piercedqt78

Jenna, That is a cool site, I added it to my fave list. Thanks~Mandy

There are only certain fast foods that I will eat to begin with, but the movie pretty much confirmed what I figured was there all the time. Give me a Wendy's baked potato and side salad anytime over McD's. I will also eat chicken at White Castle and that is it. I am so picky about fast food and take out that it is just easier to cook at home. ~Mandy

For the people in Oz and Canada are you talking in American dollars? Yikes!! ~Mandy

Robyn, I am so sorry you are going through all of this. It realy does pour when it rains huh? In a 3 month time span, we had a baby, hubby was seriously hurt at work and was on workers comp for a year and needed constant care, and sept 11th happened (we lived in an all middle eastern neighborhood, one of our neighbors was arrested and deported for supporting terriost activity). It was 18 months before my husband was able to return to work, 6 months of that we lived on unemployment. My point is that everything works out in the long run. Hubby was fired from his job over his injury, but is now making double his previous wage, with great benefits and he loves his new job. We have a beautiful almost 5 year old daughter and we are buying our first home. I repeated to myself each day that God would only give me burdens that I could carry and nothing more. I really think that if my husband had stayed at Circuit City, working the way he did and being so unhappy all the time we would be divorced right now, instead we are happier and more in love than ever. I think that our sorrows and burdens make us stronger and in the long run happier people. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that my ramblings have made you feel better. ~Mandy

Teresita, try mole skin on the blister. We go to Disney and I always end up with blisters. Mole skin (really a flannel material) has an adhesive on it and it comes in 3x4 sheets, cut it to fit and gently wrap it aound that sore toe, don't remove it, let it fall off on it's own. It will protect you toe and help it heal. It's good to keep on hand so that if you start to feel a "hot spot" or preblister, then apply it and it will help prevent it from happening. It is around $3 or $4 for several sheets at walmart in the bandaid section. I keep a pack in my firstaid kit and a pack in my luggage for trips. It is really good stuff....hijack over....please resume normal toe conversation.~Mandy

I use mine to pick up small objects. My husband calls me monkey toes. I think he is jelous of my giftedness. ~Mandy

I hate it when.... -my daughter won't sleep, at all -my cat wakes me up to tell me, he loves me 40 times a nigt -my neighbor makes Cookies and drops a platter of them at my house, and my husband leaves them on the table. -my cell phone dies (I forget to charge it) -doctors halfway listen and then don't treat the problem you are there for. -the phone rings and it is "phone spam" -people complain about what they hate all the time :grouphug: `Mandy

Leatha, I sent you a PM~Mandy

I try to order from the kids menu or I ask them to leave off the bread, rice and any pasta that would come with the meal. I ask for a small bread plate and I have my meal off that. The rest gets boxed up or taken home for hubby to have for lunch at work. I have also added shrimp or an extra side to hubby's plate and just had that and a bite or two from hubby's plate. I have an almost 5 year old daughter and we often split meals. Yesterday we had chinese take out and we split the orange chicken. (I order it with grilled chicken not breaded) You would be amazed at how good most places are about allowing smaller portions. Olive Garden for example has a wonderful grilled chicken kids meal, it comes with pasta, I sub mashed potatos or broccoli and it also comes with soup, for around $5. I have that and I am usually done for the day. Eating out will get easier, and cheaper. I just miss a nice med-well grilled steak, I have to have to med now and that is just a bit too pink for me, so I get chicken. ~Mandy

A nice quick fix is warm apple juice. Gets things going quick. ~Mandy

I have been eating fish several times a week lately. I too can't do pop anymore. My taste have gone from sweets to popcorn. I get the 100 calorie micro bags and share them with my daughter. I haven't had more than 2 bites of cake since banding. (even at birthday parties). So I guess my taste have changed. I also ordered a burger from wendy's yesterday, I took the meat off the bun and took 2 bites and the rest went to the trash. Before I could eat 2 of the .99 burgers and a chili, and a baked potato then top it off with a frosty. Yesterday consisted of a small chili, and 2 bites of burger patty and I was full. Not only did my taste change, but so did my choices, that was the first fastfood in 2 weeks for me. ~Mandy

