Cleo's Mom

Well, for your sake and that of the other employees I hope it stays in business. UPMC needs some competition but they have become a dominant force in the region and are taking over, it seems. They closed Braddock hospital and are building that hospital in Monroeville that will impact Forbes for sure. Good luck with your job and band.

I think a lot of people on here would disagree with you on #13. Those are the people for whom the band has worked as it is supposed to. However, the band is promoted as only helping to lose 50% of your excess weight, so if you have 100 lbs. to lose, the band will help with 50. #9 - While the band can be surgically repositioned, it isn't something that is routinely or commonly done unless there is some type of complication requiring it. #11 - not everyone achieves this with the band.

That's why I bought candy I don't like - Skittles - nothing chocolate. Nothing to tempt me. I will give the leftovers to the people at my PT tomorrow.

My dil works at Magee and she said the general consensus is that in a couple of years West Penn Hospital will be closed completely. That would be sad if it happens.

When after 23 years on Synthroid (the last couple generic), at the same dosage my blood results were all over the place - my PCP couldn't find a new dosage that worked. One was too much, the other too little. So I went to an endocrinologist. He said not to take generic synthroid, only the name brand, and to take it on an empty stomach. After some tweaking of dosages, I found that I have to take 2 synthroid pills of different strengths to get the right dosage. I will not use generic synthroid again. For me it didn't work.

I know the ER will close in January. They are keeping the burn unit and neonatal ICU and a few other specialties at West Penn but it seems like they are moving most things to Allegheny General. Did you used to see Dr. Urbandt in Monroeville? I know he used to have an office there. UPMC is building a facility there so maybe someday they'll have bariatric offices there, too. That would be great for me.

I really like him too but I don't do well with driving in the city and get very stressed out when I have to go to his appts. I am in the eastern suburbs and going to Allegheny Hospital is definitely out for me. But I will call his office on Monday and see what he is going to do. I can handle going to Magee better but it's still not my idea of fun. Who knows how much longer West Penn is going to be able to operate? I think they're in real financial trouble.

They only have a few things on their agenda Tax cuts for the wealthy Tax cuts for corporations De-regulation of corporations Privatize social security Repeal anything passed by democrats and Obama Country club republican Mr. Tan Man Boehner, said there will be no compromise on their agenda. And Mitch McConnell's most pressing issue is making sure Obama is a one term president (screw the unemployed and economy).

Just saw in the paper this morning that the bariatric center at West Penn Hospital will be moved to Allegheny General Hospital. That's not good for me, so I will be looking for a doctor at Magee Womens Hospital to switch to.

You sound like you are too tight. Plus "I throw up more than before" is not how the band should work. You should NOT be throwing up at all. Period. Vomiting, reflux, heartburn, sore throat, etc.. are not acceptable side effects of the band in order to lose weight. You should not put up with them. You do so at your own peril and possible damage to your band, esophagus and health. Discuss getting a slight unfill with your doctor. In the meantime take something OTC for heartburn. It might help with the sore throat.

Which GOP policies make us like the third world? Fund the military, cut everything else. Cut the USDA and food programs Cut the Dept of Education Deny climate change Deny peak oil Create divisions using Christianity Tax cuts to corporations and top earners Lowering the minimum wage Refuse to spend money on crumbling infrastructure Vote no on every #&$ ! piece of legislation that might steer us out of the ditch Repeal the health care bill Repeal financial reform Every last one of the above. dailykos

I was told to take synthroid on an empty stomach. Nexium, too. At least an hour before food. So I take them around 5-6 AM when I get up to use the bathroom. I was also told not to take the generic form of synthroid - that it doesn't work as well. I have been on synthroid for 30 years.

The current congress hasn't caused the economic problems, they are still trying to clean up the messes of 8 years of bush. Fact: In the last 9 months, more private sector jobs have been created than in the 8 years of bush. We went from losing 700,000 jobs per month when Obama took office to positive job growth. Fact: When Obama took office, the stock market was about 6000 pts. It recently broke 11,000 Fact: In my state the unemployment rate would be 15%, instead of 9%, without the stimulus (an independent research center reported) Fact: Corporate America is sitting on about 2 trillion in assets. So the money is out there. If all of this is the wrong direction, I don't want to be right. But the teabaggers want to take the country back(ward).

I made the mistake of choosing a general surgeon, who along with his partner, jumped on the WLS bandwagon. I had several appointments canceled due to their emergencies and had a few long waits in the waiting room to see him. I switched to another doctor, who only does WLS, seven months after my surgery because of the realization that this former doctor had poor follow up skills and didn't know how the band worked, overfilled me, and then blamed me for the resulting problems. That is why I offered the advice. I wish someone had offered it to me before I made my mistake.

Have the doctor who sent you for the independent upper GI to give you a letter stating the band is in the wrong position and needs to be removed. Get a copy of this upper GI report and any CD's of it available (contact hospital records). Send these to the insurance company along with the doctor's letter. Don't give up the fight. If the band has slipped, then you and this doctor need to convince your insurance company that keeping it in will be very costly for them if you develop complications from the wrong position of the band and that it is medically necessary for it to be removed. The insurance company always denies at first hoping that people will just quit bothering them - and many do. Become a thorn in their side. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. I have lived by that and it has served me well. And one more thing - it is very common for doctors (and some on here) to blame patients for all band problems. You are not alone in that the band failed you.

I've read some of the OP's other posts. It seems like she is having a hard time with the band, her PCOS and is reaching out for some help. Some might consider that a negative mindset. So what? Not everyone is a glass half-full type of person and never will be. Some positive suggestions would be helpful. Like call the doctor's office in advance to find out how far behind he is. Or find out if it is even necessary to see the doctor to get the referral. Perhaps they can issue one based on your last visit. It never hurts to ask. Also, if the OP is truly depressed perhaps she can discuss that with her surgeon or PCP and can get help for that. In addition, when making your selection for a WLS surgeon, it is best to choose one who ONLY does WLS and is not a general surgeon, too. General surgeons have many emergencies that bariatric surgeons generally do not. So, waiting time would be more predictable.

Patients who make appointments in advance are not in need of triage care. If they are, they should be going to the ER. And I don't think office hours with scheduled patient's appointments is the appropriate time to read medical journals. That should be done on the doctor's own time before or after all appointments.

The other day, Mitch McConnell rather candidly acknowledged that his single most important goal is to guarantee a one-term Obama presidency. This has been the goal of republicans and teabaggers since the day Pres. Obama was elected. It isn't about jobs, the economy, spending or the deficit. Those are smokescreens. It has always been about causing Pres. Obama to fail by obstructing everything on his agenda. So, if the republicans control the congress after the elections, I will be generous and give them to March 1, 2011 to create the 8 million jobs lost because of their former failed policies.

If having time to read, uninterrupted, in a doctor's office is acceptable to or pleasant for you- that is fine. But you can also do that voluntarily at a park or mall or library. However - Time is money to the doctor and as a patient your time is valuable too. Doctors overbook all the time. They schedule 2 or 3 people for the same time slot. Would your doctor sit and read a magazine and wait for you to show up? Use that opportunity to catch up on his medical journals? Why should your time be any less valuable? To make someone wait an hour for a referral is a reflection on a poorly run office. That is something that should be brought to the attention of the office manager and the doctor. And in my opinion, that is something you have control over.

teabaggers interviewed about their protests

The right wing is using violence to suppress opposition: This from Rand Paul's event: I just argued loudly on the phone with Rand Paul's campaign office Wed Oct 27, 2010 at 10:32:36 AM PDT I just got off the phone with one of Rand Paul's campaign staffers. Rand Paul is a vile, degenerate sociopath. But I had a few things to get off my chest. So disgusted am I at Paul's supporters and their violent, Gestapo-like, and completely misogynistic behavior, I just called Paul's campaign headquarters to express my disapproval. I recommend others do so. The number is 859-817-1462 A guy with a Southern accent picked up, and I said, immediately, my name is Tom and I am calling because I was physically sickened by what I saw on the news. Immediately, the staffer tried to (a.) downplay the incident and (b.) blame the victim. Basically, he referred to Lauren Valle, the victim of Rand Paul supporter mob violence as a "convicted felon" who has been showing up at (i.e., "stalking") Paul events. I replied that that is irrelevant and that that is her right. He said that she can "take a punch," and aghast at such a comment, I said that that is itself a sickening comment. And then, this loon, amazingly, started comparing her to Squeaky Fromme, the former Manson Family member and would be political assassin. I was flabbergasted by such a comparison! In trying to get the Paul people to fully own up to what happened, I kept getting lies and excuses by this pathetic Paul supporter. The conversation got much more heated. I wound up telling the guy that I thought that he was full of shit and that Rand Paul is vile. We then sort of went back and forth for about 20-30 seconds, where we were both trying to grab the floor so as to say what we each wanted to say. When I finally moved to saying that it was not just one assaulter but a whole group of them, and that Rand Paul is doing a disservice to the truth with his false equivalencies, the guy cut me off, saying something like "get over it Pal" and then hung up. Rand Paul is despicable. However, I think that I did learn a thing or two from this call. Hearing a non-violent political activist being compared to a psychotic member of the Manson Family tells me just how far removed from reality Rand Paul and his hardcore supporters really are. And hearing a male staffer referring to a 24 year old woman who deserves to "take a punch" (not to mention a concussion inducing headstomp) ought, in a saner society, to delegitimize the political campaign that allows for such references to be made. Anyway, I encourage people to call this number and speak out against political thuggery. dailykos AND Add to this that Joe Miller, the teabagger darling of Alaska, had thugs who traveled with him and who put handcuffs on a reporter trying to get Miller to answer questions. And these are the people we should elect more of?

Corporate America is sitting on 2 trillion dollars in assets and their profits are up but they won't hire. Why should they? They are making their existing workforce work more hours and longer weeks. And these people can't complain lest they get fired. Corporate America won't be satisfied until they pay no taxes, don't have to provide healthcare for their employees and have no regulations. People shouldn't be anti-government they should be anti-corporate America and the influence they have on our government. That is the problem. Think about it. It isn't the government that pollutes our air or Water. It isn't the government that makes our work place unsafe. It isn't the government that hides profits in offshore accounts. It isn't the government that ships our jobs overseas. It isn't the government that makes unsafe drugs or food. It isn't the government that tries to bust unions. It isn't the government that is trying to buy our elections. But the conservative media just keeps beating that anti-government/anti-tax message over and over again. We actually pay lower federal taxes than most industrialized nation and lower federal taxes under Obama. But you just can't reason with stupid, uninformed people. Rachel Maddow was up in Alaska interviewing pro-Miller people asking them why they support Miller. They said it's because Eric Holder is anti-gun. When asked to explain how - they couldn't answer. They just knew. It's like those who interviewed teabaggers with signs at protests and they couldn't explain what their signs said. Stupid, uniformed people - and they vote. :laugh:

Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the minimum calorific requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. It can be looked at as being the amount of energy (measured in calories) expended by the body to remain in bed asleep all day! BMR can be responsible for burning up to 70% of the total calories expended, but this figure varies due to different factors (see below). Calories are burned by bodily processes such as respiration, the pumping of blood around the body and maintenance of body temperature. Obviously the body will burn more calories on top of those burned due to BMR. BMR is the largest factor in determining overall metabolic rate and how many calories you need to maintain, lose or gain weight. BMR is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, as follows: Genetics. Some people are born with faster metabolisms; some with slower metabolisms. Gender. Men have a greater muscle mass and a lower body fat percentage. This means they have a higher basal metabolic rate. Age. BMR reduces with age. After 20 years, it drops about 2 per cent, per decade. Weight. The heavier your weight, the higher your BMR. Example: the metabolic rate of obese women is 25 percent higher than the metabolic rate of thin women. Body Surface Area. This is a reflection of your height and weight. The greater your Body Surface Area factor, the higher your BMR. Tall, thin people have higher BMRs. If you compare a tall person with a short person of equal weight, then if they both follow a diet calorie-controlled to maintain the weight of the taller person, the shorter person may gain up to 15 pounds in a year. Body Fat Percentage. The lower your body fat percentage, the higher your BMR. The lower body fat percentage in the male body is one reason why men generally have a 10-15% faster BMR than women. Diet. Starvation or serious abrupt calorie-reduction can dramatically reduce BMR by up to 30 percent.Restrictive low-calorie weight loss diets may cause your BMR to drop as much as 20%. Body Temperature/Health. For every increase of 0.5C in internal temperature of the body, the BMR increases by about 7 percent. The chemical reactions in the body actually occur more quickly at higher temperatures. So a patient with a fever of 42C (about 4C above normal) would have an increase of about 50 percent in BMR. External temperature. Temperature outside the body also affects basal metabolic rate. Exposure to cold temperature causes an increase in the BMR, so as to create the extra heat needed to maintain the body's internal temperature. A short exposure to hot temperature has little effect on the body's metabolism as it is compensated mainly by increased heat loss. But prolonged exposure to heat can raise BMR. Glands. Thyroxin (produced by the thyroid gland) is a key BMR-regulator which speeds up the metabolic activity of the body. The more thyroxin produced, the higher the BMR. If too much thyroxin is produced (a condition known as thyrotoxicosis) BMR can actually double. If too little thyroxin is produced (myxoedema) BMR may shrink to 30-40 percent of normal. Like thyroxin, adrenaline also increases the BMR but to a lesser extent. Exercise. Physical exercise not only influences body weight by burning calories, it also helps raise your BMR by building extra lean tissue. (Lean tissue is more metabolically demanding than fat tissue.) So you burn more calories even when sleeping. Hopefully you can find something useful in all this information.

This is about healthcare and those who oppose the healthcare reform because you say you don't want the government controlling healthcare or the government to come between you and your healthcare. Well, I just came back from seeing the PA in my PCP's office because of my chronic back pain and conditions (spinal stenosis, buldging and herniated disks, etc..) because of recent flair up of problems. In the past they would have been able to order an MRI. Not now. Why? BECAUSE THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS COMING BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR PATIENT CARE. THAT'S RIGHT THE INSURANCE COMPANY. The PA told me they can't even get a CT scan or MRI for a cancer patient. The insurance companies won't approve them. In order to order these tests, they must send the patient to a specialist who can then order the test, but the PCP can't. What do you think THIS is adding to the cost of our healthcare? The extra time and step of having to go to a specialist? Of course when the insurance companies raise your premiums they'll be sure to blame Obama and the healthcare reform. I said to the PA that people say "I don't want the government to come between me and my healthcare" and she said , yes, I wish the government would. So, here is someone in the medical profession who wants the government to reign in the insurance companies. WOW. I certainly second that.

I'm not fazed in the least. I have been on these boards for a long time. However, I am confused about the OP of this thread. When it was first posted the OP name that showed up on the thread was peggycas, now it's showing up as justwannabeme. How did that happen? :huh2: