WLSResources/ClothingExch

Good grief, I didn't know that there's a manufactured thing. To me, potted meat is in the realm of pot roast -- real food. The terms of the Geneva Conventions surely prohibit as torture the mechanical separation of chickens. Thanks for the education. You've made my eyes cross. @@Cander, don't do it!

Rachel, I have no opinion on whether surgery is the right thing for you; I want to say something else. You're correct to say that weight loss isn't a magic route to happiness. At the same time, surgery isn't a magic route to losing weight. It's an aid to an end. People who are successful for the long term have made wise food choices while losing and continue to make wise choices in order to maintain the loss. It is possible to gain weight despite surgery and of this you must be aware. Reading that you weighed eight stone at age 6 makes me want to hug and protect you and change the world for you. It's understandable if your husband's ambivalence is partly his concern for your safety. You didn't identify the others who are influencing him. If they happen to be the adults who were the major figures of your childhood, please, they are to be ignored. I really want you to see your reflection with confidence. Be sure that you understand all the ins and outs before you proceed. Without knowing, you'll be working against yourself. And you're wrong about one thing. You'll always have chances at most things whenever you choose to attempt.

@@81Kellogram, before you and @@The New Kel ride off toward the horizon, I'd like to say something. You don't have time to waste on fretting about an extended hospital stay. It will help to tell yourself that you're going in for a broken nail, nothing more. Keep your mind occupied with nothing taxing -- leave something to do just before you head to the hospital. Changing the sheets at the last minute is good idiot work and you'll come back to a crisp bed, always nice and soothing. (I've been to Texas four or five times. Does that count?)

@@Cander, if you've cooked up some pot roast or braised beef or similar and you weren't told not to eat meate by your surgery practice, there's no reason not to purée it. Real purée, that is, not chopped into little chunks. Use some of the aromatics and the gravy or likwid from the pot to ease the process and the eating. How much you'll like it or chicken, et al., is another topic. (@@justhere4theshow, what are you warning Cander away from? I'm trying to guess.)

The band has been called many things through the years, including "The Fickle Bittch." It may do its part of the job beautifully for quite a spell, and then go too tight or the opposite. I hope this isn't news to you. Too much gooey stuff coming up may be the result of a band that's gone too tight. You don't say how long this has been going on, but, if I were you, I wouldn't want to wait until next week to see my doctor. Call the office and see who's there and what they suggest. If you get the answering service, they'll have whomever is covering cal you.

Sure, hydration is important. If your pre-trip walking and cycling caused soreness in your calves to a lesser degree from the start, I hope you knew that the best way to heal it is to continue using those muscles. If the pain is as extreme today as you indicate, take a day off and ice your calves. Put a little, gentle stretch on your calves. While the others are doing the walking tour, do café time, write some postcards, read a paper and, above all, people-watch and check out all the gorgeous, Slavic cheekbones. Also be sure that you're wearing the right shoes for all the walking you're doing during your trip. Be glad it isn't shin splints.

@@loulou12, it's common for one adjustment to leave room for improvement and wise to go on the slower side than race into things. It's also not uncommon for an adjustment to take a little longer to "settle in." Call your surgery practice and ask how long they wait between adjustments. In the meantime, it is up to you to make good choices. It will also be up to you later on. @@MTWilliams, I noticed a topic that you started in the sleeve forum and send good wishes for success as you go along. Sleeve and band surgery are quite different animals.

Is there no NP or other person at your surgery practice who does adjustments? It sounds as though you may need some saline removed. If there is no office staff, does your surgeon not have someone covering for her/him?

Don't thank me. I'm not giving you a dietetics or medical go-ahead, only my experience and take on your question.

I don't know of anyone who has your medical history. The best way to find out if you are a candidate for weight-loss surgery is to talk with a couple of surgeons in your area. Please try not to worry about being turned down, you'll be much better off. If a surgeon will not do bariatric surgery for you, it's to preserve your life. Get an answer first and then see what's next. Will you say what your weight and age are?

Apparently not.

@@proudgrammy, you think you're cute? You are. @@Raymia and @@PrettynSpirit @@MissJDVSG @@genden63 @@sleeved.jennys2xo -- Go to "Forums" tab, top left. Go to "General Discussion" (or something very close to that) and scroll down the drop-down list to "Clothing Exchange." Some people exchange and sell their no-longer-wanted things. I don't get it, as I wouldn't be willing to pack and send off things, etc. To each her own. While scrolling the "Clothing Exchange" forum, you'll see a couple of posts about the free, semi-annual exchanges I organize in midtown. The next will be in March or April and will be posted. If you're in the city during the week, you'd certainly be welcomed to take part. Then, again, you might be in the southern part of Joizey. (That last part is really for RAymia, but applies to any of you in the NYC vicinity.) As to not buying clothes, nonsense. You don't have to buy a complete wardrobe every couple of months, but certainly treat yourself like a worthy person if you see something you really like or if you need something. Last but not least, absolutely donate your usable clothes if no other opportunities are available to you. Casual things are great for homeless services groups, business clothes are great for organizations similar to Bottomless Closet. Plenty of other non-profits are out there.

