StephC

oh btw - did ya'll notice my ticker? Can you believe it? I'm flipping shocked to see I've lost 70 lbs! I know alot of you have lost more then that, but it just seems like WOW!!! When I was down 68 or 69 lbs it didn't have any effect on me like seeing the 70. My big big goal is 150, I know thats not actually in the "normal" bmi range - 145 will put me in the norm but I can't remember being at 150, so it must have been good. The last time I remember being at a somewhat normal weight was 1996, I weighed 163 when I started working at the newspaper. That was 12 years ago. I feel so good about where I am today. I love my band, it was the best thing I've ever done for ME!

Bman you are a powerhouse! I never doubted you for a minute and you inspire so many people to get moving again! WTG! You'll be doing marathons before we know it. I'm glad you have someone to workout with, it really does help. Last night my neice said she didn't feel like walking so I said ok, and I thought I'd go by myself. I whined to dh and said ugh I don't feel like going alone, I got my period, whine whine whine and the great motivator that he is said, don't go, its not like you have to go, stay home with me (and watch Cops..LOL...fun fun) - so I did. I stayed home and laid my lazy arse on the couch. But it was good bc I had been away since Wed. and then Sun was busy with family so he needed some time alone with me. He loves me.

Thanks Tracy and good luck to you! I hope it all works out for you. I thought there was no hope that the insurance co. would pay for anything and when I had called them prior to my dr visits they said that everything would have to be submitted before they could decide how much would be covered. I believe God answers prayer and believe me I did alot of praying.

Bk - yes BB is one of my favorite shows! My girls and I watch it 3x a week! As for the stepper - girl those things are KILLERS! I dont' have one but while at the hotel last week I went down to exercise, I walked 1/2 hour on the treadmill then thought I'd ride the bike for 15 min. and do the stepper for 15 - I got on the bike and after about 5 min. my butt was hurting so bad I got off. So I got on the stepper, I about died, I did about 2 min and that was it. I got back on the treadmill and finished walking the rest of the hour. So dont' feel bad.

I questioned my band dr about the low profile port and he didnt' seem to think I need it. He said normally it protudes more on men then women bc men have more internal fat and women have external fat. Meaning - our port is on the muscle which is covered in fat, a mans port is also on his muscle but his fat is behind the muscle. Which all makes total sense to me. He said he can have a women with a big belly and have a heck of a time finding her port, getting thro all the fat, and a man with the same girth comes in an the port is right there. Not fair - never has been and never will be.

I'm hoping and praying its real soon. The sooner the better! I think you should probably call your insurance company and ask them if you should take a picture of the rash or if you can just tell the doctor about it. They'll let you know what their criteria is.

well I'm down 2 lbs, since I last updated my ticker. I hit 161 this morning, thats with TOM and Easter! I didnt' have gas last night, woohoo. I'm giving my band a rest today, I'm going to try to just do liquids. I was planning on making ham pot pie anyway so that'll work. In case you all aren't from PA (which I know you aren't) ham pot pie is a stew with dumplings or egg noodles. I never heard of it til I moved here but it is good. I don't know why they call it pot pie since its nothing like a pie. Its probably a hungarian word that the locals have chopped up.

VA - have fun on your hike. You always do such fun stuff. You seem to have a great group of friends. Grazing is easy to do when you are home alot. I fought it all winter. Since I'm back to work more now I dont' do it as bad. And of course this new fill helps in that area too.

I started thinking about the fill being so tight and tomorrow will be one week and I always seem to tighten up a week or so later, so I guess this is normal. Then this afternoon I was exhausted so I laid down for a while when I woke up Aunt Flo had arrived so 2+2= a tight band. I have pb'd everything I ate today. I just ate a few cashews, which I chewed to a pulp, and I can feel them in there too. I guess I'll just take it easy and drink some yuko protein shakes tomorrow and see how I feel. Jill the I've been using the gasx, unfortunately I used my last one last night. I think I'll chew some papaya enzymes before bed. Sorry you've got a rash, I've never heard of being allergic to yourself. Did they give you something for it? My dil went today and got a sonogram (or whatever you call them now) they got pics of the baby and can hear the heartbeat. She's due Nov. 15, just 6 weeks pregos now. They are so excited, my son asked for a pic of his own so he can show the baby at work. LOL Goofy kid, wonder where he gets it from. Jackie - I missed you at support group. We have a clothing exchange in April. Which I think I'll have quite a bit to donate. I had a horrible time trying to find something to wear to church yesterday. All my 10's are winter clothes, dark and heavy and all my lighter stuff is too big. I finally found one outfit that looked great but it was sleeveless and dang if PA isn't the same as living in Siberia! I ended up wearing an outfit my neice gave me, the top was fine but the skirt was too big and kept sliding down. I go to PS on Thursday, keep me in prayer that they'll give me a good early date in April. I told DH I'm not buying any more clothes until I get this tt done and the swelling goes down. By June I'll need to buy all new summer clothes anyway so I may as well wait it out. I'm able to wear jeans to work for now, once the season gets going I'll have to start wearing casual office - which I have absolutely nothing. Its frustrating, but I'll survive. Boo are you still into BB? I'm loving this season! I like James and Chelsea, gay Josh - always love the gay guys - and Ryan.

I just told him about it, but I do know others who have gone in when they have the rash to document it. (I also hear that alittle Dawn dish soap will give you a rash overnight, if needed) I go in on Thursday - I'm hoping they'll schedule my surgery then.

thanks all! I did take the compliment - it tickled me pink! I never really thought about 46 as being old until they said it that way. I still feel 35! :wub:

hi all - we had a nice Easter, the food was good (pat..pat..I'm the cook) and the company was excellant. I love having a houseful of people. I got a little pissed off at dinner bc I'm so tight I could barely eat anything. I dont' think I eat more then 1/2 cup at a time now. Theres all this good food and I can't even enjoy it - first time I felt really frustrated with my band. BUT on the other hand I am trying to get 10 lbs off this month so I'm not going to complain. We had eaten at about 1:30 and I was good, didn't over eat or PB then at about 8:30 I thought I'd eat some mashed potatoes (which always go down so good) no way - they didnt' even get all the way down and up they came. I thought maybe the ham made me retain some water. Something else is going on with me now - tell me if this is happening to any of you. I am waking up in the night with gas pain, I sit up in bed and I burp, its as if I have these huge gas bubbles caught in my stomach. Then theres relief. Its just weird and has happened about 3-4 times since this last fill. Its not really heartburn, its like my lower stomach is making gas and it seeps up into the smaller pouch.

I just had an amazing compliment this weekend. I was chaperone for our church youth group at the Penn/Del youth Convention this past weekend. My 2 dd were also there, one is almost 18 and the other 22 - they chaperoned too, well the girls in my room said I can't believe your daughters are that old, I said yep they are and I'm 46. All 3 girls yelled no way! (or Shut up, you know kids) and I said yes I am. They all thought I was in my 30's, one girl says I thought you were like 32, and then the other 2 said no, more like 35 or 36. Tickled me pink. Of course I know the source is very unrelieable as with all kids 46 is pretty darn close to 80. LOL But it still made my day, week or maybe even month!

So good to be back to the old keyboard! My dd did excellent as always (comes from a bragging mama) - she is going for her solo and for the large group. It'll be held in Charlotte NC in Aug. Her last one :thumbdown: She's going to be and adviser next year. Always fun to go and always good to be home. Boo - the baby is so sweet and such a pretty name. You need to take it easy with the weight loss, maybe thats why you are so sick, you're not eating healthy? HMMMMMMMMMMM? You know if you are or not so you don't need me preaching at ya but we'd hate to see anything happen to you. Bman - you go girl! No way I'm running 2 miles or 2.5 miles! Do you remember me saying good things can come out of the firing? oh yeah that was me, and this is a good thing. I'm so tight! I'm pb'ing at least once a day. If I don't go throw up I'm miserable, my back aches and my tummy hurts so I go get rid of it and I'm fine. I should be losing a ton of weight at this rate! I don't want to go for an unfill bc my dr wants me to get it all removed before the tt. I guess I'll just try to be more careful. I'm just wondering how much is actually staying with me and am I doing any damage to my band by pb'ing every day? Is everyone having a big Easter dinner? I'm doing the whole thing. I already started tonight. All the kids plus dd best friend and my neice and her family will all be here. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

I know I'm still almost 20 lbs from being in the normal BMI range but I'm actually happy with my size right now - that is without my stomach. My butt, back, legs all look normal and tight but as always I carry most of my weight in my stomach area. I dont' think that if I lose more weight after my tt that I'll need or want another or a revision. I think I'm close enough to goal that it'll look good. I'm not looking to wear bikinis, I'm just looking to fit and feel good in my clothes. I also feel like the insurance company helped make my decision for me, if they feel like I'm close enough to be paying for this in full - hey, who am I to argue? :thumbdown:

Karey - girlfriend you look WONDERFUL!!!!!! It makes me so excited to see all of you looking so good. I'm getting more excited everyday. Question - whats the banding suppose to be doing? Just holding everything tight until it gets all healed up?

Kat - hang in there. I know it gets frustrating but we know it's going to be well worth it when we finally get this done. I've done so good since I got my last fill, I think I'm down another pound or 2 even tho I've been out of town the last 4 days and eating out every meal. I just got home and stepped on the scale 4:00 in the afternoon - and it actually looked good so I'm hoping that tomorrow morning it looks better. I want to go to the dr on Thursday 5 lbs lighter.

Normally I walk 4 miles a day outside, I hate the treadmill but just put in an hour on it. I was a lazy butt all winter and didn't do anything, but last winter I cross country skied almost everyday that there was snow. When I wasn't exercising (all winter) I was still losing a lb a month, that was with no fill since 9/5 so I can honestly say the band never let me down, even when I wasn't working at it the band still was working for me. Now I want to lose another 10 lbs before my tt so I'm working at it.

So I'll just post a couple times so that I don't have to start over again. :thumbup: My youngest dd is performing for fine arts at the Penn/Del level - actually she performed her solo and duet last night and today she has a large group. Then we go on to Hershey to the youth convention this afternoon, its for 2 days. We'll find out Fri night if she goes national. She should, she's gone to nationals the past 3 years. Its all scholarship money but since she's determined not to go to college its almost a waste. Except for the experience. BK - my oldest dd is going for a social worker too. She wants to work in a hospital. I'm glad you got a job you love. That gives me hope. ( I totally worry about too many things concerning my kids) My back is aching from this laptop, I feel all tense. Guess I'll say have a wonderful Easter, if I get a chance I'll pop back in, that is if I can handle using this beast!

BK - hon its so good to hear from you! YOu need to keep in touch with us more often, we miss you when your gone. Sounds like your life is full and wonderful. Don't worry about the weight, it'll come off when you get the right adjustment. Just enjoy every moment with that baby before you know it he'll be a senior and you'll be old like me. Boo - that baby girl is beautiful!!! whats her name? I can't wait to be a gramma. I'm at the hotel with my oldest dd and her friend, both of them are sleeping and I've already walked and hour and had my coffee so I decided to use her laptop. I've already lost a whole page. grrrr I've been typing for 30 years, I took 4 years of typing in high school on the old manual typewriters and I never had the problems like I have with this thing! I'm scared to hit the wrong key it might delete my whole page!

I think those prices are outrageous! I would get another opinion. Without any insurance a full tt at a very fancy facility here is only 10k and that includes everything. My dr said once we got the ins. approvel for the Panny then we'd work out the rest of the details, thankfully ins. is covering the full tt.

Julie - I'm 13 from MY goal of 150, but to get into the normal bmi I need to get to 145, I feel I'm close enough for the tt. Kat I like your pic too - don't let the insurance off that easy call them again tomorrow and say you are concerned bc your dr said it had been mailed 10 days ago. It might kick em in the butt and get them going.

How much lower, can you see them in the pics? Guess I'm running to your pics to see if I can see them. Thanks for the reply.

I hope I feel the same after my surgery. I've heard good things about Dr B. but haven't seen his work or any of his patients, I guess I'm the guinea pig for the support group. If I'm happy I guess I'll be throwing alot of business his way. I'm his first bandster, I may have said that before so I'm a little nervous but my band Dr assures me that theres nothing to be nervous about. I just wish they were at the same hospital so they could talk about me (I love being the center of a conversation!)