Telecia

You know I often wonder if doctors also don't change their diets for individual patients? At least the surgeons who have enough medical history on you to make changes. One of the reasons why different doctors have different diets MAY BE(I'd love for someone to ask their doctor about this to see what he/she's reply is) Because different people heal at different speeds. Someone with several co morbities like diabetes for example which is known for slowing down the healing process, so there fore the doctor may say a longer period of liquids or mushies. Now I am NOT a doctor and I think no matter what anyone says you should follow your doctors instructions. But since diets varry so much from one doc to the next I wonder if a persons healing factor might be part of it. Or if they just figure it out based on experience on past patients. Now with that all said I gotta ask Why? Why did you put yourself through the pain and suffering for an operation to jepordize it? We have all done the diet yo yo in the past and we can manage to stay on said diets sometimes for months on end. And many do well as long as they stay on certain diets. Its when you stop dieting the weight comes back. YOU CAN Follow the doctors diet. Sure it gets tiresome but you gotta keep reminding yourself its only for a while. Compared to the rest of your life you will live with the band. I agree with what musicalmomma said

Being down about the holdays is really out of sorts for me. Normally I'm raring to go with holiday decorations, making Cookies and baking etc. Little handcrafted gifts for stockings but I dunno. This year its just not the same. Part of it is I'm really upset with myself for not putting back more $$ for presents. Ever since I started being on disability each year the gift lists get smaller and smaller. My other half got a nice raise this year but with all the rising costs of gas/food etc. Its like he didn't even get a raise. And its not cause I haven't tried. Its because life keeps throwing major curveballs in to suck the $$ away. Like right now. Our one vehicle had its power steering pump go out. AND a MAJOR oil leak. Neither thing can be put off. The loss of our cat Tommy was another 1200$$ chunk that we are working on and now the clothes dryer has died. o.O. My boyfriend is a bit distraught because this makes 8 years we have been together now and he hasn't been able to get back to see his mother in that time. And shes not getting any younger. hes from a big family too. He was #10 and the baby of the family so he's used to allot of togetherness at holidays, and I think it bugs him a bit that he's to far away from his own family. Also the family that is local me and only one of my 2 ex SIL's are really even close. (yea ex's family I am closer to them then he is ) they all have kids now that have their own kids (0-4) who only ever come by around the holidays and dont have any contact the rest of the year which up till the last 2 years wasn't the case. When my ex's parents weren't in a nursing home everyone was much closer. I guess I'm seeing now how much of that must have been due to their influence, last holidays when it was just mom in the nursing home everyone seemed to go out of their ways to come and visit grandpa, tons of xmas cards, calls etc. But when it came to the family dinner Dad insisted she come. And with altzheimers she was really uncomfortable with that many people around and it wasn't a pleasant experience. I can't help but wonder if allot of people are afraid of a repeat or something. Maybe its all just me. Might just be the fact that one of my own kids is now in the cousins bunch that live farther away now. Guess I'll have to see. My own oldest son will be home tomorrow. But he only lives next state over and is taking a train to be with us for the weekend.

Oh heavens call the doctor NOW!! Only your doctor can tell you if its something to worry about or not. Best to call and be sure.

Going to your moms is a good idea. Or having someone come stay with you for a couple of days. Cause you never know how you will react. Every time you go through surgery you have a chance that you will react differently. You may feel great or be in allot of pain, either way picking up the little ones will be a no go for a while and if your feeling bad they will of course want mommy more. Its just how kids are. It's better to have help handy or be with someone who can help then to get stuck needing help and end up in pain or being frustrated.

I know others have said it already. But it's because of of all the so called *Oldies* (Experienced is a better term imho) that I decided that I wanted the band to begin with. Because there are soooo many sources/people etc out there that are negative towards the band and promote the other more dangerous and less successful surgerys/methods. It makes this place 1000x's more valuable in my eyes., to get advice from people who have been there and managed to come through it and share their learning experience for us clueless ones. Having so much trouble getting to get to have the surgery myself I have been depressed and considered several times that I should just drop it. But then I come here and read and remind myself that this is going to be a tough journey but there are people here who can help me through it with their experience and words of wisdom. And you know what. Having someone pat you on the back when you need a good swift kick isn't gonna get you motivated again. :whoo:To the Experienced people who are still here.

headaches, dryness of mouth, lips, throat, inside of the nose. dizzyness, nausea can all be signs of dehydration everyone reacts a bit differently.

not getting enough Water can cause headaches and generally throw the body out of sorts, and the fact that your on a total liquid diet is probably the reason for loose stools. But don't hesitate to call your band doc if you think somethings strange. It's better to call and be sure its not something serious.