I'm in the south burbs of Chicago and it is $2.99 for regular. We are getting ready to move to the western burbs and it has been .10 cheeper a gallon everytime we have looked in that area. I was in Chicago a few weeks ago and regular was $3.15 a gallon, I'm not sure what is it now but I am sure it has gone up. My husband commutes to work and he is looking at hybird (sp?) cars or looking to pick up a cheap motorcycle to save on fuel. ~Mandy

Something else to try, get a small wendy's chili and blend it to a liquid. It looks gross but taste really good. If it is too thick I watered mine down with a bit of spicy V8 and it was yummy. I also ordered egg drop soup with no eggs. The thickness of the broth filled me up. ~Mandy

I have 1.6 in my 4 cc band and I have restriction. My first fill was 2cc and it was fine at first but then on day 4 I called and had some removed. I was so tight that protein shakes came back up. He took me back down to 1.25 and that was great. Then I had another fill at christmas and it was back to 2.0, again too tight. Back to 1.6 and it was great. I have been at 1.6 since Christmas and I still have great restriction, I can't eat pasta, rice or bread. I eat 2 good meals a day and a shake for breakfast. ~Mandy

No matter what they are using on the incisions you will need a mild liquid antibiotic soap. (dial or softsoap) the girly bath products can iritate healing skin and cause a really bad reaction. My surgeon does both stitches and glue so he tells his patients to have mild soap at home. That was all I needed, my scars are getting lighter everyday and I am 9 months post-op. I never used anything on them other than good ole soap and water. When I have my gall bladder removed I did neosporin cream and they don't look any different then my band scars. It's up to you, how do you heal? If you are prone to scarring I would look into the generic mederma or similar product, for 2 or 3 weeks after the banding, but nothing right away. ~Mandy

You look great, I can totally tell the diff. Keep up the great work!! ~Mandy

I was allowed to progress to whole liquids 4 days post op and then soft foods at 10 days post op. My surgeon is one of the most experienced in Chicago and he is very well respected. I know that every doctor is different. I was told the post-op diet was to prevent vomiting not to stop the stomach from churning. I was told to avoid chicken and turkey as they were the most likely to cause a problem. I was told that ground beef was the best way to start. I was also told that adding mashed potato flakes to the chicken broth to thicken it and that helped with the hunger pain. ~Mandy

I have a size 18 dress that Penni60 sent me, it is too big on me and I would be happy to pass it on to you. It is from Dress Barn it's really pretty black and green and has a little sweater with it, but it is light enough not to be too hot. Let me know if you want it, just PM me the address and I will get it right out to you. ~Mandy

Davinci is a brand of flavored syrup. It is used in coffee, ice cream and protein shakes. It comes in sugar free, and you can get it at most gourmet stores. Gloria Jeans coffee has their brand and so does starbucks. It is also used in mixed drinks at a lot of bars and coffee houses. I believe the website is http://www.davincigourmet.com/729.html?flashdetect=YES There is also a brand called torani that is cheaper and available at cost plus world market, and most grocery stores. www.torani.com ~Mandy

Are the areas hot or inflamed? Do they hurt? Are they weeping? These are the questions that the doctors office is going to ask.... Hot, and "angry" red imply an infection. ~Mandy

I do yogurt or oatmeal. I am pretty tight in the morning and "real food" is usually not an option. I have managed a turkey sausage link here and there but that's not too often. We just returned from Disney and I took protein shake mix with me and ordered a skim milk and had a shake. I have also discovered that egg salad works well but is high fat and cholestrol, so I try to avoid it. I have also eaten grits, and the occasional turkey or chicken salad with wheat crackers. Also most places have a "diet plate" usually half a cantalope filled with cottage cheese. Last time I was in Mexico I lived on fruit smoothies and that was preband. ~Mandy

