CandySmooch

its a breeze. hopefully they will give you a cheat sheet for common spanish phrases as my dr. did before I went. the only one i remember now is bano' for bathroom. but it will all be ok. I did it and everything was fine. even though you might not be able to communicate through language - you'd be surprised at how much you can communicate through body and sign language. no worries!

dr. sanchez's website is www.ready4achange.com and he has his prices posted

Wow they sure are some lookers arn't they! They're gorgeous - I think you should keep them - especially for the future boyfriend aspect - what a great way to meet men in the process too lol! Keep us updated and I thought there were 3 dogs? Am I just missing something? More pics please!

Well, I have always had clear beautiful skin all my life until a few months ago. I haven't lost a significant amount of weight (only 16lbs since banded May 24th), but for some reason back in October I started getting really bad bad acne breakouts - but these are not regular whiteheads - these are large red painful cysts that take weeks for them even to ooze let alone a few months to completely go away. Just when I get one cleared up - another will pop up literally overnight and its been ongoing for several several months now. It makes me feel very very ugly never having skin problems before. I use mineral makeup and have for years - never had problems with it before - I tried every over the counter product - no luck - I even switched to everything all natural products and don't use them in combinations with others and still not luck. I don't have the money to see a dermatologist and I've tried everythins possible - I hate it! My boyfriend says it has to be from all the changes my body has gone through - but what changed? I haven't lost that much weight, i'm taking a mult-vitamin - I'm getting plenty nutrtion and I'm excercising. I also became lactose intolerant a few months ago but only with milk - these are 2 things that have never been problems before being banded but if they are band related then why did it take 6 months to show up?

Megan - please keep us updated - I came here specifically to see if you replied today. Since there is 3 of them I'd say its ok to let the higher strung one go to a good home where he can be played with a little more. Let us know if you decide to keep them. Bless you dear!

Wow - I read every post and I'm shocked to see what kind of controversy this thread sparked. I too believe people are all too willing to jump on the cheating, stealing, selifsh bandwagon these days - myself included. Its hard to let go of past pain others have intentionally put us through - I'm learning too. I did have to say that my beloved actually surprised me this year - I was expecting nothing more than a Happy Valentines day - which I got at aproximately straight up midnight into V-Day which was sweetly sent in a text message. Then when I arrived home that morning (I work nights) there was a homeade card laying on my pillow that said happy v-day - I love you - all colored with red & blue crayon on a big heart cut out of construction paper. It was really the sweetest thing, and totally unexpected from this man whom I've been with for 3 years now - just the thought of how it must have taken him at least an hour to make it was what made it special - he actually took the time to do that. No roses, no candy - but we made some great love that had to be post-poned until the next morning - but really it was very nice.

Oh Vera - I am a 911 dispatcher and I am all too familiar with tragic accidents such as the case. I take my job home with me after work and calls replay in my head time and again - especially the really bad ones. Please take a little strength and comfort from all of us and know that God is with you all. please keep us posted on the autopsy results or any further information - I will be thinking of your family.

Oh Megan - kind souls like yours are highly rewarded in Heaven. My mom had the animal thing where they just found her - she still takes them in - seriously she lives in a suburb but stray scraggly starving animals always found their way to our doors growing up. Thank you for doing the right thing when someone else obviously didn't!!! I don't understand how people can be so cruel to defenseless animals. I get sooo pissed off at my boyfriend when he swats the dog for pottying on the carpet - I know the dog needs to be disciplined but I guess I would just clean it up and move on. So are you bonding with them? Start the fundraiser and I'll donate some money!

yes it seems within the last couple of months we've had a huge growth spurt and many more postings than I can keep up with - I see so many new people and a lot of the older ones are going MIA..........

And you thought no one would notice........HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND!

Welcome Charlene - I was also banded May 24, 2005 - this morning I weighed in at a 20lb loss - welcome to our group!

I believe I broke that story several days ago if you read a few posts up...........

May 24, 2005 Monterrey, MX Dr. Sanchez No erosion, no complications so far - knock on wood.

Yes I had come across that article too at one point - confirming what I had found - thanks for checking - anyone else come up with anything different?

I don't know about anyone else, but I heard the "donating excess skin to burn centers" shortly after I was banded and I started researching it very very heavily. All of the research I found was false and a common myth of WLS - I could not find one single burn center across the US who does this - unless someone is willing to prove me wrong here. I don't have money for PS thats why I was hoping it was a for real deal - but alas thus far I've only found it to be fiction than fact. The reason I got was because the skin has no elasticity left in it thus the reason for saggy skin and it can not be re-graphed for burn victims, they need healthy vital tissue w/ elasticity. Again - I'm truly wanting someone to prove me wrong here............give me some concrete information please, not just hearsay.

thanks - i love freebies & discounts!

Well my man is cut off for awhile - he pissed me off the last time we bumped uglies because he tried to flip my big ass into a different position so I just asked him how he wanted me to be instead and he said why do you have to be such a robot? EXCUUUUUSSSSSSEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEE????? Needless to say I was not in the mood after that and I faked a piddly orgasm to get it overwith since we were smack dab in the middle of the deed when he said it. I have never in my life ever been called a robot in the bedroom and he has never had one single complaint in 3 years! In fact I've had many lovers amazed by talents I pridefully possess. I should have replied with "Well if you were greasing the gears right, the robot wouldn't be so rigid". We'll see who comes begging for Mr. Roboto now that its Valentines day...............punk.....LOL:clap2:

Oh Vines, my love - I have no words to offer except what amazing strength and endurance you have - you never cease to amaze me my dear. You can handle anything! On a side note - I thought of you tonight - LOL - share a laugh with me here, but I was wearing boyshort panties and shaking my hips and ass in the mirror tonight to see if I could do it like a belly dancer and I wondered if it was how you do it! Mine was not a pretty site to see and I could only rock my hips for a short time and then I was out of breath! I don't see how you do it - my hips seem so rigid!

I used to liker Star until she mooched around to get everyone to pay for her wedding - come on! I heard she was such a bitch about things too with vendors etc. Not that this matters because you can never trust what you read in the media - but one of those tabloid magazines caught a picture of her in a bikini when she was around 200lbs and you could very visibly see small laproscopic scars on her stomach in the same are as is common with WLS. Hers look very much like my own scars so I wouldn't rule out that she has a band and also in combination worked her ass off to lose that much that quickly. I'll give her that much - if she worked hard she could of done it with the band. They even did one of those zoom in shots where you could see the scars closer. They also had different pics of her during the various WL stages and to me she looked rockin at 200lbs - now at 140lbs she so skinny she scares me! Its like looking at a skeleton of her former self.

I am pretty picky when it comes to food too. If we have roast & vegetables I must have A-1 sauce for the roast or it just doesn't taste good - same with steak - steak has to have A-1 sauce no matter how "marinated" it is. Whenever I used to eat out a lot pre-banding - I always special ordered my sandwiches and made my boyfriend check it to make sure it was right before we left - he used to get sooo mad! Like any chicken sandwich has to have only Ketchup and Mayo - this only applies to take out. Chinese food has to have plain fried rice with it or I won't eat it. Grilled cheese has to be plain grilled cheese - no ham, bologny, turkey thrown in etc. Soup/Chili has to have a sprinkle of cheese w/ crackers or it isn't worth it. I too believe the only ranch dressing to eat is homeade or it isn't worth eating - that storebought stuff doesn't even compare. I hate bacon, eggs & toast for Breakfast but through a slice of cheese on it and make it a sandwich and I'll eat it. I hate onions, but I'll pull the onions out of onion rings and eat the crunchy breading. Geez, I bet I might be more hard to live with than I imagine Wait this is a why MEN are weird, not why I am weird......lol

Jon has this freaky thing about toilet paper has to be kept in the plastic wrapping until needed. We split a 12 pack between our 2 separate bathrooms and he freaks that I place 6 rolls under the cabinet sink out of the wrapper. He thinks its "unsterile". He's a weirdo for sure.

Thanks JQ - I always find your weight loss success so inspiring - even more so when I found out you didn't even have a band! Thanks so much for helping others through this difficult journey - I'd like to say I've worked out AT the gym 3 times a week for 30 minutes - going on 3 weeks straight! And on some of the days when I didn't go to the gym - I did a 30 minute Yoga DVD at home. I'm just trying to keep my body moving to get this weight off since I haven't had luck with band & dieting alone. I realized I'm not one of the blessed that loses weight from the band itself therefore what I lose I have to work for, but I'm hoping the band will just keep me from gaining back what I'm working so hard to lose. Thanks again!

yes I too wonder how accurate the body fat % is. I know the one I have at home jumps around daily and i read that it depends on how hydrated your body is at the time - it can have an effect on it. I wouldn't worry since everything else is moving in the right direction!

missed it, damn

See the outlineing doeesn't bother me at all, its when they keep grinding the colors in that really gets me. My last tattoo was 4 years ago so when I recently had the one on my shoulder I had forgotten how painful they are. The pain is also pleasure, its weird for some. The one on my shoulder and inner ankle didn't hurt too bad, but the one on my lower back hurt like a mother fu*ker! Everytime the needles hit my spine it reverberated up through my neck and my whole body! Ouch! I was cussing the whole time through that one! Seriously, I was cussing the whole time under my breath and I broke out in a bad sweat!