ReneBean

Nykee - nobody can help you if you won't help yourself. In this instance - helping yourself means getting an unfill. NOT THE WHOLE THING - Just take out a .5cc or so. Everytime it "hurts" when you eat - you are causing swelling in your esophogus - which causes more pain when you eat - which causes more swelling in your esophogus - which causes more pain when you eat... GET AN UNFILL. Until you do, you are flirting with disaster and sabotaging yourself. Part of loving yourself is admitting when you are wrong AND CHANGING YOUR ACTIONS. Please Nykee - Please listen to the words of wisdom provided by your "Band Elders". They have all been there and done that - they are not trying to cause you distress or sabotage your efforts - THEY ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU. Please listen.

Mary - Look at those NSV's!! What a fabulous thing - no reflux, work-outs without gasping and flopping like a fish and your body is starting to function normally - on it's own. Not to mention 40 lbs lost. What's not to like? *Why are you keeping the RNY rules? Just curious. It is my opinion that the best thing to do once you have a band is to forget that you ever even HEARD of the RNY - since comparing your progress to a By-Pass patient only leads to the kind of disappointment that you are experiencing right now. I recommend that you follow the bandster rules - and forget about those RNY folks altogether. YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!! Go buy yourself something sexy to wear that fits - and relax for a day or two. The best thing about the band is that it will wait, if you need a break.

Wow - you can buy stock in the Eagles? I want some... Love them - I have all the albums and even some of the solo efforts of the members. I just thought that song is truly appropos of the band. Of couse, we could use "I've been running down the road trying to loosen my load" but that just doesn't sound as good... :] Thanks for the encouragement and kind words from both Ira & Eileen. I feel a little better today. Beating myself up is the natural result of my error. I am pretty unforgiving of myself. I can tolerate anything except my own stupidity... I guess I am going to have to work on that. Therapy - here I come. So, Ira - what's the trick? I mean, sometimes there is fire with little or no smoke, and smoke without flames... infact, there is usually more smoke when there are not flames... (I am a master of the evasive answer when I want to be.) Besides, what a stupid question to ask of a potential juror... Lisa - Girl? You got your leathers on today? Ready to kick some Erin @$$? Hope you are doing ok. Everybody have a great day!

Ok - I think that the gal was telling you that you don't HAVE to be on liquids until you need to be - not that you must stop. You can be on any diet that you want, if it is working for you. If you are happy and not hungry and you have the shakes on hand - you CAN continue the liquid diet. The only drawback would be if you started to GET hungry and stopped being happy at the time when you need to be on the liquids. So long as you get enough protein, calories, and nutrition on liquids - and you are comfortable doing it, go for it. Any pre-band weight lost is just more weight that you don't have to lose later. :]

I don't understand it either. Sure, there are people who experience complications with the band - lots of them have posted here - but it seems that when the band "goes bad" it is something easy to fix - non life threatening. When the ByPass "goes bad" it is very VERY bad. And you can't fix it... You would THINK that the insurance companies would be lining up for this - clamoring for the band - since it is so much safer. Instead we get "insufficient literature to support the safety & efficacy" of the band. What a load of *&^%! GRRRRR. If I were a Martyr - I would HAVE the By-Pass and then SUE the crap out of my insurance company for any major lasting complication that I had. AND I would win - since they pushed me toward that surgery over the band due to their stupid crappy restrictions. Sorry to all those future bandsters out there - I am not willing to be a Martyr for the Cause.

So, Basically, you have to go through training almost as rigorous as a doctor - but you will be paid a fraction of the pay? How much harder would it be to just become a doc?

Inamed has a "Hotline" number with medical release forms so that they can review your file and help you with your appeal. The service is free. It is in their best interest to get the insurance companies to cover as many of these procedures as possible to pave the way for the future. Submit for pre-approval and then fight if you are denied. (You have to have a denial in writing before you can use the free service). Future Bandsters will thank you for it.

Potted plant decorations? The pointy end goes in the dirt... ???

Congrats! Color me Green with envy! :]

I had the job interview yesterday - but I was really excited about the trip to the corp. office because that stuff is a big part of what the job will be - so it was really going to be a great opportunity to show off how I can do the job, already. Right now, it will be a flipping miracle if I get to the second round interviews.... So, you have to know all the little bone parts for nursing? Wow. Good luck!

I'll get over it - I just hate being so darned stupid. I mean DUH - who doesn't check their calendar before they make a committment? Only an idiot. My only saving grace is that I found a gal to replace me on the trip - and I faced the interviewer in person to let him know. Now, if only there was some sort of snafu for each and every other applicant for the position I applied for... Oh, wait? It would be evil to wish bad things for the competition, right? Darn! Why can't I be BAD?

Trish couldn't get anybody from New Mexico to chime in, either. We have an open group chat going on in New Mexico. Come on over and check us out at HelloHelloHello. The more, the merrier. :]

Nope - I wouldn't pet a snake. I think that's why hubby calls his a mouse!

Woo Hoo!! Raise a glass of broth, everybody! Congrats!

EEEEWWWWEEE! Yuck.

Well - I guess I won't be going to Burbank after all... I have JURY DUTY! And, I totally forgot until my calendar reminded me. (Thank God it was on the Calendar or there would have been a warrant out for my arrest when I got back from Burbank) If I didn't feel so #$%^& STUPID right now, it might be funny. Of course, having given my superiors a great example of what an ass I am, I probably won't get the new job, either... SUCKS! I can't believe what an idiot I am...

OK - well, color ME stupid. And talk about making a great impression on the boss guys... I neglected to check my calendar before committing to go to Burbank for our Due Diligence review - AND GUESS WHO HAS JURY DUTY ON MONDAY!! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH! So, I just had to send the "Gee, I'm an idiot" e-mail to the guy who interviewed me yesterday & my direct supervisor. I could not feel any more stupid right now. It's just that there is never anything ON my calendar - except for the occassional doctor appt that I can always move. It just never occurred to me to look. So much for my hopes of getting the job transfer. I don't know if they are hiring idiots today. I could cry.

Lisa - any time you get a sugar craving, you just come on over and chat. :] IRA?? Where are you Ira? What's going on? We miss you. Come on - the October Chat thread was your idea...

My husband calls his the one-eyed trouser mouse...

Stay Strong, Sistah! HeHeHeHe - sticky bubbles all over evil erin... hahahahahaahaha!

Good Morning, All... It's just another Glorious Texas Day here in Addison, where I work. The sun is shining and the sky is blue and a little smoggy. They always have some new disgusting deep fried thing at the fair. Last year I think it was candy bars on a stick that were battered and fried. Like candy wasn't bad enough - they had to deep fry it, just to be SURE it was deadly. I have to say that PB&J might not be too bad deep fried. I really love that melty peanut butter on toast thing - so maybe it would be tasty. But again - like Fat & Sugar on two slices of Starch wasn't enough... Anyway, I have to follow up with some folks today. I think I am going to try my first appeal using the Inamed free service. They have some "Hotline" number with medical forms for your doc to complete - then they help you write the letter & document the research for the #^&*! insurance company. Of course, the folks at Lap Band Solutions were not aware of this... which is moderatly terrifying. You would think that this would be one of their solutions - but in fairness, they did just have a staffing change. So, now I have to teach the folks at LBS how to "help me" with getting my insurance approval. Geesh! Oh well. I figure I am just leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the next poor fat chick who comes along. **sigh** Lets see - on the agenda for today: get new inspection sticker for my car. Yep, today is the last day of the grace period... Can you say procrastinate? Sure you can. Other than that, it's just continue the laundry mission in preparation for my trip to Burbank. What's up with everybody else? Lisa - glad you got thru the In-Laws with only minor margarita therapy. I was fortunate - I had an "unconventional" MIL. The first time I met her I was wearing nothing but a sheet in her living room. She didn't even bat an eyelash - and offered to cook me breakfast. Gotta love that Southern Hospitality. Eileen - My mom is having her knee reconstructed using cadaver parts - so apparently, now we are just like cars - with parts that can be replaced. She tore a ligament or a tendon (sorry, I can't remember which) and it healed badly, pulling the knee cap so far off to one side that the docs wondered how the heck she could walk at all. They couldn't fix it, so they opted to replace it. The family is joking about Frankenstein... we are calling it her "AbbyNormal" knee surgery. When they got her into the surgery, they realized they had the wrong part and had to postpone. That's ok, though. Mom got to experience the joys of morphine. She said if it wasn't for the nausea the next day, she would become an addict. Woo Hoo! Hi Cindy! Hi Betty! Maybe we can do lunch or some other non-food type gathering. :] Everybody have a great day!

Awww - I think it will be ok. He doesn't seem to be an ogre or anything. He said he switched the hotels because there is more interesting stuff to do near that hotel - so in the evening when we arent working, there will be something to do besides watch TV. His motivation was good - but how could he know that I had planned to spend my free hours in the evening in front of a computer at the office? I mean, come on - only wierdos do that, right? lol. Oh the foot bones connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bones connected to the leg bone.... Poor Trish. REALLY - do we need to know more than the song? It's not like your patients would know the difference... you could talk about the spangal snit on the crunkle bone and they wouldn't care... just so long as you fix the problem! So, what are you studying for, again, Trish? I'll be hanging out here until Sunday morning - then I catch a plane. Who knows if I will have two minutes to scratch out a "hi" while I am there - but I will try. You know, in my previous life, when I had actual work - I NEVER would have spent so much time on line during the day. I guess it is a blessing that it has been so slow for the last few months... I have had plenty of time for research. :]

Are you going to go postal if you can't ever eat bread again? I am pretty sure that's what my doc was trying to find out. If you think the band is a magic cure, it won't work for you - so they want to be sure that you know that there are things that you won't be able to do - and lots of things that you will have to work at doing. I had to take a 500 item questionairre with scaled answers 1= very true & 5 = very false. That sort of thing. Trust me, if they didn't lock ME up - you will be JUUUUST fine. :]

She is a Demon straight from Hell. Does your company not buy pallets of DIET coke? If you must do soda - stick to your first addiction - DIET PEPSI. If you want something that Tastes gacky sweet - try vanilla Diet Pepsi - I love that stuff. I have a drawer in my desk that is just full of diet soda, packets of oatmeal and other acceptable food substances. The only defense against Demons is to be prepared. Don't let your supplies run out. Be strong. I am sorry that you have a fat chick in your office that wants to drag you down with her. Just remember whenever she sticks her Evil head into your office - YOU TOO COULD WEIGHT 300 LBS - if you LISTEN to her - she will make SURE that you do... Misery loves company! Think back to pre-band. What did you eat when you were being bad? Probably not liquid calories. You would be better off to eat any SOLID bad food (you would get full!) than to drink sugar. If you just can't stand it anymore - eat something solid. Let's see DeLarla kick some fat-girl butt - rather than drink fat-girl soda. You can do it! We will hold your hand while you swear and vent. ((HUGS!))

Well, I managed to avoid tying his shoes, and I didn't call him Sweetie or Dear even once. How's that for professional? Who knows how it all went. We will see if I make the cut for a second interview... Between now and then, I get to spend a week doing what will be the job - so that is a plus. I guess I just have to be prepared to strut my stuff next week. Oh - but I may be mostly incommunicado - since the boss changed the Hotel to one farther from the office, and now I will have to carpool with him... I thought I would be able to hang out after-hours and chat on LBT - but NOOOO. Oh well. I am sure that I will survive it. :]