Kaydotrn

Hi, Just adding my 2 cents. I was diagnosed with a fatty liver at my pre-op ultrasoud ::gasp::. I joined weightwatchers since it was recommended that I lose 10 pounds prior to surgery. Through WW I lost 18 pounds by surgery date. I was really worried that I would still have a huge liver since I did not have a pre-op liquid diet. My first question after surgery was "how was my liver?" and my surgeon said it was beautful and that I did a great job. I just tell you this so that you know the liver can shrink in the time frame you have without the torture of a liquid diet (assuming your Doctor did not order one-if Doctor says to follow a liquid diet, naturally follow his/her guidelines.)

I have psoriasis as well and also noticed that after my recent banding I broke out on my hands. I have had it there before but before surgery it was healed, after surgery it flared up. I am guessing it has something to do with all the milk I am drinking (on liquids) but I could be wrong. I will have to break down and get some Dovonex as well. Ugh.

Smith, I can tell you that Designer whey unflavored tastes like ass. That is one thing I know. I can say that I put it in my cream of wheat this morning and did not notice it. Thank God! I have heardgood thingsabout unjury but I am not sure for myself. If you find one, please let me know.

(((sweethot)))) wtf? I cannot understand why you have to go through all of this pain and agony. It is crazy. I am amazed at your ability to have a sense of humor about it and I think that in the long run, you will be better for being able to laugh about it. How long will you be in Germany? I hope you can come back here soon. Where are you from originally? ((carol)) I am glad your DH is okay. I agree thisis a great group and I too don't know how I would have got through this week without all of you for support. I went to the mall with the kids today. I was hungry and went to Planet Smoothie and got some weird smoothie with protein powder and drank about 1 cup of it. It filled me, but was nothing to rave about. It probably had more calories than anything I would eat at home. I will look up the nutritional info. The kids wanted Johnny Rockets and I actually took them there. One got a jr cheeseburger and the other got cheese fries (yes, nice healthy lunch for my growing children). I let them have it since I know we have not had McDonald's or anything like that in months. That little cheeseburger looked and smelled so greasy and delicious. My daughter ate about 3 bites since she has the appetite of a tit mouse and it the other onecouldn't finish her fries. Old mom would have finished her meal and proceeded to eat the kids leftovers (can't waste food!). I was a little depressed and got a bit cranky about it, but now I am fine.I swear it is just these little things I am going to have to "suffer" through in order to reach the grand prize. It will be worth it. I am tired now and going to takea quick rest. Be well.

Morning Ladies, Just a quick post-I am off to the mall with the kids. Just want to mention that evaporated skim milk is great to add to Soups, coffee, cream of wheat or whatever youwant to cream up and thicken. I used it yesterday for my creamy soup and today I added it with a scoop of unflavored Protein powder(yuk) to my cream of wheat to get it really thin and soupy. It has 1g or protein per tablespoon. In my cream of wheat I used a packet of splenda, about 1/2 scoop of Protein powder (8gm protein) and 4T of evap. skim milk (4gm) making a prety protein free meal into a 12gm protein meal. Next time I will use the whole scoop of powder. I was afraid it would taste nasty. A little shake of cinnamon and it was a yummy and filling meal for under 200 cals. I am using fitday to track my intake and I am averaging 550 cals and 40gm of protein a day. My appetite is getting better though so I hope to be able to get more protein in. welcome janmack!hope you are feeling well. mystique-congrats on the xmas gift. Good luck on that tight butt youwill be getting! transformer-I meant to thank you yesterday for the encouragement. I do feel lucky that this will be the first xmas I am not gaining! Have a good day all!!!!

I am on liquids for another 2 weeks. Christmas Eve I had about a cup of roasted red pepper soup and Christmas Day I had some very whipped mashed potatoes that I further thinned with milk. Not terribly exciting and slightly depressing but I got through it.Phew!

