BJean

Cleo's nice to come back and see that you're still going strong! loserbob, I also know that we need a strong national defense. The problem with Republicans is that they think that our national defense actually needs instead to be a strong, kick ass, aggressive pro-war military. They like to fund the big bullets and then use them so they can order some bigger ones. It's an interesting bastardization of what most Americans like to think of as our "national defense." I believe that I have a conservative streak too. Or maybe what you and I have is a rational more middle of the road ideology than thinking that is either extreme to the right or left. But what I advocate the most is peace and fairness for all Americans. That's what the Republicans can't stand and work against. So although Democrats haven't cornered the market on peace and fairness, they at least seriously try to make things more fair. When they go too far, and give away too much, I don't think that most Americans are in support of that. Just like you and me.

Yeah well, the bottom line is definitely weight loss. Period. I am happy that you've had such tremendous success with the band. I was unable to make it happen for me. I was hungry constantly - and not just a little hungry - I was totally ravenous all the time. I don't know if the band had actually slipped a bit or was on my doo-dad that causes hunger or what. But now with the sleeve, in less than less than 2 complete months I have lost more than I did in years with the band. So yeah, weight loss is weight loss and NO weight loss is still FAT. I hope I look as good as you do some day. In fact, I have every confidence that I will reach my goal and be the person I used to be prior to obesityland. Oh yeah, I am exercising more now too because I can. With the band I just felt so bad exercising was a constant struggle. My knees never got better and now although they can still cause pain when I overdo it, but if I'm careful they are not getting in the way of toning up. Yay! I know you didn't ask how I"m doing and probably couldn't care less, but I'm so overjoyed with the revision surgery I just want to tell the world.

Hey I recognize you from LBT. I looked at your photos - man you look fabulous!! Good job. Have you been sleeved?

If this forum has caused that clinic, the non-doctor Bettencourt and Dr. Alamanza to clean up their act then it is a great thing! Saving lives... that's what we do! :-) Bryan, once I was a week out from my sleeve surgery I felt better than I had in years too. Congratulations on the good experience you had and I hope that your journey to good health and slimness continues up the same positive road.

Well don't worry, honey, it couldn't be the doctor's fault or the way the clinic handled her. It's because ALL doctors have complications and that's just the way it is. That was written with my eyes rolling back in my head. I don't know if you left anything pertinent out but if you've posted the highlights of you and your mom's experience, it is quite simply unacceptable medical care. There are no excuses that can make this appear to be an acceptable problem that is within the inevitable 1% (or whatever percentage one cites) of those complications that happen with all doctors. This story alone should scare anyone away and this is not the only horrendous experience that we've read about from that particular clinic/doctor. I hope everyone who is considering surgery will come to this forum and read what's been posted. I know everyone thinks it can't happen to them, but it can and it very well might happen to them. Be smart people. You're worth the best possible medical care that is available in the world. Do your research. Save your money. Choose a doctor that you know has a good reputation, one that you can interview personally. One whose clinic or hospital you can visit prior to surgery. Find someone who offers post-surgical support, if possible. This is not a risk free surgery. And it carries the kind of risks that can be lethal. Take good care of yourself, you are worth it! And RTR, I hope you are okay and your mom has a full and complete recovery as soon as possible. We will certainly keep our fingers crossed for her. I hope you will keep us informed of her condition. How are you doing?

oregondaisey, good tip for making my own slushies where I can control the caloric intake. I have no trouble eating Protein - chicken, turkey, ham or steak. But I just can't eat much of any of them. We had dinner last night at an upscale restaurant and I didn't want to make a big issue of not being able to eat much. I got the tournadoes of beef which were 3 small pieces instead of one 7 oz. filet. I brought 2 of them home along with most of the baked potato. I had tastes of the amazing sour dough bread, the really great salad (a chopped salad with tiny diced apples and walnuts) and the appetizer, a boursin cheese on toast points. That made me very satisfied with the entire evening of gourmet food. Just tiny little tastes of almost everything and about 2 oz. of filet with bernaise sauce and I was full and happy. Later I even tasted some cheesecake and an amazing chocolate mousse. I admit that I was full, but I didn't make myself uncomfortable. It is thrilling (no exaggeration) to be able to eat such tiny amounts and be fully satisfied! I remember when I was young and slim, I didn't eat much more than that and I was happy. Of course I was very active and that made a big metabolizing difference. So today I spent an hour doing exercises in the pool. I feel great! I saw a friend that I hadn't seen in 6 months and she was shocked at how much weight I've lost. She says I look 10 years younger. Compliments like that are pretty danged exciting. I wonder what she's going to say when she sees me after I've lost another 20 lbs!