Alex, if you reread what they were asking, it was to retrieve the information and PM it to the original poster, not repost it. If that is possible I would love to get my starting measurements for Nana's Holiday thread. I have my email address as well as PM active here. I'm not trying to be nasty, but that is the problem with the quote feature, you only quoted part of what was said and that changed the meaning of the statement. ~Mandy

I agree that posting more and being in the open forums more would make more friends and open up my group. I do post, not everyday, but I do post when I feel I have something to offer. I feel like I know several of the members here, and would love the chance to actually meet them one day. When I say the changes are hard to deal with, I'm not talking about the editing changes, I am all for some changes being made. I am talking about the attitude changes, the general feeling of the board changing. I think the ability to edit post is important, but the ability to delete threads isn't. Hope this makes my feelings clear or at least clearer...~Mandy

I just told the groomer that takes care of my kitties. I have them goomed twice a year and she asked how I had managed to lose so much in the last 6 months. She is heavy and I know that she has struggled with her weight for a long time. We have been clients for over 3 years and she loves my furbabies almost as much as I do, so I shared. I even let her feel my port, she asked and I was fine with it. I also told the nurse as my daughters pediactric group. It was weird explaining a medical proceedure to a nurse. But the strangest place was at the tattoo shop that I get my work done at, I have told several people there about it, there are a ton of people there and most of them know me so I am comfortable sharing there. ~Mandy

Like I said in response to your PM, no apology needed. I was simply pointing out that there is indeed a clique around here. I come here for information and support, I get that from my friends. A lot of my time here is spent in PM and reading. I don't post much and know that people won't miss me if I am not posting. I would guess that few people actually look at who is online at any given time. Like I said in my PM th "in crowd" all joined around the same time and were banded around the same time, at least most of them. I have a clique of my own, we are just a bit less public about it. We too were all banded around the same time and joined around the same time. I think that the "in crowd" just seems more public. My theory is if you are looking for someone, instead of publicly posting it, PM or e-mail them. I feel the same about the birthday post, send a private message, that would keep the board neater. (Just my 2 cents) So again, my feelings are not hurt, it takes more then an online support group to hurt my feelings. What does hurt is losing my bandland home, it seems like this place is losing some really great people, and that is really sad. As for the deleted threads, I am really upset about the Nana's Holiday challenge thread, it had my measurements in it and I didn't get a chance to save them before it was gone. I have my weight in my journal but not my measurments. I am sad to see Nana go, she was always sweet and kind, she has a beautiful soul and that is what LBT needs. I have discovered that all online groups are like this, they run in waves and the "big guns" seem to weather the storm and the newbies ebb and flow. I guess that like life, things change and we just have to accept that. The changing attitudes and feel of this place are hard changes to swallow, and I'm not sure that the changes are sitting well with me right now. There is a ton of stress in my life and I can't add more from here. We are buying our first house and Abigale is getting ready to have surgery, I am preparing for a very painful series of injections in my really bad knee. It just seems that my life is really crazy right now and instead of coming here and feeling supported and cared about, there is another feeling here, one I can't eplain. I miss the LBT that I found before being banded, the one that held my hand when I was denied 3 times. The one that reminded me to walk and sip even though I already knew that. The LBT that cheered me one when I won the holiday challenge, and cried with me when my baby was sick and we didn't know what was wrong with her. My LBT family prayed for her and she is making progress, slowly but it is happening. That is the LBT that I want, not what we have now, fighting over movies, politics and religion. If we can't all be friends, at least we can be civil. Maybe we all need to remember, if you can't say something nice then keep your damn mouth shut? There have been way too many personal attacks lately and I am sure that prohibits people from posting and even joining. I know that the last big blow-up almost kept me from staying around. I'm not sure what this uproar will do for the LBT family. I hope that everything calms down and go back to normal, but right now I just don't see that happening. ((Paula)) we are cool, honest. ~Mandy