Good evening everyone. I swore I was going to bed early tonight, yet here I am... Is everyone getting hungry? I am doing okay. I sure am counting down until my surgeon lets me transition to mushies(16 days). BTW, my surgeon is highly regarded and his fellows are Harvard Medical Grads so I plan to follow the advice he has set forth to a "t" regardless of how quickly others are transitioning. Right or wrong, I trust that he has reasons for setting my plan up the way he has. I have the utmost faith in him. I ama nursing student and not even slightly afraid of needles, but I cannot imagine toting my own syringe around for emergency unfills. That seems really strange to me. Anywhoo...weighed in @ WW today and I am down 28 pounds (10 since surgery). Yay. I feel great. My appetite is definitely increasing but still controllable with my liquids and creamy Soups. I made a really yummy potato corn chowder that was low enough in fat and I blended it in my blender. It was very savory and I cooked up 2 slices of bacon to add to the Soup prior to blending which gave a nice flavor. With the3/4 cup serving, it wasvery reasonable in calories and I felt like I had a treat. I am thinking of trying black bean soup next. I will be the mext soup nazi.."no soup for you!". Was Nathalie going away for the holidays? I am getting concerned. B-man..you still kicking @ss and taking names? You really sound like youa re doing great! Steph-love you girl..enough said! BKwalling-you are doing great. Keep doing whatyou are doing girl. Carol-so glad to hear from you and glad to see you are doing well. Big hugs to all the DecemberBandsters.

I was banded on December 18th and I cannot advance my diet to mushies until my follow up visit on January 11th. Ho-hum....

Are we all making it through Christmas??? I had a really nice day. Went to in-laws for prime rib, potatoes, mac n cheese, creamed spinach, rolls, green Beans..and I have no idea what else. I had a small scoop of mashed which were very thin and poured more gravy on to this them out to almost Soup. I felt fine. I passed on all the Snacks and the molten lava chocolate individual cakes that were being passed around. I am proud of myself. I did eat 2 wheat thins that I chewed to gruel before swallowing and then felt guilty, though they went down fine. I enjoyed the company and didn't feel as badlyfor myself about the food as I did yesterday. Two more weeks of these liquids. Though on this stage I am allowed really thinned and able to pour oatmeal and whipped cottage cheese. (whooppeee). I know I can do it. I got over the 2 worst days I will and have another celebration this weekend. It will be fine. The "not feeling well, sore throat" thing went over great andmy secret stayed with me. I even got a very nice compliment from my brother i law who said "you look like you have lost a lot of weight, you look beautiful". I was actually choked up since I didn't expect that sincere compliment. It was really nice coming from him. I just said I lost a little and I am working really hard. Which is true. I am down 30 I think but I get weighed in tomorrow. Have a good night all. I will reply to threads tomorrow. NAT..where are you??????

Hi All, MERRY CHRISTMAS! So many posts! Ionly have a few minutes so I cannot reply individually but just wanted to say a big "Love Ya" to my banded beauties. I also wanted to show you a family photo we took last night at my Mom's. It won't be staying online long though since it may mess with my whole anonymity thing. ***editedto remove photo. My night last night was beautiful but I really missed eating. I was not physically hungry, but it was depressing not to have all the good food I saw. Even just one stuffed mushroom or piece of my sister's chicken satay with peanut sauce. Ho-hum. It was depressing. But I persevered and I feel so strong for that! I know I will be eating again soon (not soon enough as I do not go back to MD until the 11th and I cannot transition to mushies until then-ugh). Off to the inlaws today who don't know about the surgery so I am working my "sore throat" excuse. Funfun. Have a great day all and I will be back later.

aaamom-did you mean me too about getting together? Just curious. I am definitely feeling the need to get together and do some talking with others having gone through this surgery. thanks for the clarification Chrispy-I couldn;t remember what the relationship was. She is awful sweet.

I am absolutely mourning my old friend food. I am also not cooking or baking this holiday because emotionally I don't think I can handle it. It oo love to cook and eating is a huge part of any celebration. Aside from that, I honestly believe that I can get over it. The cooking/eating thing has been a huge part of my entire life. My favortie channel is food network (food porn), my favorite reading is menus. Yes, I have a strange love of reading restaurant or catering menus and fatasizing what I would buy. It is a sickness! It is not working for me...I am 100 or so pounds overweight and something in my behavior had to change. I am ready to change. There are days when I am going to miss my old relationship with food where I could eat what I want (often without tasting or enjoying it), but overall I know that friendship is doing a lot of damage to me both pysically and emotionally. I am ready to move on. I can still cook, since I love to feed people and have them ooh and ahhh...but when the time comes, I will learn to be satisfied with a small taste. Best wishes on your journey.

I posted the following in my favorite thread but felt I needed to post it in my journal for a reference: Last night I went to exchange gift at some of my family's house. It was informal and nice. My aunt served dinner..just snack type foods but there was so much delicious looking stuff. Not the fancy things, more like chicken wings and cheesy appetizers, boatloads of baked goods. I just sipped tea because of my "sore throat" (the excuse I am using for not eating). It was tough and I was feeling a little bad for myself. We came home after a couple of hours and I was starved so I had some soup. I was relaying to my husband about feeling a little sad about not getting to eat all of that delicious smelling food. Things I would have devoured until I was stuffed pre-surgery. He just turned to me and said "it's just like drinking". he had given up drinking about 6 years ago. I kind of felt like a dope. Here is this guy who quit something that he enjoyed because he drove me crazy when he did it-he wasn't mean or belligerent. He functioned daily, but when he drank he got sloppy and annoying. He is so much funnier now that he stopped and no longer tells me the same stories over and over-hehe. I know it was a huge hurdle for him and he has been sober for 6 years. I guess it put things into a perspective for me. I too have to give up my addiction. I can still eat, but I can no longer just stuff myself with all the things in front of my face. He beat his addiction without the help of a tool like I have. I admire him for it even more. When I woke up this morning, the longing for those foods was over. Yeah, I didn't get to eat all that stuff I saw last night and desperately wanted despite not being hungry-but so what. It is only food. It will be there whenI can eat and have a little bit...I don't want it to have power over me anymore.

((sweethot))) I am glad you are feeling better. I am starting to sleep a little better now too. I think I am averaging about 6 hours straight which is a lot better than it has been. Beversman-it is quieter. Boy do I miss Nat. Nat if you are out there, please just say a quick hi to let us now all is well with you. Apparently I have no life because I am still managing to get on here a fwe times a day. I think it is because I am not baking this year for the holidays or cooking ANYTHING. That is a first since I am a big food maker. I just can't do it this year and I am finding myself bored and with zero stress this holiday. Strange. ((ddee)) I am sad to read of your emergency surgery. It frightens me whenI hear of complications even though I was made well aware of their possibility before my surgery. I wish you much success with your new band. How long did you have the old one? did you consider not getting a new band at all? VaBandster-I am glad you are doing well with the family around. It isn't easy but we can get through this week. Butterfly-good luck on Friday. You must be getting so excited. You will be fine! Last night I went to exchange gift at some of my family's house. It was informal and nice. My aunt served dinner..just snack type foods but there was so much delicious looking stuff. Not the fancy things, more like chicken wings and cheesy appetizers, boatloads of baked goods. I just sipped tea because of my "sore throat" (the excuse I am using for not eating). It was tough and I was feeling a little bad for myself. We came home after a couple of hours and I was starved so I had some Soup. I was relaying to my husband about feeling a little sad about not getting to eat all of that delicious smelling food. Things I would have devoured until I was stuffed pre-surgery. He just turned to me and said "it's just like drinking". he had given up drinking about 6 years ago. I kind of felt like a dope. Here is this guy who quit something that he enjoyed because he drove me crazy when he did it-he wasn't mean or belligerent. He functioned daily, but when he drank he got sloppy and annoying. He is so much funnier now that he stopped and no longer tells me the same stories over and over-hehe. I know it was a huge hurdle for him and he has been sober for 6 years. I guess it put things into a perspective for me. I too have to give up my addiction. I can still eat, but I can no longer just stuff myself with all the things in front of my face. He beat his addiction without the help of a tool like I have. I admire him for it even more. When I woke up this morning, the longing for those foods was over. Yeah, I didn't get to eat all that stuff I saw last night and desperately wanted despite not being hungry-but so what. It is only food. It will be there whenI can eat and have a little bit...I don't want it to have power over me anymore. sorry to carry on...I just felt the need to share.

Thanks Chrispy!!!I would love to get together. I really would like to connect in person with others who have had this surgery. Unfortunately, the support groups at BIDMC conflict with my school schedule. If anyone ever wants to have a get together, please let me know. I would be interested after the holidays! I will travel up to an hour from Boston. Thanks Rainbow too for your reply. Your cousin(?) is Michelle, right? I thought I read that somewhere...she called me the other day to see how I was recovering. She is one of the nicest girls. I feel like I could chat with her for hours.... Best wishes to all for a healthy New Year!!! Merry Christmas.

(((sweethot))) I cannot believe what you are going through. I don't think you are complaining at all!!!!! I think it is awful that you cannot even ask questions. If you were to rate the pain on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst, what wouldit be? I can tell you that 5 days out, my pain while taking Tylenol is about a 2. If I forget to take meds it gets to about a 3 or 4 but not much worse than that. As far as energy goes, I feel like a million bucks. I was out of the house at 9am, drove to my mom's to do some last minute stuff, left at 11 and drove to another town to see my friend who had a baby yesterday, and just got home at 1:30pm. I am tired now and a little gassy so I just had some lunch and I am going to lay low for a little while. I am only giving you details for you to understand what my energy level is. no, I do not feel 100% but I feel pretty close to it. If there is anything I can do, pleae tell me. If you want me to ship something that you cannot get there to you I will. Just ask. You shouldn't have toput up with this. Hang in there!!!!! BKwalling-I love your pic with hubby. So cute!!!! My steri-strips are starting to look gross since they are curling up a bit and my black shirt lint is getting stuck int he adhesive..they look dirty. But I was told to let them fall off on their own, so I will. How do your scars look unbandaged? Steph-sounds like a good party. I have a dinner get together tonight with people whodo not know about my surgery. It makes it harder this way. ugh. I am going with the sore throat, can't eat excuse. bummer. I am getting to be the pro at blending soups. I bought some minestrone today and threw it in the blender. Yum. I hope that isokay. I think it with some broth and it is liquid so I imagine it isnota problem. I am hungry today (I think) so I am going to have some pudding. Later~ Edit: BTW, my BMI is officially 39.4...not over 40, I am only severely obese instead of morbidly obese. How nice.

HI Mine, We were banded on the same day! Please come visit the December bandster thread and you will find a bunch of us in the same stage as you. It is filled with support. Best of luck.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I got up early,took some Tylenol, and was off doing errands. How liberating to feel independent again. I am definitely not getting the coddling and attn from DH as I would like. He is helpful if I ask, but I am still up doing dishes and the like since no one else in this house seems to mind if this place turns into a rat's nest. It drives me batty. And now he has a cold which sucks, but I swear if I am sick, he is sicker. Is it a guy thing? I actually thought I would be waited on a bit. Not that I need to be, it just would be nice to be nursed like my mom would have. Okay..enough pity party for me. I had a couple of weird chewing incidents yesterday. I chewed 3 cheezits and spit them in the trash. then a piece of chicken. How gross. I am not proud of my crazy behavior. Iwas just desperate for something of substance in my mouth. I am over it though and will try not to do that again. The last thing I need is to have some eating disorder where I start chewing and spitting..not to mention, it is just no fun when you can't swallow the food. My banded friend came to visit last night and brought some shakes for me to try. I am looking forward to having them this morning! She made me feel good since she said I didn't look like i had sx 4 days ago. That was nice. I actually feel so much better than I could have ever dreamed! I went to WW yesterday on a whim since I missed my meeting on Tuesday. I was down 7 pounds! I felt a bit fraudulent, because I know I havethe unfair advantage of having had sx. Whatever-this is about me. I need to lose this weight by whatever means necessary without hurting my body. I don't feel like I need to be going to WW right now, but my membership is paid for until the end of January. By that point I will be on some regular food and that iswhen I think I will need the accountability since I will still have to make good food choices. It helps me to keep ontrack and journal what I am eating. Looking forward to havinga good, productive day. And tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Exciting. This is my last fat Christmas! I already feel so much more attractive down 25 pounds than I did a few months ago. Yay me. Check in later.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I got up early,took some Tylenol, and was off doing errands. How liberating to feel independent again. I am definitely not getting the coddling and attn from DH as I would like. He is helpful if I ask, but I am still up doing dishes and the like since no one else in this house seems to mind if this place turns into a rat's nest. It drives me batty. And now he has a cold which sucks, but I swear if I am sick, he is sicker. Is it a guy thing? I actually thought I would be waited on a bit. Not that I need to be, it just would be nice to be nursed like my mom would have. Okay..enough pity party for me. I had a couple of weird chewing incidents yesterday. I chewed 3 cheezits and spit them in the trash. then a piece of chicken. How gross. I am not proud of my crazy behavior. Iwas just desperate for something of substance in my mouth. I am over it though and will try not to do that again. The last thing I need is to have some eating disorder where I start chewing and spitting..not to mention, it is just no fun when you can't swallow the food. My banded friend came to visit last night and brought some shakes for me to try. I am looking forward to having them this morning! She made me feel good since she said I didn't look like i had sx 4 days ago. That was nice. I actually feel so much better than I could have ever dreamed! I went to WW yesterday on a whim since I missed my meeting on Tuesday. I was down 7 pounds! I felt a bit fraudulent, because I know I havethe unfair advantage of having had sx. Whatever-this is about me. I need to lose this weight by whatever means necessary without hurting my body. I don't feel like I need to be going to WW right now, but my membership is paid for until the end of January. By that point I will be on some regular food and that iswhen I think I will need the accountability since I will still have to make good food choices. It helps me to keep ontrack and journal what I am eating. Looking forward to havinga good, productive day. And tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Exciting. This is my last fat Christmas! I already feel so much more attractive down 25 pounds than I did a few months ago. Yay me. Check in later.

Siyah-welcome. I a note sure if I can help you on the high Protein soups but I would loveto hear from someone else on the matter! I did not havea pre-op liquid diet so I can only sympathize. Beversman is our resident professional on the liquid diet, she may be able to help you out. As far as your fears..they are totally normal. I had so many myself. I was never 100% sure that I was doing the right thing. Pre-surgery I was fat but reasonable healthy but I was afraid of what the next 10 years would bring if I didn't do something a little more drastic than take another walkdown the diet aisle. Just think, it is scary to go under the anesthesia and have this surgery, but it will be just as scary when you have to go under to have your knees replaced in a few years and you may still be overweight. I don't mean to sound harsh but that is how I rationalized itto myself. If not this surgery, my future would hold some other surgery and I would still be obese. You have to make this decision yourself and check out your surgeon. Once I was in pre-op and saw the dozens of people having various surgeries, I started to feel more comfortable..it wasn;t as big of a deal as I had built in my head. Best of luck! Keep us posted. Transformer & Sweethot-I totally know what you meanabout the laughing hurting like hell. I have been dying to get out a good cough but every time I try, it feels like I am ripping open. Just last night I finally felt like I could deep cough without hurting anything..aaahhhh. Laughing is getting easier too. ChubbyGirl-WTH-you are sleeping on your stomach! I am green with envy. I have not had a full night sleep since sx because i just can't get comfy. I am getting closer though. Maybe sometime next week. Enjoy that belly sleep! Have a good morning.

LMAO! I am a weirdo, now it is confirmed. And I have no intentions of "swallowing" anything like that either-Doctor does not approve, or at least that is what I am telling DH..hahaha. Okay, sorry for the crudeness. I try to keep the filty girl in me quiet on this board. Okay..I have had it with you Beversman-not only do youhave will of steal during pre-op, feeling great and on here chatting day of surgery, but now you show me scars that look like nothing? Who did your lapband, David Copperfield? I am amazed. Looks good girl!

((B-Man)))) I cannot believe you are back already. And feeling awesome. I am so happy to see you on the other side. i felt awesome the first day too. Was quite surprised actually. Second day for me was tougher because I started sweating out the anesthesia and not a fan of the morphine they had me on. Plus I had the horrendous swallow test where you swallow some freaking paint thinner and they take pictures of it going down-then some chalky stuff and take pics again. Then they don't even let you drink anything until the radiologist and surgeons have a peek at the results. UGH!!!! I hope you keep feeling great. That is awesome. My friend who is banded came to visit me today and commented that I look better than 4 days post op. That made me thrilled. I am feeling really well. A little bloated today because I think I overdid it on dinner. I bought some clam chowder froma nearby restaurant and pureed the crap out of it. Not a speck of lumps..but I think I had 3/4 of a cup and it really filled me. I will have to slow down next time. I was just so excited to have something with some sustenance. I know it was probably fattening but I am hovering around 600 cals a day anyway so I don't care. Then I had the weird urge to chewa couple of cheez-its and spit them out. I know that is gross and sounding borderline eating disorder, but I did it and I am confessing. I will try not to do that again because that is just weird and as much as I got the taste-it is not fun when you cannot swallow the food. Not to mention gross that I was spitting over my stinky trash can. WEIRDO! Have a good night all. I am praying for a decent sleep....

Hi everyone! I was laughing my ample behind off at the fact that so many of us are having the head hungries! Last night I wanted chicken fingers and today I was longing for pizza. We are not alone. It so obviously won't change over night but it is nice to have this tool to keep us from going off the deep edge. I know what kind of damage I could have done over the holidays if it were not for the band. Sweethot-I am so glad you are starting to feel better. I was afraid you were in some medieval torture place with all that "drugs only twice a day" and crap. I was about to chip you some stuff! haha. Steph-thanks for the shoutout. I am feeling chipper. I just am feeling better everyday. A little hungrier too but I know "this too shall pass". My kdsi do know but my older girl is great about keeping secrets and my younger one just thinks I stayed over the doctor's and doesn't feel the need to talk about it. Thank god...You sound great too. keep up the great work. Nat-where is my girl???? VABandster-best of luck with the family coming to town. This will be the toughest week for most of us but we can do it!!!!! Hang in there and it will be SO worth it when we are weighing in over the new year. BKwalling-McDonalds..mmm. I actually hadn't had that for months before surgery and almost bought a cheeseburger one night last week as a last supper treat but deep down I know that shit is the devil and clogging up my already fatty liver. No thanks. Try to think of what it is doing to your insides :gross: and hopefully that will help get over those head hungries. Why do they have to make that stuff taste so darn good? Ddee-I too am doing the waxing thing tomorrow. It does feel nice to get primped. I showered the other day and took the time to do my hair and it made a huge difference then when I just toss it on a pony. I have the frizziest hair unless I blow it out straight. The nice part is that it has lasted 2 days and still looks nice despite sleeping on it. Makes me feel that much better, y'know? Enjoy your haircut. Emily-this is a super supportive group. I feel so lucky to have found all of these great people to journey with. Not a bad one in the bunch (though a few of us are a little wacky--hahahaha). Welcome everyone new-and who else are we waiting on for bandings? I think Jill asked this today. Good question. If you are due to be banded this month-speak up sowe can keep track! Beversman-I am thinking of you girl. Okay-if I missed anyone I am sorry. I will blame it on the drugs though I am currently just taking Tylenol during the day. I feel like a real woman again today. I didn't take any percocet so I could drive today. I just took some liquid tylenol ::yuck:: and was off to do some errands..ALONE! It was liberating. Silly I know, but I have been so dependent all week. While I was out, I figured I would stop by WEight Watchers and weigh in since I missed Tuesday's weigh in (as most of you know, i was following WW for my pre-op diet and lost 18 pounds-I am paid through the end of January and figured I would pop in). Well, I was down 7 more pounds! woohoo. I felt like a fraud though since I so obviously was not losing this week without the help of total restriction. I gifured I would keep the membership because once I start eating real food again, it will be helpful to me to have the accountability. We'll see. I just feel like a big liar. Well, I am off. I am going to lie down for a bit. Great job everyone and keep up the good work.

Another December 18th bandster here!!! I am sorry to hear about your vomiting. I have not had that yet. I am also confused and trying to learn the body signals of hungry or not. I have to force myself to eat and I have constant grumblies of gas rumbling through my insides. It is like a symphony every time I use the bathroom. haha We can all learn this together. Sometimes in the day it takes me an hour to drink 4 oz. Then other times I can do it in half. I just had a small Protein drink and drank all 6 or so oz in about 40 minutes. I am now content and don't feel like eating anything else. My back is sore also from laying around and not getting comfy and I get some burning in my back which I assume is from the gas. I long to have a full night sleep some time in the near future since currently, I get up in the middle of the night and come on this board. ho-hum. Glad we are all in this together. Please keep me posted on how you are doing with the vomiting and I am glad you called the Dr.

How was the support group? I too love June. I look forwardto attending the next one. Maybe some of us could meet up together. I was just not ready for the meeting this week. Too soon and still hurting a bit. I must say and I have said it before-I love the people they have working at BIDMC. They are some of the nicest health care workers I have ever come across. Dr. Schneider and his entire staff have been absolutely wonderful. Michelle called today to see how I was doing and it is like chatting with a friend. Great great great. I am feeling better everyday although not sleeping well since I just want to roll onto my tummy ::ouch::. Sherry-love the pic. Have a wonderful holiday. you look so happy and beautiful! Have wonderful Christmas this weekend.