I didn't read anything about a doctor having had the surgery. Maybe that was one of those posts that was deleted? Or maybe I just haven't followed this close enough.

Guilty as charged! I have become hooked on Sonic's slushies - half real cranberry juice and half grape juice. It's been so hot here and I can drink half of a small at one sitting. Then I finish the other half later in the day. I have NEVER been a juice drinker of any kind. I don't even know what the calorie count is of one of them. And I shouldn't be drinking them if I don't know. Could be that I'm taking in 4 or 4 hundred calories in a dad gummed drink! And I have been eating baked potatoes fairly routinely. All because I can eat more of that than some chicken. I actually tried eating a "bunless" cheeseburger over the weekend. Seemed like a reasonable idea at the time. It was like a small salad with crumbled hamburger on top. I could only eat part of it and it made me feel yukee. No more hamburger for this girl. I did eat a couple of bites of filet last night. It was good but so filling! What do you eat to keep your Protein up? I know it will help my overall wellness, but I'm having a hard time getting enough. Carbs go down so much easier. But I know you're absolutely correct about losing better and faster if I cut out the carbs. Any hints are appreciated!

I've seen her but I don't watch the show. I have heard that some of the biggest losers regained the weight they lost once they were off the show. Anybody know if that's true? I went to a fat boot camp in Vermont for a month and sure I lost weight when I spent the entire day doing hard exercise and eating the strict diet they provided. And when I went home I exercised more than I had before the boot camp, and I tried to fix only very nutritious foods. But once the obsession with dieting and exercise got shoved aside for living a busy work and home life with kids and their activities, I started regaining the weight and slowing down on the time I spent exercising. I think if you can focus all your time and energy on dieting and exercise, you're one lucky person. Frankly there are a people who require a lot of time and as a mom, they came first. So that's what happened to me. However, now that I'm sleeved, I can see that there has to be a balance between other people's demands on my time and energy and my own commitment to take care of myself. And I'm doing much better. It doesn't hurt anything that my kids are self-sufficient now too.

ODaisey, that's what I was hoping to hear. I still have huge fear that I won't be able to lose to my goal. I too have done the Adkins off and on for years. And you know that story. You're able to lose weight and then when you reintroduce carbs at some point you gain the weight back, and usually more. So with that track record, and the fact that I only lost 44 lbs. with the band, and then began to regain some of that, it just doesn't seem possible that this will really be the thing that I can make work for me. But so far, I am very happy with the way things are going. So hearing your story gives me major hope that I will have a similar one. Thanks!

My doctor's dietician also suggested the baby spoon. It does help to have a visual of what the size bite you're supposed to be eating. I'm like one of the others above, I couldn't have eaten an entire container of yogurt at one sitting during the first month after surgery. But I think that having had the sleeve and going through years of dealing with that kind of pain and vomiting if I did eat too big a bite, really helped to train me for the sleeve. Without that reference I'm sure I would have tested the limits like you did with the sleeve. Don't beat yourself up too much. Just remember that you are only supposed to eat very small quantities throughout the day. And girl be very, very careful with those supplements! You really shouldn't be trying to take so much along with food and liquid all at the same time. See if your pharmacist has a suggestion for a crushable or chewable alternative. Mine got me a crushable anti-depressant that my doctor didn't even know existed. My doctor's one big complication patient was a guy who was used to taking a lot of Vitamin supplements before the sleeve surgery. He took them as usual and wound up aspirating them and nearly dying. Had to be rushed to the hospital and have surgery to save his life. I'm only telling you this to impress upon you how important it is that you only take in very small quantities of food, drink and pills at one time. Hang in there. I'm glad we have this website for answers when we have problems like this, especially for those who have doctors that are not in their hometown.

Congratulations on having completed the sugrery phase of your "recovery" from obesity. The first week was, for me, a little rougher than when I had the band. But I very quickly bounced back and by my one week doctor visit, I was in the best mood I'd been in for several years! And things just keep getting better. I hope your stay in Texas is pleasant and it's great to know that we have another doctor in the D/FW area who is doing things right. Keep us posted on your progress. Good luck!

I've lost about 22 lbs. at this point, I think. I'm only 6 lbs away from the lowest I was with the band. If I can get under that weight I will have some real hope that I can make my goal. Did you have to start exercising a lot to get off the plateau? Or did you just start losing again at some point eating pretty much the same thing with the same activity level? I took a bite of my husband's multi-grain pancake this morning with syrup and I feel kind of yukee. I've found if I get up and move around when I feel like this, I do much better. Have you allowed yourself to eat any kind of sugary foods yet? Or are you still on pretty much low-cal foods? Hope you don't mind me asking these questions. If you do, just ignore them. Thanks, BJ

Well you must be a good-lookin' cougar, eh? Congratulations on your huge success. I know you must feel fantastic. How long did it take you to reach goal after you got the sleeve?

me too Lee! You're doing fabulously well! congratulations!

pnw216 you definitely do not look like you could be a senior in your photo!! Thanks for your comments. I've hit a little bit of a plateau but then I've been eating a little bit more than I was. I am mostly eating about a half a cup at a time. I have added some sugar free chocolate almonds and that could be slowing me down. But I need the roughage. LOL

Once again you act like Democrats invented politics in America. They didn't. Remember George W. Bush's military career? You know, the one where he didn't show up? And it might be interesting to know how many times he actually had on a military uniform during his military "career."

Actually kinda funny joke. But it's interesting that you take credit so much of the time for things you post. Which late night host told this one?

pattyg: This kind of talk is sooooo like you, Cleo's. The fact is WE don't HATE anybody. We just don't like their actions sometimes. Two different things. You must be the kind of person who literally hates people when they don't act or abide by your standards, cause you often say that others are hateful when they don't like the actions of people. Maybe you hate people for how they are, but most people don't. I don't anyway. Now, I don't hate public schools or teachers. I sent 2 of my oldest boys all through the public school system, and the other 5 children went up to middle school grades in the public school. I thought most of the teachers were good teachers and they treated my kids respectfully and kindly. I have much to say in support of my kids public school teachers. I was talking generally when I said teachers suck. I was mostly angry with the teachers in CT who refused to forgo their raise when they are making more money than any teachers in this whole Nation! Also, I don't hate the government. I hate the tremendous growth of it! I have always stated that every country is in need of governing, and ours is no different. I just don't think that the government should be soooo BIG. When it gets to a point where the government jobs far exceed the number of private sector jobs to pay for them, then there is a BIG problem. When the government is spending more money than it has and the interest alone has become unsustainable, then we have BIG problems. I would like to see our government CUT, yes CUT, most of it's wasteful spending and give aways as well as reduce it's size of employment drastically. I would like to see the corruptness disapear, like when Obama had Clinton offer that guy a job to get out of the race. That kind of Chicago crap. Government is a necessity and I am thankful for it, just not lately now that it is getting too into everything with regulations and laws and interference in business and the lives of people, like Health Care and education, etc. November will be a wake up call for all those democrats who think this is how Americans want to live and have things run. We don't. Obama's progressive, socialistic, welfare, style is gonna go! This kind of talk about hate when somebody else uses it? YOU're the one who has been so quick to accuse the progressives of hate! You even started a thread using that word. So you have no right to call somebody else on it. Maybe you've reformed and don't accuse everybody of hate now but you sure used to, ad nauseum. We DO want Obama's progressive style and way of doing things. We DO. And our only complaint is that he isn't progressing fast enough. Your mavericks didn't get elected. Our candidates did. So stand back and wait your turn. We want major cuts in needless spending just like you do. And who in the world doesn't? Well the actual Republican legislators are who doesn't. They only talk about cutting spending. In fact they don't do it once they're elected. They still talk about it after elections but when they vote and draft legislation it's making the government bigger, not smaller. So be careful whom you vote for. If you think you're getting what they're promising when you vote for them, you'd better think again. As for offering a job to someone they don't want to run against someone they do want elected, get real. That's not just Chicago politics, it's the way politics works everywhere! That's what happens when people in politics become elected and powerful. They get to control things. For you to act like this president invented politics is just plain disengenuous and you're not fooling anyone with that talk.

Whatever patty.

What a great post, Cleo's. And I really think we have probably all witnessed what you've outlined. And I commend you and the other post above for bucking the system. Being a principal is political and that's really unfortunate. And a teacher who is only there to make him or herself look good to parents can certainly be counter-productive to the children's learning experience. Remember when we were children and our parents were children, the teacher was always right and the principal was the final word on any disciplinary problem. You could see the tide turning when teachers and principals started being afraid not only of the parents but in some cases, even the students. Do you think it happened because of corporal punishment being taken out of schools? I agreed with that because I never thought that teachers were well-educated on methods of administering punishment, especially corporal punishment. And teachers abused their ability to spank kids which is why parents eventually rebelled and demanded that corporal punishment be abandoned as a method of discipline. I'll never forget one former Navy guy who was a history teacher in my middle school. He had a long narrow paddle with holes in it. When he whipped the boys - x number of hits for certain high crimes - he really lit into them and left bruises that looked like the paddle. When he hit girls we all thought he was enjoying it so much it made us all feel very uncomfortable. Unfortunately like everything else in life, the bad teachers cause the good teachers to be tarnished with the same brush. Corporal punishment is something people are still debating today as to the true effectiveness. I think it may get you the immediate result you're looking for but in the long run you damage yourself and the person being punished in sometimes irreparable ways.

I agree that we do kill the desire to learn in some of our children by just lecturing and expecting them to learn through memorization. Some children, like I was, are very visual and in order to retain things they need to be able to see it and interact with it. Others, like my husband, was the opposite so rote worked for him. So maybe what this tells us is that we need a system whereby we determine how each child responds to different forms of teaching methods. Then we can place them in classes that address their particular needs. Right now it's a one-size fits all scenario and we're definitely dropping kids through the cracks right and left.

That's what I was so feebly attempting to say. Good job!

A disclaimer to start with... I am up late and expounding on a topic that I feel passionate about. The following is a diatribe off the top of my head. You might want to ignore it. Read at your own risk. The way I see it these days is that parents spend so little quality time with their children they want: 1) No time spent on thoughtful discipline of their children because it takes too much time and energy. These are the same parents that get so frustrated that they wind up either screaming in the child's face or getting physical with them in a bad way when the child just can't make up his mind about the candy. 2) They think that if they take the child's side against a teacher they are being their child's advocate. And that makes them think they are a good parent to their child. What they need to understand is that education should be a team effort on the part of the parents and teachers. If everyone stopped to think about what is best for the child, including both the parent as well as the teacher, then the adults personalities wouldn't be the issue as they often are. 3) This day and age in families, both parents work to make more money to buy more things - although in some cases, especially single parent situations, having both parents work is an absolute necessity. When both parents are so strung out trying to work hard enough to keep their job, they're too tired to get involved in their kid's schooling. This isn't an excuse, but it is the way it is these days. 4) Teachers need to be able to do the job of educating our children during the hours they have them at school. We had some homework but not tons of homework like my son's boys do now. They are only in the second grade and even last year they had lots of homework every night. And usually the schools are frantically trying to make sure that the kids can pass the tests that are mandated rather than giving the students the knowledge that they need to become well-functioning members of society. The kind of homework that the boys had required parental assistance - there was no way around it. Sometimes the projects that students are expected to do are way, way over their ability and the parents wind up using their creativity to get it done. And of course there are those parents who just go on an ego trip every time they can and they aren't really considering what the child is learning in the process of doing one of these complicated projects. I'm not a teacher like Cleo's although I am from a family of teachers. And I'm sure Cleo's and others will take issue with my comments which is certainly fair. But I do have strong opinions about public schools and that's also fair. And the only way we can get parents and teachers on the same page is if we stop the blame game that has been going on for years. There are reasons why some parents don't get involved in their kids schooling. And there are some teachers who are not good at their job. What we need to figure out is what are we going to do to improve our schools and give our children the best education possible. And btw, that doesn't necessarily mean how can we give them more complicated courses to study. Sometimes it may mean that we need to simplify a bit and stop rushing our kids and stop trying to bully parents into participating. If the children are all going to be treated equal by the public school system, how can we require parental involvement as a necessary component when there are children who just do not have the benefit of parents who are available and can be involved? An idea: maybe for those kids who do not have available parents, we could have volunteers - perhaps senior citizens - give their time to take the place of those missing parents? It really does take a village or at least it should.

But I must say that as for most of what Cleo's posts, she's spot on. Baaaaaaa.