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LOL Kat! You are SO funny!

Where are you located? As far as I know all of Kaiser follows the national standards. BMI of 40+ with no co-morbids (meaning you don't have to have any), or a BMI of 35+ with 2 co-morbids. I'm in Northern CA and that's the standard my program followed. You need to talk to your PCP and ask how to start the process. My PCP "referred" me to the Seminar and then I was in the program. You can call your local Kaiser's Bariatric Surgery Dept to find out what you need to do. They are usually in with General Surgery, at least mine is. You can find the number on the website directory. You do have to be a Kaiser member for at least 1 year prior to joining the "program" for WLS. Kaiser will pay for everything but your co-pays. If you have any more questions, let me know.

Congrats Lellow!!! WTG everyone! Last week: 184 This week: 183.7 Change: -.3

LOL Green! I <heart> you! :scared2:

WOW! I got so carried away, I started a new page! LOL! Sorry about the long post above!!

I'm so proud of you! A lot has happened since I last checked in! Goodness! Take care it doesn't go to your head! LOL! What she said! Ooohhh! Those parties are fun! Have a great time! You DO seem to have your head on straight and that's great! It's so hard in situations like this. The emotions are all over the place but you seem really grounded. LOL Ebony! I caught the last tiff, y'all better be careful! :crying: ******** Tina, I truly think that this whole thing the last couple of weeks, what with DH moving out and all, is for the best. I think now, you can fully start to heal. And he needs to get over himself with the possessive/jealous stuff. It's WAY too late for that garbage and you need to set him straight about it all. (And the whole drinking/blacking out thing, scared the holy hell outta me! I'm with the others, you were drugged!) Take good care of yourself. Enjoy the flirting. Enjoy the alone time, even tho I know you'll miss the kids. And have a GREAT time at your party next week! All my best!

Hang in there! We're here for you! I'm a slow loser too. It can get frustrating. My ticker is from when I started the process a year ago. Since surgery I've lost about 25lbs or so. Most of that is my fault. I don't exercise like I should. I'm not much of one for that, tho I know better! I am working on that tho. I hope to be able to do some swimming this summer and hopefully that will help. Best wishes on your goal! I'll be starting this weekend's challenge thread tonight. Take care! Oh and congrats on your 22nd WA! I had my 21st at Thanksgiving!

(Didn't think to add a date to the title before tonight. Sorry!) Post your results! Best wishes for the new week!!

No flaming here. I agree wholeheartedly if it's possible for a family to do so. DH and I have always felt the same way. I was working near full-time when we brought DD home from the hospital. I was able to take the whole summer off to be home with her and after I went back in the fall, she went with me. It was great! She got to swing in her little swing, or play in her pak n play, take naps when she wanted, get fed when she needed, interact with all and sundry who came into the office (I was our church's secretary) and I got to hold her and interact with her as much as possible. And I still got my work done! When her papa was home from work (he's a fireman) she got to stay home with him. It was great! After a year tho, it was getting harder to have her in the office. she was a lot more mobile and very vocal and wanting to do what mama was doing whether that be on the computer, the phone or "doing" paperwork! It got harder to do my work in a timely manner. That's when I talked to the pastor and we decided it was time to hire in behind me and I go home. I've taken the financials with me and work from home 5 hrs a week. We are blessed in that we can afford to do that. It's tight and getting tighter as California goes to hell in a handbasket (DH works for the state) but we have vowed to make it work however we need to do that. DD will be 3 in a couple of months. Starting in the fall she will start Preschool at our church. It's a true preschool in that the kids go a couple of days a week, for a few hours a day. As a 3 yr old she'll go 2 days a week and as a 4 yr old she'll go 3 days a week (2 different classes). It's also a parent-involved preschool so the parents work in the classroom, assisting our teacher. It's a great environment! For us, this works. Even if I did go to work outside the home, daycare would take all of my pay or near all of it, so wouldn't be worth it to us anyway. I was a preschool teacher for several years and worked in preschool/daycare combos. I always felt bad for the kids and parents who had to use us full-time. It was expensive and the kids and parents missed out on each other. It seemed to "work" for most families but it's always something that I hated the idea of. As long as we can swing it, this is how we'll manage our family.

I'm losing about 3-4lbs a month. I'm okay with that ONLY because it's been consistent. I was never able to lose consistently. I'd always lose big then nothing for awhile. It also took me 20 yrs to get where I was, if I'm blessed, it'll only take me a couple of yrs to get down to where I want to be. It would help if I was exercising.

Patty, when will you realize that not every case is the same? I think it's great your grandson was able to come home without a nurse. BUT in THIS CASE the DOCTORS are requiring that the babies go home with nurses trained to take care of preemies. If the babies are not going to go home with nurses, then I imagine, the hospital will keep the babies longer. That was the case with my nephew. He had to stay longer in the hospital because he needed special care and my BIL and his wife could not provide that care, either themselves (they're not special nurses) or by hiring preemie nurses. There is a "standard of care" that all hospitals participate in but all hospitals have their own policies. You can not possibly know what every hospital in the country uses as their policy protocol on preemies. We, including YOU, can only talk about what we are reading and our own experiences as guidelines. Where you differ is you spout your own experiences as gospel and fact for EVERY SITUATION AND PERSON. Please stop! ******** I am glad to see that she is taking help finally. I do wish it wasn't benefiting HER but it's all about the kids at this point. Also, I do worry about the older kids hurting the babies if only because no one (meaning their mother) will not think to teach them how to handle and be around the babies. With the extra help, that should be minimized and maybe the nurses, out of necessity, will teach the older ones how to be around the babies. Not that they should need too. Who knows. I do know that if she does get a reality show, I for one will not be watching it. I don't like drama and dysfunction in my life and choose not to bring it in to my house, either in the form people in real life or on TV. ******** Oh and Patty, the Ignore feature works both ways. You can ignore Beth just as easily. Actually, I'm about to use the button on you. You know, the whole drama and dysfunction thing. You're borderline on a good day!

Last week: 184.6 This week: 184 Change: - .6 One more lb down and I'll be exactly halfway to goal! :confused: Sick again. This sucks!

Start: 184.4 Goal: 174.4 Last week: 184.6 Week: 184 Result: -.6 Well, got rid of the +.2 from the last 2 weeks plus an extra .4. Thats good but I'm never going to make my goal at this rate! And surprise, surprise DD and I are sick AGAIN!!!!! This is utterly ridiculous! I was sick most of February. Finally starting to get on my feet and feel like myself again, then the weekend hits. YUCK!

End of week 3! How is everyone doing? Best wishes for the coming week!

I'm just going to throw some things out to see if any of it helps, so bear with me! You mentioned problems with Malt O Meal. Are most of your problems in the AM? Even as late as near lunch? I'm sometimes tighter in the AM than later in the day. I'll drink hot tea (don't drink coffee unless it's a froufrou drink!) before I try to eat or drink anything else, including my supplements and meds. Are you too hungry by the time you eat? If I'm starving, I eat too fast and don't chew enough. I have to REALLY concentrate on what I'm doing so I don't get stuck and (possibly) PB. Are you drinking too close to eating? Sometimes, I'm so thirsty, I am drinking right up til I eat. If I then start eating with something that can swell up with liquids (such as bread), I'll sometimes get stuck or uncomfortable. The Water (or whatever), if I drink it fast enough and too much of it, will still be in the pouch as it drains and if I throw say, a piece of bread, right in on top of it, poof! swells up and gives me problems. Also, as I've recently discovered, the hard way, if you're sick and "draining", you could be filling up your pouch with mucus and be full or stopped up. Hot tea and a good decongestant in the AM helps A LOT! Allergies, TOM, colds, stress and dehydration can all cause problems with the band. Also, you could still be a little too tight. As you have problems, try to analyze what's going on with you at the time. Are you exhausted and starving and you just forgot to pay attention to how you're eating? Is it PMS and you're going to feel better after TOM? I recently got stuck on the first bite of lunch. I don't remember even TAKING the first bite! I was SO hungry! Of course after being in pain for several minutes while the papaya enzymes kicked in, I was no longer hungry! But you get the idea! Sorry this is so long. I hope it helps. This is such a huge learning process and I'm surprised at every turn! Take care and best wishes! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

You're not the only one. Mine MOVES!! Yep. Moves. It's not flipped. He's never had a problem accessing it. BUT he (and I when I try it at home) can move it around. I asked him if it's just moving down b/c of the WL, I've heard of that happening. He said nope and moved it around with his fingers. It's not my abdomen moving either. Strangest thing. He says he's never seen that before. He's not worried til he can't access it, then we'll deal with it. I hope all goes well with the fluoro appt.! Best wishes!

Yep. She needs to donate her brain to science. I'm sure they've never seen one like hers. Besides, she's not using it anyway.

lingling, my ticker is since March '08! I went through Kaiser and they had a nutrition program that I had to go through that prepared us for surgery and after. We were required to lose as much as we could before surgery. this includes the 7lbs lost on the 10 day liquid diet right before surgery. Some of my August buddies have lost upwards of 50, 70 + lbs but alas, I'm a slow loser. Pretty steady tho so I'm happy with it! I'm also not "dieting" at all and I'm having a hard time getting exercise in. I'm sure it'd be a lot faster if I was exercising a lot more. Best wishes to you!!

Hang in there, Debbie. What with surgery, the anesthesia, the not being able to really EAT right now, etc., you are on a roller coaster right now. Some of it is probably hormonal from the surgery too. There were times when I was a mess after surgery and I've heard others saying the same thing. Please don't worry about gaining weight right now. The initial weeks after surgery are ALL about healing. You may or may not gain anything but don't worry if you do. Really, until you start getting fills, you'll have NO restriction so it's ALL on your own right now. After surgery, I was pretty swollen for awhile and didn't have too many problems with hunger until just before my first fill. I was blessed in that. Others aren't so blessed. A lot of the "hunger" stuff is going to be head hunger. I still battle that. I'm NOT hungry but I want to eat it. Sometimes I win, sometimes the head hunger wins. It's not pretty. I never thought of myself as a food addict, but I am. That's another thing. You will learn a lot about yourself that you never knew! LOL! Some of it may be shocking! Niterun, best wishes on your surgery on Monday! That's my DH's b-day so it's a good day! :thumbup:

Stayed the same this week. Start: 184.4 Goal: 174.4 Week: 184.6, same as last week. NOT going to get there at this rate! Being sick and having to have an un-fill, messed me up! :thumbup: Have a great week!

Finally got on the computer. I never turned it on yesterday! Shocking! LOL! Stayed the same this week.

I just try to keep it simple. Things like: Them: "Oh, you're losing weight." Me: "Yea, I'm working on it." Them: "What are doing?" Me: "Watching my portions and trying to exercise more." Them: "Oh wow! You've lost some weight!" Me: "Thank you for noticing." It REALLY depends on the person and the tone and way they say things. I've chosen to not announce to the world that I've had surgery. I don't want the scrutiny like when I was on WW a few years ago. That was horrible and I don't want to go through it again. There have been a few people recently that I've told about surgery other than my initial group of confidants. But it's few and far between when I share. I've not gotten the surgery question. Don't think I will. I'm a pretty slow loser, which is fine, I'm losing! I think if I was losing A LOT faster, then I might get that question but I kinda doubt it. I will gladly share if there is someone who is struggling and mentions surgery. I've just not had that situation yet.

It is hard when you've decided not to tell and yet you want to share with everyone you know! LOL! Such a conundrum! I chose only to tell (other than DH, of course): mom, mil & fil (DH pushed this issue in case "something" happened during surgery), my pastor, and a few friends. It's funny b/c I have no problem telling strangers if they ask about something specific. EX: the other day I was at Target looking for cold medicine. A gal said such & such was good but it was in pill form. I mentioned I needed liquids only since I'd had surgery several months ago. She asked about bypass, (she has a friend). I told her about the band and explained it to her when she asked what it was. I'm proud of my decision but after the fiasco I had when I was on WW, I'm NOT going there again. Seemed EVERYONE knew I was on WW. I was constantly watched in regards to what I was eating and how much and constantly asked how much I'd lost. Then of course I gained just about all of it back. People are noticing that I'm losing. They ask how I'm doing it and I just say I'm working on it. End of subject. Part of me feels I should "tell" but for the most part, it doesn't bother me to not say anything. Those that I have told have been super supportive and encouraging. For those of you making up a different surgery story. Be careful with what you come up with. Hernia is usually a good one b/c you can end up with several surgeries for those. Gallbladder is another issue. AND some people have had to have them removed after WLS. Best wishes to everyone!

I had surgery one month after my 40th b-day! Almost to the exact date. B-day is the 26th, surgery was the 25th. The only thing closest I'd had done was my wisdom teeth pulled and In Vitro Fertilization where they knock you out but you're not completely under like major surgery. I wasn't nervous at all. Shocked me since I always over-analyze everything and like to know EXACTLY what's going to happen, etc. Yes, I'm anal retentive and a control freak! I'm working on that! LOL! Get as much info as you can. Ask your questions. Make lists, take notes, etc. You'll do fine. The unknown can be scary but if you prepare yourself with as much knowledge as you can, you'll do fine. And it's okay to totally freak out! I don't know if you're religious but I am and I have to say that prayer helped me a lot. I turned it over to God, I was in His hands. I felt a lot of peace about it. It was strange and very comforting. Best wishes to you! Oops! Just realized I posted on the Twenties thread. Sorry!

The 25th was my 6 month. I've lost about 25lbs (50+ since starting the process to getting surgery). I'm almost halfway to goal. Even tho it's been slow, I'm thrilled that I've been losing consistently and I haven't gained it ALL back like before! I've gone from tight 24s to stretch 16s in pants and 2X/3X to XL in tops (I have WAY more hip than boob!). I have a bit more energy. Things don't hurt as much (i.e. back, feet, etc.). I'm not so embarrassed as I was about being out in public (and by extension, not as embarrassed for DH for having such a huge wife, tho HE would never say or feel that!). Feel this is the best thing I've ever done other than getting married to my DH and adopting my DD!