Longhorn

Ah, you left out the part about losing 30 pounds! Congratulations! :tongue2:

You posted on last week's thread.

I love turkey chili!

I had LASIK done in November 2001 when I was 46. I love it and wish I had it done sooner. The next year, both of my twins, who were 22 at the time, had it done, and my husband, who is my age. None of us have had any complications at all. My husband and I had our eyes corrected for monovision, which means one eye is corrected for far vision and the other for near vision. I couldn't adjust (though I was told that 95% of people do adjust -- they do this with contacts, too) so they corrected the second eye for far vision, free of charge, about three months after my initial surgery. I'm 52 now and still don't have to wear reading glasses even though I was in bifocals before the surgery. My husband has to wear reading glasses now and then because he had them correct his near vision to about three feet away since he plays trumpet in several bands and wanted to be able to see the music on the stand. He doesn't want to hold a book three feet away when he reads, though, so that's why he needs the reading glasses. I understand that there is now an operation to correct for both near and far-sightedness. My son is a Marine and he said he will be able to get LASIK done in a few months paid for by his medical benefits. It must be pretty mainstream if the military will pay for it! Our fourth child never needed glasses -- can't figure that one out!

I'll never forget driving down the road with my mother and passing an older woman walking on the sidewalk. My mother commented that she hated when women don't adjust their bras correctly so that one boob hangs higher than the other. I'll bet I was all of 13 but that made an impression on me and I'm always making sure that my bra straps are the same length!

She's melting, she's melting!!!! Only, she's not a witch! Congratulations! You look great!

Alaskan cruises tend to be a little less formal than other cruises. Many women wear black pants or a black skirt and a sparkly top. On my first cruise to the Caribbean in November 2005, I went all out on a formal gown and my husband brought his tux. I'd say that about half were as formal as we were and the other half were less formal. On our next cruise to Alaska in August 2006, I brought a long skirt and silk top and he wore his suit. About one/third were dressed in tuxes and formal gowns, with the rest being less formal. On my third cruise, again to the Caribbean in December 2006, I brought a couple of dressy sundresses, as did my three daughters. Again, about a third seemed to be really dressed up. I'm not active on the cruise board any more since I have no pending cruises but the trend does seem to be toward less formal dress. With airlines limiting luggage and cruiselines relaxing their dress codes, people just aren't dressing up as much. If you want to dress up, you certainly should, but you don't have to get as formal as once was the case. Have fun -- Alaska is amazing! You can learn a lot and have fun planning at Cruise Critic - Cruises, Cruise Ship Reviews, Ratings, Cruise Deals, Cruise Forums.

Name................Start..........Current..........Goal ......To Go shortgal ..............198...............190...............192........ minus 2 hollyberries...........298...............283...............285........ (-2) Trixie...................264...............244.5.............244...... ..1/2 Longhorn..............211...............203.6.............199.........4.6 It doesn't look likely that I'll make my goal by next week but it will be close!

I've had two fills, 6ccs total, and my next fill is next Friday, if I have one. I'm doing pretty well on what I have -- no trouble eating anything but still losing and I'm not hungry. Guess we'll see how I feel next week and what my doctor thinks.

Sades: So the equivalent of "Onederland" is "Ninetyville"? In other words, I know the actual conversion but for us, I don't think the "magic" is the actual weight of 200 pounds but the significance of changing that beginning number from a two to a one (or a three to a two.) I was just wondering if there is a similar cutoff that is significant for y'all. I guess one would be going from three digits to two. Are there others that are not just equivalents to our system? Maybe this is just a nerdy math question. :confused:

Isn't it exciting when you see a number that you're not expecting? It actually looked funny on my scales! :confused: I hope your fill is working out okay. I can get so hungry at the end of the day, though it doesn't take much to fill me up, so the band is definitely working. I think I'll be able to relax a little about losing when I get under 200. Something magic about that number! What's the "magic" number in kilograms?

I'm getting closer -- 203.6! Yes, I'm ready to count tenths of a pound now! Of course, it could take me another month because it's been about a pound a week but I'm happy! :mad:

Well, I saw a number this morning that I haven't seen for a long time -- 203.6! I'll take it! I don't know if I'll get under 199 by next week but at least I'm still losing. At this rate, my graph now predicts I will reach goal July 4 -- Independence Day!

I've become a Giants fan, too, for one game only! :smile:

This math teacher is so proud that y'all know how to calculate percentages! :eek: Here's what a true slow loser has lost in 13 weeks: 10.1%. :smile: But it's 1.8 pounds per week so I'm well within the average.

Name.................Start.....Current....Goal....To Go TxArcher............360.......346..........345....1 Shortgal.............198.......192.6.......192.....1/2 (now I'm aiming for 191) Trixie.................264.......248..........244.....4 tyman311...........168.......161..........150.....11 Shalee04............218........208.........206......2 Steph...............203.5......188.5......188.5....0 hungry..............227.5......218.........215.5...2.5 Longhorn............211........205.........199.....6 No loss for me this week. I can tell that my restriction is loosening up and I don't get another fill until February 15. My life has been way too hectic for exercise, though I'm on my feet a lot during the day. Time for patience! :party: On the positive side, I'm really enjoying making veggie/fruit juice nearly every morning. It's tasty and it just feels healthy! :thumbup:

We're looking in the same direction for NSVs, Steph! I have a suede skirt that I got about four years ago when I lost a significant amount of weight. I gave all my big clothes to my sister who was also losing weight but started off bigger than me. Then she gave them back and I got my beloved skirt back, though it, of course, didn't fit. After my experience last week with another skirt that I had never worn being three inches too big in the waist, I thought maybe I'd try my suede skirt. I was fully expecting that it wouldn't fit but it fit perfectly! It's a true size 16 and being suede, doesn't give a centimeter but it doesn't need to! :hurray: This weekend, I'm going through my closet again. I need to get rid of the things that are too big and bring in a few things that used to be too small. I'm looking forward to it! :biggrin:

The smallest number I've seen so far is in 204 territory. I suspect it will be a few more weeks before I dip under 200 but the prize is in sight! :biggrin:

This is what's great about our November Nymphs board -- we're all pretty close to the same stage and can really identify what we're going through. Some of us are a little "ahead" and some a little "behind" but we're all in the process of finding restriction and getting used to it. I have not been as tight as Steph and bandpal (good to hear from you!) but it is still there. Every now and then, I'll think it's gone and then something goes down a little slowly and I realize it's still there. I'm not that hungry during the day but I do get hungry if I wait too long between meals (which is easy to do with my schedule!) I'd be happy to stay at this level of restriction if it lasted and I keep losing weight. I've pretty much stayed at the same weight this week but that was after a four pound loss in just a couple of days so I'm not complaining. At this level, I can pretty much eat whatever I want and then I stay full for a decent amount of time. What could be better than that? My next appointment is February 15. I probably would get a very small fill or no fill at all if I was going in right now. We'll see how things are in two weeks! Keep pluggin' along, y'all!

There's a thread with Dr. K patients on the Doctors board where you can get some good information. I understand his fee includes three months of free fills. I considered him but was faced with the same situation as you as far as traveling for fills. My fills at my local doctor take just a few minutes. However, my biggest concern would be flying back home and then finding out that I needed an unfill. You might consider finding a local doctor to do the fills.

Yes, it will go away after you start to get fills! I can't say how many fills because doctors put in different amounts at different intervals on people who are different. :tongue: For me, it was the second fill, taking me to 6ccs in a 10cc band. Until then, I was just like you -- though I'll admit that before I was banded, I could have eaten five out of eight slices of a 15-inch pizza! So you're still doing better than you think. You kinda have two choices: restrict what you eat and be hungry or eat when you're hungry and have little or no weight loss. I chose the latter because I've had enough diet frustration for one lifetime! I still ate much less than before and I tried to adjust to the rules. I even lost a couple of pounds in the five weeks before my first and second fills. But it is certainly easier now that I have some restriction. I got a little hungry this evening but I went too long between meals. I was just sure that I had already lost my restriction until the last couple of bites were very slow and a little uncomfortable going down. Hang in there a few more weeks or maybe months -- but it will come and that's when the serious losing begins, from what I've been told. :eek:

This isn't my doctor but here's some advice from Dr. Simpson in Arizona: Lap-band adjustment - Laparoscopic Band adjustment in Phoenix Arizona (AZ) He also has some pretty good post-fill advice, as well as advice on how to know if you are properly restricted.

Oops, wrong thread.

It was on my third day that my bloating was the worst but it got better with each passing day. Good luck!

I had to meet with the psychologist and nutritionist. I had to have an EKG, Pulminary Fitness Test, and chest X-ray, as well as several blood tests. That was it and I was able to get all the tests done at my GP's office.