Kat817

Maybe something about the emotional benefits of exercise along with weight loss. When done hand in hand, it sure makes it simpler I am finding!!! Kat

Hi everyone! Been trying to catch up with the posts. We are currently waiting for the Dr.'s office to call and let us know when the appointment for DH's next test (an angiogram) is scheduled for. Once they do that, then we will set a surgery date. The results of all so far have pointed to the same issue. This will check to see if he might have any blockages that they would go ahead and bypass at the same time. Darcy---GO TO THE DR.!!!! DH's biggest complaints were shortness of breath, and a pounding palpitation. I know time and finances are short with the expenses of Ava, but you need to have it checked please! I am sorry you are at that point in your dogs life that the tough decisions have to be made. There is no easy answer, and it is hard. I had my dog put down 5 years ago...I kept putting it off, and she got worse and worse. I knew the time was coming tho, so I brought her kennel in to clean it up, and she hated that kennel, she would run and hide under the bed when it come out. But she drug herself up, and walked across the LR and stepped into it. I could not coax her out. When I pulled her out, she could no longer supporther hind quarters, so I took her in. I cried for ever it seemed like. My heart goes out to you. Donna--I am so thankful you had the necessary love for your son to let him help himself. You did good. My brother is and alcoholic, he has been sober now for over 5 years. He ended up in jail for 90 days, and finally that clicked. I was sad for him, but also VERY pissed off, I saw what it was doing to our parents. I know you are in their shoes, and I sympathize, and pray it works out as well for you. Eileen--twice in a month..YUCK!!! I love my hysterectomy. Now the cancer that forced it sucked, but since then...love it!! No more signs of the bunnies? Beannie--glad you enjoyed your time with DN. I think I need kicked. I am grazing all day. Stress has me eating like crazy! I am holding at the same weight, but losing has stopped, and I know it is my own fault. Get the boot ready! Patty--Woo Hoo TiVo is fun!! Get your shelf built?? HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your boys!! Enjoy them, time goes FAST! Bubbame--if you just have to be fair and share it with him, I would add up all the insurance YOU paid, and deduct that right off the top, and then, and only then split it with him at all. And deduct any time you have to spend dealing with it due to him and his family! Oh and don't forget to pay ME for my 2 cents worth!! Pat--so sorry about the loss of your friend...no words seem appropriate. Maybe you should plant something in your beautiful yard in her honor. It looks like you have the same EZ-GO golf cart as we do for running around the farm!! Kids all love it too!! And don't be afraid to pinch back those petunias, or they will get long and leggy, and not full and pretty. I hate pinching things back it seems unnatural!!! Cindy--glad you survived the "not talking about it" weekend! You did great!! That is hard. I had an Aunt who wanted everything when my Grandma died, and my Mom to keep the peace let her have her way. I hated it then, and do now. My Mom however says she has peace of mind, that she did it the way my Gma. would have wanted, and she has the comfort that SHE provided her comfort in the end. Y'all are better people than I am!!! We too do the grave decorating "thing" either here or in TX depending where we are for the weekend. Betty--thought about you buying up your goodies while we were at the rally this weekend. I bought tshirts, and the rally pin. Nothing big. Hopefully by next year I will have to buy new leathers!! Meaning mine may be too big!! I drug my feet getting these, kept telling my DH, I look like I am wearing the whole damn cow!!! Maybe next year, I'll need a smaller cow!! Becky--whatcha knitting these days?? Ok, my brain is saying ENOUGH!! Hope everyone is doing well, thanks for the continued prayers for DH....big hugs for everyone!! Kat

I just finished Jonathon Kellermans "Rage". I read ALL of his books as they come out in paperback. Those of you who read Patricia Cornwell, might take a look at his and also Stephen White. Kellerman writes on his own and also with his wife on occasion. My favorite of his are his Alex Delaware seriesin which he writes as a child psychologist consulting with the Police Department. He is in fact a psychologist, and writes non fiction as well. It seems I learn wierd little things with each book!! The only time I have had to read lately is while I wait for my DH to be seen at the Dr. or in the waiting room as they run yet again more tests. I needed something light...time to think positive. A friend gave me a book she just read, and I am going to start it today as we wait at the cardiologists office, it is "Pretty Woman" by Fern Michaels. She said it was a fast, fun light hearted (no pun intended, for those of you following my DH's heart issues) read. I have boxes and bags of books waiting to be read....and keep buying more!! I read all of Janet Evanovich as they come out too, they are fun, and make me laugh, my DD got me to reading them, so we share them as they come out in paperback. Kat

