Wheetsin

Mine isn't on a side, it's in the middle.

You always have the option of wearing a medic alert bracelet with something like "adjustable gastric banding" engraved on the back instead of the name of a medication.

Double what Alexandra said. I've not heard of a support person being mandatory for surgery, but a lot of places - especially if your procedure is out-patient - will require someone to be there to pick you up. Often it's family or friends, but it could also be someone like a cab driver. Lots of programs will also run their own support groups, and many people will find a support person there, as in someone to ask their questions to. Or many will bring a friend or spouse to the meeting, and consider that person their support person. I'm not much for rah-rah either, but I can tell you from my own experience that having the opportunity to find a bandster or two, banded longer than me, whom I can ask my questions to and get real answers, has been absolutely invaluable.

I can't remember the brand I bought, but it comes in boxes, has a white pour spout and a silver "pull tab" underneath. I buy the fat free, low sodium variety. And I learned that I truly don't care for beef broth (no surprise since I don't really eat red meat), but that chicken broth can be quite good. I never used to by it, probably because I never used to cook, we ALWAYS ate out. Now I cook most meals... and I always have some on hand, and use it in place of Water for most of my cooking.

I told everyone I had lap-band surgery. When they give me a blank stare, or nod in that "what?" kind of way, I tell them it's a type of weightloss surgery. And then because their first reaction is to assume I'm talking about RNY, I say, "They put an adjustable band at the top of your stomach, and it makes you fill up fast." If they're still lost I will add, "It isn't one of the operations where they cut your organs or anything, they just put a band around it." They're usually on the same page by then. It's not something I was sensitive about so it never bothered me to tell people, but I understand why not telling is a popular choice. For me there were also some very practical factors. E.g. if something ever happens to me at work, and I'm not in a condition to be able to tell people about my band, I sure as heck want them to already know about it. And because if I'm out, and have to PB, there's no way I can hide that. I'll either be obviously uncomfortable, or spending way more time in the bathroom than I should. I didn't realize I'd never told my boss until about 3 months after the fact. She and I were at a conference with a 3rd person, who knew about my surgery. She had ordered pizza for us and was offering to get me a piece, I told her no I couldn't eat it... she said "I thought you were hungry?" (thinking "I can't eat it" means I'm full)... so I told her "No, because of my band" and she just looked at me like - what? So I told her what it was, and she wanted to know how it worked so we sat there and I drew her a little diagram. That's all there was to it. It's really not something to sweat.

My husband is straight Scandinavian. He has lived here since 1997 but he is not a citizen. He's about 6'4, blond hair, blue eyes, so pale he's clear. He quickly dropped his accent, so 95% of the time there are no indicators that he isn't just a really pale American guy... though occasionally his accent is still pretty thick, on specific words. Anyway... there is some racism where he's from. Very little. Historically his country is one of the two most neutral, and is very liberal, but there is some race discrimination there. Mostly around people of middle-Eastern descent, though a lot of it their own doing and the result of a sort of self-imposed segregation (at least from what little I know if their social history). In general there are a lot of things about our culture & society that my husband doesn't "get", and race issues are one of them. He doesn't know much at all about our civil history. So sometimes he says things that he really shouldn't say, because he really doesn't know any different... I hate to make the comparison, but just like a child may unknowingly say something harsh or insensitive because they really don't know any different. Once we were watching a Jackie Chan movie. Jackie is in some inner city somewhere, and eventually says to someone in a bar, "What's up nigger?" A fight ensues, etc. My husband heard this and had NO idea the weight that word can carry. He walked into work the next day, saw a black co-worker, and said, "Hey, what's up nigger?" -- thinking he was saying something to the effect of, "Hey, what's up buddy?" Now, fortunately, than man was also an alien - from England - and knew my husband was not American, and also knew he had lives here less than a year (at the time). He didn't take offense, but he did - thankfully - take the time to educate my husband about the social context of what he had just said. The situation could have very easily been very different, and my husband may have been minus a job and minus a (or several) friends because of it -- and would have never known why unless someone told him. Once I told him about it, and that affirmed what his co-worker had told him, he felt horrible. To this day, I will get calls from him asking what different "slang" words or terms use, and asking me to use them in a sentence, because he has heard something but doesn't want to repeat it for fear of unknowingly offending someone. My husband has been discriminated against, but only after the person has found out he's not a citizen. He's been told to go back to his own country. Once we were out with some friends and jokingly my husband said something about how he pays more in taxes than most citizens do, but he can't vote, and taxation without representation... (he WAS kidding, and understands the condition very well)... and someone interrupted the conversation and told him that the only reason he pays more in taxes than a lot of Amer-ee-kins was because he came over here and stole a good job out from under the feet of a deserving American. If I mention to someone that my husband isn't a citizen, the most common response I get is, "Oh he's Mexican?" Uh - what? This cracks me up. DH appears as described. I'm pale, red hair, green eyes, about 5'11. I'm convinced that some day when DH and I have a child, the recessive Greek side of me is going to express itself and we will have a short child with olive skin, dark hair & eyes - and people will begin to congratulate us on our willingness to adopt.

Thanks Robyn, that will be great! I'm kind of kicking myself here. We had painters lined up and ready to go around April. We'd decided to use the same guys who did our exterior last year. They did an *awesome* job, and were priced very competitively. I sat on it because I was back and forth over my color choices... absolutely could not decide... but finally made up my mind... called him Friday to book the job & he's out of commission fighting pancreatic cancer. We attempted doing some tile ourselves. DH thought it would be "fun". 6 months later when he still only had about 60% of the tile down I pushed him to get the rest... so there it sits to this day, ungrouted and very "homemade" looking. That's in the front door entry way, so I guess we'll now be pulling it up and just having the hardwood put in the entire area. *sigh* My husband loves to TRY and do things himself, but they just don't get done. He's all for it until about 60% - 70% done, this fizzles out and trying to get more work out of him is like trying to convince him to give up his left nut. It's so frustrating. I understand he is afraid to do more and mess something up b/c he doesn't know what he's doing, but I'm like - DAMMIT, I could have just paid someone to do it a month ago, and had it done 2 or 3 days later. *sigh*

Hey guys, it was great seeing you again. I always forget how big their portions are. I *still* have leftovers. Do any of you by any chance know anyone who is a general contractor, or a really good handyman, whom you would feel confident recommending? We need to have some work done & I'd prefer to get someone with good word-of-mouth, but can't find anyone in my area. We need someone who can lay tile, marble & ceramic, and someone who can lay hardwood. We also need someone who can work with Cultured Stone. If the person happens to paint also, there'd be more work in the deal. Do any of you know someone who does good, quality work & whom you would not hesitate to recommend to someone else?

My father had a Dodge neon and now a Dodge PT Cruiser. The neon gave him about 32 mpg average, the cruiser about 28 when he first got it but he added a Tornado and now gets about 31 mpg average. I know you said you're not looking for help and I didn't mention the Tornado as a way to help, just to account for his change in mpg. My info won't help, I drive a SUV and DH drives a truck.

I don't know if this is a state thing, or just a line of BS, but when I looked into having my tubes tied several years ago I was told that a married woman could not have her tubes tied without her husband's consent. The situation that kept coming to mind was a separated couple, still legally married... if it was not an amicable separation, that man would have some degree of control over that woman's body until the divorce was finalized... and you know there's someone somewhere out there who would exploit that. Apparently they have completely different forms for single and married women. Regardless of age they required counseling. Regardless of age they would do it if you already had at least one child. So if you're 24- you're SOL. *Unless* you've already had a child. If you're 25+ and married you can, but only with your husband's signature. If you're 25+, unmarried, and have no kids, they pressure you to wait until you're 30 or you get married. This was a while ago, so things may have changed. This was also just one conversation at one clinic, so it may be incorrect. And I probably haven't done a good job of stating the criteria clearly. But the jest is there.

