WLSResources/ClothingExch

@@ojibway, this is good news. Please provide some info, as I've gotten the impression that most medical plans don't pay or a second WLS. I'm banded and may have to have my band removed, in which case I'd like sleeve. What was your first surgery and, if you weren't covered then, what is different now? What makes a revision necessary? I realize you may have been without coverage at the time of your first WLS, which may or may not invalidate my questions. Thanks.

@@Fatty McFatster, FRONT AND CENTER! I took a look at your before & after pics earlier. Modesty, shmodesty, Mister, get out there and bugle like an elk.

I, too, have never heard of tingling and pain. You might consult a dermatologist as part of your explorations.

This speaks well of you, proof that you are a gentleman of fine breeding. Fine, I'll brag for you.

Looks like a good program. This is the first I'm learning of the annual convention and will look into it. But D.C. in August? Let's not ask for the moon...we have the stars.

To the best of my recollection, the left-shoulder gas pains lasted up to three weeks. Some people are done with them sooner. They've just got to run their course. If you haven't already been told, lots of people say that walking helps ease them; walking in the house counts toward it. No surprise that store-browsing tired you. Even laparascopic surgery takes a toll. Good that you felt up to going out, but go easy. You'll feel your normal stamina and strength quickly enough. As for the heartburn, try spacing out the meds a little more if you can. They may have been too much along with the gas-x. I'm just guessing at that. If the heartburn persists, you can call the surgery office and run it by someone. I don't know or recall whether it may be of some concern.

@@Inner Surfer Girl's excellent suggestion prompts me to be specific and jarred my memory for another possibility. In NYC, Bottomless Closet outfits women who are joining the workforce, having completed job-training programs. It also offers workshops on interviewing skills, resume-writing, personal money management/budgeting, etc. One of their programs is unique: A book group, which is an opportunity for the clients to learn about networking and encourages those who haven't been readers to broaden their horizons. The staff and volunteers are wonderful people. This is the group I partnered with 5 1/2 years ago; it's on their premises that I do the WLS clothing exchange during their off hours. What the WLS participants don't take is donated to BC for its clients. I don't know if each location around the country is related to the others, but Dress for Success also provides interview-appropriate clothing to women. There may be one in the area of anyone who's reading this. Similar organizations for men are quite scarce as far as I know. In NYC there is Career Gear. Inner Surfer Girl's recommendation/information is most likely the way to go in other places.

My closest friend told me that he was proud of me, which was most appropriate and positive considering the importance of our friendship. He knew that I was investigating surgery and was supportive always; it was he who sprang me from the hospital. The simple "proud of you" also works for closest family. I think I'd find it intrusive (maybe even a tad judgmental?) coming from others. @@Sharon1964's "Good" list is right on. Keep the compliments simple. Overdoing them could turn cloying or suffocating. If you're going to ask any questions, stick to the realm of "Where did you get those divine shoes?"

Look at you, still sore and already a little nervous (?) about the adjustment. No nausea. The saline is injected into the port, not into the stomach or any part of your digestive tract. You'll feel a pinch at the moment of injection and, if the person doing it doesn't have the lightest touch, maybe a slight soreness for a short time after. Really no big deal either way. The needles will hurt far less than the soreness you're feeling now at your incisions. Some practices do the fill under fluoroscope so that they can see the port before stabbing the patient. Mine doesn't as a rule. I'd get up on the exam table, lie back and do a modified crunch -bring my upper body up a tad and tighten the abs. This made it easier for the NP to feel the port. As soon as the needle was in, I'd relax my body. (Same goes for an unfill if I never needed my band loosened a bit.) Once its done, you'll be given a small glass of Water to be sure it goes down comfortably before you leave. Practices also vary on post-adjustment instructions. Some want patients to drink Clear liquids (or liquid?) for the rest of the day. Some advise liquids for a couple of days. My practice advises liquids for the next meal and soft foods for the rest of the day, going back on regular food the next day (or something very much like that -- it's been a long time since I've been poked.) How are you feeling on the third day after surgery?

You know that being able to get nothing down is unacceptable. Put in a call now to your surgeon or NP or whomever does your fills to report the situation. They'll probably want to take out some of Fluid that was added last week. It does mean something that you're on a second day of not being able to eat. Getting just the right fill level sometimes is tricky. The band is called "the fickle biitch" for a reason. Don't become discouraged.

You are Mistress of Understatement and, in terms of taste and elegance, you leave that bunch of beauties.in the dust. If you'll be 35 by January, 2017, you have my vote for president.