Hi Funny, Hope you are feeling much better. I am not a nurse, or PA...I am the Mom of a child with multiple cases of Strep Throat. From the time my DD was 3 until she was 13, we had no less than 3-4 positive cultured strep cases a year. FINALLY at 13 they removed her tonsils. She has had it 2 times since and is now 25! When she had to take her medical records in for the Army, they were shocked by her file, and tested her, and found her to be a carrier of the strep virus. None of the rest of the family or anything ever caught it from her, but she would get the slightest bit run down, and boom she had it again. She would be so miserable, so I feel bad for you! One thing that a pediatrician had her gargle with that really helped her through the years, was a really nasty looking combination...but it did work!!! It also works for cankor sores in the mouth (she also ended up allergic to the metal in her braces!!) He had us take equal amounts of liquid kaopectate (upset stomach/diahrea medicine), and liquid benadryl, mix them, and either gargle and spit, or even gargle and swallow, will not hurt. When she was very young we just gave it to her as medicine, as she got older she spit! It separates worse than vinegar and oil...and it looks atrocious! BUT it helped. The kaopectate makes it stick to the tonsils, and the benadryl reduces the swelling, same with mouth sores. Shake like crazy and pour, it will separate almost instantly!! Also, you might try the Extra Strength Liquid Tylenol, either regular, or the PM (it will have the benadryl it it too), possibly the liquid would ease the tonsils as it passed over them? Many of us bandsters were given the liquid Tylenol by our surgeons, and it works! Hope you feel much better very soon! Kat

What I would like, is for a "favorites" button to be added. So I can quickly go to the threads I read daily. Now maybe there is already one, and I can get started right away!!! Kat

I had no coumadin, my SIL that was banded the same day was on it following hers, she also has a history of DVT. I too am allergic to codeine, and I was given the hydrocodone, and began itching in my face within minutes...I was monitored, and had some minor swelling, but it never got too bad, I did not ever get a second dose, though, they changed it to demerol the next time. I was given some pain meds in my IV ( I cannot for the life of me remember what the name was!) the day of surgery, in the afternoon. By evening I was awake enough to question WHAT it was? I am also allergic to morphine. I opted to not have anything else put in my IV. They gave me a crushed up sleeping pill at bedtime, and that was all I had. On the flight home, I did take a dose of ES Liquid Tylenol, during a layover. I have not had anything since....and I am over a month out now. I am not against taking the medication, if I need it, I just haven't needed anything!! Good Luck!!! Kat

Mine would be... the smell of a sudden light summer rain sticky baby kisses being in the "All's right in the world" comfort of my honeys arms

I totally agree with Karen. I think it is jealousy too. If you have always been the heavy friend, and she the thin one, she might not want to share the attention she is afraid you will now be getting. Seek out other friends who ARE supportive, and when she asks why tell her what Karen said! Meanwhile, be strong, and work hard, it will all pay off for us in the end! Kat

I say Brad......Brad Pit-tumor.. My DH named my band "Billy"....because now I am a Billy Band Ass. Maybe he will have an idea for you, I will ask him when he gets home. He is at work. He is heading for heart surgery, but stay home?? Oh hell no!!! Kat

Bette, Didn't you love Sergio, and his desire to speak nothing but English?? He took such excellent care of me!!! Glad to hear you too did well!! Kat

Well our holiday weekend plans are up in the air of course. Originally we were debating which one of 2 motorcycle rallies we wanted to go to. We will know if we can even do the close one after his appointment on Friday. He says he is going to ask him. If we go, it will likely be the Red River Rally, in (get this!!) Red River NM!!! It is a fun one, although it is usually cold at night, it is in the mountains. Has some of the prettiest runs I have ever been on tho. If we stay home, they have a nice Riverwalk celbration here in town. Lots of bands, booths, & food I will try not to eat!!! DH and I actually got together at this Riverfest celbration many years ago! Kat

