Devana

I agree with this. Just don't play. Also my personal rule of "when in doubt, do the unexpected" tends to change the balance of things!

Green, I wonder if you remember Iona Campagnolo, member of parliament for northern BC in the '70's, (currently BC's lieutenant governor). We were in her riding when we were doing our back to the land thing up north. She sent out forms to all her constituants, asking our opinion on the death penalty and whether we thought it should be part of the Canadian legal system. I filled in the "no" box and then proceeded to fill up the given space with my reasons. It wasn't long before I received form letter reply stating that she appreciated my input, however, she believed people elected her to exercise her conscience and not be "just a weather vane for popular opinion". WTF????? I wondered why she even bothered to ask.

Welcome! I'm glad things are humming along for you.

That sounds like quite an expensive ordeal, Jo. I was self pay so I have no ideas about your insurance situation. You may want to try asking in the "Insurance" threads. Good luck with it all.

Hey Sue, congratulations on your surgery date! I hope all goes well for you. Sometimes I think it's a good thing to not be an internet person. I know that when I'm here I'm sitting on my a$$ and not exercising. All the best.

Welcome Breezyrn. Congratulations on making your decision to be banded. As far as the type of band, sometimes you just gotta have faith. Remember how destructive worry can be! All the best with your journey, and keep posting.

Well, even if you did mess up, welcome to LBT! Post again and tell us about yourself.

Welcome, Amy. Congratulations on your banding and your weight loss so far.

Way to go, Mary! I know that this is for you, but just think of how much more you will be able to enjoy doing things with your kids when you can move better. You might want to go to the Doctors and Hospitals threads to get specific surgeon information.

Boy, kittyhorse, that's a new one on me! I have no idea. You might get more responses if you ask this again on the General threads. All the best with your plans.

Welcome Renee.

Welcome, Sue. I know what you mean. I lurked on this site for many months before making my decision. I actually went through a period of mourning anticipating my changed relationship with food! I have no regrets. All the best with your journey.

Ernie, nuts, that sounds awful. I hope things settle down so you don't have to have more surgery.

Aw nuts, Derick, I'm so sorry you're having troubles. Applying for jobs can be dehumanizing at the best of times, but doubly so if you're discriminated against for some reason. I'm hoping there is someone out there who sees YOU and not just the hearing aids. The best of luck, I'll send positive thoughts your way.

Hi there. Welcome to you both!

Welcome, Courtney. LBT is a great place for information and support. Keep on reading and posting!

Hello, there and welcome to LBT. This is a great place for information and support. There's a special "Insurance" section. You may want to check out the threads and ask about Kaiser there. All the best with your decision.

Marcia, I'm glad you found us. Holy Smokes, you're doing great!

Congratulations on your surgery date! Not long to go now.

Welcome to LBT, Christa. This is a great place to get all that information. Keep reading and asking questions. A friend and I were banded at the same time. I have a high BMI while hers was low, she had about as much to lose as you have. It's been less than a year and she's now at goal weight and looking fantastic. All the best with your plans.

Welcome, Podna. Congratulations on your surgery date. The NIH study was the deciding factor for me to get banded. I realized that it was very unlikely that I would be one of the 5%. All the best, keep us posted.

We had a visit from our old friend Jimmy yesterday. He brought his new wife along. This is number 5. I hesitate to say that the others were failed relationships because he's on very good terms with all of them except the first one. His first wife is truly mad. She ended up marrying my husbands brother (for a short and intense time) so now I am tied to her by her children, my niece and nephew. But, I digress. Jimmy's new wife is from Texas which is, here in British Columbia, very exotic. She's smart and funny and age appropriate (he married a younger woman once). He calls her Miss Lucy, she used the word "y'all" a couple of times and she hates Perry. I like her very much. I had a wonderful day. I hope this one lasts for the both of them. Anyway, I was thinking about you, Carlene. I can read your words, but now I can put an accent to them!

Many years ago, fairly early in our relationship, my husband and I agreed that, since he is a splasher, he would keep the bathroom clean since he made the majority of the mess in there. It didn't take long for the bathroom to become pretty disgusting, but I just backed off and didn't say anything until one day when we were expecting company. I gave him a reminder, that now would be a good time to do his agreed job. He came out of the bathroom very cheerful and pleased with himself, but when I went in the place was still a mess. Now, I used to be really sensitive to issues around having my own way. I never wanted to impose my way as the "right" way, or get bossy or parent-like in our relationship. (And vice versa of course!) So I took him in and asked him to look at it from my eyes and see what I saw. I started with the grubby mirror first and went on from there. He was totally amazed. He had just never seen things that way before. His idea of cleaning the bathroom was to give the inside of the toilet a swish. I showed him how to do things and it's been (mostly) great ever since. My young teenaged son had been, until recently, unable to physically do a lot of cleaning and chores. When I asked him to clean the kitchen for the first time he didn't have a clue. I had to do it with him a few times, just to show him the steps. However, that all said, my house is a mess. It's cluttered and dirty in the corners. My excuse is that I was living in a state of either crisis or post traumatic stress for the last few years and was able to get just the essentials done. Things are gradually getting a lot better for me so I'm starting to go through the house, flylady-like, and do a bit at a time. A cupboard here, a corner there.

We packed up and moved from Canada to the UK on 3 and a half days notice quite a few years ago. That included selling our vehicles. It was insane. I was so exhausted when we arrived. We sold off or gave away all the furniture, put our kitchen stuff and stereo into a relatives basement and left with a dufflebag each stuffed with clothes and textbooks. The smartest thing I did was jot down a few of my favourite recipes on a piece of paper, which ended up in a pretty bedraggled state after 5 years. I also packed my measuring cup. I hate using those little scales for baking. By the way, this was pre-children. It would have been impossible to do in that short time with more than just the two of us.

There are some older threads around about her unbanding. I believe she could no longer tolerate the food restriction or something like that. She sure does still rock, though, doesn't she? And has anyone seen Jann Arden recently? She looks fantastic. Apparently she started running and ended up losing the weight. She was in town a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't see her because I just spent a small fortune on Sonny Rollins tickets. Can't wait.