Thongs are evil torture devices invented by wicked satyrs so people would walk like them with their butts stuck out. lol. J/k ok so now we know there is the The No-Butt The Shelf-Butt The Wide-Butt The Bubble-Butt so what do you call one that the top sticks out like a shelf but flattens on the underside that looks kinda like a triangle?? The Sharp-Butt??

OMG now that is a reply.. I love it. Now i'm gonna IM My brother tell him about this one.. He gets that ALLOT.. All the "you don't look gay" comments. Only once in my lifetime did I EVER meet a guy who fits the *stereotype* in interior design class years ago. And to top it off he WASN'T gay. But he used to tell me he let people think he was gay cause the girls payed way more attention to him, talked honestly and openly with him and guys didn't threaten him cause they through their girlfriends were safe Boy did he have most people fooled.

Now to me THAT is the most scary and the thing we should be outcrying about. I shudder to think by the time my grandkids or great grandkids are adults they will have NO FREEDOMS at all at this rate. Because <Insert current social problem> its bad for your or it offends someone.

ROFL you just decribed my daughter to a tee!! Only you left out the bit about them all being bi =P

Something my sons counciller suggested to me since both me and my daughter are overweight and she refuses to eat healthy is to start excersing (SP?) with her. My daughters 16 and refuses to do anything with mom. but at 10 you can get her started early and make it a fun/together time kind of thing. Sounds like its time to have a talk with grandma and inform her exactly what kind of damage she is doing to her granddaughter. I know allot of older folks tend to push food as a substitute or along with affection because one they don't realize its damaging or because thats how their parents did it. My MIL was the same way. growing up during the depression her way of showing affection was to make sure you ate. And she baked/cooked constantly. It was only when my FIL developed diabetes that she started into more healthier choices but she still pushed baked goods at everyone else. Might even try to get grandma in on the excersing etc with you and your daughter so she still has a way to dote on her in some manner.

Some insurance companys will allow you to keep current policies after you change or quit/get fired from a job. I would be calling them and finding out. Just to be sure. You would have to pay the policy yourself for a few months. but it can save you a ton in the long run. And possibly save you from having to put off the band for 6months or a year. Allot of times when you start a new job its 6 months to a year before you can get insurance coverage depending on what company the new employer uses. My other half's was a year for BCBS.

Yes if you dont have enough work credits you can qualify for SSI. For Obesity? That I dunno. I would tend to think there would need to be other things like the co morbities that would be the actual qualifying factor. I know I got mine for my back. I had only done 3 1/2 years in the offical workforce so had to deal with SSI (which is LESS then half what can be gotten on normal disability) Acually I worked it out My SSI equals earning 2.50 and hour for a 40 hour work week. But each state varries. This is actually quite understandable. Since to qualify for Medicaid you have to have a REALLY low income. Public Web 300$ to me is a allot of money. Is it right to force people to come down to making a decision like getting the surgery for your health or buying groceries for your family for the month?? Or not paying a good portion of your rent/house payment? One of my biggest pet peeves is the fact that if your on medicaid/welfare/SSI they will NOT take allot of things into account like: If you have ANY life/burial insurances they are counted AGAINST you. If you have a car its counted against you. They do not count car insurance/home insurance or telephone (or transportation if you do not have a car) in your expenses because these are all LUXURIES. [tell that to the nice police officer who just gave you a nice big FAT TICKET or impounded your car, cause you don't have insurance on your car]. The whole system is one huge FLAW. Thats not right. I know of several people on medicare who worked themselfs half to death to get to the age to retire and for whatever reasons are forced to live mostly on what social security they can get. That have to rely on medicare. Who certainly cant afford 1000$, and to pay the fills out of pocket.. Heck allot of the people I know have a hard enough time keeping their homes because of the cost of perscriptions and other 80% of things that medicare dose not cover. although enough public outcry has happened in the last 10 or so years this is slowly getting better.

