Dutchgrl59

Thanks Photonut for the recipe. I will try this out when my day come... which I hope will be soon. Truly appreciated.

Just checking in! Anne: Whats up with your port? Sweetie, I thought you were all done with surgeries? I really want all the ucky to stop for you, thats my wish. Hey did you know that July 17th is Disneylands birthday? Yeah, me & Disney. :kiss2: Sooooo, by Friday afternoon, when I hadn't heard any approval news I packed up the kids and ran for the Magic Kingdom. By 4:15 we were on Main Street USA and heading toward my all time favorite thing and thats the stage show "Snow White". The show was on hiatus since last September and I needed to be there for it's re-opening. We caught the final performance and spotted some old cast regulars. I got tearful during the show..... not from anything in particular, just relief to be somewhere pleasant and my weeklong phone drama ie: stress. I was just SO glad to be with my boys who all were having a GREAT time and contentment that our lives are truly in a good place. My lapband struggles don't hold a candle to inner peace. After the show ended I walked the boys to an inter-active computer playhouse and on our walk we found an abandoned popcorn bucket! What Joy! Let me explain: The fact that we have annual passes to the park will never allow my children treats to popcorn, churros or park sueveniors(sp). I simply can not afford it(bottled Water is 2.75)But since we visit the park so often we find cast off buckets, sipper bottles, and trading pins. Anything of real value go's to lost & found. Once home we wash & sanitize and fill with our own treats. At Christmas I was thinking of making up batches of frozen cookie dough and putting it these colorful buckets for teacher gifts. Hows that for reuse and recycle. Well, thats me the Southern Cali tightwad! I wear my badge proudly. Today I have loads of laundry and I want to make a great dinner for the boys when they return to me today. They eat only boxed food when they go to their dads house:eek: , so I'm roasting a chicken and making bacon wrapped asparagus on the grill. Everybody's fave. :clap2: :hungry: Hey, lets hope next week is a better week. Bye. PS My little friend Robbie finally asked to eat something. 3 bites of a hamburger and a couple of fries! Keep praying.

Hey everyone, I've been hiding here at home cause since Monday I have been hounding the drs office to get my approval. What I found out was that the Primary dr(actually the clerk) says one thing and does something completely different. I was told a week ago that everything was faxed to Ins. So I called Ins and they say they have nothing! Ins calls the Primary and finds out that she was faxing to the wrong number -- *@%$#* Uh, sorry if I don't believe that load of crap but at least 5 other patients with MY insurance have come through Dr. Nuvals office and suddenly she's FAXING to the wrong number? I discovered a few months ago her dislike for patients undergoing bariatric and she has done everything in her power to goof up as many of my steps as she can. Which is why I am sitting here without a date for surgery. Blanca with my insurance company said I would be hearing before the weeks end and she would give me a phone comfirmation & all the numbers. I've been gloomy and sad most the week and even when I get my call I'm not feeling excited because the timing of this is not good. On top of everything, I just found out our friend Robbie (a family from church) is waiting for a heart transplant(his 2nd one) and he's at Loma Linda University hospital. I've been off the computer because I need the phone line to be open but I've read all your encouraging notes and love that you understand my Air Conditioning situation! I've survived 14 years..... another summer won't matter. Heart Hugs all the way around, I hope to hear from Blanca today!

Betty: Can I come visit your house? It's the kind of home I dream of. You are a very lucky girl. :kiss2: :kiss2: Morning all, I'm hot and sticky this morning and the thermometer is on the rise. :girl_hug: Yesterday day my school had a carnival where I was suppose to be the cotton candy girl, except the machine blew a fuse. Oh, well. The boys got to see the school where I work and there were games and prizes to win. By the time we got home is was near impossible to cool down the house. Not much going on here except that tempers rise with the heat and with 4 monsters my guess we're in for a doozy. Wish me luck!

WHAT?!? All his bad points are about money..... and you want to start a family with this man? You will never know more heartache than with a man who doesn't know how to handle MONEY. Today I am a single Mom raising 4 young sons alone. There is nothing more to tell you if you deny that your situation needs real professional help. You want to wait until later this month to break up? Years from now you'll be saying..... Later this month we will separate/divorce. You've given away your power and you need to find out why. Please don't become a statistic. I think you are much too nice.