Your first two sentences are the truth. The up side is what you shouted on the inside: That hag has to go through life being herself, deservedly so. I'm not mean either [one hopes], but on an even brighter side, maybe she's a real-life Sophia from "Golden Girls" -- brain damage burned out her inner censor and sense. Let's kick her in the shins.

@@frankenstein, you opened the door for my opening line and I have to get it out of the way: I've always thought of Frankenstein as more lurcher than lurker. Whew. How big a deal is it really to wait between liquids and food? To chew thoroughly? You'll discover how good food can taste. How bad it can taste, too, but, hey, you can't have everything. At best, you'll become healthier and quicker, more energetic, find yourself smiling more, and able to enjoy time with your girls more fully. Of course I don't know you, but I'm willing to bet that this weekend's panic is about commitment to yourself and whether you really can do it. Scribble a quick list of reasons to lose weight; do it today. The list will pretty much be the reasons that made you look into surgery up front. Remind yourself. Lots of people have last-minute panic. That's okay. Imagine how great your butt will look when you mount your bike a year from now.

Darling Diva, see what I meant? See how cute you are? You're excited as a puppy or the little girl who wanted to please the teacher. You are going to be a wild success with this weight-loss thing. I'm grateful to you for the reminder that it is exciting and that it works. I fell of the wagon long ago and am dragging my feet about making an appt with my surgery practice to see where my band is at and what's next. Thank you for being here.

Let me guess: You're feeling happy? It shows. It also shows that you're looking gorgeous.

You're cool. The eval wasn't to see if you're "too friendly" or "too unprofessional" to have surgery. You're excited about the prospect of surgery and losing weight and you let it show. You're cool. The coolest. Adorable, in fact.

The group is proud to have you in its ranks. Best wishes. Many find that walking also helps relieve left-shoulder gas pain. Walking around in your house counts. Certainly don't go traipsing around in the snow just yet.

Does anyone else think that the world of weight-loss needs a new word for sliding in under 300? Since Onederland is a place, I propose TWOONERVILLE, another place, trolleys and all. FMcF, haven't we already had a talk about statements like "I know I still have a lot of work ...?" Why dim the glow what you've already done. Please, please don't say such things. You should be a strutting peacock. I know someone else here who'll say the same.

I do like @@Miss Mac's suggestion, but it is a bit of the ol' one-two when dealing with co-workers, i.e., people you have to see every day. Keep it simple. "I would 'do this to myself' as a means of taking care of myself and my health for now and for my future." "Surgery is something I've given careful thought and it's right for me. We don't need to talk about it again." "It is possible to regain weight regardless of method of having lost it. The regain isn't necessary though and I don't intend to go that route." "Shut the frig up."

Who knows? It's a routine question in any medical office; every new-patient form asks for insurance info. Maybe they want backup in case you bail out on paying for some service that is covered regardless of the nature of the surgery? So many things to speculate... Is there a reason that you haven't asked the insisters?

@@Julie norton, I forgot to say, "Happy birthday to the kidlet."

You omitted the important thing: Which movie? Never heard of King high tides. Uncle Google, here I come. Dub, you of all people are not permitted to post only five words. t I'm skeptic enough to think that, when NYC'ers are berserk with terror over warnings of snow paralysis, we'll perhaps have three - five inches. Wasn't it last year that the public trans system was shut down as precaution and then nothing to speak of occurred? Or something like that? That said, I think I'm set for groceries, confessing that I bought a few things a day or two ago. Lots of fresh spinach, nearly a full head of cauli and a bag of unopened carrots. Enough teeny tomatoes, too. Some leftovers at the fore, etc., etc. books to read. Though it's pre-"storm," I'll be watching the Met's "Il Trovatore" on channel 13 tonight.

A recent thread in which I did not post and did not look at until it had dragged on for what seemed an interminable time just about sickened me. It's always the same ones. It was so ugly and mindless that I sent a "contact us" to BP asking that it be cut off. I was ignored, no surprise, and that's okay: I've been ignored in better places than this.

@@Djmohr, let's go back to your home town, find that mean boy and clothesline him now.

In my neighborhood, clothesline was for jump-rope. Never heard "clothesline" in your sense. What an image. I wouldn't mind perpetrating it on a few people of my acquaintance, just as a social experiment, mind you. Anyway, Ms. K, the sentiment expressed above makes one wonder what's going on in your neighborhood. I shan't ask, though, lest I intrude. Vent away. You're among friends. P.S. But if you want to tell...