celebrating with the family, but modifing things a bit. Looking for sugar/fat/carb free alternatives to make to take with.. half the family is diabetic and we got a couple vegitarians so alternitives that still fit in to the traditional are a challange but possible. I found a recipe for sugar free pecan pie I am dying to try and take!! (My favorite) I just hope it won't insult my SIL who normally makes pecan pies just for me. LOL I'm just glad its at my SIL's house this year.. Last year it was my cousins and was a disaster thanks to her drunk husband. Needless to say several pissed off family members.

oh gosh If money were no object... ..Buy a home (get out of apartments) ..pay off debts ..make my other half quit his job to pursue his writing. ..Get the band without hassling with insurance ..put a home gym in the new house and a pool! ..2 new cars ..kids college funds ..Move other halfs mother out of the podunk town she lives in into a nice home. ..Plastic surgery after weight loss ..want a couple of tattoos/piercings after all the weight loss/PS ..TRAVEL!!

I hope it works out for you. I had to totally break ties with one of my brothers cause he is just to negative, abusive and hatefull, he is one of those types that cannot accept he has made mistakes and messed up his own life. And blames it on everyone else. Up till 4-5 years ago he blamed everything on his mom (single mother) then suddenly it was me. I guess cause I moved 2 hours away and didn't visit as often.

the liquid diet is so your stitches holding your band in place can heal best. Because the more solid the food the more the whole stomach churns (moves around) while digesting it. So the post op liquid diet is VERY important. Iv'e seen where many people have great success adding a protien suppliment to their liquids to help feel fuller. Which helps them stay on the liquids easier.

So yesterday I went to the doctor. I am STILL in huge amounts of pain. A bit of explanation first. See I'm on medicaid. I had only bee in the workforce *Offically* 3 years when a back injury forced me to apply for disability so I cannot get normal social security and had to make due with SSI. And since me and my other half aren't legally married I can't be on his insurance so I'm stuck with medicaid. There is a serious lack of doctors in my area that take medicaid now so I got assigned to a doctor in my town. Because of the same complaints I have with this one is why I needed to change doctors in the first place. well this one just happens to be in with the local clinic also. So my appointment is at 4:30 pm. I get there ate 4:15 sign in the sheet on the counter and sit. Cause of course if your 15 min late YOU STILL have to pay for the appointment of course. at 6:30 I finally get called in for the nurse to do her thing. You know weight blood pressure etc. at 6:50 the doc finally shows up. Now I don't mind that I seem to see a different doc every time I visit. I also don't mind that the one I saw was a foreigner with a heavy accent and I had to ask her to repeat things. I'm deaf in one ear and she was soft spoken. What I do mind is I just waited 2 hours in uncomfortable chairs with screaming kids to get into the exam room and she totally ignores the 2 most important complaints I had and spent the whole 10 minutes going on about my blood pressure being up. *Rolls eyes* :omg: finding out the last doc I saw there DID NOT do a damn thing about my referral for the band. Or call in the perscription for my humidifier for my CPAP. And this one wasn't either. Really pissed me off. I want the band, I want to lose weight. The last doc I saw thought it was a fab idea and said I should go for it. But medicaid requires that any specialist I see must have a referral from the Primary physican. :angry*scream* Every doctor I have seen for the last 2 years seems to ignore every major concern I have regarding my back pain, my sleep apnea, and getting the lap band. Now if my blood pressure is up or If I haven't been religious on keeping my diabetes under control I get scolded. They are always eager to scribble out another medication on the perscription pad as long as it's never pain medication. I told her the back pain and combo of my left foot now going numb has seriously effecting my mobility now and all she could/would do is chew me out about my blood pressure. :faint: So I'm not sure what to do. I made another appointment in 2 weeks where I wont need perscription refills to take up the whole appointment to hopefully address this whole thing. But with my luck I'll get yet another new doctor who won't give a darn. And I can't afford to to go 50+ miles away to find another doc outside my area. as for the band I did go to the website of the hospital I wanted to have it done at and submitted a application of sorts 5 weeks ago and haven't heard anything probably cause I am on medicaid. So I guess I will give them a call tomorrow. Then I'm gonna call my medicaid rep and see what needs to be done and if she can help me out to get things going. And I have totally changed the familys diet. Cutting out white carbs and seriously increasing veggies and healthier choices. But I still was up a few pounds from 2 months ago. But my legs are swollen pretty bad right now too.