Keep rosaries away from ovaries.

I checked, it's about 50 minutes from home. That works, won't need to reschedule.

Mashed potatoes are mushy. Chicken can be a mushy if you're able to get it wet - e.g. remove the skin, shred the chicken, and stir in some mayo for instant chicken salad. If that's not an option, then can you find a way out of it? You have a meeting, you aren't feeling well, you have an errand to run... ? If you're still in the mushy stage, then this is a little beyond cheating and into disregarding medical recovery orders. Trust me - that's somewhere you don't want to go. Lots of badness can happen. You need to make sure your tummy has time to heal.

Now why do they have to go and put her height & weight into that? Flipping media.

I should ask, how far into OP is the Cheesecake Factory? What is it by? Just trying to figure out how my timing will work, b/c there's a chance I need to stay at work until 5, and I have to run home before running back out. I'll be there, just may have to see if I can reschedule my meeting.

Most of my black friends are offended by the term "African American". The only people I know who care about whether or not blacks are called blacks are white people. My grandfather was from Greece, but I was born and raised in San Diego. I've certainly never been called "Greecian American", I'm called white. So why does my black friend, who is 3 generations removed from Africa and who was born and raised in Chicago, get called "African American"? (PC BS). And I hate "He's racial" being misused as a negative statement. We all have race. We're all racial. Something I've found interesting, but never shared here - a black lady I work with is considering LB seriously, and we've talked quite a bit about it. Another black lady sits across from her and once day when I was coming up to talk to first lady, second lady says something to her - I didn't hear what - and first lady looks at me and says, "It's a black thing..." So I asked her, "What's a black thing?" - as I hadn't heard what was said. She tells me "Weightloss surgery... black people don't really like that stuff." And lady 2 then says, "It's just a matter of mindset, you don't need all that stuff" (referring to the surgery) and walks away. I have noticed that of the people who post pictures here, that I've seen, the majority are white. So since I heard this conversation, I've been curious about how WLS is perceived among different races. My mom has two bothers, one who is married to a Hispanic lady who had two kids from her previous marriage w/ a Hispanic man. One of those kids is very, very dark-skinner, the other is light medium. Once several years ago the older of those two kids was "discovered" to be dating a black guy. All hell broke loose, and my aunt started ranting and raving that her daughter was ONLY to date her own kind. So I asked, "What - you will only allow her to date Hispanics?" -- and she got irate and started screaming at me about how her daughter is white because her adoptive father (my uncle) is white, and how could I be such a racist, and how could I offend my own family that way. She said no other race would ever be good enough for her daughters (even their own, apparently).

Not trying to be a downer, just wanted to share my honest experience/results. Isn't that what you asked us for? :confused:

I'm here most days, though I'm largely idle or back and forth, and have recently had to do a lot of travel for work... and I usually don't check in when I'm in another state and being kept (too!) busy with after-hours work activities. One thing to keep is that a lot of what we do is behind the scenes, so to speak, so we're here - but not noticeably. And yes, it's a good thing when moderators find themselves unemployed! (in board world that is)

I'm still open.

How can we start more imperialist wars when the Canucks keep arresting terrorists? :heh:

I have a M-F job but unless there's a meeting the hours don't much matter, and I have the option to work from home, but usually will go in the office & go relatively early to miss traffic. So on one of those days... Get up between 6am and 6:20am. Pee. Shower. Brush teeth. Wake up husband. Husband lets dog out & does dog food/water. hair. Dress. Turn off lights. Meet husband downstairs (we ride together). Most of the time DH drops me off. Get to work. Power up laptop. While powering, go make decaf hot tea to pour over ice. Thus begins my day. DH usually picks me up around 3 or 3:30 and we go home, or to pick smtg up for dinner. When school is in exercise is usually done during my lunch or breaks. When school is out we'll go to the gym M, W, F some time after 7 since it's too crowded before then.

Curves works for some. For me it never did much, and that went beyond how much I put into it. I would get on the machines (resistance-based) and absolutely pump for all I was worth, and never really got great resistance. Fast, slow, hard, easy, it never mattered. A girl going to school to be a personal trainer worked at mine and tried to make it better in the beginning, then just said, "These just aren't challenging you" and she actually recommended I think about going to a free weight or weight-based equipment gym, where I could get higher resistance. If they could have adjusted the resistance it may have helped, but from what I was told their equip. is manufactured with a resistance limit designed for a specific demographic, and I just wasn't lucky enough to fit that demographic. Plus I was too tall for several of the pieces and they hurt to use, and in some cases my height kept me from being able to use them properly. Plus I always felt stupid standing in a circle doing something with nothing to look at other than the person in front of me, and it REALLY bothered me when the person to my left would get off their machine and leave a streak of crotch sweat or butt sweat on the seat and by the time I wiped it off and sat down & got started it was time to move on to the next thing... and "ignoring it", sitting in it, and letting their butt sweat soak into my pants was never really an option to me. The other way it really wasn't for me was the little "pep rally" stuff they do, like at mine when you weighed in, if you'd lost, they'd want you to ring this big bell and announce your loss. When I'd lost 20 lbs they gave me a free bottle of Water (woo!) and told me to "spin the bottle" (put it in the middle of the workout circle) and whomever it landed on got a gym bag full of workout clothes. Umm... I lost the weight and got a free water, she came here with a friend and got a new workout wardrobe??? LOL All the little activities/competitions just aren't my style. I found them to be very gimmicky... and an *entire* wall was dedicated to people wanting to sell their Avon or Pamepered Chef... like that's what I drove all the way there to look at... Most people probably thrive in the atmosphere and find it extremely helpful... just not me. So look into it, see what it's like, ask for a few free trips to test it out. Make sure the machines can challenge you.

Keep in mind... you're still not reading about deaths *because* of the lap-band, you're reading about deaths *related* to the lap-band. When I was researching, I couldn't find a *because* situation, where the band itself caused the death. I did find cases of people who died on the table (in which case it was anesthesia, or arrest, etc. -- not the band, and not the actual placement of the band). I also found cases of people who succumbed to the comorbidities they had the band to try and overcome (e.g. someone dying of obesity-related heart disease). But I did not find a single case of the band itself causing the death.

None that I have heard of, and last I researched (about 4 months ago) there weren't any on record. One of the most colloquial places to get this info, morbid though it may be, is on OH. There is a memorial page, and it indicates the surgery the person had. (Disclaimer - because someone had the surgery and died doesn't mean they died because of their procedure. You do need to read the notes.) Some indicate the death was not surgery-related, some indicate it was. I know it's not a happy read, but I did go through it and look for lap-banders when I was making my decision. At the time I didn't see a single one. As for data from other countries, I'm sure it's out there. Good luck finding it. Share when you do.

After my meeting in Chicago I headed to the 'burbs (Naperville, beautiful area, adorable little downtown) where my department's main office is. I'm part of a virtual team, so all of our management and MOST of the department are there, while a few of us are out & about in other states. So it's nice to be able to see people I only see a few times a year. Our Sr VP was there and she kept looking at me really weird... like we were talking and I'd look at her and notice she was looking down at me, or would have a weird look on her face. It got to the point where when they announced lunch had arrived, I excused myself to the bathroom to see if I had sat in something, or had gotten pen on my face or had a boogey in my nose or something. No, I looked ok. I got back and as soon as I walked in she started staring at me weird again, looking at my crotch so I was like "Oh crap I have camel toe..."... snuck a peek at my reflection in the window and I was ok... really confused & paranoid right about now. People took off to the lunchroom and she asked me to hang out a bit. Then she said, "You've really lost a lot of weight!? What are you doing?" *PHEW* I told her she had me worried I had a boogey in my nose and she said no, she was just amazed/speechless, and wanted to see if I mentioned anything before she said something on her own. Did I say *PHEW* yet? That was about 30 minutes of total & complete paranoia!