Denika

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day! Denika

Oh boy, here it goes: Morning-Coffee Breakfast-1 packet of oatmeal with some butter Lunch-CAKE! Chips and Dip! (my class had a surprise party for me) Supper-a little salad, a little french onion soup, a fourth of my steak, and CAKE!! Good grief, if mine and Jamie's birthdays don't get over with soon, I'm gonna become a piece of CAKE!! Oh, and did I mention that Saturday, I had lots of cake?!:phanvan Denika

Thank you so much Kim, Betty, Karen, Kathy, Angie, and Melissa! I can't believe that you all thought to wish me Happy Birthday! It's kind of weird, because I feel sort of like this is a "different" birthday for me somehow. I guess I can owe that to my little friend, (my band) and I know (hope) that by my next birthday, I'll be a whole lot skinnier! My whole family went out tonight for my annual birthday dinner at the same restaurant that we go to ever year.:hungry: (My mom has gone there for her birthday too since she was a tiny thing. It's been there a while!) It was so weird to eat a fourth of my steak and to actually bring something home in a box! I'm usually eat enough for 3 or 4 people when we go there. It actually felt good though, and surprisingly enough, I didn't even miss eating all that food! I can't wait to meet all of you that will be there next month! I just want to warn you, I'm a little shy at first, but once I get started, I'll talk your ears off! (Yes, I got a little happy with the smileys):nervous By the way, Jamie's birthday is tomorrow, and he will be 4! Denika

I know! I can't wait to meet everyone!

Oh, what a great picture! You all look fabulous, by the way! I bet you had a great time too! Denika

Morning: coffee Breakfast: One of those prepackaged thingies of Corn Flakes with Sugar (bad, I know):phanvan Lunch: SEVERAL chicken nuggets from the school cafeteria. YUCK!:cry Supper: 1 and a half beef enchilada and a few chips Oh good grief, I didn't really realize how bad I was! The really bad thing is that since tomorrow is the party, Monday is my birthday, Tuesday is Jamie's REAL birthday and another party (We have two because my mama and my mother-in-law don't jive too well) I'm going to be having cake for the next four days!! :nervous Denika

We've been to one of those "fun" pots parties, and we spent way too much money. They are great pots, but we went wwwaaayyy overboard! I REALLY wish I could go tomorrow! It's not that I want to skip my little boy's party or anything, I just want to do both! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait until February. I hope you all have a great time! Denika

I'm so glad that he doing so well!:clap2: Jamie had the same problem with his ears. He failed his hearing tests before tubes, but passed with flying colors after getting them. He's had two sets of tubes now, but right now we're tubeless! Kids with clefts usually have lots of trouble with fluid and ear infections since their palates don't have the muscles to make the eutaschian tubes work the way they should. I'm so glad that he will be surgery-free for awhile!:cake: Those long breaks in between surgeries are always wonderful! Denika

I just said a special prayer for Curtis! Please let us know how he is when you get a chance. I know all too well how it is to hand your little one over for surgery. I'm thinking about you! Denika

Every-other day sounds like a good goal to me! I'm gonna try to do that too! Denika

Morning-Coffee Breakfast-1 packet of oatmeal and little bit of butter Supper-half of a small steak, a couple of bites of mashed potatoes and garlic bread

We can't move the ball because somebody couldn't figure out that they would have about 15 (a little exageration) people on Smith and that they might need to plan for it. Plus, Jake can't decide if he's passing to them or us.:cry What a big ole fat bummer!!

Congratulations on your surgery date! I also wanted to let you know that although I never asked anyone about it, my little boy did stay with my husband and my parents at the hospital. I don't see why they would have a problem with it. After all, you know you want to give them a big hug before you go in surgery!

Hey JamieLynn, I'd be happy to let you know what happened with me. I also want to say that up to this point, I have been very happy with our insurance. They have always paid what they said they would, and even helped a great deal with our fertility treatments, shots, and all that stuff. When I first started with this, I called to give them the "surgery code" like I was supposed to do. When I did, I was told that they would cover the band. When I called my surgeon's office to tell them, they said that they had tried repeatedly to get them to cover the band and that they would not. They said that I needed to get them to put it in writing. So, I called them back, asked about the surgery code again, and told them that I needed them to write it in a letter that it could be covered. (They did say the review board had to approve it to be medically necessary.) They acted like that was the craziest request that they had ever received, but did send the letter. When I gave it to my surgeon's coordinator, she said that she knew that they would not cover it. She said that "we are a center of excellence for Blue Cross Blue Shield, and I KNOW that they do not cover it." I told her that my family would help me to self-pay, but that I thought I owed it to them to at least TRY to get it approved before I let them fork out money or collateral or whatever to help me get a loan. She said she would file it, but I don't know that she actually did. I'll be honest, at that point, I was so happy to have all of the pre-op stuff out of the way and to FINALLY have a surgery date, that I didn't worry about it as much as I should have. But now, my almost $500 payment is getting old every month! LOL! Please keep me updated about your approval process. I hope they do cover it for you! They should, because it is so much safer than the bypass. Denika

Hello Mellie, I don't know much about which insurance companies HAVE paid for it, but I know one that doesn't! I'm a teacher, so I have the Teachers' and State Employees' Insurance, which absolutely positively would not pay for it. I think United Healthcare does maybe? I don't know, hopefully someone here can help you more than I can! Denika

OH Wow! I am so glad to know that I am not the only one! I was driving myself crazy with it, and I was freaking out everytime it went up a couple of pounds or so. But, now I've gotten much better. I only weigh in the morning, right after going to the bathroom, with no clothes. I do sneak and do it while my husband's still asleep or on the other end of the house. I don't want him saying something really stupid like "well, what's the verdict?" or "how much" or something. Especially if it would happen to be on one of the days when the number has gone up. That would not be safe for him, so I'm only trying to protect him. He He! My problem now though is that my doctor's scale weighs me more than my scale at home, so I'm always trying to add to my number to see what it will say when I go there each month. That drives me crazy. While we are on this subject, I read somewhere about a scale that gives you not only your weight, but also your body fat percentage or something like that. Have any of you heard of that? I am so glad to know that I have company with my addiction! Denika

Goodness, your trip to Mexico sounds exciting! I'm glad that everything has gotten straightened out, and that you are getting your fill! I hope that night with your husband is great too!

I hope you get your date soon! I know what a pain it is to wait! Hang in there!

Well, I don't think I've done too terrible today, but I have not gotten in my Water. I really have a hard time with that!:help: I was at home today since it was a holiday, and did a lot of cleaning, so maybe I burned some extra calories? Morning-coffee Breakfast-1 packet of instant oatmeal with a little butter. Lunch-Tomato Soup made with milk and four crackers. Supper-Pepper Steak, which I haven't eaten yet, but my husband is on his way back with it from the chinese restaurant.

Ugh, O.K. here it goes: Morning: Coffee Breakfast: 1 prepackaged serving thingie of Corn Pops and a carton of skim milk Lunch: 4 chicken nuggets Snack: 100 Calorie bag of popcorn Supper: Nothing Yet!

I am so happy that everything went so well! I hope you get plenty of rest and start to feel good as new! Denika

That's O.K! I will definitely try to be there in February! I can't wait to meet you all!

I'm on an e-mail list called DFWBandsters. (There's probably lots of people from here on there, I don't know) It's mainly made up of people from Texas, but lots of other places too. Since lots of them are in Texas, a bunch of them have gone to Mexico for their bands. I'd be happy to ask about him if you want me too. Just let me know!

:cry I can't come! My son's birthday party is that day at 11:00 at Hickory Dickory Dock. We couldn't find another time to have it, so I guess I'll miss this month. I am definitely planning on making the next one though!

EEWW! Have I been bad at posting on this thread! O.K, even though breakfast was really bad, here it goes for today (so far) Morning: Coffee Breakfast::omg:A small biscuit with three spoonfuls of gravy! (This was the breakfast for the children at school today, and since I had not eaten yet, I gave in to temptation! I was hungry!) Lunch:Half of a small cheese quesadilla. (Good grief, that was bad too!) Supper:Nothing yet! OH MY! I see how this helps, because I didn't realize how bad I was until I saw it in writing.:think