Who'sThere

Newlife, my thoughts and prayers are certainly with you. I had a devastating miscarraige five years ago, so I can certainly sympathize. If it provides a glimmer of hope I will tell you that when I miscarried, the cramps were not just normal cramps. They were VERY severe and I was only 7 1/2 weeks. If yours are not that bad, maybe it's a good sign. I wish you luck and strength. Even if the news ends up being good, the rollercoaster of emotions is really tough.***HUGS***

Well, I made it to the meeting. Did anyone else? Nayray, did you have your surgery yesterday? I hope all went well.

Okay...duh! I'm an idiot! The meeting isn't until tomorrow. Maybe I will get to meet some of you afterall. Then you'll truly know what a ditz I am. (I'm in graduate school, and my family all makes fun of me for being "book smart" but lacking common sense. Maybe they are right!)

Well, I don't know what it will take to make you not FEEL fat, but you certainly don't look fat. Since I'm a teacher, I'll give you some homework. Take a look at your pin-up photos on your myspace! I did, and they are truly insipiational! That is what I will give myself when I hit my goal weight. I already have a couple of photographers in mind. One day when I'm old, I want to be able to look back and say, "Yeah, I was hot in my day!" I'm glad you've gotten your band all straightened out. You will do well at getting those pounds off. You are a super band-model for all us waiting to be banded. :smile2:

Oh, WOW! I can't wait to see this attachments.

Well, I missed the meeting last night. I hope all went well. I really wanted to be there, but I haven't even been able to work all week. I will be at the November meeting if nothing else happens. I'm really ready to get started, and I want to meet some of you.

I have had comments similar to most posted here, but I thought I'd add one I found particularly offensive. I had lost about 100 pounds (which of course I gained back) and a parent of one of my students said, "I'll bet your husband sure is happy!" I think she honestly meant this as a compliment, and that really made me sad for her. She is not huge but still overweight. I would say she must think that her husband thinks less of her because of it. I replied, "Actually, he really couldn't care less. He's happy for me because I'm happy, but he doesn't care." She didn't know what to say.

My cousin's myspace quote would certainly apply in this situation. It is "If you can't handle me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best!"

Okay...here is the exact wording from my health insurance policy. (This is one of the requirements, but it's the only one I'm worried about.) (2) History of failure of medical/dietary therapies (including low calorie diet, increased physical activity, and behavioral reinforcement). This attempt at conservative management must be within two years prior to surgery, and must be documented by an attending physician who does not perform bariatric surgery. (Failure of conservative therapy is defined as an inability to lose more than ten percent of body weight over a six-month period and maintain weight loss.) I have done lots of other things in the past, but not necessarily doctor supervised. I was on Fentermine earlier this year for about three months along with a reduced calorie diet (that's as long as my PCP will prescribe it), and I did lose 10% of my weight. However, I did not keep it off for three months, let alone six months. Do you think this would count, or should I be starting a 6 month diet now? My initial consult isn't until Dec., and I certainly don't want to wait until then to start if I have to. I really want to have this done ASAP!

Well, I have been sick since last Friday. I am really hoping to be at the meeting tonight, but I wasn't able to work today. If I don't get to come, I will definitely be at the November meeting.

I sure don't know because I'm not yet banded. However, I'm terrified at the prospect of having to take fish oil. If that is a requirement, I won't be able to be banded. I am allergic to any and all kinds of seafood. Do you know if this is required of everyone?

As I think more and more about becoming a bandster, I keep adding more goals in my head. Today, I decided to record these goals. As I meet these goals, I will record the dates. I AM going to do this! I will be able to do the following: sit comfortably in any type of seat tie my shoes without gasping for breath see my collar bones again wear a normal necklace get my wedding rings sized down wear some of my old rings again cross my legs in a ladylike fashion wear my denim Tommy dress again (and maybe shrink out of it) buy clothes from the regualar section climb stairs without losing my breath walk to the mailbox without getting tired wear sexy lingerie comfortably have me on top sex! not be the biggest person in every group photo walk 5 miles ride a roller coaster have someone call me a skinny bitch! I'm sure there are plenty of things that I will add to this list, but these are the ones that come to my mind today.

As I think more and more about becoming a bandster, I keep adding more goals in my head. Today, I decided to record these goals. As I meet these goals, I will record the dates. I AM going to do this! I will be able to do the following: sit comfortably in any type of seat tie my shoes without gasping for breath see my collar bones again wear a normal necklace get my wedding rings sized down wear some of my old rings again cross my legs in a ladylike fashion wear my denim Tommy dress again (and maybe shrink out of it) buy clothes from the regualar section climb stairs without losing my breath walk to the mailbox without getting tired wear sexy lingerie comfortably have me on top sex! not be the biggest person in every group photo walk 5 miles ride a roller coaster have someone call me a skinny bitch! I'm sure there are plenty of things that I will add to this list, but these are the ones that come to my mind today.

I'm one that would tell anyone. I'm just not that private, but I can certainly respect your decision not to tell. I know that you will be under extra scrutiny if you do tell. With that being said, I would not tell anyone you had gallbladder surgery. First of all, I wouldn't say that because it's a lie. Also, with dramatic weightloss, there is a stronger chance that you WILL have to have gallbladder surgery later. What would you say then? (Awkward!) If people start to ask about your weight loss, just tell them you are working really hard. You will be!

Oh, okay....thanks. I did email the question to the surgeon's office, but I haven't heard anything back yet.

I'm not sure what you mean by diet center. Is there a special department at my insurance or at the surgeon's office or something else?

I wear short skorts even now. Being 5'3" nothing is really TOO short on me, maybe 2-3" above my knee. My MIL says I need to show off my legs while I can. After years and years of cheerleading when I was younger, my legs are the only part of my body that still look decent. From mid-thigh down, they are still pretty muscular even if they are too big. If they still look decent when I loose weight, I will continue to wear short skorts; however, I'm no where near graceful enough to wear true short skirts. My "hotel" would show for sure. (When my niece was younger she would say "whole tail" and it sounded like "hotel".) As for high heels, not now, not ever. One other thing I still have from years and years of cheering is weak ankles as they have both been sprained. I'm way more a flip-flop kind of gal.

I'll be there starting this Thursday. It'll be good to meet you!

WOW! That's great. What insurance co. do you have?

Congratulations! What beautiful eyes she has! I am of the opinion that all babies are precious, but not all babies are truly beautiful. Your baby is BEAUTIFUL!

Heather, I'd bet a large sum of money that you are, in fact, pregnant. I was pregnant a few years ago (unfortunately miscarried), and the first test I took was so faint I disregarded it completely. I took another one a few days later, and it was still faint. I went to the doctor anyway because we had been trying for like two years at that point. They did a blood test and sure enough I was preggers. My line was so faint I almost couldn't see it, but they told me ANY line at all means pregnancy. They said there are more often false negatives but almost NEVER a false positive. You have to have Hcg to have ANY pink, and you wouldn't have it otherwise. If you had some, but didn't have quite enough it might show a false negative. (If that makes sense.) So to you I'm gonna say CONGRATS! Your life is now and forever changed.

As to losing and regaining weight, here is my two cents worth...There is a girl that I work with that weighed over 500lbs. and had RNY. Before she ever had surgery, the doctors told her she would probably end up around 300lbs. She lost down to about 160. Yes, 160. Well, that was about 6.5 years ago. Now, she is back to around 285. While she has packed on about 125 pounds in the past several years (and after two babies), she is CERTAINLY better off than she was at 500+. (She is nearly six feet tall.) As for looking sick after weightloss...About 5 years ago, I lost 100lbs. on LA Weightloss. I went from 273 to 173 in 7.5 months. I got a new hairstyle and my aunt from out of town wanted a picture, so my husband took a snapshot, and I emailed it to her. Her comment was that I looked awful. My mother-in-law said I looked frail. Both of these comments really hurt my feelings. I had lost 100 pounds and was really proud of myself, but I was still about 40 lbs. overweight (I'm not quite 5'3"). How could I possibly look frail? Anyway...looking back now, I did look awful. I was frail. I started passing out about a week later and was sick for nearly three months. In fact, I nearly died. I lost so fast my blood pressure was bottoming out. It wasn't that I was too thin, but I was too thin too quickly for ME. (I have borderline low BP even at 277lbs.) I eventually gained ALL of my weight back plus 4 extra pounds, but I didn't start looking healthy again until I gained at least 20 of those pounds back. These are some of the reasons I want the band. I want to be able to lose weight at a reasonable (not too fast, not too slow) pace. I am excited about 1-2 pounds a week under a doctor's supervision. (All LA Weightloss was interested in was my weighing in and getting my money, not my health. They "forgot" to take my BP as regularly as promised, which I figured out all too late.) I am also excited about the adjustability so that I can continue to use the TOOL to keep the weight at bay.

Yes, Jessica, that is kind of what I went through. I decided I would rather see Doctor Hodge or Watson. I had my MIL call the doctor for me this morning and ask them to get me a referral to these doctors instead. By 10:45 when I called her on my planning time, I already had an appointment with Dr. Hodge. Granted, the appointment isn't until December 15, I still have an appointment. I called to ask what I could do to prepare in the meantime, and they were VERY helpful. The told me I could go ahead and attend training seminars. I called the lady in charge of this, but she wasn't at her desk. I left her a voicemail with both my phone number and my email address. Before noon, she had sent me information on what seminars would be required and an attachment with the schedule of when they are. She also encouraged me to call and see if I could go ahead and meet with the nutritionist. In my opinion, they are very on top of things. I appreciate that. Also, they told me I can call once a week and see if there are any cancellations. If so, he will see me earlier. I am very pleased so far. I'll keep posting updates on here as anything develops.

This is good to hear. I will be seeing Dr. Hodge for my first visit on Dec. 15. I just got the appointment today. I'm very anxious. I was disappointed that it will take 10 WEEKS before I can even get it, but I suppose that speaks for their skill. Everyone must want to see them.

I assume from this statement that you are a teacher. I assume you teach college (or at the youngest high school). Were you still in school when you had your surgery? If so, how long did you have to take off from work? If not, how long do you think you would've had to take off? As I've mentioned before, I'm a teacher.