Band_Groupie

Do the math girl! Oct. 10 was 19 weeks and a day ago...71.7 / 19= 3.77+ pounds per week! Celebrate!!!! Yes, I am way too obsessed with what others are losing (hey, it's motivating). Great job! -BG

::BG pulls apart Lena's fingers and places crown on her head:: Queen of Bullcrap (and what a tease...tell us what you got at Saks!!!).

Cripes! That's about 4 pounds a week...and through the holidays even! You're doing twice as well as the average bandster!!!! *Bowing down* -BG

You're on the right path and all your fears are normal. Some here continue to see their psych post-op to help with the whole addiction/head hunger issues -as you said it's such a big part of losing. Good luck to you! -BG

Have fun today (we artists embrace that word 'eccentric'). I chose Fitday too (although I haven't started using it daily since I can't lose yet...sigh). -BG

Congratulations! And nice ticker! Both of you- WELCOME to LBT! If you haven't found them yet, there is a Feb. 2009 group you can join that should help you as everyone there is in the same spot you are. Click HERE Polley- Feel free to start a blog (journal) here, it's a great way to track your progress. Good luck! -BG

You're such a smart gal...have your head together! Send him another message, just in case, and move on. You're ready for a relationship, you're happy with yourself and life, so it will happen for you soon. Just be aware of that 'common thread'...it's like that weight loss saying...if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. Love will find you, just be open for it and get out there in new environments. Dear Lord, me given dating advice, and I've been married 26 years...sorry, I'm used to doing this with DD and my DB. -BG

Congratulations! I'll be watching you, as you're starting off at about the same weight as me. Welcome to LBT! -BG

Whoot!! That's awesome JA! Halfway in 4 mo.?!!! Is part of that pre-band? You're a bander superstar! Must feel (and look) good! -BG

Congratulations! Call your doc, but my understanding is a knot near your largest incision is normal as that should be your port site and where they put your band through the abdominal wall to get to the stomach (some people mistake their actual port for a swelling). For most people this will go down signficantly in about a month or a little longer. I'm sure your surgeon gave you things to watch for on all the incisions...leaking, hot, red, fever, changes (things that indicate an infection). You also need to watch that it doesn't get larger as that can indicate a hernia. 16# is awesome. -BG Oh, and WELCOME to LBT!!!

It's not drivel...I'm storing all those statistics for Trivial Pursuit LOL...actually, like I said at the beginning, I found it interesting. It's your blog, not a thread on a forum, so WRITE AWAY! Heck, I write about any random thing in my head...many times not even related to LB...and I blather on forever until I get it all out (who has time to edit). It's your journal...it's for you! Keep going! :-) -BG

Too cute! Man, you just whipped that up fast....I'm now sending you all my half-finished 'best intentions' sewing craft projects (along with that mending pile). I saw a bumper sticker once that made me chuckle "She who dies with the most leftover fabric wins!"...what woman doesn't have piles of leftover/unused fabric. You've got talent girl! -BG

We’re collectors; rusty antiques mostly. I blame my sickness on my parents (I just reminded Mom recently that everything’s their fault…my kids will blame me for whatever they want, so they’re fair game for me…LOL). But really, my parents drug us to antique stores and shows from the time I was little. I remember one particular trip to my Aunt/Uncle’s in New York where Mom and Dad hit the mother-load. We returned home in our station wagon with Mom, Dad, we five children, and a car load so full my youngest sister (little enough) sat with her head under the Grandmother clock, and my oldest sister and I took turns sitting with our heads through the rungs of the legs of a chair. We didn’t have seatbelts then…I don’t even want to think about what would have happened in an accident. See, it’s a serious contagious illness. I always loved the Flea Markets and sometimes even the occasional Garage Sale. When DH and I started dating I introduced him to his first flea market…a big one…every Saturday morning in the summer at a local Drive-In Theater. He was hooked, so I guess he can blame me. We didn’t have “2 nickels to rub together” so we started collecting things that were cheap and available. I took a liking to red-wooden handled kitchen tools from the 40’s-50’s (usually about 50 cents or more...I call it my 'rust collection') and DH gravitated to glass telephone insulators (his friend had a small collection), also about $1. It gave us something to ‘hunt’ for, which made it fun. Since those early years (I have several hundred tools hanging/on shelves in my kitchen…I do enjoy having my collections around me), I’ve moved on to other collections. I’m a gal who embraces change. I’ve collected baking pans, graniteware, wooden spools from mills, stoneware crocks, wooden typeset letters, and metal pie pans. I finally scored the elusive Frisbee pie pan a year ago….yes, that’s how Frisbees were invented; by the pie co. employees on their lunch hour in their parking lot. For some strange reason I now like tiny wooden German figures and tiny houses/castle blocks. I think it has something to do with my love of Christmas melded with the fact that DH grew up (on an Army base) in Germany. I can’t wait to set them up someday under a tiny tree at Christmas. I’ve even moved on to some new (not antique) items…Polish pottery is my newest love. DH has stuck by his beloved insulators…he’s now up to about 600 (yea, that's what I said). He’s dabbled in a few others…coins in his youth, bottle openers, rock/mineral specimens (he’s a geologist, no longer working in that field). But he’s always stuck by his insulators. I admire his tenacity (I'm fickle). Do you know there’s actually regional and national shows for insulator collectors? I know, I thought the same thing...it sounds like one step from a Star Wars convention (and don’t tell my boys they have these as my oldest loves his collection of Star Wars toys), but interestingly (to me it was), it’s not a nerdfest…there’s a cross-section of America/the World actually collecting everything. We’ve also filled our home with inexpensive primitive antique furniture and have stripped and refinished more furniture than anyone should in a lifetime. When we moved here my youngest was in Kindergarten and brought home a project the first week with a picture he’d drawn of our brand new home…his sentence below described our house as ‘Old Fashioned’ LOL. My kids are now hooked too (yes, they’ll all blame me). When we took our family trip to Paris last year (DD studying abroad), we took them to an enormous flea market. The boys had a blast trying to make their purchases with the few French phrases they’d learned, and DD helping. I even found some red-handled kitchen tools, a piece of wooden typeset, and yes, DH found a glass insulator. We had the best time watching the kids and talking to the locals. I swear there’s someone out there who collects anything you can possibly think of. Old bedpans?…I’m sure someone collects them…just check eBay. You see, it’s not as much about the collection as it is about the hunt (although it helps if you like what you’re collecting). You rarely find anyone who collects the same thing that you do, and you're probably better friends that way...especially when shopping, but the fact that you've found another 'collector' makes a bond all by itself. I’ve found you’re either a collector or you’re not, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s something new or old, it’s the hunt that draws us…those of us that live with this dreaded illness understand.

We’re collectors; rusty antiques mostly. I blame my sickness on my parents (I just reminded Mom recently that everything’s their fault…my kids will blame me for whatever they want, so they’re fair game for me…LOL). But really, my parents drug us to antique stores and shows from the time I was little. I remember one particular trip to my Aunt/Uncle’s in New York where Mom and Dad hit the mother-load. We returned home in our station wagon with Mom, Dad, we five children, and a car load so full my youngest sister (little enough) sat with her head under the Grandmother clock, and my oldest sister and I took turns sitting with our heads through the rungs of the legs of a chair. We didn’t have seatbelts then…I don’t even want to think about what would have happened in an accident. See, it’s a serious contagious illness. I always loved the Flea Markets and sometimes even the occasional Garage Sale. When DH and I started dating I introduced him to his first flea market…a big one…every Saturday morning in the summer at a local Drive-In Theater. He was hooked, so I guess he can blame me. We didn’t have “2 nickels to rub together” so we started collecting things that were cheap and available. I took a liking to red-wooden handled kitchen tools from the 40’s-50’s (usually about 50 cents or more...I call it my 'rust collection') and DH gravitated to glass telephone insulators (his friend had a small collection), also about $1. It gave us something to ‘hunt’ for, which made it fun. Since those early years (I have several hundred tools hanging/on shelves in my kitchen…I do enjoy having my collections around me), I’ve moved on to other collections. I’m a gal who embraces change. I’ve collected baking pans, graniteware, wooden spools from mills, stoneware crocks, wooden typeset letters, and metal pie pans. I finally scored the elusive Frisbee pie pan a year ago….yes, that’s how Frisbees were invented; by the pie co. employees on their lunch hour in their parking lot. For some strange reason I now like tiny wooden German figures and tiny houses/castle blocks. I think it has something to do with my love of Christmas melded with the fact that DH grew up (on an Army base) in Germany. I can’t wait to set them up someday under a tiny tree at Christmas. I’ve even moved on to some new (not antique) items…Polish pottery is my newest love. DH has stuck by his beloved insulators…he’s now up to about 600 (yea, that's what I said). He’s dabbled in a few others…coins in his youth, bottle openers, rock/mineral specimens (he’s a geologist, no longer working in that field). But he’s always stuck by his insulators. I admire his tenacity (I'm fickle). Do you know there’s actually regional and national shows for insulator collectors? I know, I thought the same thing...it sounds like one step from a Star Wars convention (and don’t tell my boys they have these as my oldest loves his collection of Star Wars toys), but interestingly (to me it was), it’s not a nerdfest…there’s a cross-section of America/the World actually collecting everything. We’ve also filled our home with inexpensive primitive antique furniture and have stripped and refinished more furniture than anyone should in a lifetime. When we moved here my youngest was in Kindergarten and brought home a project the first week with a picture he’d drawn of our brand new home…his sentence below described our house as ‘Old Fashioned’ LOL. My kids are now hooked too (yes, they’ll all blame me). When we took our family trip to Paris last year (DD studying abroad), we took them to an enormous flea market. The boys had a blast trying to make their purchases with the few French phrases they’d learned, and DD helping. I even found some red-handled kitchen tools, a piece of wooden typeset, and yes, DH found a glass insulator. We had the best time watching the kids and talking to the locals. I swear there’s someone out there who collects anything you can possibly think of. Old bedpans?…I’m sure someone collects them…just check eBay. You see, it’s not as much about the collection as it is about the hunt (although it helps if you like what you’re collecting). You rarely find anyone who collects the same thing that you do, and you're probably better friends that way...especially when shopping, but the fact that you've found another 'collector' makes a bond all by itself. I’ve found you’re either a collector or you’re not, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s something new or old, it’s the hunt that draws us…those of us that live with this dreaded illness understand.

Geeze...We gave you an apple, what more could you want?

Sounds fair to me :-) Interesting statistics! -BG

I'd also suggest you post this in the "Forum" "Insurance" section HERE (just click on 'new thread' at the tops and put the state/ins. co. in the title. It will get a lot more visibility there and you'll probably find someone with the same thing in the same state. There's actually a huge poll/thread there now on Tricare Approval/Denial HERE. It has 11 pages of posts so maybe you'll see an answer there (it doesn't specify state and I don't know if Tricare is in more than CA so you'll have to look). Good luck! And WELCOME to LBT!!! -BG

Apparently she's now getting flack for her fake nails as well (you can see her perfect manicure on the Ann Curry Dateline piece). She was out shopping and getting her nails done again the other day with a trail of reporters following. The article was mainly about how does she have time to shop (video games) and get her nails done with all those kids that need her time. The flack on this one is that fake nails cause problems for babies in the NICU so the people in the medical community are telling her to get rid of them. Don't know what the problem is as they didn't spell it out, but maybe some of the nurses here know? You'd think the hospital the babies are in would have handled this with her, but maybe it's not a huge deal. You can see her touching all the babies on the Dateline piece. And E.R., well said!

Whoot! Congratulations!!! That's just around the corner. Let us know how you're doing. And WELCOME to LBT! -BG

I want a Star-Belly, and I want it NOW!!! I’m getting impatient…yes, again. Patience has never been one of my virtues. This 6 month time warp in super slow-mo is starting to feel like Groundhog Day (and I’m in PA, so I should know). I’ve done my research and I feel prepared, I’ve chosen my type of band, and even my port site (sounds like I’m going on a cruise…I wish), I’m done with all the pre-op doc visits, I’m only allowed to lose 4 more pounds, and yet I’ve got 6 weeks left before I can even ‘submit for approval’ (at least that sounds like an optimistic phrase). Maybe it’s this gloomy time of year…I wake up every day enthusiastic and ready and yet…no band…like I said, Groundhog Day. Can I just say for the 248th time…insurance rules are diabolical…DIABOLICAL I tell you!!! I’m jealous of those with Stars upon thars…you Star-Bellies…now where’s that Sylvester McMonkey McBean and his very peculiar machine?!!

I knew it! Thanks for letting me whine.

She also denied having any plastic surgery. Asked if she'd had her lips done, Suleman replied, "No, no." Grandmother gave an interview to a local CBS station and says she hopes her daughter can get her own home so that she (grandmom can have her own life). Grandmom says she hopes to go visit her sister in Europe soon so she can live a litttle. Alledgedly Nadya has now taken out a gag order on her mother. Octuplet Grandfather to Oprah "I Question Her Mental Situation" Ed Doud, father of Nadya Suleman who gave birth to octuplets in late January 2009, tapes an interview with Oprah Winfrey to be aired on Feb. 24, 2009 in her Chicago studios on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Harpo Productions says Doud calls his daughter and her doctor "absolutely irresponsible" and questions his daughters "mental situation." (AP Photo/Harpo Productions, George Burns) CHICAGO — The father of the California woman who recently gave birth to octuplets told Oprah Winfrey that he hopes people don't punish his grandchildren for his daughter's irresponsible behavior. Ed Doud said in an interview taped Thursday for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that the actions of his daughter, Nadya Suleman, and her doctor were "absolutely irresponsible." But he also issued a plea for the public's help, according to excerpts of the interview released by Harpo Productions Inc. "You know what? She needs help. I say to everybody now _ people _ we do need help," Doud said. "Do not punish my daughter for what she had done and do not punish the babies, because they were given by God." A California-based nonprofit called Angels in Waiting has offered Suleman round-the-clock care and a place to stay with her 14 children. It would cost about $135,000 a month to provide the 12 caretakers necessary for the children, money that would have to come from public donations, founder Linda West Conforti said in Los Angeles. The organization has the trained nursing personnel and experience in caring for very sick children, she said. The group, however, could only provide care for a limited time without the donations, she said. Suleman, a 33-year-old single mother from Whittier, Calif., already had six children when she gave birth to octuplets in late January after undergoing in vitro fertilization. She is unemployed and lives with her mother in a three-bedroom home. Property records show Suleman's mother, Angela, owns the home and is $23,225 behind in her mortgage payments. The house could be sold at auction beginning May 5. In response to a question about whether he thinks his daughter is mentally stable, Doud said, "Now I'm no psychiatrist, but I question her mental situation." Doud said he hopes Suleman will finish her education and start working so she can help support the family. The show is scheduled to air Tuesday.

Ditto, no forms. Just about 20 min. of questions you would expect, and then a few more waiting while he filled in some info. Don't sweat it (although I did too). -BG

...now I'm sniffly too...what great friends you both are! ...and I'm sending you my mending mountain (at least the ones that aren't toddler size).

Welcome to LBT!!! Yep, we've all been/are in the same boat. Great peeps here!