she just loves to run laps arond the yard. I hate to keep her inside when she loves being free in the yard sooooo much. Grass takes time to fill in, so if anyone has any suggestions I am more than happy to listen. I am already considering doing 1/2 the yard and then the other 1/2 later so she can have half the yard to run in. Any other thoughts? ~Mandy

Ok, 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. It is a tri-level, around 1300 square feet. You enter into a foyer and have the options of going upstairs or down into the "basement" it is half below ground but has really nice windows that look into the back yard. Up the stairs we have 2 big bedrooms and a full bath, the laundry room is also upstairs, a huge selling point to me. 99% of the laundry comes from the bedrooms and master bath so it is right there, how convient is that? Then on the main level there is a living room and my big eat in kitchen. The place was a rental for 5 years and the last tenant trashed the place so the investment company that we bought from had just remodeled the kitchen, new stove, new dishwasher and almost new fridge. The cabinets and countertops are less that 18 months old. The living room has 2 huge windows (think bigger than a sliding glass door) with vertical blinds. Then downstairs is a family room (we are making it a game room) with a small bedroom (Abigales's playroom) and a half bath. This winter we want to retile the bathrooms, the tile in there is in good shape but it is ugly. I want to do stone look tile, I have spent a ton of time at Home Depot lately, the sales girl knows me by name. (is that a bad thing?) I am in the process of re landscaping the backyard. It looked like Jurasic park back there, not anymore. I spent 7 hours digging weeds and cutting down half dead evergreens on wed. I was soooo tired, but I did it without gasping for breath and I felt really good about everything I accomplished that day. I still need to level the back yard and we are going to reseed in a few weeks. I went to a great garage sale today and found a cool dark olive green couch for $40, I bought that and I have a cool dark brown chair that will look great with it. That is going to go in the living room and the game room is going to have a small tan and green couch and I am looking for game tables or possibly a pinball machine. I am mostly unpacked and I manged to misplace my scale for 2 weeks, I found it but wish it was still lost. I haven't lost a single ounce for weeks. I think it was all the fast food during the move, I am back on track now and I think all the yad work will help me with these last few pounds. I also got a really sweet dog, there is a whole thread about her, take a peek, but be prepared she will steal your heart, and your socks if she can get ahold of them. ~Mandy

I'm glad we saved her too, she is really sweet and loving, just not really smart. She has spent so much time in a crate or cage that she has to relearn housebreaking, social interaction and how to not be a fool when people pay attention to her. She is mega hyper, but that is cute. She is really working on pottytraining, but she still gets a bit scitzo with any attention. She is 54 pounds and wants to sit on my lap whenever she gets the chance. I don't think she was ever an indoor dog as the furniture seems like a mystery to her. She is also curious about my 2 cats, they HATE her and won't have anything to do with her, she just wants to be friends. The shelter had her in with kittens with no problems. There were 22 of the staffies there, and no hope for any of them, they look too much like pit bulls and people are affraid of them. She is just the sweetest, she was found wondering the streets in -10 winter in Chicago, poor thing, that will NEVER happen to her again. She is in a home where she is loved and has a forever family now. I wish I could have taken them all but I only have oom for her. I joke that our next house has to sit on mega land and have at least 3 or 4 heated barns for all the animals I want to save. My DH says I can't save the world but I am always willing to try. I did find homes for 3 other staffies with our friends and they are doing great just like my Bella. I wish I could have found 100 homes not just 3. ~Mandy

Here is another of my 2 babies. ~Mandy

I didn't mention the sleeve, she asked about VBG and that is what I was referring to. I recommended fighting for the band as there are several upsides to the band over the VBG. The sleeve is still a current operation and I know of several people that have done very well with it. There are several insurances that say they will cover the VBG as they know it is not really done anymore and if you can't find a surgeon to do they won't have to pay for it. The sleeve is also considered experimental by most insurances just like the band. ~Mandy

VBG is not really done anymore. I was told the same thing, it was my only option, I called around and there were no doctors in the Chicagoland area that still did this proceedure. From what I gathered, it is where they put a piece of mesh around the top portion of your stomach (like the band, sorta). There are still problems with erosion and it is not adjustable. My suggestion is to fight the insurance company with all you have, you just might get it approved. Inamed has a great packet that gives the stats about banding vs all the other weightloss surgeries, have them send you a copy of that packet and then submit it with the request for the band. If you are denied, appeal, appeal, appeal. Don't give up until you are out of options. If they pay for VBG and RNY then weightloss surgery is covered, I would fight for the one I wanted and not settle for what they are offering. I was told that the band wasn't covered by my company and never would be. I fought it and I have a band covered 100% by insurance. I am willing to help if I can, let me know if you have any questions. ~Mandy

I agree with the others, I think that the people that are doing great for the most part are out living their lives. I have been banded almost 1 year and feel great. I am less than 20 pounds from goal and I wouldn't trade my band for the world. I did have some gas/shoulder pain for a few days after surgery but that is the extent of my band complications. I was on pain meds for all of 2 or 3 doses and then regular liquid tylenol did the trick for me. I have gone from a size 22/24 to a 12 in just 11 months. Feel free to PM or ask any questions you may have. I am going with my sister for her lap-band seminar next week and I am trying to talk my mom into researching it further. I think the band is good enough to reccomend it to my mom, does that tell you anything? ~Mandy

I generally don't do chinese, but if I have to I have shrimp in lobster sauce or mongolian shrimp. I also LOVE Egg Drop Soup. For Italian, I can do very small amounts of pasta, but I usually choose meatballs and a veggie, or most places offer grilled chicken or shrimp with some sort of sauce over pasta, I request little or no pasta. As for seafood, I can eat just about anything I want, except for fried clams (which I love) as long as I have some sort of dip, shrimp sauce or tarter sauce. I also do fried shrimp dipped in ranch. I had baked fish for lunch today and I dipped it in light tarter sauce, it went down very easily. We all have different reactions to different kinds of foods and your milage may vary. Hope this helps~Mandy

I actually asked my band doc to refer me to a surgeon and he gave me the name of the one they work with on a fairly regular basis. I met him, and was very impressed. I am going to see him in a few months for a consultation. I was hoping to avoid another surgery, but my thighs are pretty flappy and I could be in an 8-10 if I were to have the access skinn removed from my stomach. ~Mandy

I have 1.6cc in a 4 cc band. ~Mandy

Robyn, I am so sorry to hear of your band toubles. I will keep you and your doctors in my prayers. I will pray for healing for you and guidance for the doctors hands. ~Mandy