Hello everyone, stopping in with an update followingour Dr. visist today. The Dr. said they rate Mitral Valve Prolapse on a scale of 1-4. I being mild with no needed intervention, and 4 being immediate surgical intervention. DH's appears to be a 3 to a 3 1/2+. It is the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve that is malfunctioning, but it is severely messing up, and it has caused the left atrium to enlarge, because it is being overfilled with the blood being pumped and the backwash from the bad valve. They are running 2 more tests this week, a TEE (trans-esophogeal-echocardiogram) where they put a tube with a camera down his throat, and do a echocardiogram fro the back of the heart. The heart is in front of the lower esophogus, so they will view it from there. He will be semi-unconcious for the test, awake only enough to swallow when told to. Then he has a couple of stress tests to see if there is any blockage issues to watch for. He said this type of malfunction in the valve can usually (85% of the time) be repaired as opposed to being replaced. Which was very good news! Then as soon as the results are all in. They did not have a read on the Holter monitor yet, so we are still waiting for that as well. But once everything is in, then we will make an appointment inAlbuquerque, and head down for surgery. He is handling it so-so. He is VERY moody, which I know is stress. But man he is making me crazy! I may end up strangling him before anything can be fixed!!! And when we told his family today, they informed us that they ALL plan on being there for the surgery. Well, that makes for a LOT of people!!! I know they love him and want to be there for him too, but I am selfish, and do not want to give up my place with him! Two of the kids will likely be there, myself, his parents, and 3 siblings. And if it is the same as when my Dad had heart surgery, you are limited to a few minutes every hour in CICU...and then to 2 visitors at a time in the coronary unit itself. Like I say, I do not want to share MY time!!! So I guess, I am just borrowing trouble. Maybe it is because this is something I can get angry over...have someone to be mad at. Anyway, I will be in and out the next few days, and will get around to personals, I am reading and thinking of all of you...I know the parties are happening, and vacations and school ending. And court battles being fought...so all of you hang in there, and we will ALL get through ALL of this together!!! Thanks for being there!! Kat

As the unfortunate target of a serial killer, a rubber innertube is stuffed into your mouth and fully inflated, causing your head to explode. Heck guys, even in death I am stuffing my face!!! I was always afraid I'd do this with food!!! Kat

Hi, congrats on making the decision to change your life with the band. Darcy gave you a great list of the same things I would have suggested! The only thing I would add is a small fan if you have room. My SIL and I were banded the same day, and she suffers from severe hot flashes so always travels with a small osciallating fan. Well as wonderful as the hospital was, it seemed it had 2 temperature settings...Way to HOT and way to COLD!! I burned up, but was hesitant to ask for the A/C to be turned on because I knew in minutes it would be freezing!!! Meanwhile in the room next door she was fine with her little fan! Best of luck to you! I hope you have as uneventful of a surgery and recovery as I have so far!!! Kat

Hey Bubbame, I got the pool man right off the bat...and you are right, he is YUMMY!!! Might be worth having the 13 lb. 14 oz. boy!!! Wait...my kids are grown....Nope, he is not worth it..not starting over even for the pool man!! Andrew Jordan Poolman is all yours hon!! Kat

A woman walked into her kitchen to find her husband armed with a fly swatter, he informs her he is "hunting flies"! She laughs and asks "have you bagged any yet?" "Sure 'nuff he replies, 3 males, and 2 females." Now she is intrigued...."I didn't know you could tell the sex of a fly..." He replies "Yep 3 on a beer can and 2 on the phone!!!" made me laugh! Kat

Hi Steve, I did mine at www.tickerfactory once there they will give you options, I chose weight loss, entered my numbers, and it then allows you to choose your icons. Once done with that it will show you several options, to move it to where you need it. I am sorry I do not remember what it is called, I can tell you it is the first option!!! Go to the first option, right click, select all, copy. go back to LapBandTalk, and under user CP, choose edit signature. Click where you want your ticker to be in your signature, and right click then paste. It will show you a preview....and if you like it, and ok it, it will then show in all your posts. Now that my friend is how someone like me who knows nothing about computers did it!!! Good Luck!!! Kat

First of all please accept my deepest sympathies on the loss of your Mom. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you to get back into a routine of any sort. Know my thoughts will be with you. Secondly....WOOOO-HOOOO!!!!! :cheer2: Way to go girl!! What an inspiration!!! 204 pounds, I am SOOO impressed! Stand up and take a bow! :humble: Kat

