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Happy Birthday Laura! Enjoy your day.

Good for you!!! I am right behind you. I just scheduled my TT for mid May and I am 20 pounds from goal too. I am really looking forward to loosing some skin. The doctor told me I have a small hernia (Ididn't know that) and that he will fix it while he is in there. He told me he didn't want me to lose a lot before surgery as he wants me to be able to heal well. He said 1-2 pounds a month was the max. Keep in touch we can do this together.

News FDA Lowers Weight Requirements for Lap-Band Surgery Cosmetic drug and device maker Allergan Inc. says it has received approval to market its stomach-shrinking Lap-Band to millions more patients who are less obese than those currently using the device. The food and Drug Administration expanded approval to patients with a body mass index between 30 and 40 and one weight-related medical condition, such as diabetes. Patients must also have previously attempted other weight loss strategies, like diet and exercise. Allergan said roughly 37 million American patients meet the new criterion for the device. The adjustable band has been available in the U.S. since 2001. A ring is placed over the top of the stomach and inflated with saline to tighten it and restrict how much food can enter and pass through the stomach. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Janet, you are correct about the medically necessary TT. The one I am having involves tightening the muscles and is completely considered cosmetic. I am not too familiar with the medically necessary type but I have read, in the plastic surgery section, where some women get their insurance company to pay for the medical TT and they pay for the muscle work out of pocket. It is not an easy process. My GF, who had gastric bypass, needs skin removed from her legs so she can walk normally. She has been fighting the ins company for 2 years. She is in the arbitration process now. It has been a long fight for her. Thanks for the B-Day wishes. I had a wonderful day.

Arlene, I have had a skin infection caused by the skin overhanging my belly button. It was very painful. I hope you get relief. Maybe a TT would help you. Linda, because it is cosmetic surgery my insurance will not cover any of it. My dear sweet hubby has been saving to give me this for over a year. When I finally got under two hundred pounds I started talking about wanting to have this done. He took the bull by the horn and set up a separate account to save so he could give this to me. I am such a lucky girl. The doctor's office gave me a brochure from www.carecredit.com in case I was interested in financing. My procedure will cost $7000. In the brochure it shows the payments plans for varying repayment times. To give you an idea: $7500 repaid over 6 months = $1250 12 months = $625 24 months = $364 36 months = $260 48 months = $209 60 months = $179 The brochure did not show the payment for $7000 but you get the idea. Maybe this would be an option for you.

Hi everyone. Just a fly by. I have been super busy lately. I catch up on posts late at night but have been too tired to respond. Sorry. I went Friday for a consult with the plastic surgeon about a TT. I have a date set for late May. Basically, he said I do not need to wait until the last 20 pounds are off. As long as I was within 40 of my final goal it will be ok. He said that most women are so inspired when they see the results of the surgery that they regularly go on to lose another 20 or 30 pounds. I set the date for late May because my DH and I are going to the Grand Canyon and I want to be able to participate fully in all of the hiking. The doc suggested I have the TT after the trip to be sure. He said I will need to be home for about a week and then I can return to work. This is because I have a desk job. If my job was physical it would be longer. So it is all set. If any of you have any questions about what I found out you can ask here or PM me. Going to bed. I am tired after all the visiting we did today. Good Night.

We officially got 20 inches. My highest drift,of course in the driveway, was shoulder height. I am done and exhausted. Taking a nap and then going to TRX class at 6:30.

Melissa, I have a friend who plays tennis. She goes through a lot of balls. Lucky for my dog, she saves them up and gives them to me for us to play with. If you don't know anyone with a dog to give them to, a shelter would be happy and greatful to receive them. I am glad you have found such a great way to connect with a 15 year old. It can be a challenge at that age. Mine is 23 and it is so much easier now. LOL, she doesn't mind being seen in public with me anymore.

Cheri, I hope you are ok. Don't get too crazy with shoveling the snow. It is not worth it. Heck, I just let the dog out and he had no where to go. LOL. The snow has drifted and is very deep in some places. The end of my deck, where the step to get to the driveway is, has snow up to my shoulders. It will be a day of shoveling. I have a toro snow blower; it is way to small for this kind of snow. it is only 18 - 20 inches tall. I got an automated call from work telling us to stay home. That's exactly what I was planning to do. It is nice to know that we will get paid though. Do we know the dates of the Chicago trip? I think your itinerary sounds great. I am looking for the dates because it looks like there is interest in the 5K and I want to check to see where we can go. There are usually several to choose from. I am hoping for one in Grant Park. Walkers are welcome. Speed doesn't count, finishing does. 5K is a great way to get some exercise in whether you run or walk. Except for you LauraK, I know of your 5K goal and we will meet it together.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Laura, we can run together. I know you can do it. I am not very fast and really don't care about time, my goal is always to finish without walking. We can run together and encourage each ofther when it gets hard. I will see what is happening that weekend. Hopefully there is soemthing downtown. There is nothing quite like running with 30,000 to get the adrenaline pumping.

Meridith, go ahead and hit that send button. Dont be afraid of change, it can be a good thing. Yep, I heard we are gonna get whollaped here in Chicago. The last I heard was 18 inches. I think I will take a vacation day and just stay home on wedsneday. Travel times will be high. Apples, see all the fun you will be missing by being in AZ?

Janet, I am glad you had a nice birthday visit with your family. I wish my yoga class was just the exercises / poses. Oh well, I bought a pass good for 30 classes that is good at 7 different locations on Groupon for $20. If I feel the same way next week I will not go back to yoga. I can use it for Tai Chi or cardio kick boxing so I may give that a try. The nce thing is I can try many different classes for next to nothing and then decide if I want to sign up throught the individual location. If I don't like any of them that's ok with me. I didn't spend $300 on registration and a months worth of classes which is what the yoga studio charges. It is a very nice way to try something new.

Apples I think our awakening to the fact that we can’t control everything and that we need to live in the moment comes with age. There must be something magical about being in our early 50’s (I am 53) that makes us stop and take notice of what is truly important; for instance our family. The things that were so important to me 20 years ago are basically meaningless to me today. I used to stress over having the perfectly decorated and immaculately clean house. Somehow I thought it was a measure of my worth and abilities. I no longer hold that as valuable. I would not let my family enjoy the living room because it had to stay perfect. LOL, now the dog and I take naps on the couch. Rather than spend the day cleaning and cooking I get in the truck with DH and find somewhere to go and have a together day. I have learned to let go and have fun. I no longer put off having fun except when family needs get in the way. I am not sure if my ramblings make sense to anyone but me however, I bring it up because it sounds like Apples priorities, like mine have changed. I think what brings that change is that we finally grasp that we could drop dead tomorrow and that our life is not unlimited. When we were younger it seemed like we had forever ahead of us. Not so now. After all of that gloom and doom – I am taking my own advice and going out with my friend today to a travel show and breakfast. It’s like a two for one; a fun day with my friend and travel ideas for DH and I,

Janet, I hope you had a wonderful birthday with your family. How was the cake?☺ I went to my first yoga class today. I am not sure what I think about it. The stretches were fantastic. Unlike any I have done before. The class seemed to be a combination of stretching, meditation and bio feedback. A little of the mind body connection stuff seemed a bit silly and kind of weird but I will try to keep an open mind when I go back next week. Some of the poses are much harder than they looked. I took some biofeedback classes years ago and I had that impression at first. I did see the value after several classes so I will stick with this for a while longer and hopefully I will see what others see. Has any one here tried yoga? What did you think?

Will there be any runners coming? LauraK? Jessica? There are 5Ks every weekend. Let me know if anybody is interested and I will find us one. Cheri, when I say a condo in Chicago what I really mean is a condo in the suburbs. Hugh price difference. Also, downtown is not a dog freindly place. Dogs should have grass and outside space. Yep, love m dog.

Apples, I completely understand your ideas about AZ. If we could get away for Jan and Feb we would too. I like your idea about a park. I haven’t been to one but after seeing Phyl’s pictures on face book I understand the attraction. The sense of community seems to be very high. That is so important. Until we retire, we have 4 weeks a year vacation so we won’t be moving until then. We have started to look though and will continue to do so. One consideration for us on whether we go condo or not is if they allow dogs. I will not leave Charlie behind. Wherever we go, he goes. 20 some years ago when I divorced my first husband, I wanted to go into a condo because I wasn’t sure I could handle a house by myself. The condos I looked at had a limit of 30 pounds for a dog. Well, that would have taken care of one leg and maybe a tail of the German Shepard I had. To make a long story short, I bought a small 2 bedroom ranch near my parents so I could keep the dog. We still live in that house as we figured it was more than enough for 2 people. My step daughter lived with her mom and had her own bedroom by us when she came on the weekend. It worked for us then and still does. We have two trains of thoughts and I am not sure what we will go with. One is to get a larger condo in AZ and move permanently. The other is to get a small condo in both AZ and Chicago and do the snow bird thing. Time will tell us what to do. I figure if I have a grandbaby by then I will want to commute. Cheri, Sat or Sun work for me. Maybe the girls can give us some ideas of what they would be interested in. We have a lot to choose from. A dinner cruise on the lake with an afternoon at Navy Pier is always a winner. There is the list of museums: art, natural history, science and industry, planetarium. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is world class. A walk at the marina followed by lunch. Millennium park. There is so much more. Give us a few ideas, outside, inside, museum, show, dinner, shopping and we can make a plan. Heck, we can even do a Segway tour of downtown. Check out this link to see the tours available http://www.chicagosegwaytour.com/ . I have never done the tour but would like to.

Good Morning Kelley. I am glad you found us and hope you will fill us in a bit more about you and what is going on. Apples, I love the thought of retiring to AZ. My DH and I are looking at Flagstaff as our spot. We will be visiting there again in May and will get with some real estate people and try to get a feel for the cost of housing in the area. We really like Flagstaff because you still get the seasons but can escape the colder weather when you need a break by driving a couple of hours. Also, with all of the pines it has a feel of upper Wisconsin, which we love. I agree with you about humidity. I find it oppressing and prefer AZ because it is so dry. One word of caution though, once you buy something your DH will start coming out of vacation mode and go into homeowner mode. That’s normal though, once something is yours you will spend more time on it and less time on relaxing. For this very reason we will be looking into condos or town houses. There is still work to be done with a condo but it is reduced. Our retirement is 6 years away so it is time for us to start thinking and looking. I don’t think we will buy this trip, just do some serious looking and trying to get a feel of daily like rather than vacation. Cheri, that is awesome that you have some help. It will make it easier on you and benefit the children. Having someone who is familiar with grant writing is such an advantage. They know just what to say and how to say it. I am happy for you. I am heading up to Kenosha this morning for a conference so I need to get moving. I just wanted to check in and say hi. Things are quieting down here with my Dad. He is able to function fairly well now and doesn’t require so much assistance. I think he only has 2 more weeks of PT. My DH has been taking care of most of those appointments which had been a huge help. I will have to go and pick up his laundry tomorrow and run the vacuum cleaner around. Oh yeah, I start my new yoga class tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. I have never tried yoga before so I hope I like it. Joining this class puts me at the goal my trainer has for me of having 4 structured exercise days per week. I meet with her 2 times, have TRX and now yoga. My husband can’t believe the fact that I have become an exercise junky since a year or so ago he couldn’t even get me to go walking. Life is good so good now. I love that I can participate in activities and enjoy things and it is because of losing weight and exercising that I can do the things I love.

Meridith, sorry I don't know but what type of career are you moving to? Good for you on the change.

Happy Birthday Janet!!!! Enjoy the BBQ and the cake.

Linda – Happy Bandiversary! You must be so proud; not only did you get to goal, you have maintained it. You look fantastic! Laura – WTG on the trip. Swimming with the dolphins is awesome. My daughter and I did it together about 10 years ago. Janet is right, the memories are priceless. Ok maybe not completely priceless. I did buy the photo package they offered at the end. Expensive but 10 years later I am so glad I spent the money. Every time I look at those photos I smile. I bet Nels would like to help assemble the goodie bags for his classmates. Maybe he can help make the cupcakes too. He would be proud of that. TX – two weeks after you go back to work it will feel like you were never gone. Enjoy the time you have left. Eva, I am going to make that sauce tonight. It sounds great. Relax apples, you can junk up the treads once you get back home. DH and Tanker need your attention now.

Well, I got my weekend off and I took full advantage of it. DH and I took our daughter out to lunch on Saturday and spent the rest of the day relaxing. I exercised this morning and relaxed all afternoon on the couch. I read a book and napped with the dog. It was a great afternoon with the exception of the Bears losing. Uggh. Linda, we will have to compare notes after our consultations. Mine is on the 4th. I bet you and DH had an enjoyable day out. Good going on the shopping. Hmmm, maybe I will have to check our Penny's. LauraK, what a great way to get in some exercise. I worked out to Jillian Michaels. I bet you had more fun. Haha. Joyce, have a great time. Enjoy the sun. Arlene, I am glad your Mom will part with her glass table. Our friend's mother fell through her glass coffee table and nobody knew until the following day. When they couldn't reach her by phone they went over and found her. Unfortunately, she died a few days later. It was wonderful of the nurse to point out the dangers to you. Melissa, it's a shame you had to be "responsible" with your B-day money. Keep at it. Things will turn around one day. When that happens, get a BIGGER tattoo. Don't worry about whining, we all do it from time to time. It helps to let it out. Cheri, I saw your post on FB. I am sorry you are still grieving so hard. (((Huggs))) I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I sure did.

Linda, I don't know if Cuban is like Brazilian because I have never had Brazilian. Hmmm, something new to try. I did my new DVD this morning. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. I did level one which was the beginner level. I may give level two a try tomorrow. Level one felt comfortable but my trainer told me I should reach just above comfort, so I will give it a try. I did get a good workout though - all sweaty and heavy breathing. Ycks, that almost sounds dirty.

One day - sorry I can't remember everybody's real name. I have insurance and my doctor keeps me on metformin. It is inexpensive as far as meds go and she says it can help to lose weight where some diabetic meds put pounds on. Plus it has been around or years. Some of the newer meds have been found to cause serious side effects after they are on the market a while. I have found Walmart is the least expensive on the metformin, I am so glad she is willng to work with you on this.

Cold front is here too! After 53 years, the cold is starting to get to me. The good news is that I went out to dinner last night with DH. Dad is at my sisters, I called her and told her if she really wanted to help me out she would take him this weekend and give me a break. The bad news is that I went out to dinner last night. UGGGGH, It was so good to be out and the food was excellent so I ate too much. Nothing terrible but enough to negate my good eating for the week. We went to a Cuban restaurant we haven't been to before. Very good. Off to exercise and try to make up for last night.