I'm "seasoned," but my idea of spicy may be different from yours. Mildly spicy may describe my tastes. I've never had a problem nor has anyone I've known who likes their spices at the high alert level. Our innards work mostly as they did before surgery with food now going through narrower passage. Nothing about digestion has been altered. All things are possible, so there possibly are people who say otherwise. When you're on full solids, you can gradually increase the fire to see how it works for you.

A "waist-trainer" will be as effective for tightening skin as an hourglass is for containing sand: Break the glass and the sand spills all over the place. The closest you can get to tightening loose skin short of reconstructive surgery is to work the muscles beneath it. Loose skin looks better over toned muscle than it does over flaccid muscle. Waist-trainers are most effective for playing out fantasies. That's about it.

Very few go from 0 to 60 without passing through 59 other speeds. We've all had "the intent," but most get nowhere without some actionplan to back it up. Example, if eating right is a new notion, it doesn't have to be "all day." One meal will do nicely for starters. My meals are planned in advance for the most part. Whether one day or three, I enter my menus in a food tracker ('My Fitness Pal' is popular and, I'm told, easier to use that my choice at sparkpeople.com). Even so, nothing is carved in stone. I make changes as I please. "Eating right" is not a reason to have surgery. Surgery eats neither "right" nor "wrong." It's just there doing nothing on its own. You're the one who has to do the work to eat differently, lose weight and whatever else. It really is imperative to understand this. Really. Please.

@@LittleBill, your description of your 'recipe' tells me that you put the eggs still in the shells in a dish of Water. C'mon, you're the one who uses a microwave. Isn't there a law about not putting tightly-sealed containers into a microwave? Beyond that, it isn't even "poaching." Be careful with closed containers. Someone I know had his face cut up and bruised with burns after putting an egg-in-shell in the MW. He just happened to open the door at the moment of explosion.

Let me know if it rolls, too. If so, I'll get one. Have fun with your new toy. You sure to find millions or hundreds of recipes.

My family still hasn't figured this out. I promise not to tell them, but I'm crushed if Monopoly "bankers" really cheat. Honest, I never had a clue. Oh, oh, oh, no, no, no, do people cheat at "Clue?" Waa-a-a-a-a-a-h! This really hurts.

@@Frenchie1977, here's another two cents. Instead of "I cheated...," try "I chose...." There is power in "choice." Power is what we make of it. "Cheating" is for card games.

"Hopeful" sounds like understatement. You're going to do this. You're going to make wonderful things happen for yourself. It takes work and patience and willingness to face rough days now and then, but you already know how to approach those things. There's plenty of support "out there" and in BP.

If your concern at the moment is the money because you can't have surgery without it, all the other stuff is irrelevant at the moment. This is the time to talk business and not old wounds. Your surgery date is only days away. You don't have time to hint and play shy games. Ask your father now for a check while you're in Virginia so that the payment clears your bank in time. If he was going to cover you in another way, make the arrangement now. I gather that he told you before that he'd give you the loan (if that's what it really will be)? Even so, there is no such thing as "supposed to" in the real world. People either honor their word or they don't. The truth is that he may disappoint you. You need to know now. If he hems-and-haws, you have nothing to lose by being firm in asking for his help. Let him know that this is important to you. Be firm. If he tries to weasel out, remind him that you've never before asked for financial help and that you are his child, too. I hope that, in the end, this all goes easily and smoothly with no need for discussion.

If it were so simple as "one thing."

Will you feel better if I tell you that your fears are well-founded? That you're having an easy, smooth start just so that you're lulled into a false sense of security? That there's a great, big fly-swatter hovering over your head just waiting to git ya? I can say that because I've had the same paranoia about something-or-other, but can't recall whether it was about surgery. You're fine. I don't know about the 2% statistic you mentioned, but, if it's true, it would be more about people who don't do the work rather than surgery not doing the work. Surgery doesn't do work; it just lays there. You're better than fine.

At least you didn't have Carla's boyfriend's problem. And you got revenge now, referring to the woman's age.