hi guys! Well today the monitor comes off of hubby and he can shower again!!! He is used to showering twice a day, this is making him crazy!! Darcy-it wasn't our PCP that ignored his palpitations and shortness of breath, it was a company appointed doc that does the DOT physicals. He had been very healthy otherwise, and had not seen our PCP until this got worse, and he ended up with the sinus infection, and then our PCP kinda freaked out and sent us the same day to the first cardiologist visit. He has talked to HR at work, and let them know he told the Dr. they sent him to about this and was ignored. He since has talked to guys who never even had their BP taken by this guy, and he just waves through their physical. We'll see if anything gets done or not. DH does not drive, he is a foreman, but he has on occasion taken a truck out to a location for a crew or something. Usually he is only in a truck for diagnostic purposes, but he won't now til we find out more. Beannie-The Dr. told us if they had to replace it, there were several tests they would run to decide whether he would be a better candidate for mechanical or biological valve replacement. He said the mechanical is man made, and the biological valve is made from a pigs aorta. He said they would do sleep studies, checking the status of his apnea, and extensive testing on his blood clotting times. Because with a mechanical valve, my understanding is they tend to allow blood to clot on them more than the biological pig aorta does. He said the time he would be required to be on blood thinners would differ with the choice. He never said anything to us about donor valves. PS...like the new pic!! Becky, thanks for the good wishes. My Dad has had 2 sets of bypass surgery as well, and is able to work circles around me to this day. He walks 6 miles everyday, and has done great too. He had his first bypass surgery in 1981, and they told him it would ideally last 5-10 years. He finally had to have one of the bypass' replaced 22 years later! He has had 3 stents put in as well. He has advanced artery disease. One of my biggest reasons for being banded! Eileen--Hope your party turns out wonderfully!!! Get it set up, then enjoy it! Don't spend every minute worried about it being perfect, enjoy it with him! Patty--hope your day is going great! Thanks for the great suggestions, I am already finding little gifty things to have on hand. Even if this never happens, will be fun to find a reason to give them to someone! Mary--hope the infection clears up and you are feeling good again soon! Betty, Pat, Cindy (keep counting down), Sherry,Anne, Donna.....have a great weekend! Have a feeling Betty may be doing what we wanna do...go riding!!! Thanks for all of you being there, will be in touch!! Kat

I have a friend who was saying much the same thing to me not long ago, she said she was going along just feeling fine, and then saw herself in a mirror in the mall, and was apalled, when she realized the woman in the ill fitting clothes with the hanging belly was her! Since then she says she has had this battle with herself, knowing she was only making the matter worse by overeating, then just overeating again because she felt so bad about screwing up again. She said when she was truly oblivious to how she looked to others, she was happy, and didn't feel guilty. But now feels she is her own worst enemy. I could see it happening. I always thought she had an amazing "sense of self" because she didn't seem to let her weight intrude in her life, she wore what she wanted to wear, and didn't let her size dictate to her. Now however, since her wake up call in the mall, she has become super critical of herself...and I see in her, how I am with myself. One minute I get just totally pissed off at myself, that I did something so stupid and let myself go like this. Then other times, I look back at my oww life story, and am quite proud of what I have overcome, and the weight, while I want it gone, is not a big deal in the overall scheme of things. Then again, maybe I am overthinking all this!! Kat

There's really not an easy way to get through the liquid diet....but as the days go on, it does get easier. I bought some bottles of juice at GNC called Zero carb IsoPure. It has 40 g. of protein per 20 oz. bottle, the protein helps curb the hunger. It is really best to drink half the bottle in the morning and half in the afternoon. So you get full benefit from the protein, according to the dietician. Expect to have a pretty good headache, I did. Everyone kept telling me it was caffeine withdrawals, but I don't drink caffeine. I think it was stress from me freaking out about not having food. When you think you are going to "lose it" and binge, go take a walk, or do something crafty that requires both hands so you can't eat! The weight you will lose quickly will help with the determination, and as I said it gets easier as the days go on. It is a great help to the Dr. if you follow your diet, it makes his job easier, and your recovery easier. Good Luck, LBT will be here if it seems overwhelming!!! Hang tough!! Kat

Thanks so much Bubbame....we haven't got into specifics about how they would open him up, they did say it would be open heart with the heart/lung bypass machine, so I just figured it meant all the way down the middle of his chest. Maybe not, I hope not for his sake, it would be a long time then before he could be on his motorcycle...akin to death for him. I really appreciate the offer of a place to stay, and if we find out the best Dr. is there, I may be hollering! We have family in and around Denver, and as I say Albuquerque has the Heart Hospital, and I am thinking that is likely where they will send us. It is the closest large city. It is 180 miles away. We live in a small town of 7200 people here in the 4 corners area of New Mexico, we have another town nearby, 11 miles, which is where his Dr. is, and it is in the neighborhood of say 60,000 people. It has all the necessary things....Walmart, Target, shopping malls etc..!!! It also has a state of the art hospital, BUT...I still think we need bigger and more experienced! We will have more of an idea after the next appt., I mean they may not even do open heart here, I have no idea. I will let you all know as soon as I know more. Meanwhile, we have thought about Colorado...we have family all over the state. Grand Junction, Meeker, Ridgeway, Englewood, Littleton, Golden and Denver....maybe more if I thought about it!!! Will definitely let you know, and thanks again!!! Kat

Just call me...."Raquelle GlitterKiss".

