Wheetsin

Tomato and lobster bisque. Mmmmmm...

The psych for my program was in-network, so I paid $20 copay per visit, and everything else was covered. It's also covered if I just feel like I need to see him again, outside of surgery/approval.

If someone says, "you're wrong" - that will kill a thread for me, because -- OK, your mind is made up, there's no sense in trying to move forward. Same with "You said X but you're not acting like X". Again -- OK, you have your mind made up, and I have a busy life. I enjoy a good debate, but I get no enjoyment from a finger-pointing/blaming session. Nor do I get enjoyment from preachy "do it my way because I'm doing everything right" posts, and will leave pretty much as soon as I see the tone sway that way. And just general disrespect & the blatant, hateful sarcasm. Life really is too short, and some people just seem to need more attention than I'm willing to take the time to give. Yeah, that could all be lumped up into the "trolls" or "problem children" category. There's more to my earlier response than the content. An obnoxious font will kill a thread for me, because if I have to highlight something to make something readable, I probably don't need to read it. And if I have to actually stop and think and truly work out what someone is trying to say because of poor grammar, punctuation, etc. -- it's something I probably don't mean to read. Now -- having said that -- I don't mean I won't read posts with misspells. But when I see (from a native English speaker) something like: hi?. ive band and is good? ok thanks? haha do you eat Water? or how r u dooing i have a ? for u do u eat lawzawnya? gr8 c u l8r ... then you're only getting so much of my time, and it's not a lot.

Here's my favorite bean "recipe": 1 can Rosarita (or whatever brand) Chile Lime refried Beans Mix with some hot sauce (the one called like Choluhula or something like that is really good with neams), some red sauce, a little bit of chili verde, some sour cream and cheese. I stir it all up together in the pan. Mouth-watering little clusters of gas-to-be. And I love Chipotle, so I'll get a chicken bol, hold the rice, extra beans, with sour cream, cheese, and hot salsa. Mmm. I had some truly kick butt black beans this weekend, made like refried but really tasty... at least garlic & cilantro had been added, I could definitely taste those, but other stuff to. They were served with some white pork chili. I'm still trying to beg the bean recipe from the chef...

So TOM should start tomorrow. When I had all the problems in Chicago it was a few days away from TOM too. That makes sense, since I start retaining water (usually about 8# worth ) about 5 - 6 days in advance. I'm seriously considering maybe a week before TOM going on all liquids, and going back to foods when I can tell I've released the retained fluid, doing liquids only. (My TOM only lasts 3 days on average, so I'm not talking a full week...) Mushies seem like they're too much to handle. Maybe just protein drinks, even - they do fill me up quite a bit. And last week I was thinking, "I'm wide open, maybe time for another tiny fill..." And that's exactly what I've done for 3 months now. 100% open for three weeks, then a week of hell. The other months weren't so bad because I was actively losing and it's always a little more worth it when you're seeing the reward. Thx guys, as always - so very helpful to have you guys here!

Here's mine... *gets into character*: i had surgery one month ago now everytime i eat my eyes and ears and butt and fingers bleed this only happens when i eat and then i go puke it all back up and i puke up blood and some chunks of body tissue and something that looks like gray spaghetti oh and one time a sock but that was just a week after surgery so i figured the surgeon musta left it in there and one time i peed and it was bloody and had hair in it and something that looked like a lego... and then usually after i poo or pee i pass out but i always regain consciousness within like 4 hours or so im never unconscious for more than 4 hours but when i wake up usually im blind for a few more hours and i cant feel my fingers or toes and im kind of dizzy and cant walk for a few days but after maybe a week or two i feel back to normal and the bleeding stops does anyone else have these symptoms? what is it? should i take pepto bismol? What kills a thread for me is total absence of common sense. I have no problem meeting someone halfway, hell - I'll even go 70%, but come on - you have to show you're at least trying. I seem to kill threads...

