hbjanet

Wow Bitter, we could be sisters! I also care for my mother. She is 61 and has been in a wheelchair for the last 2 & 1/2 yrs. She is a mess. Her right hip degenerated due to previous trauma and osteo-arthritis, her left knee needs to be replaced, and she does not have full use of her right hand because of an accident when she fell out of her wheelchair!! Sheesh! Getting old sucks! It is very stressful to care for your parent. The roles get reversed, and now I feel like the parent. She feels like she has no control over her life anymore and is very resentful. And I am resentful too! It is just hard to deal with all around. I could probably use some therepy. :phanvan I am the youngest child of three, my brother and sister both live in Northern Californa, so I am the lucky one to care for mom. My brother sends money to help out, and that is great, but it would be nice to have a break once in a while. I work full time, and on my days off I spend my time driving her to her Dr. appts., take her shopping, to the movies, ect. I want my life back! :help: I gained a good 50 lbs since I started caring for my mother. I was already 40 lbs overweight to start with. I was miserable and could not see any way to change my situation. That was one of the reasons I got my band, to take back some control of my life. It seems to be helping, I am not nearly as angry as I was. I also had a bit of help from Prozac. :xena_banana: I feel your pain, I live it. I try daily to give as much love and support as I can. It is a struggle, but I love my mom, and she would do the same for me if she could. Keep your chin up Bitter. Heres a (((hug))) for you, and if you want to talk, I'm here.

I agree with Jules. When I see a small person with extra large perky boobs, I think "now that just looks wrong". (living in So. Cal. I tend to see quite a bit of boob-jobs) Go for something more natural. If you have always had smallish boobs, a C cup is rather large. It is difficult to find blouses that fit properly. The buttons on the front spread out and show the world my bra. Lovely. I have always wanted smaller ones. But I guess we all want what we don't have. (always wanted curly hair. Mine is just wavy) Do what will make you happy in the long run. Can you imagine being 60 yr old granny with giganamous ta-tas? (shivers)

Hi Sazza! Nice to meet you. I am sorry to hear you are feeling so down. I wish I could give you a big (((hug))). You are doing fine. Stop beating yourself up. Some of us lose slower than others. I had my surgery Aug 23rd and have only lost 25 lbs. (not sure of kilo) But the way I see it, thats 25 lbs less than when I started! And I am not gaining weight anymore, and that's a miracle to me! Keep your chin up, we are all in this together. p.s. I have been to Australia twice and have not met a nicer bunch of people!

I drink Aloe Vera juice. You can find it in the health food stores or Trader Joe's. Tastes awful, but 1 small glass keeps you regular and has many health benefits. No side effects at all.

Hi everybody! My name is Janet, I'm from Long Beach, Ca and had my band placed on 08/23/06. So far have lost 22lbs. I work for a major US airline and love to travel. I could not afford the price of surgery in the US so had my band placed in Belgium for about $7000.00 USD. The band is a European model, Helioscopie, so I have my fills done in Tijuana, Mexico. Nice to meet you all!

Hi Sara, Dr. Dillemans was very nice and professional, cute too! Lovely green eyes....hmmm... and the whole hospital staff were very helpful and friendly. Most of them spoke english, only one nurse did not speak very much. But I had no problems communicating. The only complaint I have about my experience was the lack of pain meds. They give you Paracetamol, the European equivilant of Tylenol. That did not dull the pain very much. I found out later that the only other option was Morphine. (yikes) But if I knew that then, I probably would have asked for it. Lucky for me, I had some left over Vicodin from when I broke my toe last year, and I brought it with me just in case. That was a life saver! I don't think I could have flown home without it. I stayed overnight in the hospital, and then 2 days in a nearby hotel. The nurse will come to the hotel to change your bandages and give you more pain meds. I arrived the day before and did all the pre-op stuff, then banded the next morning, overnight in hosp, 2 nights at hotel and flew home the 4 day. I did all this alone, and did not have any trouble. Since you will have the BF with you, it should be easier. The flight home was not as bad as I thought it would be. It's nice to work for an airline, I got first class all the way and was able to sleep. The flight attendants were great, I told them I could only have liquid and mushy things, and they went out of their way to make sure I had some nice things to eat and drink. (soup, mashed spuds, apple juice, yogart) I used a service to book the surgery, it's called Direct Healthcare. The web address is: www.direct-healthcare.com The total cost to me was about $7000.00 USD. They usually book about 6 weeks out. I payed for the hotel and train myself. The hotel was about $80 per night and the train is $12 each way. (from Brussells to Brugges) They have an all inclusive package for quite a bit more, but I have been to Belgium before and figured I could figure it out for myself. No problems. Sorry this is so long, hope it helps.

P.S. The beer in Belgium really is great! I actually had a beer after surgery to help get rid of the excess gas. Worked great and tasted better!

Hi Girls, I also live in the US and work for an airline and had my band done in Belgium. (Dr. Dillemans) I have the Heliogast band, that was the only option he gave me. He said I should be able to get filled with any Dr. who is doing the band. Not so! The Dr.'s here are very paranoid about "liability" and only want to fill their own patients, or only people with the Inamed band. Bunch of sissys! I could not find any Dr. to fill my band in So. California. So I have to drive to Tijuana, Mexico to get my fills. Not too terrible, about 2 and 1/2 hours drive, but would have been nice to be able to get care locally. So if you are getting any band other than the US used Inamed, be sure you have a Dr. in your area willing to do the fills before getting the surgery. Or else get the Inamed band, then you shouldn't have a problem getting filled. :eek:

Ima slow looser too. (sigh) But, I keep thinking the weight is now comming OFF! Even if it is slow, at least I am not gaining any more. And I am now eating healthier than I have ever done before the band. So we got that going for us, right?

Hi there... I had mine done in Belgium. They have been doing these surgeries for about 15 years. After care is kind of a bummer. I have to have my fills done in Tijuana. (about 2.5 hr drive) But otherwise I am happy with the care I recieved. Very clean and professional.

Ok some one already got that one... The Go-Go's ???

Ooooh! Cowboy Junkies!

Blind Melon!

White Zombie!

The Blues Brothers?

Dang HealthQuest.... You Crazy! You know they will be telling that story for a loooong time!

Thank you Brandy and MKD. You all seem to be a great bunch of people! I look forward to getting to know you better.

Hi everybody! Nice to see so many readers here. I am re-reading my Anne Rice collection. Have just read the whole Vampire series, and am now in the Middle of the Mayfair Witch series. I love to revisit my favorite books if I haven't read them in a while. In this case about 9 years. My fav books to read are Mysteries and Thrillers.

Thank you Randy, Brandy, and Julie! I am still trying to feel my way around this site. It's a bit different than the other board I have been reading. Any helpful tips?