I put a call into my medicaid representative this morning. Will see now how long it takes to even get to talk to her. Its just sad that this has been a problem with more then one office in my area. It also makes me wonder how many people are suffering when they have the program that is supposed to be help that is ineffective. I love the idea of universal health care since then everyone is considered equal and should receive the same treatment. But I cannot see it ever happening in my lifetime. To much greed behind our current system, and not enough genuine concern for peoples health.

To me it sounds like jealousy but not for the reason you'd think. Seems to me that the parent is lashing out cause suddenly your avoiding him/her because of your surgery, which is true. Can you maybe talk to them and explain that the constant talk/showing of food is bothersome to you right now, explain you cant have it yet and its really hard staying on you diet. Or ask them to find other things to talk about? Or restrain from eating while your there. Heck if your only 8 days out you can always say that getting out is still a bit tiring and just call instead of visiting.

I am supposed to have one PCP but finding one taking patients in this area is becoming impossible. More and more doctors refuse to take Medicaid because it sometimes takes a year to get paid from them. And this isn’t one or two situations either. This is been over 5+ years with 6 different doctors. I live a 45 minute drive away from the edge of the capitol city of my state. This is NOT the boonies by any means. GM's major auto plants went under and this whole area is dying. I never said anything about universal healthcare. I'm all for that. At least in a universal healthcare system the doctor’s office, wouldn't triple book appointments constantly. (and yes my office does this AND takes walk ins I was told by the secretary they triple book ALL appointments so if even half the people show they can get 3-4 hours behind) In universal healthcare this wouldn’t be an issue because they would be getting a fixed salary. And in some countries get paid BETTER for being proactive and solving problems early. My time is valuable also and I don’t see any $$ from the doctor being 3 hours late. And follow up in a normal manner is not possible with this group. As If you call the office you get a complex automated answering system that makes it VERY clear they do NOT do any kind of phone business with patients AT ALL. Except make/cancel appointments. Make an appointment. If you have a prescription problem they will only deal with the pharmacy direct. And even then your lucky If the pharmacy gets any where. My pharmacist has had to repeatedly call them for 3-4 days in a row to get prescription mess ups fixed on more then one occasion. Anyhow I can't remember exactly how many times I've had the doc get up and walk out saying they would be right back and not come back. Or flat out tell me that they don’t WANT to deal with that right now. I have even gone as far as printing out a list of things so that it wouldn’t get overlooked. I never said it was only Medicaid doctors. And actually this isn't even remotely part of the issue. I got annoyed with having to ask her to speak up and repeat stuff. Not because of the accent because she spoke at a near whisper. She seemed well educated and friendly and that’s what matters to me. I suspect that the reason I haven't heard back on my application/questionnaire for the lap band is ALSO because I'm on Medicaid. I bet if I had normal insurance or was self pay they have gotten back with me in a week or less. Now my kids..TOTALLY different office different story. They have had the same doctor for 13 years now. Since we moved here. And I have NEVER had to wait more then 20 minutes in that office. The staff there is super competent, and timely on more then just appointments. My son (who’s 19 now) had a major problem when he about 11. Vision blackouts and major headaches started suddenly over a weekend. So on Monday I called they got him in as soon as we could drive it. The doc spent well over 45 minutes checking him out and quizzing us about it. Sent us immediately over to hospital for a CAT & MRI and had the results before 4pm that day and had my son scheduled for surgery the NEXT day. With a specialist. Then called me back personally at 9pm that evening to check on him and to make sure he had nothing to eat or drink except the liquid pain medicine he had prescribed. Then showed up after the surgery that evening around 6pm because he was worried and wanted to check on him himself. They had to open him up behind his ear and remove an infection that had grown into a solid mass and had started to spread into the bone of his skull. This Medicaid doctor is in a similar set up the pediatrician and 2 practical nurses run the children’s clinic here. You can call and get same day appointments for sickness. You can call and talk to them over matters if needed. They do referrals and such quickly and timely. Often making the appointments for you themselves then calling you and telling you where/when to be. Heck the 1 of the practical nurses and one nurse even run the office solo on Wednesdays when they are technically closed to handle things. So I know that they aren't all totally mismanaged. And probably aren't this way in other areas. But they are here. Well least the adult ones are. And that’s what ticks me off the most. I don't expect an adult’s doctor’s office to go to the same extents as children’s but they should at least be competent in what they do.

when my kids were really small all they got were toys. But as they got older and it became more difficult to shop for them on a disability income we started getting a bit creative. Also another reason why I started this was my own childhood christmas memories. 98% of which were not happy ones. I was raised by an aunt and uncle who were financially sound. Their daughter lived with us also and her 2 kids .. I never lacked for the best designer clothes, had my own room with a huge custom built desk, was encouraged to be into several sports private school etc. I had books out the wazoo and even full collections of some book sets like Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys. But I hated christmas. 90 % of MY presents were clothing. Socks hats, flannel pj's etc. I would always ask for something and my cousins would end up getting it! I remember asking for a barbie dreamhouse one year and what did my cousins get. A HUGE Custom built dollhouse that was 4ft high. o.O Another year I asked for a bike.. Guess what my cousin's BOTH got. Nice shiny new 10 speeds. What I remember most about Christmas is spending hours crying cause I never got anything I wanted and because we would spend days preparing for huge christmas partys that us kids NEVER got to attend. no we had to go to our rooms while there were guests in the house eating the huge amounts of cookies/candy/cakes etc. We Had to make. Anyhow so having kids of my own I decided to do things that included them as much as possible. We have a few traditions like christmas light displays, we would hop in the car in the evenings on weekends and drive around town just to see who had the best light displays. Making homemade breads for christmas morning meals. And handcrafted gifts for family. Now that they aren't into toys as much I tell them to make me a list of the top 10 things they want. And they are told from then on I will TRY. Try to get them what I can but not to expect new game systems or things that costly. Unless I can find them in our price range. Couple years ago my daughter wanted a guitar. She got one from the local pawn shop for *shh dont tell* 20$ lol. One year it was (insert that years hot game system) so they got the previous years system with several games (Again local pawn shop). They still get the usual filler stuff. new gloves/hats/scarves/cologne and stocking stuffer things. A couple of music cd's stuff like that.

Same here! I used to adore reading in HS I would carry 2-3 books around with me to read when I got a few moments spare time which I had allot of. Teacher give us a test or assignment to do in class I would buzz through it and then get to read my books. LOL. Mine were widely varried though from romances, to sci fi and fantasy to things like history and the occult. First couple of times in HS I went to the library and asked what the limit was to borrow. Librarian said none so I brought up a 3 foot stack of books she almost fainted. lol After about the 3rd time she stopped worrying though and expected me to come in at least every 2 days and we started recommending books to each other. I kinda of miss reading now. I kinda dropped it after getting online. Except for when something really grabs me like my daughter getting harry potter. I HAD to read them also.

Or you might try going to the library and borrowing stacks of books. lol Ours rents dvds and computer programs also but only for a week at a time. Where as books are for a month. Even if you dont have a laptop you can make arrangements to have your computer by the bed temporarily. I have a wood toy chest my oldest was given at birth from his grandparents. That when I was bed ridden for 6 months I put the computer on it. And sat crosslegged on the bed most of the time. I also always found knitting to be much easier then crochet for some odd reason. My dad taught me like 3-4 basic stitches and I used to knit ties, scarves, table runners, pot holders with just those 3-4 basics. Also you might just go to a large craft store and ask one of the staff for ideas after explaining your color problem. They might have some good suggestions also.