faybie

Interesting statement. Coming from a poor family myself and being the only family member to graduate high school much less college, I have an interesting perspective that many at my education level may or may not be subjected to. All of my uneducated, underprivileged cousins have a minimum of 3 illegitimate children starting motherhood primarily at the age of 13. Each child is extra money per month from the government. Were the children fed, bathed, educated or receiving adequate medical care? Unfortunately, no. Were they neglected and abused? Unfortunately, yes. Do I think they should have been aborted instead of malnourished and abused? Well, no.....as I was once one of those children myself. Would an abortion have spared the children the abuse and neglect? Probably, yes.

He he yea you look great too! I remember looking at your pics thinking to myself wow... 32 pounds and you can really tell. I was wishing that my 25 pounds would show that much, I had no idea that it did until I put the two faces side by side. Funny how our mind plays tricks on us and we see ourselves that way. I still saw myself looking like the picture on the left. When I showed my 12 year old son, he said that he has always seen me looking like the picture on the right. I just gave him a big hug at that point.

Pelorojo, you are so sweet! So funny though, I absolutely hate my hair, LOL. After the chemotherapy, it grew back in curly. I have had long straight hair all of my life. The curly hair has been an absolute shock to me. The funnier thing is.... I have only had one hair cut and that was in July right before the reunion. Oh and um.... I am wearing one BROWN shoe and one BLACK shoe today =) I will be taking the special bus home from work today.....

Waterlily, I have to say like many people have already posted, I know exactly where you are today too. I had a baby, then the baby was in the hospital for head trauma, then my father died while my baby was in the hospital (he lived with me) then two months later I was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. I too have a wonderfully supportive DH and now I am cancer free. It has taken me a LONG and HARD road to get to where I am today. I know all about watching things pile up and not wanting to get out of bed. I think you did the right thing going to your Dr., however don't expect immediate or instant results. I came out of my deep depression like a flower blooms in slow motion. It happened slowly over time. Don't beat yourself up over this any longer and do what you can when you can and no more.....until you can add more. Stress of any kind will be detrimental right now. My internal stress that I put on myself was more stressful than any thing else, be aware of this and try not to talk negatively to yourself. You are not alone and these feelings happen to perfectly normal people.

Funny how everything is relative. I mentioned that my son was in private school from K-2nd grade. They were not governed by at "TAKS" cirriculum and the teachers were free to teach anything and everything they wanted. Some teachers were very creative and came up with interesting ways to inspire and teach the children. Others were there to get paid and go home. I transitioned my son into public school for 3rd grade after touring the local public school and was very impressed with their video broadcasting room that the 5th graders used. Many other things were impressive for instance each grade had its own restrooms, so 5th graders weren't using the same restroom as the 1st graders. I really liked that because it seemed that it would cut down on older children bothering or picking on the younger children. I did notice that everything that was being taught was centered around the TAKS and geared for the TAKS. This didn't particularly bother me. However, my son's 3rd grade year was a difficult transition for us because he was behind in all of the subjects compared to all of the other students. We struggled together and eventually got caught up. I was quite shocked and a little dissappointed to learn that the "so called private education" that I had been paying for was "sub par" to what the children were learning in public school. The sadest part of the story is that my son was one of the most gifted children in the private school and often got extra assignments from the teachers so that he wouldn't be bored in class. So, if my son was getting a "sub par" education with above and beyond what the other students were getting in the private school, how would the other students measure up? They will be in for a rude awakening come time for college preparation tests.

Nice, Congratulations!

What a great decision your mom has made. The surgery will be perfect to get her back on track to a healthy lifestyle. I am a cancer survivor as well thats why I have short hair, I have 14 months of hair growth. I know exactly what you mean about not being able to move and all of the medication having an affect on weight gain. In the last 2 months, I am starting to feel like myself again, pre-cancer. It's great! Thanks Libra and Pelerojo for the kind words. Btw, I miss my cartoon chic too! LOL.

I am almost one month post op. My "breaking point" was pictures of me at my family reunion this past July 2006. I decided to look at them today and I was shocked! I guess because this is more gradual to me I had no idea the difference. I am down 25 pounds total including pre-op diet. Check this out..... This first picture is from July 30, 2006 the second picture was this past Wednesday.

Check this out.... the first pic is July 30, 2006 the second picture was taken on Wednesday just shy of one month post op.

Unfortunately you have to go back to the ticker website and create a new one with the new information, then paste it back into your signature.

I have a nanny for my children and I would rather her take a week off then come to work in pain. She is so busy and does a lot for us, I couldnt imagine her being able to do that at 3 days post op. Do they know anyone that can fill in for you while you are gone? What about Wednesday before Thanksgiving?

Is the vangaurd band 10cc's?

Ha Ha no no. LOL. I wish! it is an avatar I found on the board here. It is a character from one of the Final Fantasy games, 10 I think. I am a huge gamer always have been and Final Fantasy is one of my favorite game series. I did post a partly skinny pic of me in the "what is your dream skinny clothes" in my wedding dress. That is my dream skinny outfit. I told my husband when I get to that weight, I am going to wear the dress around the house for a couple of days. LOL.

Robin, It sounds like you are doing everything right. The only other thing I was thinking was if you are more active and moving around more now, the extra activity is developing muscle as well not just the weight training. Did you take measurements? You may still be shrinking even though the scale isnt moving. Pebbles, I am glad that you are feeling better. Sorry your visit was so painful =( Wow almost 50 pounds gone that is great!

Well, I think choosing a surgeon that has done Factor V Leiden patients before is a good idea. Try going to search, its in the middle of the blue title bar, and type in Kuri. See what kind of posts come up. I haven't heard of him, but I am sure someone on here has been a patient of his.

Ha Ha. I almost have the complete list updated. You guys are such LOSERS! LOL. It took me 3 days to record everyones information by reading through the posts. A couple of you guys lost weight in those 3 days and I had to update your weights. LMAO. Good Job! Here it is: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=307849#post307849

Isn't that the fault of the parents? It should be the responsibility of the parents to raise their children to be accountable. However, it happens with the overly wealthy and the middle class all the way down to children who live in poverty. How is the spoiled behavior of Paris Hilton any different than someone raised on welfare expecting to be supported by welfare themselves? Both are enabling. Both are teaching the children that they don't have to be accountable. The only difference that I can see is financial situation of both scenarios. Personally, if I was overly wealthy, a majority of my money would be in offshore accounts. Yes....that's illegal. But I "could" do it if I wanted to. I could do it right now if I wanted to spend the $30k to open a swiss account, over the internet even. There is currently no way that I could be caught or punished for doing it. That idea scares the crap out of the IRS. The internet has opened a whole knew world to the upper middle-class in that respect. Nothing can stop our overly wealthy Americans from doing it either. So basically, the overly wealthy are always going to be overly wealthy. I still am very far away from being convinced that inheritance tax is a good way to keep the wealthy "in check" without hurting the common man that has worked hard to accumulate wealth.

I completely agree with this. When I meet my retirement goals, I may have the amount of money that puts me in a higher category for that moment, however my goals are so that I can live without financial worry and similar to how I live now when I am retired, not so that I can live lavishly. When I reflect on what you say about the "wealthy" feeling that they think they have the right to rule men, its an interesting subject because goverment has very little impact on their buying or purchasing power, maybe the SEC to some extent. Whether we like it or not, wealthy people will (unfortunately) always have power no matter which political party is in the majority. I saw Bill Gates and Warren Buffet mentioned. Two men who did not come from extremely wealthy backgrounds, I believe that is why they have the values that they do regarding their view on money and their heirs. I personally would not partake in a battle that I could never win, too stressful. I don't see what I could do as a Democrat or a Republican to change the "influence" of the wealthy. It is what it is. I still after all of the rebuttals on my comments feel that the inheritance tax does not affect the "wealthy" (as we are no longer talking about "rich") as much as it does common middle class citizen living conservatively that has been diligently saving. True. True. So very true. It is shameless. However, one thought came to mind as I was posting my response. If gas went up to $50 a gallon because a majority of the worlds oil resources are in Iraq and we had no one in power there willing to negotiate, I would be directly affected. "What if" it cost more to travel to work than a person makes in salary........ that would be tragic for the common man. $50 a gallon of gas wouldn't really affect the wealthy as much as it would me. So yea, it's true, it's shamelss but the alternative is a harsh reality for the common man.

Ok so, any one who rises above poverty level to middle class then eventually the "rich" class is the enemy? Please explain.... Whether your money is new or old it is still a strive to achieve a better life for your successors. So I am the enemy because I strive to put my children and their children in the "rich' category? I literally came from poverty to the point of not eating for weeks..... that was incentive enough to want to strive to be better. I am so confused about the resentment for people who have more than 2+ million in their estate.....

I really appreciate that this isn't getting out of control and no one is being unreasonable or blatenly hateful, which I have seen on many political forums. Being the middle of the road person that I am, everyone has made some really excellent points and I honestly can't disagree with any of the points being made. I didn't know there was a minimum on the inheritance tax when I posted my earlier post, so that was interesting to learn without being ripped to shreds. I haven't yet looked up probate tax as I am under the impression that this is different. I consider myself middle class now. I came from poverty, frankly. However when I retire, I will be so-called rich, no matter how conservatively I live my life. I started investments for my retirement at an ureasonably young age, on accident really, because the beginning of my career started at a financial company before I finished college. If I die early, I would love for my children and future grand children to have an advantage that I could have never even dreamed about by not losing a portion to 40 or 50% taxation. I was recently involved in a transaction that was a bit higher than the minimum inheritance tax, however it was divided by 52 individuals. So, the people receiving the money were not "rich" by any means and their share went from $80,000 to $40,000 in a blink of an eye. It is situations like this that have me driven to want to lighten the inheritance tax. I used a fictional scenario earlier, however my new scenario is real. About the social security reform, I also did not know that it involved other areas other than retirement only. If it affects the disabled or parentless children, then I would never stand behind it. I would have also assumed that there would have been a grandfather clause for all people who contributed to SS taxes but did not accumulate a "private fund". If it didn't include that grandfather clause, it would be very, very unreasonable. I have very much enjoyed everyone's point of views. I hope this thread continues. Tired Old Man that was a very interesting post about who we have bombed since WWII. On a continuing note, My husband is 80% Democrat and about 20% Republican (as we have had many discussions on the matter) and he believes that we as "USA" must continue to show that we are a world power, that does not mean that he supports any wars, however he believes that USA controls a majority of the worlds commerce, therefore we have power in commerce as much as we do defense.

Actually, I would like to see the inheritance taxes lightened. This really hurts the poor more than it does the rich. The rich have financial advisors that understand how/persuade them to set up estates and have them passed down generation to generation without being taxed 50% at every generation. Where as the little old lady next door dies and leaves her house to her surviving 3 children. The house is worth $120,000. Each surviving child should get $40,000. But they don't, it is taxed at 50% first and each child gets $20,000. Where does that 50% go? Who does it benefit? 50% is such a harsh number to be taxed for inheritence tax. I actually agree with lowering or getting rid of this tax. Private social security is another one that I support and it doesn't necessarily benefit the rich as much as you think, it benefits the working middle class. Wealthy people are probably not concerned if they will be guaranteed their montly $800-$1600 social security check when they reach 65. They have money market funds and stock certificates that they have most likely accumulated for their retirement. The working middle class however, especially someone my age may not have additional money market funds, might have cashed in their 401k to buy a house (which would be an unwise decision) and most likely will count on that guaranteed monthly check at retirement. What if, in 30 years the money is negative and they tell me I can't have my social security benefit that I worked and contributed taxes to for 45 years+? If it was "my private fund" I would know how much is in it and how much I would be getting and it would definitely be there for me. I understand that it would be a HUGE change and a lot of people would not really understand how to manage their "private social security fund". However, at age 35, I am faced with the reality that the money I have contributed in taxes so far and the money that I will pay in social security taxes for 30+ more years may or may not be there for me when I hit retirement at age 65. As a working middle class citizen that is HUGE, for the rich, it really isn't as important as you think. Just food for thought.....

I didn't realize people didn't like the TAKS test. My son was in private school for his first 3 years and they did the Stanford testing to see how the students compared nation wide. My son has now been in public school in Fort Bend county for 3rd thru 7th and the TAKS test seems similar. I just assumed it did the same and made sure all students were on the same level of criteria to pass a grade. I have never really questioned it because I went to school in many states (Georgia, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Indiana and Washington state) and they all had some sort of standardize testing. What do you not like about it?

Soduko... I am in love with Soduko just absolutely hooked! I didn't know what the rave was all about until I did a Soduko puzzle on an airplane in the airplane magazine. I'm so hooked, I have a book in my car and take it every where I will be waiting. I also play soduko online. Although, it is not much human interaction. For human interaction you could try yahoo games. You can pick your game of choice.

Awwww pebbles... any time you are feeling this bad you should always come here and post. I have had ice cream, what's wrong with ice cream? I don't have this humungous bowl covered in whipped cream and caramel like I used to. Now I just have a scoop and I am satisfied. You shouldn't beat yourself up over having ice cream if you want it. Personally, I did not get the band to be on a diet the rest of my life. I got the band to limit my hunger, snacking, over eating, etc. If I went into this thinking I was dieting the rest of my life, I would have never done it. For example, I had an egg, cheese, ham and jalapeno kolache for Breakfast. I can still only eat about 6oz. before I get full. So I'd rather have the filling than the bread because I like the taste of the egg filling better than the bread not because I can't or am not allowed to eat bread. I hope that makes sense. Now for your nerve damage. I too had nerve damage and I know how painful it is. The pain is worse than giving birth and it completely takes over your life it is so excruciating. I did not realize how much it takes over until my pain was gone. I had a malignant soft tissue tumor on my back below my right shoulder blade. I had the tumor removed (it was about the size of a small egg, then several months later an oncology surgeon went back in and took 4 layers of tissue from around the site to remove the "positive margins" of cancer from the area. I ended up with a 6 inch wide by 4 inches tall 1 inch deep hole in my back, covered by skin. I didn't know at the time but as it was healing my nerve endings would grow into the scar tissue from the surgery causing excruciating nerve damage pain. One day, sitting at my desk the pain was so bad that the best way to describe it would be if a grown man was standing over me repeatedly pounding my back as hard as he could with a baseball bat. This level of pain went on for 6 hours and it was getting worse. I had tried all of the medications too... frankly I think they were "sugar" pills because they all had ZERO affect on my pain. LOL. My FIL is an eye surgeon. I had my husband call him to plead with him to research some way to relieve my pain. I found out that there is a very common procedure that eye surgeons do for people who have nerve damage around their eyes. Its called "Trigger Point injections". I had my FIL do this on my affected areas. I had about 9 nerves that were hurting and it took 2 injections per nerve over several days. The injections are temporary, mine last about 2 months. Within 2 days of starting the injection process I was "pain free". I hadn't been pain free in a year and a half. If you want to more about it... send me a PM and we can talk about it. Mine was free so I have no idea how much a procedure like this would cost. Pebbles, I hope you get to feeling better and always come here and vent when things get overwhelming.... (((hugs))) and eat some ice cream if thats what you want, you just won't be able to eat the whole tub. =P

I haven't created the post yet. I am going back to the beginning of this post and updating the list. When I get the list updated, I will start a new thread and announce the title and location. We can then post our updates there. Until then feel free to post your updates here and I will add them to the list. If you have already posted your fill date, I will find it in the thread. I am also updating people's weights by what they have listed in their ticker. So, if your signature is updated I can just read it there.