PB round 2 is over with and I feel back to normal. Still no food, just discolored slime & more foam. I feel like one of those foaming soap dispensers. I really don't get this PB thing though, gonna post about it.

So I go to Quizno's with DH, get chili, eat around the chunks, feel ok. Stop eating about 4 spoons in b/c I'm starting to feel full. About 8 minutes later the pain kicks in, and I'm literally writhing in the car on the way back to the office. He drops me off, I go straight to the bathroom and PB. Stomach is still hurting quite a bit, enough to give me goosebumps, so I don't think I'm done just yet. DH has been my #1 support through all of this, but on the drive back to my office he said he was starting to doubt whether the benefits are worth the pain I go through. I reminded him there are lots of people out there worse off than me... but that didn't matter much to him. I really don't mind the PBing, it's the pain beforehand - I've said that all along. I never rated anything around my surgery recovery higher than a "2" on the pain meter, but I'd have to give my "pre-PB" pain a 5 or 6, sometimes into a 7. So I've noticed something and it's gross but I want to see if you guys are experiecing the same thing. Usually when I PB I see what comes up -- either by virtue of being over the toilet/sink, or because I want to see what I was stuck on. Rarely can I see anything other than discolored saliva/slime and "foam". Like today - nothing solid at all, but foam. This "foam" seems to be what I PB up about 85% of the time. So it would kind of stand to reason that it's also what's making me PB... because there's no food that hasn't passed or it would come up to. So do any of you guys PB "foam" only, and not pieces of food?

Holli - no plans to be in KS in the immediate future, but I'll let you know if that changes. I never know when DH will want to make a trip to Microcenter! Summer school got out 2 weeks ago and fall starts in 1 week. Initially when I signed up for summer classes, I did so with the intention of taking the fall off... and took the summer class to make up for the lost time. Then I decided I didn't want to waste an entire semester so I signed up. And now I'm debating back & forth. I'm definitely seeing a trend between TOM and restriction. I've hardly felt and restriction during the last 3 weeks or so -- since all the trouble I had in Chicago. Started cramping a bit Saturday (happens to me before I start)... and sure enough, got a minor stick Saturday morning, and had to PB Saturday night. Odd coincidence now that it's 3 mos in a row I've seen the same trend. I am SOOO ready for a break. We just booked our tickets for a week in San Francisco/Lake Tahoe, but that isn't until November. All the other trips I have booked between now & then are for work so they don't count. Good news. Seems (knock on wood) like my month long "stall" has ended. I'd been fluctuating 290 - 294, and weighing 292.8 most of the time. Yesterday morning & this morning I've come in at 289. Will check again next week & see where I'm at before I believe the stall is over though. 7 more lbs until 100 lbs gone... I need to have DH take some more pics tonight.

I was banded just a few days after you and have been in a stall for... oh... just looked at my calendar and the last time I had a concrete change in weight was July 21, so 3 weeks now. It is a little discouraging, but you have to see it in terms of the bigger picture. Also, it seems quite common for weightloss to stall, then resume at a much slower pace, at the 6 month mark. Definitely go in for a fill. No sense in having our bands if we don't use them, right? It's nice to rely on willpower, but if that was enough, chances are you wouldn't have the band. Why do you think you stretched your pouch?

Off the wall question, I know, but long story short I want to commission someone to build & install/apply/whatever the wooden pieces for an old shotgun. I have the wood, and I have the metal part of the gun. I've called a few carpenters but they all tell me that's not what they do, I need to call someone who specializes in that kind of stuff -- but they can't tell me where to start, or what "someone who specializes in that kind of stuff" is called. So I thought maybe we'd have some gun savvy people here who might know where I can start.

HRB doesn't do the discounted tickets any longer, and I got confirmation from my admin that we only have discounts on "big items like cars and memberships". I'm sure you could find some discounts by googling though. To view swf files you'll need the Flash viewer. You can get it here. Make sure that the Yahoo toolbar download is unchecked, it defaults to selected as a way to download/install it b/c most people don't know better or never check what's pre-selected.

I'm part of an interior design "club", and many of the other ladies work as stagers. Don't necessarily run out and paint your walls white. Paint is paint, and as much as there's someone who might think, "Eww, I don't like red..." there's someone else who might think, "This red looks fantastic, I never would have thought of it" or "I wanted a red kitchen, and now I don't have to paint it myself." My master bedroom is a caramel color, so is master bath. Living room, kitchen, and master hallway (will be - next week!) sage greens. Guest bedrooms are warm creams. Guest bath is a warm terra cotta color. Family room is darker version of the caramel color. Family room bath is lighter version. And oh yeah, I *hate* white ceilings so all of my ceilings are done in the wall color, too. All of this, done within the last year, and we plan to sell in about 3 years. And I'm not repainting a thing. WORST case scenario and you find that wall colors are a deterrent, you can offer a painting allowance. But for the most part, at least in my area, people are able to see through the existing color (and local realtor friends agree). What matters most, IMO, is to make your house into a "show" house. Meticulously clean, fresh flowers, "baking" scents, pressed towels, decor decor decor. Dressed to the "T", but appearing utterly unlived in. Def. do check with local agents though. This is true for *my* area, where the demographic "goes with" anti-white walls... doesn't necessarily mean a thing where you live.

Hey Mini Me, I can feel your pain. When I wsa on Atkins, I stalled out for about 3 months and it was pure hell. I have "pauses" with the band. Here are some things I do that seem to help. If you're already doing them, then disregard - but if you aren't, maybe something to try? Vary the types of foods I eat. This means if I'm predominantly high Protein, low carb, I'll switch to higher carb & fat for a day, to "change it up" a little. Up my protein. It's not doing anything this time, but during my other "pauses" if I upped my protein by about 30 - 40 gm weightloss would kick back in again. Up my Water intake. For a few days I'll put on water weight as my tissues become more saturated, but in a few days they release, and when things equalize I've lost fat pounds, too. Focus on solid Proteins, e.g. bars over shakes, chicken over cottage cheese, etc. I do this normally, but I also do a lot of liquid Protein. It's helped to jump start the loss to eliminate the liquid proteins for a few days. Go on a liquid diet, like pre-op, just for 1 week. De-carb, de-tox. I know you're going to hear this countless times, and I have to tell myself the same thing, but the scale will move again, and you just need to be more patient than it is stuck! :huggie:

I usually get around 80gm protein per day, and have been losing small amounts of hair for the last two weeks or so. I also take supplements. Surgery can cause the hair loss, it isn't necessarily tied in to protein. My mother had hair loss a few months after her hysterectomy. I know several ladies who had it after GB removal. At our SG meetings they say that it's "trauma" to the body that causes the hairloss for most LB patients. Not meeting nutrition requirements will certainly do it too, but that's not an extended problem for lots of LBers.

Sitting at my desk. Had a hectic morning, and am just now having a chance to really sit down and take a breath. There's a window about a foot behind me but it doesn't open. It overlooks downtown and while it would appear to be a beautiful day out, we're actually around 104F outside. Yuck! Just got done making dinner reservations for tomorrow & decided I'd stop by LBT and see what was up. I'm snacking on a few ounces of tuna and sipping a decaf iced tea. Thinking of all the things on my to do list... leisure and chore... and if I'm hoping for something, it's for my stall to end so that I can lose 8 more lbs this month and reach 100 @ 6 months.

They did when I worked at H&R Block, I THINK. Will see if current company does. Much larger company, not nearly the local roots, so I don't know if they do. If not I can call one of my old co-workers and see if I can arrange something through them.

I don't practice as a clinical psychologist, but I have an advanced degree in it. The actual "interview" session of my test took maybe 30% of the time. He asked my education background, I told him, and then we broke off into conversations about different personality theories, performance theories, etc. It was a piece of cake. I still had to go back twice though. I don't think the psych associated with the program I went through uses tests, but I know he does often requore 5+ sessions before approval, wil still require sessions after approval, and likes to see you at least once or twice post-op.

Any chance they're joking, but hitting on things you're particularly sensitive about? My family jokes with each other in "mean" ways, but we're used to it, so when someone from the outside, or someone who is particularly sensitive comes around, they sometimes take it the wrong way. Maybe as you gained weight you become more sensitive? I don't know, just throwing out a possible perspective.

I have one semi-lead -- a local guy "into" guns is supposed to send me the phone number of a place that carries the wooden pieces for antique weapons. The only problem being, I kind of want to have it made out of this specific piece of wood. It makes for a kind of neat story... The gun is something my father inherited from his father's father's father's.... you get the idea. They had a walnut tree in their yard, that my father & his parents planted when he was just a kid. They hardly had any money so the tree was a big deal... they didn't really have any toys... just about anything that cost money was out of the question, but they bought this tree to plant, and it kind of their clubhouse/jungle gym/fort/swing/whatever. When they planted it everyone in the family carved their initals & marked their height on the tree. One day man years later after his parents had both died & he had moved away he was driving through the city on his way somewhere else and thought maybe he'd stop by, see his old house. Just so happened the owners were in the backyard with a saw getting ready to cut the tree down. My dad talked to them, told him who he was, etc. They cut out the section that had everyone's initals & stuff marked in it and gave it to him. He cut off this part - a very thin piece, and always held on to the rest of the wood, thinking one day he would use it to replace the missing wood from the gun (which his father never had the money to do), but it became one of those things where whenever he remembered it, the gun was stowed away... you know how it goes. I never knew he even had the gun pieces until Saturday, when he said in passing he'd like to get it taken care of. Sorry for the long story... but that's why I need someone who can specifically carve the pieces out of a piece of wood that we already have. Can prisoners there have access to carving tools - chisels, knives, etc? I don't know if they can here, I'll have to ask my father (he's an assistant warden - can't remember the exact title). For some reason I'm thinking they can't - here anyway - too much potential to make a shiv or something. Lots of regulations around that. But it could vary by security level, maybe by state. Dunno!

1. Affordable transportation, including gas. I've gone without it, so I truly appreciate it, even though I take it for granted. I spent several engths of time in Europe, paying over $8 per gallon, so I relied heavily on publis transportation... trams... which only get you so close to where you're going, and so close to the apartment, which was up exactly 282 stairs... 2. Microwaves. I'm annoywed when my popcorn needs more than a minute to cook, and pace around like a mad woman, but then I remember -once upon a time people had to use their stoves for this stuff, and all of sudden, 90 seconds isn't all that long. 3. Life. Take it for granted every day. Lump into this good mental function, physical function, general health, etc. It doesn't take much at all to wipe out either of those. 4. My band, really. If I knew I would lose it in 3 months, I would definitely be doing things differently today. But I don't know that, I take it for granted that it's with me for good. 5. Although we have prepared in the event that this isn't the case, I do take it for granted that DH and I will always have another paycheck coming in. About 70% of our income is "extra" or discretionary if you prefer, and I could/should be a lot smarter and conscientious with how I manage it, but I'm not. I take it for granted our jobs will always be there, or that we'll always be able to find new ones. We have over a years' worth of salary set aside, just in case, but that doesn't keep me from assuming we'll never need it.

I have the honor of knowing Robyn IRL, and she is just as awesome in person as she is in her pictures. Check these out:

And here's the "morph" animation (can't attach the format type, so I'll have to do it as a zip). Sorry it's not smoother, but I'm getting tired. :notagree Robyn_SWF.zip

Here are some the way I do mine, so I can really see the difference:

Robyn - my offer stands. On the pics I didn't do anything special yet, just put them side by side for you. DH took advantage of the tax break weekend and bought me a new laptop yesterday, so I won't be able to do anything special until I get the software on this one moved over to the new one.