wootsie73

I am having problems with me being able to read my own posts. Other people can read what I post, but I can't go back and look at my previous posts in a thread to see exactly what I wrote. Is there a setting I need to change or something? Thanks, Joan

I was literally stunned when I turned on my TV this afternoon and they said Michael Jackson was in the hospital from cardiac arrest. Of course, later we found out that he was basically dead when the paramedics arrived at his home. He didn't have a pulse and they never could get a pulse. I never saw him in concert, but I wish I had. He was truly an icon. He invented the music video, his dances, the 750 million records he sold, and the list goes on and on. Even though a lot of controversy occurred in his life, I think he will be remembered fondly by his fans. I've been watching the Thriller videos today. What a great talent he was. He will be missed. Joan

Yes, I can see my posts in this thread, and all but 2 rather long posts in the thread I was posting in. I have posted about 5 or 6 posts on that thread. I've never seen it happen before either, that's why I was thinking someone had pulled my posts. I checked my ignore list, and I don't have anyone on ignore. Joan

Of course I know how to advance to the next page. I'm able to read the last couple of posts, just not the 2 long ones. Go figure. Joan

I have scrolled up to see the earlier posts, and I've tried starting at the beginning of the thread and scrolling all the way through the thread. I see other peoples responses to my posts, but my original message just isn't there. It's not like there's a gap or anything like that. It's just not there.

Welcome to the site! Congratulations on your surgery date. When is it? Joan

I think there probably are more white people using these programs than any other race, but that's because there are more white people than any other race in this country. If you average per capita, I highly doubt there are more white people than other races that are using the social programs available. Besides, even though this thread was started as a racial thread, I haven't observed anyone posting here being racially motivated. Personally, I don't care if Obama was purple, I still wouldn't like his policies. SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE AWAY THE TELEPROMPTER!!!!!!

It's interesting that I can read the post that said I was going to leave, but I can't see the two other posts in this thread. Does anyone know what could be wrong either with my computer or my settings. I would say it is probably a setting or something easily fixed, I just don't know what it is. Joan

Of course you are right about having to increase your meds if your TSH is high. Plus, you are right about it being confusing. I was definitely not thinking well when I answered your post. I'm a nurse, so I do know what happens, just not thinking right. Thanks for the correction. Hope all is going well and your surgery isn't delayed. Joan

I just want to say I'm leaving Lapbandtalk.com due to my posts being pulled for no legitimate reason. There are other forums like obesityhelp.com that don't do that. Joan

BJean, I'm sorry that every time you post something like what I posted you are expected to back it up with facts instead of opinion. Well, obviously someone didn't like my post, because it's not on here anymore, and that makes me very angry to say the least. There was not 1 curse word in my post, nor did I attack anyone on this forum personally. I said things about the president of this country, but lots of others have to. I can't even go back and read what I wrote to try to give you the facts. However, I will tell you that I don't have what you would call facts, I have what nurses I worked with, who were my roommates, and friends told me. They were the ones who had to move down to Texas to get a job instead of living in Canada where they were from. And, I can assure you, I'm not talking about 2 or 3 people. I'm talking about 30 to 50 nurses I worked with at different times. The information I posted was the information they told me. These incidents were what they saw in nursing school, and what their personal families had gone through, And, 1 thing I didn't say yesterday that I should have, is that having a choice on which hospital you go to for testing is not an option there. There may be 10 hospitals in a city, (just an estimate. not fact about any particular city) but only 1 of those 10 hospitals will have an MRI machine, a CAT scan machine, or any of the large expensive equipment. It saves the government money to not have the same equipment at all of the facilities. Here in the medium sized town I live in, we have 2 major hospitals, and all of the equipment is at both, plus at private doctors offices. If they have their way, meaning the governent, we might have to drive 2 to 3 hours to get a major test like that run. Of course, that's just my opinion. Just going off of what Canada does. I don't think the people in the US are afraid of positive change in the healthcare system at all. I think most people tend to forget that we went through radical changes back in the 90's when all of the HMO's and PPO's took over our healthcare system. When they first started, everything was great and wonderful. People got to choose their doctors, and the doctors got to decide what was best for their patients, and people had low co-pays with great care. That didn't last long though. They, meaning the HMO's and PPO's, decided they weren't going to be able to make ends meet that way, so they started a type of rationed care, which is what we still have today. They started telling the doctors how long a patient could stay in the hospital when they had a specific illness or procedure. They also started setting limits on what doctors would be paid for specific treatments. That's why our kids are not becoming doctors. Doctors don't make the kind of money they used to make. When a woman has a baby in this day and time, she normally leaves the hospital in 24 hours or less. The insurance companies decided women didn't need to stay any longer, which is very dangerous, IMHO. There is still a lot that can go wrong even just having a baby. Another example was me personally. Last year I had my carotid artery operated on. In case you don't know, that's the major artery in your neck that goes up to the brain. I went into surgery at approximately 3 pm, and I went home before noon the next day. Again, very scary for me as a patient and dangerous to. What if I started bleeding? I would die before an ambulance could get to my house. Prior to the HMO's and PPO's taking over, most Americans that had insurance paid a deductible, normally $200 for my insurance, and then the insurance paid 80%. The patient had to pay the other 20%. Now people have co-pays for doctor visits, hospital stays, and prescriptions. Another thing that happened when the HMO"s and PPO's took over our healthcare, was a hiring freeze of nurses. My daughter, who is also a nurse, couldn't find a job when she graduated from nursing school, but we had thousands of Canadian nurses down here working and taking the American jobs. As far as people being turned away from American hospitals because of the economy, that's against the law. Hospitals in this country are required to take patients rather they can afford to pay or not. Luckily, as a nurse I have never been involved in the financial aspects of a patients care. I just had to make sure I charted every tiny little thing I did to make sure they were following the time allowance for their illness. OK, I will tell you something very positive about the Canadian healthcare system. When a patient is in ICU, they normally have 2 patients per nurse. If a patient is on a ventilator and other life support, they will have 1 nurse to that 1 patient. It definitely isn't that way in the hospitals I've worked in. The night I got sick, I had 3 patients on ventilators, plus 2 of them were in isolation. Very dangerous situation for me and the patients. Having 4-5 critical care patients is not uncommon in many American hospitals. The Canadian system has a union for the nurses, so I've been told, that prevents the unsafe practice of caring for more patients than a nurse can reasonably care for. Not all US states are like that, but Texas is. Now about the Hitler statement, I think you are right. Who are we to decide who is to old or to young to have a procedure done? Who decides when a baby that's premature is to little to save? 20 years ago many of the preemies that are born and thrive today would not have survived. Those are decisions I would rather leave up to God, but that's a whole different thread. As far as me personally doing without things I need, I don't have to do that so much anymore, but I also live with my parents at the age of 53. After the year and a half was up, I started getting disability. But, get this, I had to be disabled legally for 6 months before I could get Medicare. So, that was 2 years with no healthcare coverage at all. I hope this post stays on the thread long enough for people to read it before someone pulls it.:wink: Joan

It's been a long time, but there was a thread about this once. If I recall correctly, they said their tattoos on their legs looked a little wrinkled after a huge weight loss. A huge weight gain will make them spread apart so you can't tell what it was. They used pregnancy with an abdominal tattoo as their reference to the spreading. Most peoples legs tend to be fine on their calf after losing weight they guess because of the exercise you get with a lot of walking. Good luck! Joan

I'm a nurse, and I'm not sure if it will delay your surgery or not. Actually, I don't think it will, but you should call your surgeon in the morning and tell them what the situation is. I'm sure someone there will be able to help you. When your TSH level is high, you are getting to much thyroid medicine, so I hope your doc lowered your dose. Sorry I can't help you more, but I'm sure your surgeon's office can. Joan

I have to say this has been an interesting thread to read with the back and forth banter over who or what is better for America. As a healthcare provider, a Registered Nurse, I can tell you that I know of not 1 doctor or nurse I've ever worked with want the government to take over our healthcare system. I worked in critical care for my entire nursing career, and half of the nurses I worked with in the 90's were Canadian, because they couldn't get a job in Canada after they graduated from nursing school. Not only did they have to come to the US to work, they shared their knowledge of the Canadian healthcare system with all of us. I can tell you, if the government takes over our healthcare, services WILL be rationed. It happens in Canada everyday. People die waiting to have heart bypass surgery. They don't just go to the ER and end up having emergency surgery like we have here. They only do heart bypass surgery at a few selected hospitals there, and many times the hospital that provides the service will be a 2 to 3 drive from where they live. They also have age limits on procedures. For example, a 70 year old person is considered to old to have bypass surgery, so they just have to live the way they are until they die. They don't take into consideration how the persons' general health is either. There are a lot of people who are 70 that look and feel like they are 50. It's not just heart bypass surgery, it's any kind of surgery. If you need to have your gallbladder out, you may have to wait a year to have it done, and hope you don't die from what we call a "hot gallbladder" before the surgery date finally comes. A hot gallbladder is extremely painful, plus has an infection that will spread throughout your entire body. So, no, I don't want the government taking over our healthcare. Procedures we perform here on a daily basis during emergency situations a lot of the time are not done to the patients who need it there. It was mentioned that Medicaid and Medicare were very expensive to run, which they are. However, a lot of the problem is abuse of the system and fraud. I am disabled now, and when I lost my job due to an infection I caught in my lungs from a patient I was caring for, I had nothing coming in at all. I had a house, car, utilities, groceries, and all other necessities I had no money to pay them with. I had to be off work a year and a half before I was even eligible for disability, much less any other kind of help. Savings doesn't last long when you have to pay for everything with it, I can assure you. However, I was told at the social services office that they had people in their 40's that had been in their system their entire lives. I wasn't eligible for Medicaid, because I didn't have any small children. I wasn't eligible for Medicare, because I wasn't considered disabled until the year and a half was up. So, don't even try to tell me that Medicare and Medicaid work right. They sure do let a lot of hard working people who have either fallen on hard times, or gotten sick fall through the cracks, like me. Here is a subject we all know about, and that's the food we eat. Mr Obama has decided we shouldn't be able to eat fast food, or drink cokes, so he's going to tax them heavily. I'm surprised he let the taxes go up on cigarettes, since he's a chain smoker himself. I guess when you're the president, it doesn't matter how much things cost. I don't think we should all have to pay these outrageous taxes on food and soft drinks just because Obama has decided we don't need them. Who is he to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't eat or drink. Alcohol is already heavily taxed, but Cokes? This is going tooooooooooooo far people! Also, if you think back to when all of these financial companies and other businesses started to fail, it was Freddie Mac and Fannie May that started the whole thing. Those were government run programs that the democrats were in charge of. But, the responsible people, such as Barney Frank, don't take any responsibility for what happened. They told everyone that those 2 entities were stable right before they failed. What a joke! As far as the government taking over the car industry, that's a scary thought to. The reason the American auto industry got into the financial ruins they are in now was caused by the unions. It's rediculious for a person working in a auto plant to make $40 per hour. Nurses sure don't make that much money. I would think a nurse would be worth more money per hour than someone who helps build a car. Give me a break! I used to work for a company that had the same union the auto workers have, and they didn't do anything to protect our jobs when the home office decided to take our government contracts because they couldn't get their own. I am a conserative and proud of it. Do I accept my momthly Social Security check? You bet I do. I paid into it my entire life from the age of 16 until I became disabled. I don't feel at all guilty about the money I recieve every month, after all, I earned it. I will get down off of my soap box now, I just had to put my 2 cents in. I guess I'm just tired of hearing about how great Obama is when he is going against everything this country has ever stood for. He's definitely not the kind of change I was looking for. His race has absolutely nothing to do with it at all. Before long, he's gonna have us as socialistic as the European countries. What a sad day that will be for America. Joan

I have insomnia more recently than in the past. I have restless leg syndrome, which makes it very difficult for me to sleep in the first place, but I do take Requip for it. My legs have really been bothering me for the past few weeks to the point of waking me up after I've been asleep for a couple of hours. I was awake last night until 8 am! I haven't had any lifestyle or medication changes except to increase the dose of 1 of my medications. It is supposed to help me sleep anyway, so I would think the increase would make it better. I'm a nurse, so I know all about all the different meds that are available, I just don't want to take more medicine. I'm going to give it until Monday, and if I'm not sleeping better by then I'm gonna call my PCP and ask her to increase me Requip. For most people who want to take something over the counter, I wouldn't take Tylenol PM. I would take Benadryl. It's the exact same medication without the Tylenol. Unless you are hurting, you don't need the Tylenol. Otherwise, everyone seems to be on the right track, if only it would work! I would suggest for you guys who haven't talked to your doctor to make an appointment and see if you can figure something out. Joan

Debbie, I find it appalling that people treat others the way they treat you. I have to think how they would feel if it were them in your shoes. It would not bother me in the least to sit next to you and have a stimulating conversation. I know what you said is the truth, but I just find it so hard to believe in this day and time. What's wrong with people? Joan

I live in Amarillo, but am using Dr. Provost in Denton for my surgery. I am looking for a support group here in town. Does anyone know of one that meets on a regular basis? Joan

My surgeons' office sells Bariatric Advantage products, and I was wondering if anyone had used any of their stuff and if it tastes good. I'm still pre-band, so I am looking for good sources of Protein powders and tasty shakes to drink pre and post op. Thanks in advance for any help with this. Joan

You are correct, there are plenty of religious schools in this country, but they are all private schools. Most American's can't afford to send their children to private school. At least I know I didn't send my daughter to private school, because I couldn't afford it. You are also correct that the founding fathers did not want an established government religion. That was a large part of the reason from breaking away from England in the first place. Britain has The Church of England. Our founders didn't want an established government church, which does not mean they didn't want any religion at all in our schools or other public places. There is a huge difference in having a government run church, and having a prayer said prior to a sporting event beginning. Madeline O'Hare made sure all of that stopped back in the 1960's. One of the worst people that ever got her agenda passed in MHO. Again, they were definitely against a government run religion. I personally think they would be appalled by what goes on in this nations schools on a daily basis concerning the total lack of God in school. A specific religion shouldn't be taught, but the existance of God should be. That's not a religion. Kids can't even hand out candy canes at Christmas, nor learn the possibility of creationism instead of Darwin's theory of evolution in our science classes. I think both should be taught and let the kids make up their own minds, with the help of their parents discussing it with them at home. I was taught both in school, and it didn't hurt me. I don't think it would hurt today's children any more than it did us. I have to agree with the original post that the morals of this country are in the dirt. If it feels good then it's ok seems to be the norm these days. Of course, the president making the oval office into a sex room for himself and an intern didn't teach our children any morals either. Whole different thread, so I won't get started on that. Joan

Do you know when they changed this rule? When I initially started this long journey, Medicare did not require the medically supervised diet. After I had a different surgery for another reason and was able to started working on getting the lap-band again after the end of 1 year, Medicare started requiring the supervised diet sometime during that year. So, I don't know what the rule is now, but I know what the rule was a year ago when I started the supervised diet program. Please let us know where you got your information. Thanks, Joan

WOW! I love this thread. Believe me, this thread hits me where it hurts! I have figured out that my fat is my 'parka' to protect me, but I didn't know lots of other people do the same thing. That at least makes me feel a little better. The problem is, I don't know how to get past it. I'm not sure why I always sabotage myself, so I'm trying to find a therapist to help me figure it out. I'm not banded yet, but I can see myself eating again after I've lost some weight. 2 years ago I lost 40lbs, but gained it all back. Hopefully a good therapist will help me. Great thread. Thanks everyone for sharing. Joan

I'm not banded yet, but hope to be in the next few months. I'm disabled and have Medicare coverage, so at least I don't have to pay for all of it out of pocket. I agree with the person who said the payments for the loan replaced the payment for medications. I currently take 15 prescription medications daily, and have almost every co morbidity there is. With that said, I do think there will be significant changes in wls in the next 10 years. Hopefully, obesity will be a thing of the past in the future. They have isolated a gene that causes obesity, and should be able to correct the problem within 10 years. Of course, it will be very expensive initially, but the price should go down over time. They will also develop better and safer surgeries. Who knows what they will be, but the lap-band was initially inserted via an open surgery instead of laparoscopically. In fact, all wl surgeries were done that way. The most important issue concerning obesity currently is our children. Kids spend to much time sitting around playing video games and watching TV instead of playing outside and getting lots of exercise. They are even taking PE out of our schools. We also live in a fast food era, so the kids are not eating healthy foods. I think this is where the future will be. Joan

I've been using a CPAP machine for about 7 years now, and I'm completely used to it. But, when I first got it, I used to wake up with it off all the time. Eventually I just quit pulling it off. I do rest soooooo much better with it on. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of it once I'm banded, along with most of my medications. I have almost every one of the co-morbities. Can't wait for a healthier life. Joan

Hello All, My problem is a bit different than most people who post on this thread. I have my surgeon, Dr. David Provost in Denton, TX, but I think I need to see a psychologist that specializes in weight loss. A huge part of the problem is I live 300 miles away from my surgeon, so I don't think they will be able to recommend anyone. I have talked to a woman on a different Lap-Band forum that sees a weight loss psychologist, and she says it has really helped her. I live in Amarillo, TX. Does anyone know of a weight loss psychologist in my area? Joan

I am so sorry I didn't find your post earlier. I am using Dr. Provost, and I think he is wonderful. I first saw him a couple of years ago in Dallas, and I saw him in February of this year. I don't know his office help very well, but I do know about Dr. Provost. You could not ask for a better surgeon. He's been voted 1 of the best docs in TX every year for a long time now. My PCP here in Amarillo knows him and think he's the best there is. I did a lot of research on different doctors before I chose him. When he was at UT Southwestern in Dallas, he was the head of the bariatric practice, so I trust him totally. I have read a post from someone else who said they didn't like his insurance person nor his nurse, but I have barely met both of them. I hope this helps you. Joan