jmegirl

LOL I drink soda on a daily basis, mostly at work. That's where my soda problem lies. At night, if there's beer in the house I'll drink it. Luckily I'm not drinking my beer at work - that would be a no no, haha. I am confident I can kick the two, it might just take a few weeks. I'll be so happy to kick the habits. I'm not worried about doing low-carb for a month though. I've lost weight on Atkins plenty of times. I'm ready for the scale to start moving the other direction!!!! :wink_smile: As for that pesky pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, I have been to two grocery stores with no luck. But I did notice yesterday that one of my local stores has B&J on sale for 3/$10. :teeth_smile:

YAY for moving tickers!!!! :teeth_smile: I have one week left of this Last Supper Syndrome, and then I start my self-imposed 30-day pre-op diet. Not only am I going low-carb, but I'm quitting sodas and beer! Sheesh, I deserve a medal for this. :wink_smile:

I'm shocked

I Munchkin!! That is all!

I was trying to say that Munchie is a freak for being a Harry Potter fan. :thumbup: But I'm just teasing! Just picking on her, that's all. I bought the first HP book, and it's still sitting on the book shelf unread. I plan to read it one day. I've never seen the movies (and most likely never will) but I would like to at least read one of the books to see what all the hype is about.

Oh no, are you one of those Harry Potter freaks? :thumbup: I may have seriously misjudged you my dear Munch.

Unless you're less than 6 weeks post-op, I would say eat what fills you up. In the first 6 weeks after surgery, you need to be easy on yourself and do mostly liquids/mushies just to give your body enough time to heal. But once you're healed, I say eat what fills you up. :tongue2:

Woohoo!!! :tongue2: :wink2:

I read that last night and it made me throw up in my mouth a little. :wink2: But you know what else I just read?!?!?!? They're making a Pirates of the Caribbean 4!!!! With Johnny Depp!!! OMG!!! I can't wait until 2011 when the movie comes out!!! :tongue2:

My sister-in-law dated a SHAUN (same thing!) who was clingy beyond belief. After two dates (and no sex!) he said he loved her. She stopped seeing him and he started stalking her. He'd sit in the parking lot outside her apartment building on the weekends watching her windows and making sure she wasn't going out with anyone else. He'd show up at the pool hall or the bar where she was hanging out, completely unannounced, and try to hang out with her. Very strange man that Shaun.... You crack me up!! My boobs will definitely need a lift once I drop 80lbs. Good thing I've already made my husband promise that once we're done having kids, he's gonna get the girls done. :wink2: Wow Dorky, you look fantastic!! You two are so cute!!!! :smile2: My husband is also losing weight now, so in a year's time, hopefully I'll be at goal and he'll be where he wants to be, and we can get pictures taken like that. The pictures from our wedding day are beautiful, but we both feel so HUGE in them. It would be nice to get pictures made when we're thinner and healthier. I hope that's how it is!!! Low-carb usually works for me, but lately (within the last year) I've just been unable to stick to it for one reason or another. This time I have to stick to it. I've paid Dr. K lots of money to do my surgery on November 5th, and I've paid for flights/hotels and everything. If he gets me open and can't proceed because of a fatty liver I'll be crushed. :tongue2:

Well, that certainly makes sense. I've read lots of threads on this message board about people with severe gas, so bad that is gives them back and shoulder pain. Good call with avoiding the gas! :tongue2:

I want that shirt!

We can wear these! :crying:

Score! You've got yourself a date missy!!!

Deb you might be right. I think I'll keep the beer as long as possible! I can't believe that Munchie is on the B&J mailing list!! That seems like the cruelest form of torture there is! But, as a bonus, she's probably the first to know when they're having Free Cone Day! I think they do it a few times a year! I'm totally getting B&J Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream for dinner. And I might just swing through McD's after that and get a Big Mac and fries LOL. My husband is coming home late tonight...I can take out the trash before he comes home and he'll never know how much I gorged, haha. He gives me evil looks when I eat that much crap at once. Probably because he's jealous that I'm getting the band!!!

Don't be disappointed that you "let yourself" fall back into emotional eating. Skinny people do it too! It's part of life, so there's no shame in washing the pain away with a pint of B&J Magic Brownies...or a fifth of some goooood tequila! I've had magic brownies twice in my life, and there was nothing magical about them. I got paranoid, freaked out, and I cried a lot until finally someone forced me to go to bed - and that happened both times! It's safe to say I don't take too well to the magic herbs. Aww, that's such a great idea!!! How sweet! BUT that would have sucked if there'd been another woman in the vicinity who saw her name pop up on that banner and thought she was being proposed to! That's awesome that there are some Dave fans on here. I love them! But everytime them come to concert around here it's always a Tuesday or Wednesday night, and my husband refused to go to a concert in the middle of the work week. :smile: I'm a Parrothead though - a total Jimmy Buffett freak. I've seen him 3 times - last year I actually traveled from NC to Tampa Bay to see him in November! Love that man

i figure there are plenty of people in my area who are self-pay with no insurance, and i was wondering if you could help me out with the research, as to what local doctors cost for the "full package" so to speak. i heard back from Dr. Enochs...i got the following response. please tell me this is expensive and that there are cheaper doctors in the NC area??? :wink2:

There's actually only a few flavors of ice cream that I really like. I'm not a fan of chocolate ice cream at all, which rules out a lot of stuff. I usually go for vanilla or fruity flavors. But cheesecake flavor always wins! There's a Dave Matthew's Band B&J flavor called Magic Brownies - Black Raspberry ice cream swirled with Sweet Cream ice cream and fudgy brownie chunks. We have a B&J shoppe around here, but I still go for the pint! But not for long...I'm gonna be on the losers bench soon! Dr. K says I should do a 7 day pre-op diet since I'm currently at a 38 BMI. But I've admitted to myself that I have a problem with sodas and beer. :crying: So in order to successfully quit those two, I need to start well in advance of 7 days, haha. I've promised my husband to "start" my pre-op diet on October 5th, which is one month out. I'll first quit beer, and then after a week or so I'll quit sodas as well. Hopefully by the third week I won't be entirely bitchy, and I'll be able to officially start the low-carb portion of the pre-op diet. My plan is to do low-carb for at least two weeks, but I need to quit sodas and beer before I start low-carb. Trying to do all that at once is liable to make me kill someone - I'll be so cranky!!!

I just checked the B&J website. Turns out it's only available in "select retail stores" so my local grocery store might not have it. However, it's available by the scoop at my local B&J store. Now, I'll be going there straight after work for a scoop, haha. What sucks is I saw another flavor on their list that made me drool - Cheesecake Brownie! I think I'm going to have ice cream for dinner. :crying:

You can't be serious! And just when I thought my Last Supper Syndrome was over! :crying: Pray that my local grocery store is out of it! I definitely don't have the will power to run away screaming, lol.

OH! Well then save some money and wear the black dress to the Ball and the wedding! I think it's a beauitful dress. I'm sorry your mom invited herself. :smile:

We are voting for a dress that you'll wear to that Ball in NC right? We're not voting on a Bridesmaid's dress this time around? I seem to recall you having to buy 2 dresses, but I'm pretty sure you already picked the black Bridesmaid's dress. I think? Gosh you ladies talk so much on this board it's hard to keep up!! So I gotta say, I actually kinda like the tacky little rhinestone brooch! I mean, maybe it looks different when you're wearing the dress, but honestly I like the whole package! I'm really not a fan of the grey color of the other dress. The dress is fabulous, but the color is sorta :confused: My vote for the Ball is the black dress with the brooch, because I actually think it looks good!!! :smile: But seriously, you could wear either of those dresses and totally rock the Ball. You'd be the hottest chick there even if you were wearing overalls and a dirty white tanktop

Well, because surgery is Mexico is a scary idea. I've never heard of insurance covering someone who has surgery outside the country, but as you said, it can happen. But, let's say her insurance doesn't cover her for surgery in Mexico. If she wants the band, she must self-pay. If she travels to Mexico for surgery that is cheaper, chances are that she'll be fine. However, what if she isn't? What if she's that 1% that has complications? What if she gets an infection? What if her port flips? There are so many things that could potentially go wrong. Granted, it's a small chance for each of them - but they do happen. If she has surgery in Mexico and has complications, she has absolutely no avenue for recourse. She can't sue her doctor if anything serious happens. He isn't liable for anything. Getting medical care for something that her doctor in Mexico screwed up is going to be coming out of her pocket. That is why I suggested staying in the US and traveling to Dr. K in CO. Sure, it's a farther trip, but if he screws up then he's liable. And, even if insurance didn't cover your surgery, I guarantee you that insurance would cover you should you have complications - as long as the surgery was performed in the US. Also, with regards to aftercare. Dr. K offers free fills for the first 3 months after surgery, and $15 fills thereafter - as long as you want. You could get 20 fills and unfills from Dr. K over the course of 10 years and it would still only cost you $15 per trip. Sure, you have to fly to CO to get the fill, but that's small apples in comparison to the cost of fills at local doctors. Also, Fill Centers USA has locations across the country and will do your fills regardless of where you get the band. I'm not sure of their cost, but I've heard it's in the realm of $150-200.

Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana MX? If you're referring to him, his cost is anywhere between $5500 and $8000, depending on what kind of specials they are running at the time. I researched him before finally deciding on Dr. K. If you are going the self-pay route, may I strongly suggest you stay in the US to have your surgery? You can have your surgery done by Dr. Kirshenbaum in Denver, CO for $9950, not including airfare and hotel. That is a super deal when compared to other doctors in the US. Dr. K only does self-pay patients, and he keeps his costs as low as possible because he feels so strongly about keeping people in the US for surgery. Having surgery in Mexico can be risky, and you have no recourse if something did happen to go wrong. Dr. K's website is here: www.lapbandrockies.com My lap band appointment with him is on November 5th!! I've already had my phone consult, and he's a very friendly doctor who was more than willing to answer my 100 questions. If you'd like more opinions about Dr. K, you can consult the thread in the Doctors forum. We are a bunch of chatty ladies, so the thread is always at the top. :girl_hug: Good luck!!!