Hello All, I didn't post yesterday.... cause I didn't get a letter :girl_hug: . Sherry: Let me see if I understand this..... you have a motorcycle, passed the class, husband painted it, then you go into a shop and buy another one?!? Did I get that right? Oh, and your ticker is simply fabulous. Eileen: Yeah, I remember. I became a regular LBTer in October. I'm not so much frustrated, cause I got so much going on. I'm just really concerned about the timing of surgery, taking care of my kids and healing. My place has NO A/C and I worry about the comfort factor if my date isn't in the next 3 weeks. We are already in a heatwave and it's not fun. Calling in a few more prayers..... any takers? Mary: I'm still learning all about TIVO and no, I didn't hook it up.... the EX did. He's an electrical whiz and even he got into a slight jam toward the end. I personally could have never done it. The kids love this thing! Kat: Ya, know that I'm not banded yet but my words to the wise are DO NOT GET A FILL. The day of surgery is gonna put you thru the wringer and your mind and body will not be one. Take if from the Mommy that still stress's about the day. Wait until after a few weeks for lapband maintenance. Hugs. Ohhhhh, I just realized it's almost dinner time. Gotta feed all 4 of those monsters! :bandit :bandit

:typing: Good morning Friends, After checking the mail yesterday..... with NO approval letter I telephoned the Primary Dr. They indeed reviewed my documents and forwarded them to insurance. Which day? Last week thursday or friday. Well, the rule is 5 business days. I should give them until Friday June 2 -- which is Tomorrow. I'm good with that. What a weird/stressful 2 days at work. Tuesday I had to call in a social worker for suspected child abuse - not fun, and then yesterday a boy was pushed from the slide and cracked his head on the cement. Head injuries just are the worst. I stood there putting pressure/ice and finally got it stopped. Then the Mom finally arrives and I can't talk to her..... we need to find a translator. Mom then tells us she doesn't have a car and that she will take the bus in 90 degree heat to the hospital for boys stitches! God bless our principal, she told us to call a taxi and she handed the Mom cash for payment! By 1pm I was wiped out and so I drove to the store..... bought a piece of cake..... sat a home and ate it..... then felt better. Emotional eating strikes once again. Sure, glad that I have that therapist lined up, I can't do this lapband thing without guidance, and friends. Uh-oh, late for work Talk later!

Hey everybody, Meet us over on the JUNE Thread!

WHERE IS MY APPROVAL LETTER? Hey Friends, I am looking for my letter and have a gut feeling that someone is sitting on it. Once again I need to start making calls and making mountains move..... I only started this mess in November! On a Brighter note: I have my TIVO up and running. The kids are over the moon about it! I still have to learn how to record and flip channels but I feel so..... so modern. Hey, don't laugh...... I just recently got a DVD player and upgraded my Nokia cell phone from a hundred years ago. Does anyone know what "download ringtone" means? Just kidding! We're having a heatwave out here in So. Calif and I still have 17 days of school. Bye!

I know it sounds crazy..... but I speak Dutch! Born in Holland and everything. My dark hair comes from my Dad, my parents are from Indonesia. In that language all I know is swear words!

I'm cleaning house, watching informercials, laundry, dishes and generally goofing off! Eileen: 2 monthlys in 1 month? whats up with that! Only stress could make that happen.... are you OK honey? And reach for the sugar-free chocolate, Reese's has one, it's fabulous, so listen to me & Sherry. Darcy: I want to go back to Curves, it's never open. Closed 2-3:30 daily(when I get off work) and no sunday hrs.... wonder if they are open Memorial day? I promise to do better. Pat: Need pictures of everything you bought! Missed ya girlie. Sherry: Your ticker says you've lost 38lbs. How wonderful it that? Can I be like you? No news on bandland yet, you all will be the first to know, I promise. Oh, the dryer stopped.... gotta fold! Bye!

You might need to add protein. Go to unjury.com and calculate protein grams.

It's a glorious Saturday Morning! Cool and Overcast. I'm in my pj's and haven't made coffee yet. My plan for today is to take one of the gals from work to find italian charms. Many weeks ago she admired my bracelet so I bid on a starter bracelet on ebay and surprised her one day. Her name is Dao and she is my Vietnamese translator and she is the sweetest grandma around. She is determined to fill her bracelet in like 1 day, and I tried to explained to her that half the fun of these charm bracelets is getting them for special occasions. So, sometime this morning I will take her to one of my fave stores and freak her out with the thousands of choices. Eileen: Whats a weekend without Disney? Of course I plan to make a visit, even if it kills me! The boys and I are committed to editing another chapter of my friends book. We are working on "Bugs Land" in the Californina Adventure park. A few years ago Kendra wrote "the Disneyland Detective" and sometime this year will be turning in another book all about the other Ca park. Folks who help edit get a first edition copy.... but thats not really why we wanted to help. Teaching my kids about reaching out, giving back means the world to me. We need more door monitors and kind souls on the planet. And I have 4 gems to send out one day! Well, gotta get off my arse..... luv ya! PS: My school lets out June 23rd.... thats 19 more working days -- :grouphug:

Ohhhh, Pat I want to see the flower pot with red, white & blue flowers! I love patriotic things. Mary: What I have planned for my weekend alone is the FINAL episode of the cable show "six feet under". I have never had cable but when they put the show on DVD I went crazy. I only watch when the kids are away.... but now the show is completely over, and I'm kinda sad. I always do something fun while the kids are away, it keeps me busy and depression isn't so much of a problem as in the beginning days of separation. And thats a good thing. Rene: Ya, know that ever loving Ex is digging his own grave. I keep him around for laughs and he's quite entertaining, better than television. Right now I have him running around doing stuff for the kids graduation.... look out, he's gonna blow! :heh: :cake: :heh: And he thought he could juggle 2 families! What a nerd. Pat: I forgot to give my condolences for your your friends passing. Thats never an easy thing to deal with. Hey, where is Anne??? Darcy: How did you become the queen of exercise. Ever since my food poisoning incident I haven't step foot into my curves store. Maybe on Sat. Well, gotta scoot..... behave everyone!

Good Morning Everybody! Thank God its Friday..... woot! We're celebrating birthdays here in Westminster! This cake :cake: is for Taylor Nolan and this cake :cake: is for Channing Andrew and they are both 14 years old... well almost. Baby A came to us at about 9 am, but Baby B arrived at 2:10pm! We started this morning with Moms famous homemade pancakes and sent them off with a great big ol' KISS. After school we head to Baskin-Robbins for some free ice-cream. Yeah, load them full of sugar and send them off to Dads for the weekend. The twins got a cell phone that we picked up a week ago so, there wasn't anything to wrap. I asked their Dad to help us set up the TIVO this weekend and he said he would. We need to get a phone line over to where the box is and I wanted to mount a shelf by the TV so that all our machines just don't sit on top of each other. Currently the VCR has the little DVD player on top, add the TIVO and I know we'll have an earthquake.... natural or by kids. So I thought that we needed to do this thing right. Heading to HomeDepot for L brackets and a small piece of plywood.... I think that'll do the trick. Don't have much planned for the weekend. How about you guys?

:update: I just wanted to tell you all that last week thursday I raised Hell with the Psychs office about sending through a fax to PCP. She tried to wiggle out of it a 2nd time and then decided she would do it. Within 16 minutes my PCP called all excited.... they got the fax. Primary dr needed to review the papers and fax surgeon referral.... which should be happening this week. When I get the approval I then need to do another list: Exercise class,Pre-op class, meet surgeon, meet anesthsia dr, lab work, and possibly stress test. I have to divide my time between year end stuff for work & kids and Lapband surgery. I'm not sleeping well but I figure it's normal. Sorry I haven't done alot of personals, but girlfriends understand. :bandit

Do you like, spend all your time outside.... you have an awesome tan. You're such a pretty pretty lady!

Morning Ladies, Mary: I'm with Eileen, get a notebook and title it "incident report" I kept one on my ex when he brought home Lewis at 5pm in the diaper that he had slept in! Douche bag is what Eileen lovingly calls my ex-dh. Eileen: Cheers for putting on the party of the year! Go out and get a foot massage - yummmmmm! Good girl for throwing out the food, I know that must of been difficult. :clap2: Well, I want to tell everyone on how successful out trip to Camp del Corazon was. After we registered, the boys all got camp t-shirts and we found 3 girl counselors who took all the boys on a whirl wind tour of Universal Studios. Lewis was all sad but I knew he would be well cared for. I went into the seminar where they showed us a video of what camp is like on Catalina. Praise God that I was in the dark, I cried buckets as they showed the campers giving a memorial for kids who don't return..... But then they showed kids who were rock climbing and rowing boats -- man, it was emotional. Anyway, I learned a few things, had a great luncheon, reconnected with a gal I met years ago, it was all good! The kids came back excited and full of stories. The 3 couselors fell in LOVE with Lewis and 2 of these precious girls have had heart transplants -- I was extremely touched on SO many levels. We said our goodbyes and headed home.... in stop & go Los Angeles traffic. When we pulled in, there sitting on the porch was our new TIVO machine! It was the best weekend, tired and happy this gang of mine!

Dear Rene, And you thought I was kidding about the pig valve? This was what I was told 6 years ago and not much has changed on that front. In fact they type of valve is surgeons choice, and thats how we got half a donor valve. My plans this evening is to wash up all the kids, pack a snack bag, pack extra clothes and shoes and gas up the car(well maybe in the morning). The drive to Los Angeles will take 1 hour, and I hope that 8am on a saturday will be light traffic. I am very excited and will tell you guys all about it when I get home. PS: Rene - cute avatar.

Morning all! It's Friday! :kiss2: :kiss2: Lewis had a fabulous time at the Discovery Science Center. They brought him back dirty and tired. He fell asleep on the carpet by 4pm... woke up, fell back asleep and we had to wake him for dinner! Boy was he disagreeable this morning - too much fun. Tomorrow we get to go to CAMP del CORAZON this lovely group of folks run a Heart camp for kids out on Catalina Island every summer. Campers with heart conditions go for free. Lewis is still too young to go but, this weekend they are having a symposium. The parents are invited to attend seminars all day in the hotel and the counselors whisk the kids + siblings to Universal Studios for free! When I regisitered by phone I kept asking the girl, what do I need to bring? She said nothing. How much for parking? She said nothing. I was dumbstruck, and feel truly blessed to get to meet other parents and kids living with CHD. I hope that Lewis makes some new friends so, that when he gos to camp that he already has friends that he can hang with. They take kids age 7 to camp, which would mean next summer.... that is if I am brave enough to let him go. Harder for the Mom than the kid. Kat: It sounds like you had a very informative Cards appointment. Don't look up too much on the internet... there is misinformation and you need to keep a clear head. Please private message me. I have some insight on suviving in a hospital without going crazy. With Lew's surgery we were stuck there for 9 days... shorter than most people but still very stressful. Our hospital never told me about the free nutrician trays for nursing Moms. Lewis was just 4 months old and I was still lactating. I had to ask for my food tray with juice/milk and muffin so that I could keep making milk. The only way I knew about this service was from another Mom. I learned about where all the pumping stations were and how to label and freeze milk. I'm only going into detail because.... THEY NEVER TELL YOU THIS, thats why. When I discovered that every room had video machines I packed all our Disney sing-alongs and movies -- heck the kid next to us wanted to know what we were watching! The boys and I have your name written on our prayer list. You still have alot of information to process. Hey Everyone, Have a great weekend.

Raquelle LustyTush

Hey cindy.... you've lost weight and have like 6 days of school? We have 27 left! OH Well. Thanks for all the love.... I called the psychs office and they didn't fax anything because they didn't know who my Primary was.... lies. Then she said well have the primary request them... uh NO. Oh yes, heres his name... we don't have a fax number, but will try to call. You, do that I said, but I will be calling you in the morning to see that everything went as planned -- THANK YOU! She will be hating life when I walk into the office. Insurance people have been wonderful.... it's everybody else that wants to play God. The girl at my Primary dr clearly doesn't like that I am attempting this.... because it's too expensive and people who pay for insurance don't deserve expensive things. I'm gonna have to spoon feed all these people until I get what I need. On a brighter note: Lewis is on a field trip and he was over the moon about taking a sack lunch and showing off a new shirt.... he even got up before 6 to wait for Mama's special banana pancakes! He's just too cute! I promised to pick him up and will be ready to hear all about his adventures! Hey, gotta scoot!

Good Morning, After playing some phone tag I found out where I am in the insurance game...... First I called my Primary Dr and was ignored over the weekend, so I called my insurance Co. They said that everything looks great and I jumped through all the hoops..... just need a referral from Primary. So I called back and was told that they have all the dietician stuff but NOT the Psych documents! Sooooo, today I must harass Windstone medical for my 3 psych visits to be faxed to my primary.... then that needs to be faxed to insurance..... then they need to give me a green light. Oh, well..... better to know than be in the dark. On a brighter note: I ordered my TIVO machine online yesterday! It should be here in 5 days, the kids are stoked, and so am I. Well, gotta run, I have a Health aid meeting this morning. Heart Hugs,

Hey gang, Just a quick stay. Kat: I've walked your journey. I was just at my sons Cardiologist and I know it's scary but they have come such a long way with solutions. Lewis was just 4 months old when he had his surgery and it took an hour from start to finish. He was on the heart-lung machine a very short time and we praised heaven for that! If your DH needs a new valve we will be here for you and my PM line is always open for you. Lewis has what they call a mono-cusp valve, but I don't believe they give those to adults. If you don't understand a certain medical term or medication, I might be able to help with that. We learned more than we wanted and will lend a hand to those from behind. I believe our journey wasn't in vain. We're here to help. Hey, all have a great day.... I have other stuff to share but later when I get home -- Hugs,

Way to Go SHERRY! (the angel banana is hilarious) My goal for the future is to weigh less than my date! LOL - one day! Hey I won the AUCTION! Beautiful leather letterman jacket for $20.00! Woot, Woot -- original cost $200. Doing the happy dance, these things are hard to find. OK, it's past 11am and I NEED to get dressed :kiss2: :kiss2: :kiss2: