Dody

I'll now be more knowledgeable and look at "bandits" as an alternatate language. :confused: I've been involved with the real banditos....

That's what I love about Tennessee is Bristol. My daughter isn't far from there, but we sure don't pay that much for tickets...sounds like scalping. I waited on QVC forever to talk to Tony and then I clammed up....couldn't find words and stumbled all over myself. Fortunately he just laughed. He's going to have to cut out those Big Macs. They aren't any good for his heart and I don't want him not being able to climb in and out the window and climb those fences :confused: I am going to be absolutely tongue tied if I ever get to see him....I know I will turn all shades of red (or maybe they are just hot flashes) and probably not be able to say anything. Tony doesn't have a girlfriend. Sure makes me wish I was younger......way younger, but I love him just the same. I think we paid $75.00 for our Bristol tickets. My nephew is back-up on the gas can for Tony (just in case he backs over the first guy), but he is working his way up there. We are going to sit behind the pit area...not directly...but fairly close so I can see him pull in and out and probably have a stroke about every time. I think he is the very best driver there is, and a clean one at that, if you don't tick him off too bad :eek: Payback is hell isn't it? Do you have the brand new T-shirt with his picture on it and his car and Champion 2005...it's awesome and available on QVC (the shopping channel). Every week they have a NASCAR day on there and have someone different. I can't wait to get to Tennessee where they know what NASCAR is. You are right about people in Idaho, they don't have a clue about NASCAR. We have no tracks here and the closest I believe is Fontana in California. I've never been there, because I love to go with family and the family is all in Tennessee. We are all SMOKE fans. Hey, there is plenty of him to share.... BTW the only reason our tickets are that much is because we are down behind the pit. I know people who pay $25.00 for tickets in the nosebleed section.

I am a huge NASCAR fan and am right now wearing my newest Tony Stewart champion 2005 T-shirt. (SMOKE rules) I have 2 of the new ones...got them on race day on QVC when Tony was on and I got to talk to him on the air. Be still my heart!! It was one of the highlights of my life. I have a nephew that works in the pit for Tony Stewart and I am leaving for Tennessee in Apr. It will be the first time I've attended a NASCAR race in person, although I'm glued to the TV set for qualifying and for the race...no one bothers me...phone goes off the hook and life is on hold for that 3 hours (if all goes well). I love Tony Stewart's "I don't give a darn attitute" that got him the bad boy of NASCAR name, but he has turned into a genuinely likeable person, and not too tough on the eyes. He does seem to be putting on a little pudge (but he can still climb fences alright). I see the #20 in your logo, and hoped it was for Tony. I absolutely adore the guy, and you can never be too old to admire Tony. He has it going on!! I hate sharing him with anyone, but I'll share him with you. Here in Idaho no one has a clue what NASCAR is. I got hooked in Tennessee which is where I spend most of my winters, and where I'm having my surgery done. There are race tracks all over and we have reservations well in advance. My nephew in the pit crew is going to try and get me an introduction if possible, but I know how busy Tony is. I would probably melt into a big puddle at his feet. Actually, I truly believe he is the best NASCAR driver on the circuit bar no one. (I can't stand Girly Gordon), but do like Jimmy Johnson, Dale Jarrett and a few others, but NOT like I adore Tony Stewart. So glad you started this thread. People stop me in Walmart here and say "Hey is that guy a singer"...I politely say NO that is Rod Stewart...what a bunch of dummies. Can't wait to hit the south again where they all know what NASCAR is and know all the drivers and cars by name and number (which I do too).:confused:

Did your dr. require an upper GI before the surgery. It sounds like esophageal reflux to me. I wouldn't be so hasty as to say it is, but it sure as heck sounds like it, and it doesn't sound really normal. I have heard that chicken seems to be a major culprit though. I haven't been banded yet, but had my upper GI (three of them so far) to show my esophagus has healed from an erosion and no ulcers. Test went fine and everything is healed. Last test I think before bandland, except for blood work. Hope you let your dr. know if you change your diet and nothing improves. Sorry you aren't feeling well.

In my neck of the woods which is probably 3/4 Mexican population bandits usually carry guns and start gang wars. Sorry, just being cautious. Please don't think I mean all Mexicans fit into this category. I simply live in an area where "banditos" slip over from the Mexican border and a lot are gang members, a lot speak no English, don't go to school, and work in potato fields to get by. We have a lot (I mean a lot of gang activity) here and anyone from this side of the country could vouch for that. OK, Susan, time to chime in....you know the story here!!

There are lots of doctors who won't do conversions from lap top to gastric bypass, but even more that refuse to do lap banding after bypass has failed, and fail it will. Not immediately, but three years down the road. That is when all the stops are pulled out and we become desperate for something else. A lot of docs say no, and then agrain there are those just concerned with the "money" issue. If you have the money you can get anything done.

I'm not in the same situation as a lot of you girls are, but it would be a cold day in hell before a man told me what to do with my body. I lost my husband 10 years ago in an auto accident, but he never told me what to do, and I never interferred in his plans to go hunting and camping with the boys (which I hated). To this day I miss him each and every day, but I do know I would simply have told him I wanted this done and he would have been beside me I'm positive. Maybe when you get older marriages change...not sure, but I don't ever remember asking for a thing in my marriage with him. We both made equal decisions, so you girls who are under hubby's thumb need to step it up a notch and say "This is for me, and I'm doing it". If the door hits him in the rear on the way out the door....he will be back. Men know when they have it good. :confused:

You looking for bandsters or bandits?

I just might sail right through the band :confused: My gallbladder surgery was a piece of cake, but perhaps people who have had their chest cracked open for surgery think anything less is a great surgery. In all seriousness, my gallbladder, for whatever reason was the easiest surgery I've ever had. I was up and around and testing the waters after sleeping for about 8 hours. My cat disappeared that day and I remember going out to look around for him that evening in the car...which was really a no no. Now I'll probably get the band and be the biggest crybaby you ever say.

Lap-Band For Life is written by Ariel Ortiz Lagardere and is available at Amazon.com for $12.97. Just type in the name of the book.

10 years is stretching it. I don't think we've been doing the band close to that long in the U.S. You might hear from some Mexican bandsters, as I think they have been doing it lots longer.

I sure hope I feel like posting the same night. Wow, am amazed at you. I hope to join you soon in bandland and would give anything for an uneventful journey like yours. I'm one of those old ladies getting a band, so just about anything can and probably will go wrong

Simon said from the first last year that Carrie Underwood was going to win...now he makes another brash statement saying he likes Kellie Pickler better than he did Carrie. This is going to carry her a long way with the fans I think. Regardless of what is said, Simon knows talent. I see the final 4 as: Mandisa, Kellie, Chris and Ace.

Not sure if there are samples out there, but I would google weight loss products and see what I came up with. I don't mean diet pills, but diet supplements.

Could just be the system a woman's body goes through...she could have a little water weight, be PMS'ing (maybe that is why she is freaking out I sure wouldn't worry about it. It sounds perfectly normal to me.

I had gallbladder surgery and between durabond and steri-strips I didn't have one staple or stitch. I think it made for a fast recovery because I was up and around the next day. I pampered myself for a day or two just to be on the safe side, but aside from that I had a same day surgery. I can remember the days when they had to cut you wide open for gallbladder surgery and it was quite a large scar. I only hope lap banding goes as good. I guess they use staples for that. Anyone have the surgery and they used durabond and steri-strips in place of the staples? Just curious. Especially if you went to Mexico...what did they use. I know everyone didn't return to Mexico a week later to get staples out.

Kevin (the baby faced darling of the girls) should have been gone last night, no questions asked. I think Gideon had a much superior voice. In the girls it should have been the other one that went home and not the tall girl. Just my opinion. It just depends on who calls in for who and who is getting the support.

There is a brand new surgery going to be hitting the states within a yr. (if something should go wrong with the band) where they staple the tummy with endoscopy. No scars and no healing time. I wish it was available now, but it isn't. Everyday they are coming up with new weight loss techniques, so don't worry about it. Get your band and be happy before you make major changes to your body.

I'm going out on a very big limb here and saying the top two girls will be Mandisa and Kellie standing at the end. As for the guys, I think it will be Chris and Ace (that falsetto Ace can hit is amazing) not to say he is oh so gorgeous. The guy with the grey hair needs to get his groove on with his movements. I thought he was having some kind of seizure last night

Why not set a limit on not eating anything after 6:00 pm and see if it helps. Oprah swears by it...but then we can't all afford the chefs and personal trainers that she has. It probably is a good policy for anyone, and I for one need to remember that worse than anyone once I have the surgery. I am a night eater....and don't eat a thing during the day....not good.

My cardiologist is about this height and weight, but gorgeous. My BP goes up every time I go there He is behind the surgery. Worried a little about the anesthetic, but he will get over it. I had to have my gallbladder out a yr. after bypass surgery and he knew it had to be done. He just looks at this more as "I want this", but is beginning to see I'm unhappy too and wants me to be healthier. I have the same weight issues you do too, but he is backing me 100% and I have the letter to give to the WLS to prove it. Sometimes cardiologists just worry a little bit more about us, especially if we have heart problems. It is their job and nature. He will come around probably, because you will need a letter from him. I laid my heart on the line to mine and when he saw how much it meant he said OK. I also had a great GP that kind of came between the two of us and encouraged him to let me have the surgery....so he had a tough time saying no. I would fall short of his requirements myself by close to 100 lbs. I love both my GP and cardiologist. They have both been supportive, although the cardiologist was a little longer coming around. I've been healthy now for 5 years since the bypass surgery, have undergone anesthesia since that time and did great, and I think his worries are just about me. I doubt yours is trying to be mean, but did you really, really let him know this could be life-changing for you and how you feel about yourself?

YUCK...burned toast!! Sounds like you were deliberately sabottaging yourself Tomorrow is another day and you are going to do wonderful. One little slip isn't the end of the world. You'll get back on the program in no time.

Not quite the way to put it, but sounds like the asthma specialist was saying this might be a last resort to help the asthma, and it definitely will. Not a very good bedside manner though huh? I think everyone is scared and apprehensive. If we weren't we wouldn't be human. You will do just fine, and just think how much better your asthma will be afterwards...then maybe you'll have a good comeback for this "asthma dr". Good luck and best wishes on a speedy recovery. Go into this thinking thinner, healthier, wiser and happier and you shall be. It's probably getting up so early in the morning that is the real culprit here No one really wants to be first, but we want it over with.

I think RNY is much more difficult to cope with. When it's done it's done (regardless of people might say about it being reversible...doesn't happen that way unless you are near death). In your case, you can always tell yourself the band is a tool, but you have not changed your body in any permanent way that you couldn't change back. That in itself keeps me from getting anxious and depressed. BTW I gained a lot of weight on both Zoloft and Celexa, but at least the Celexa made me feel better. Anytime you take a drug to feel better and it works, you are probably going to eat more if food is your drug of choice. There are now other choices out there..... Best of luck. Remember you have NOT done anything that isn't reversible. Think of it that way and I think you will cope easier.

I drove myself nuts going through my medical books. It is most commonly called a panectomy, so he was kind of right on the pronounciation. Means the exact same thing as what you said...removing the apron of skin. Glad we cleared this up.:mad: