KristiB

Cathy, I am so happy for you! I completely understand about the child at home part, though. I think I will probably use my daughter as an excuse to not get serious with someone. I hope I don't but I can honestly see myself doin it. Chris(lessthanbaxter), Another man! Woo hoo! Okay, so you got the band, you're losing weight. We all here know how it feels to be passed over. So you know what's going to happen? YOU are one day going to be the hottie, while your friends get passed over! Just imagine that while you are pumping Iron at the gym. Harlito, my dad weighs about what you started out at, and I wish he would do something about it. I worry for him, he's got borderline diabetes, phlebitis and sometimes gets gout in his toes. You are still young, I hope you didn't have any of these problems. But good luck with you in your journey. Celeste, how hard it must be for you! I would enjoy some safaris, but not alone, probably. So you'll be back to the states in 08? Are you returning for good, or just for a short while? Jodie, I feel your pain. Although you said some of these women were bigger than you, getting the action. Maybe they are getting the action because the men know they are willing to do things that you have to good sense not to do? I also get to hook up my girlfriends with men that I have met. I have this problem. I ALWAYS have hot friends. I never hang out with other overweight people, so maybe I am setting myself up for disappointment. Wootsie, good luck with your neighbor. You have got guts. Okay, I am going to post this and then hopefully do another one. Kristi

Chris, Yes I am bad. I told you, its the hormones. JK everyone! :faint: Cathy, you go girl! I am still afraid of making the eye contact too much, but I have been strutting my stuff around JUST a bit. Okay, so he's back in 13 days, right? Can someone make us a ticker for that? I am so mad, though, I am losing my boobs! Why can't the butt go first? Missy, hang in there. One of these days you will be in on that circle of married gals, and you'll be looking so good, and having so many men chasing you, you'll wonder why you wanted to get married anyway. Kay, good thinking! Ask the man to make more than the small talk with us. Harlito is 36? He's in my age range. Harllito, I am just kidding with you!! I promise I am not a stalker! Jdru, work up the courage, make that eye contact, and talk to someone for me, cause I am still too shy. Come back and tell us how it went!! Okay, a funny story. I have to get allergy shots. I was on the phone talking to someone I hadn't seen in a while, and walked into the waiting room of the clinic. You have to go around a wall, so you can't see anyone in there until you are actually IN the room. Well, I was talking, yapping, flapping my jowls, and asked my friend if she "knows any single guys, cause I am on the prowl, yes, I am" just as I walked into the waiting room, and there were 6 or 7 men around my age in there waiting for their shots. They heard every word I was saying!! Several of them smiled, I was so embarrassed. Its usu. only older people when I go in, so imagine my shock, walking into a ROOM full of men! I thought I had died and gone to heaven. No, not really, but it sounded good. Well, if I have forgotten anyone, I am sorry, I will get back to you next time. Kristi Dr. Benavides, Dallas, TX lap done on Nov1, 06 I can't seem to get my pic on here, so if anyone is interested, http://www.myspace.com/kristiandsavannah hope I got that right, or if you want to view my kiddo singing rudolph, go to myspace, and look me up by my email address. kbash2@cox.net

Just for kicks, Harlito, are you a construction worker? Kristi

I made it through Thanksgiving, didn't gain any weight! Didn't lose much either, but starting on the mushies, and probably overdid it! It was so nice to get something in my stomach besides liquid. I am not losing weight as fast as I had hoped. I know it's not like the bypass, we are supposed to catch up with them after a few years, and I only really needed to lose about 80 lbs, but geesh. Dr. Benavides has trained one doc here in Tulsa to do the fills for him, for the patients who live in this area. (tulsa), instead of having to drive all the way back to Dallas for fills. I haven't had a fill yet, so I am nervous. I feel like I need a fill. I can eat a lot of mushies, and I can drink one of those Atkins Protein drinks all 11 oz. pretty fast. I haven't been on a lot of solids yet, so I am not sure how I will do. I officially start solids this coming Wednesday, so I have officially been cheating. I don't PB, unless I HAVE had too much. I find I will be one of those who has a problem with breads, so far. Haven't tried much else. I did go to a Mexican restaurant today, had too many chips and salsa, so couldn't have the chimi, so maybe I don't need a fill? Who knows..I just don't want to have so much of a restriction that I feel I can't eat at all.......anyone know what I mean? Okay, enough about me. How is everyone else doing? Kristi banded Nov. 1, 2006 no fills yet

Its nice to have more people from OK on here. We need to keep in touch, there aren't many of us! Kristi

Amy, I haven't personally had that problem, but I have read a bunch of posts about it. I think it is one of the side effects that are considered normal from the lap band, though. I had been wondering myself if I would have that when I got a fill. Kristi

Lois, I figured it out. I was trying to put it in the signature line, not using the little mountain icon. Thanks...... Kristi

Okay, well I can't figure out how to fix my ticker. I tried to adjust it, but now can't remember how I got the darn thing in there in the first place. :help: :cry Kristi

My favorite series', which I have read over and over, are Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series, and Stephen King's The Gunslinger series. These are great stories that last a loooooong time. As a matter of fact, I am still waiting for Jordan to put out the last two books in his series. I have been reading the series for about 14 years. It takes about 3 or 4 years in between publishings, so I start to reread the stories all over again. I do read the porn, that we women like to call romance. There is one book called Ghost Fox, or Ghostfox, by a man, its got a great story along with the romance. I wish I could find it on a book exchange gruop somewhere. I belong to frugal reader, where you exchange books online. You ship your books to whomever requests it, and if you request a book from someone, its free! You can either keep that book when you're done, or you can relist it for others to request. It goes on a points system. frugalreader.com. Kristi

Well, I am back. Still single. But thats's okay, I have been used to it for a while now. LOL actually prefer it now. I am afraid of meeting someone who I think is the ONE, and find out he's a child molester, or something. I know how rare that probably is, but you hear about it so much in the news, it really scares me. I think I should really wait to start dating until my daughter is older, or at least old enough to be a good judge of what is appropriate, and not be afraid to tell me if something happens to her. It is so hard these days. So where would I go to meet men anyway? Football games I can do, but I don't think I would like to watch golf, or hockey, or soccer. I guess baseball games are okay, too. I actually thought about being the 'beer girl' at baseball games. You know, the person selling the popcorn and drinks, just to meet guys. How lame is that? I think my confidence is already rising. People are already looking at me differently. I have actually gotten a few look backsLOL it feels good. I have only lost like 25 lbs. I can't wait until I lose it all! Well, girls, its Saturday and I am going out tonight. One of the girls I work with has been a singer at a bar for 15 years, so she must be good. A bunch of girls at work are going out there to see her perform, and we invited the construction workers!!! They probably won't come. They aren't even supposed to be talking to us, due to a lawsuit from some other women that they DID talk to. I really don't know what happened, but these men all seem very nice and respectful, so it may just have been uppity women who thought they were too good for workers. Or maybe not, I can't be the judge I don't know what happened. Bye bye. Kristi

they are remodeling some areas at work for the next two months. Construction workers :peep: LOL. Somethings to look forward to!! Ha. I am SO bad. Kristi

I think my port has turned sideways. I just had the surgery on 11-1. It feels weird under my skin, so I cheated and xrayed it. It appears to be lying on its side like a tire lying on the road. It doesn't hurt or anything, though. so maybe its just sitting with the slope of my belly. Kristi so do the surgeons who placed the band usually flip the port for free, especially if it is within a few weeks of surgery?

Sunshine, good luck with the surgery. You never said if your husband will talk about the band with you. Is he more open to that than the bypass? I agree with the other posters. I work in the medical field, and while so many people do have good results with the bypass, I PERSONALLY know or have met through working at the hospital 7 people who have either died or are having complications with digestion, hair loss, adhesions, vomiting, diarrhea, or all of the above. My neighbors wife died 2 years ago, my co workers daughter who is only 29 has lost her job, her kids, her insurance, her husband, and can't hold a job due to complications. She can only drink a few sips at a time, cant keep solids down at all, and since she has no insurance, she is always in the ER. Her surgery was probably 2.5 years ago, and still all these problems. The people I have met through the hospital, one died, 2 others I don't know what happened to, and one other has dumping syndrome ALL the time. I wouldn't have the bypass. Maybe if I was 600 lbs. I think the band is great so far. I only had it 11-1-06, so still doing mushies. But I am down 20 lbs. I went back to work in 5 days. Kristi

Hello. I am from BA. I didn't use a Tulsa Doc, but went to RichardsonTX. I just had my surgery on Nov. 1. You know that doc. that advertises is the Tulsa World for the free seminar at the Renaissance hotel. I used him. I hear Gorospe is good though. Keep in touch so we can compare. Kristi

L8BloomR, No I have not had a fill, so I thought it would be fine. Maybe it was just the cold water I drank in the morning? I only had a few sips, but maybe that was it. terrimck, you will be fine. I had one last meal the last night too, I thought OMG, I am not going to get surgery, my liver will be too fat. But everything went well. I mean, really, we are all overweight, or we wouldn't be getting the band. Hows the doc to really know how much fat your liver had before that meal? Maybe they do, I don't know. Lady Janey, I am going to look for that book tomorrow. Are the recipes for the long haul, or mostly for recent post op, pureeds and mushies? Kristi

Roxy, That is too cool. I want my daughter to get in the mermaid class and actually swim with the mermaids. She would get to have a photo shoot, or at least a pic taken wearing some fins and shells, sitting inside a huge clamshell with the biggirl mermaids. I think she would really love it. And that takes about 3 hours a day so I could go dive while she is doing that. Also I heard sometimes the manatees come into weeki wachee, and you can snorkel with them. she would so love that!! Have you seen the living ocean at Orlando, I think? Its all enclosed in thick glass, but is huge, you can snorkel and dive, and I think they even have some bullsharks and mantas in there. Kristi

My friend and her daughter call it a bo bo. I guess the daughter is very sensitive, so they buy her summers eve to clean with, and they call it bo bo soap. Kristi My daughter and I just call the whole area her pee pee.

That is way too funny!! I wouldn't have thought of something cool like that. I have told everyone at work, my family, everyone. So I guess I won't mind talking about it to someone I am dating, if they ask. If they have a problem with it, it's their problem. Sorry for the earlier post, it was probably TMI with the hormone thing, but it is nice to hear from some men going through the same thought processes. Another reason I don't think I can date and get very serious now is that, I have a 6 year old who still sleeps with me. I would sure hate to kick her out just because I got married!!LOL What do you guys and girls do for fun? I am not really going to be into the bar scene anymore. Just can't do that. I feel like I am really boring now. But I guess it comes with having a family. I would like to take my daughter snorkeling in Florida for spring break. I just got my open Water diver scuba certification, so I want to go to FL to scuba dive. Have any of you ever heard of Weeki Wachee? Thats where I would like to go, if I am taking my daughter. If she stays with her gparents, then I may go to cozumel. Any different ideas for kids vacations? Kristi

Wannabethin, I am from Oklahoma too. What part are you located in? And what doc have you decided to use? I used Benavides, out of Richardson. He was great, I don't have a lot of bruising, or pain, and I am healing up pretty well. I was on the treadmill walking several hours after surgery, so I think that says a lot about the doc who did it. Kristi

Well, I am like a lot or you- getting bored with eating liquids. I think my stoma(is that what it's really called) is getting bigger due to the weight loss and I guess from the swelling going down. I know we aren't really supposed to be losing weight fast, but the first week it just flew off, and over the last 5 days I have only lost 1 lb! I know, I know. Just wait, it'll happen. Its so hard to do! I am so excited, and I want to get on with my skinny life!! O, and I forgot to crush my allegra on Friday night, so can you guess what happened Saturday morning after only having a few sips of Water? Yep. threw up. Only one time, so that's good. I thought I was going to die, the pain is so bad when you get blocked. I won''t be doing that again......... Tom, I don't have very good ideas about the liquids, I am so bored with it also. I have frozen crystal light and enjoyed that. My birthday was the 7th, so I had a small small bit of ice cream, hey it liquefies! Imagine that. I also have as much water as I can stand, because I feel like I am getting dehydrated. And maybe a kidney infection, too. If you are still doing the Protein drinks, I used some of the dry Protein powder flavored strawberry, added about 4 real strawberries, some strawberry or vanilla yogurt, and some ice and splenda, it tastes pretty good. I did that pre op, tho, so I dont know how those seeds would go down post op. Most of them floated to the bottom, so you wouldn't get many if you don't drink the suds at the bottom. Everybody, glad to hear you are all doing better. I think we need to start posting some of our "favorite" mixed drinks to share. I know there is a thread about that going on somewhere, but if you folks are like me, you don't have time to read many threads. Kristi

I honestly don't think that I want any serious relationships very soon, simply because I have been overweight for so long, I don't know what to expect and act. I remember when I was younger, a man was looking at me and practically knocked himself out by walking into a pole! I miss those days, but I am also scared to be pursued again. Does this make any sense to anyone, because it doesn't to me! I will be frightfully honest, one of the major reasons I decided to have the band now, as opposed to later, is that the darn hormones are starting to run amuck! I am in my 30s, and you all know what that means!! I am not saying I am going to go to bars and pick men up.....but I would like to get married one day. So why am I afraid of it? Oh, well. Kristi

Have you ever had a revision before? That so far is the most painful part of the surgery, the port placement. I guess you have to go through that all over again....sorry to hear that, but maybe you can go diving soon!!! Kristi

I had my band with dr. Benavides, out of Richardson/Dallas area. He has done several thousand bands, he works at the Surgery Center of Richardson, TX. They specialize on only doing lapbands. Thats all, nothing else. Easy to find too, since I am from Okla., they were just a couple miles from the big hwy 75 and Dallas central Park expressway? Very easy. Kris

tropicaljill, Its great news to hear that. My doc told me its okay. But I am like you, it was a deciding factor. I just completed my open-water diver course this fall, and I can't wait to take my new bod out to Cozumel next year. Where all have you been? KristiB

My name is Kristi, obviously. I am 34, just banded on Nov. 1st. Live in Broken Arrow, OK. Our city was just voted the top 20th of the safest cities to live in. Yay!! Not dating. Just because no one is asking. And I don't think I would want a man who would refuse to look at the inner me, regardless of what the outer me looks like. That's the hard part. I am doing all of this to be healthy and happy and look good, but is that something I REALLY Really want in a partner? Geesh, I think I will just stay single, it's really much easier that way. Anyway, Chris, thanks for putting together this great thread. Does anyone out there have a hard time not nibbling on the Kids' food? Made some chicken and baked some fries, and it is so hard to not eat some of it. (still on liquids). Although, and I never thought I would say this, I had some split pea Soup today, oh my Goodness, how delicious!!!!!! After the pre op and post op liquid stages, just about anything seems great!!! Okay, well, its nice to talk to you other singles out there!!!!