Wheetsin, I needed the laugh....THANK YOU!! What I get, and it happens all too frequently is this: Many, make that MANY people do not know New Mexico is part of the US of A! I called an order in several years ago to Sears, gave her my address, and she tells me they do not deliver outside the content (not a typo) United States. I explain to her we ARE in the US, so she reluctantly asks again for the address. Well the small town I live in is full of ancient Indian Ruins, and I lived on one of many roads with the name Ruins in them. she asks me "Ruins?" I said yes and spelled it, and she asks me..."ruins like in molded food?" I told her, RUINS, as in where the true native Americans of this country used to live! She says "what?" Finally I placed my order....and as hard as it will be for you to believe this...I never got it! Then just last month when I went to Mexico to get my band, we were talking with a couple of nurses, one of whom spoke English, she ask where we were from, we told her New Mexico, she tells the other nurse in Spanish what we said, then tells us she translated it for her that we are not from the United States, that we live "on the hill". We explained to her that NM was in the US, she was so surprised!! Ironic that the US people don't want to claim us, and Mexico did!! I don't mean this one negatively about the nurse, heck I know nothing about Mexico really as a country and how it is divided up! Just cracked me up, like we lived in the NEW Mexico up on snob hill or something!!! Have a good day everyone. And again thanks for the laughs, I needed them today! Kat

Hi everyone...sorry, I will get back on track with the personals, as soon as things calm down a little. Well we went to the cardiologist, and DH has a floppy Mitral valve. It is allowing a large amount of blood to wash back, rather than it all being pumped forward as it should. So the lackof oxygenated blood is what is causing the fatigue, and the shortness of breath, then as it tries to "catch up" is when he gets the pounding palpitations. He had mentioned this to the Dr. who has done his DOT physical for the last 2 years, but he only mentioned that "we aren't getting any younger". So who knows how long it has been going on, the Dr. today said it could have been gradually getting worse for years. So, they did an hour long echocardiogram....and the floppy valve is very evident...where the other valves they showed us were working in perfect unison...kind of like automatic doors, open then close, together. The mitral valve is just flopping around without ever meeting to fully close, when they finally manage to come close to closing, it looks like it is just by chance. So the murmur is very loud, and it is allowing a lot of blood to flow back to where it just come from, and is making his heart work harder, to pump more blood, since so little of it is actually being pumped and pushed on. So they put him on a halter (sp?) monitor for the next 48 hours, to see if there is any kind of pattern of how long it takes for his body to react from the loss of oxygenated blood, and whether normal activity is affected. The halter monitor is like a portable EKG machine, he has all the EKG like leads hooked to his chest and a little unit about the size of a gameboy it feeds into, which he wears hooked on his belt. He cannot bathe or get it wet...he is gonna smell pretty by Saturday!!! We return to the Dr. on Monday, by then they will have analyzed the monitor he is wearing, and had further opportunity to examine the echocardiogram. And will know whether they can try to repair the valve, or if it will have to be replaced. And if it has to be replaced, they will discuss with us our options of mechanical versus biological (made from a pig aorta). Depending on what they say, we will make our decision of whether to stay here, or to go to Albuquerque. We are in a rather rural area, and we want experienced Dr's going into this. It is still scary as hell, but now it is almost scarier to to do nothing, because I have seen how badly malfunctioning this valve is! He is freaked out, he saw my Dad when he had bypass, and he is not pleased at the thought of open heart surgery, but he also knows he needs it. Will let you know what we find out on Monday. Thank you so much, all of you, the support has been awesome. I find it strange that I felt so connected to all of you, without having ever "met" any of you! My DD and I had a talk about it. She has several wonderful friends she made on her pregnancy boards when she was expecting the granddaughter, and she is still in touch with the same group of girls, both on the boards and by phone, even went to see one of them. The pregnancy boards, were divided up somewhat by due dates, so she ask me how these were done, and wondered if we grouped by how much weight we each wanted to lose. I told her no, and explained how I ended up on a NJ board, when I am in NM. And as we talked I realized, I look at your tickers and cheer you on or try to give support depending on which way they go for the week, but when I "talk" to you, I see in my minds eye, the smiling face in some of the avatars, and big hearts, I have no "body image" in mind of anyone!!! I then decided, I just hoped you only thought of me as a smile and a heart too....no one needs to remember this belly!!! Once again, thanks for being there....and keep the prayers going, we have a long road ahead of us. It does help knowing that you'll be standing on the roadside cheering us on. BIG BIG hugs to all of you! Kat