piercedqt78

I have to agree with Tired Old Man, weddings are way over the top, they are expensive and people go way to far. I had a wedding for 70 people for less than $2500 dress new suit for DH, reception and all. It was a good time, simple, and fun. ~Mandy

Somone else asked about Emily being an attendant. When I was 10 or so I was an attendant at my uncles wedding. My job was to make sure everyone signed the guest book. I greete people at the reception and had them sign the book. It was easy, fun and made me feel special. I was able to dress in the wedding colors (not as fancy as the wedding party) I wore a dress that I was able to wear to church after the wedding. I was in the pictures, and the bride and groom gave me a small gift. That might be a simple resolution to this problem. ~Mandy

I had a very small wedding, but it was very nice. My oldest niece, 10 at the time wanted to be in the wedding, I didn't have anyone in the wedding, no brides maids, no groomsmen nothing. My mom walked me and gave me away (last minute decision). I told my sister that there would be no attendants and my niece threatened to ruin the wedding (she has a horrible temper) so I asked that she not attend. There were going to be other kids there, and her sisters were still welcome to attend as they had not threatened to act out and ruin our wedding. Well my sister said that would be fine, she could stay with her grandmother. The afternoon of my wedding my sister called several family members and tried to get them to cancel last minute, several did, some didn't. I ended up paying for 25 people to attend a reception that never came, never sent money to cover their plates, and never apologized for not showing up. They went to the movies instead of attending my wedding. I was hurt and pissed. My sister and I didn't talk for almost a year. When she found out I was pregnant she called and wanted to work things out. My niece was rewarded for her actions. While I don't think it is fair to leave out one child and ask another, it is her wedding and she may have other reasons besides height? I don't know your dgd or the aunt. Is it possible to explain to Emily that her sister was asked because she is taller, older or whatever and then do something special with her to make up for it? Maybe a day at the salon for a makeover? A day shopping, spend the money that you would have spent on the dress buying several outfits for spring? Just don't let the bad feeling build and explode on the day of the wedding. Try talking it out with both dgd there, see what they want to work out. By the way, I would say no to a week long trip for a fitting, especially if that means missing school. ~Mandy

I'm 18 months post-op, but have been the same weight for about 5 months. I have had some family/personal issues that have slowed my weight loss. In the last 9 months I have had 2 foot surgeries, my daughter had to have surgery and I have been sick for almost 6 weeks now. I think my plateau started a year ago when I had to have my gallbladder removed, it really slowed down my weightloss. Also I have 10-12 pounds of excess skin that needs to be removed. I am starting to research plastic surgery. ~Mandy

My hubby gets the ketosis breath when he works long shifts and has gone 18-20 hours without any food or calories at all. He has water at work and that's about it. He carries mints, but they don't help. When I was in ketosis, I had a weird sweet taste in my mouth all the time, but my breath was rancid. I bet I brushed my teeth 20 times a day pre-op and post-op, it didn't help for long. When I called and ask about the breath and if it was band related (I was thinking stomach infection) the nurse told me that was a good sign that I was following the diet. ~Mandy

I don't have an address for that location, is it the only one in that area? I'm not familliar with Oakbrook at all. ~Mandy

Sunday the 11th. Panera on Oak Brook, around 3? Sound good? ~Mandy

I just had dinner, it was a small piece of pot roast, some mashed potatos, and a few carrot slices. I ate maybe 3/4 of a cup total and I am still stuffed over an hour later. I am currently having some sugar free decaf coffee. (it's one of those international delight things) Guilt free, taste great and it really curbs the craving. Do I miss food? Nope! Am I glad I have my band? You betcha!! I had a great meal I'm what I now know as full, but more than than I am satisified. I as finished eating long before my family was, but I sat and enjoyed my families company. It's times like this that I love my band. ~Mandy

My taste in food has changed soooo much. I don't miss eating until I am uncomfortable at all. I never ate fish before, or dark veggies. Now I love fish, spinach, artichokes, asparagus. My taste have become more selective. I look at it like this, I can eat about 25-30 ounces in a day. I am not going to miss one single ounce on crap. I could eat mcnuggets, but I would rather have some lunch meat with gourmet goat cheese. I have become a much better cook, my family eats better, we eat out less, and seldom have "crap" for dinner. For example last week my hubby ordered a pizza. I can't eat it so I made some grilled fish. My 5 year old had a slice of pizza and 4 oz of fish. She asked for the fish, and decided she wanted to finish the fish and passed on a second piece of pizza. We used to drink several cases of Pepsi a week, now if a case is gone in a month it's a miracle. We are all healthier, and we eat better. My formerly picky husband actually ordered spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer last time we went out, he has always been a deep fried anything, avoid veggies at all cost kind of guy. ~Mandy

I once posted a farewell post here. There was turmoil and I didn't want to be around it anymore. I still have not returned to my former activity. I am here, usually responding to certain posts. I rarely start threads anymore. I have removed most of my pictures, my birth date, and my personal info. Alex and the mods took care of the problem and I decided to return and give LBT another chance. I have friends here, in real life and on line only. I have band sisters here. I need support, and I give support (mostly via pm). This place can be great, it also seems to get nasty sometimes. Dahlia, I am sorry you didn't get such a warm welcome. Feel free to PM me anytime. I don't have any info about charity, and I was blessed to be covered by my insurance after a ton of appeals. I will gladly be your support if I can. I don't pretend to know why some people do/say what they do, I am only responsible for myself and I am trying to reach out to you if you are still willing to let that happen. A belated welcome to LBT to you. ~Mandy

You are in what is know as kestosis (sp?) it is when the body is burning fat or sugar that is stored rather than what is being taken in. Are you on a very low cal pre-op diet or post op diet? I know I had it when I was pre-op and it got better as I added real food. Also if you are on liquids there are no solid foods scraping off the dead cells on your tongue so they smell and the tongue will sometimes turn white or grey. ~Mandy

I have a hard time with onion slices. And beef made chinese style seems to tough for me. I have had mongolian chicken and had some problems with the onion pieces. If I order a dish for myself it is usually shrimp with tomatos and peppers. I pick out the peppers but they add a nice flavor. ~Mandy

I use the egg drop soup for the days after my fills. It is like real food but still a liquid. I also get this when we order chinese, there aren't many things on the menu that I can have. I don't eat pork, can't do rice or noodles and the breaded stuff is too much for me. So I get an egg drop soup and usually have a bite or two of my dd's chicken and snow peas. ~Mandy

I love cooked cabbage. There is a local diner that makes cabbage roll soup. It is a tomato broth with pieces of ground beef and cabbage in it. They also do a stuffed pepper soup with green pepper instead of the cabbage. I love them both. ~Mandy

No they still add the seasonings and corn starch so it is thick. ~Mandy

I can't have cabbage unless it is cooked really soft. ~Mandy

I was allowed egg drop soup with no eggs. Every place I called would make it for me that way. That is one soup that is made when ordered, so leaving out the eggs was never a problem. I would order a large and make it into several meals. I also did this post-op. Best wishes on your journey, ~Mandy

What about a taco bar? We do this all the time and it works well. I make myself some nachos and everyone else has nachos, tacos or buritos. Just make the meats, chop up some veggies, and have sour cream, guac, and cheese set out. When people have to be involved making their dishes they are less likely to notice what you are doing. For dessert maybe some flan? ~Mandy

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I know that some already know this, some may not. If you click a post and it is spam there is a way to alert the mods about it. There is a little red triangle in the top right hand corner of every post, with an exclamation point ! in it. If you click that icon it will take you to a place to send a message to the mods and they can easily clean up the spam. I have noticed tons of spam around here and I know when I report it within a short time it's gone. I also notice that most of these post have been looked at 9 10 even 20 times, if they are not being reported then they are harder to find for the mods. It would make it easier if after you report it, maybe post a message that it has been reported so that the mods don't have 20 reports on the same post? Does that sound like a good plan? I know I am thankful for the mods and all the work they do around here, I just want to make it easier for them. ~Mandy

Just an FYI, by-pass people slime and barf too. I have several friends that are gbp patients and they have some of the same food issues that I have, rice, bread, pasta and french fries. It's not just us banded folks with food and slime issues. ~Mandy

Deb, forget the car, are you and everyone else ok? Good luck with the job interview. Hope next week is better for you. ~Mandy

I'm lucky I have a tiger direct not too far from my house. It's good and it's bad. It's good cuz I don't pay shipping or have to wait to get stuff, it's bad cuz I can go there and shop and shop and shop. It takes a while to get rebates from them but they do send them, and the prices even without the rebates are good. ~Mandy

Kat, check out www.tigerdirect.com they are a great discount computer place. I bought my laptop there and my mom got her PC there. We both got really good deals. If you call and tell them what you are going to use the puter for they can make some suggestions for you. ~Mandy

I am here, just not really here. I have been on so many meds, that I have been sleeping on and off for a few days. That's not like me at all. I have also spent some time looking at home improvement options. I got my tax refund and I am replacing 2 windows and doing some yard work in the back yard sometime next month. I had a little left over so I got myself an over the range microwave and I am going to the outlet store to look for a new fridge. my corrent fridge is 17 years old and doesn't match my other applances. I have all black in the kitchen except the almond fridge. When we moved in here the dishwasher was black, the fridge was almond and the stove was white. My sister bought a new house the same time as I did and she had all stainless stuff in the new house so I got her less than a year old stove from her old house. (the buyer is going to flip the house so they didn't want anything in it). The microwave/rangehood that I bought yesterday is black so all I have left to replace is the fridge. I am undecided on a side by side or a regular upright fridge. Any suggestions. I can't have water or ice in the door (our water isn't drinkable, I use a water dispenser for that stuff) so I am looking for basic, self defrosting and a good produce/meat drawer. I have never had a side by side before, anyone have any input? Ok I am off, for a nap, I managed to vaccum today and I have a load of towels in washing. The dogs both got baths last night. I am starting to feel like myself again. It's only taken 2 rounds of antibiotics and starting a 3rd round. I'll try to catch up later. ~Mandy