DeLarla

Okay, I got rid of Orlando. I posted him out of sarcasm cuz I was feelin' a little spunky after getting beaten up at my "I hate tickers" thread. Just trying to keep the sparks flying! I almost made it last night! I only had 2 suckers and a fudgsickle after dinner. Not bad at all considering how bad I've been. Plus I got up and walked & exercised this morn. Last night I did it with phone calls. I drained the batteries out of both my cell and my cordless home phone, but it kept me from eating!

Okay, Marie, if you're gonna make wise cracks about my face, post yours so I can return the blows! I'm obviously the gray Blumaroo at the bottom. Don't you recognize my bandana?

Thank God for my precious fur babies, cuz they motivated me to get my butt moving again this morning. Got in a great walk and even did upper body and tons of laundry before work. Woof.

Just wanted to share our new baby... well, it's really Chloe's, but since Chloe practically lives here, looks like we have a new baby to love. Meet Cooper. I don't like the name, but it's what Chloe calls it. It's Shitzu and Beagle.

Donali, I put that Blumaroo up special for you! I felt like taking up a whole page today so Penni can see that I CAN figure stuff out all by myself!

Phone calls work! I got so obsessed with phone calls that I wrote numbers down all over the house. Some in a book, some on a pad... now I can't find all my numbers. I thought I updated my on-line address book, but they aren't there. I need a secretary to organize my head.

Blah blah Betty, stop being right! I want a fill, boo hooo hooooo. But you are right, I need to wait, what, like 5-6 weeks? Is that about when original banded patients can get their first fill? Shelly, remember when those new potato chips came out that were made with Olean, that fat free oil stuff (was it even called Olean?) Anyway, I ate the entire bag cuz why wouldn't I? I got really sick in the belly. Fat free and sugar free foods are loaded with other stuff that can make the belly pretty damn sick. I like Leatha's idea of sucking on hard candy. Penni sent me a barrel of cinnamon suckers. I also love freezing orange juice in the ice trays. I'm gonna try to get one single night of no crap after dinner, but if I can't make it, I'll suck on hard candy till my teeth fall out.

This weekend I finally met the Vegas Banster group. Well, only four of them showed up, but they all ordered soup. I was the only one that ate regular food. Pat, I'm so glad you have restriction and I can't wait till I get some. I did PB last night, but only because I ate way too fast. But afterwards I was able to eat a lot.

DH-could be "Darling Husband" but probably means "D-Head" - that's funny! NSV is a non-scale victory. Something cool that doesn't have to do with numbers on the scale, like walking up stairs without having a heart attack or finally seeing your toes. Patient facilitators-to trust or not to trust? Depends on what you mean. Most Mexico doctors have a US Liason on their staff that will help you coordinate your trip to Mexico. They'll pick you up from the airport and look after you. But then there are patient coordinators that act like referral services. If you go through a referral service you will pay more. Best to call Kuri's office directly and avoid the middleman. Good luck to you. My husband was afraid I would wake up in Mexico with no kidneys. He figured they'd put me to sleep and sell my kidneys on the black market. But I've been back to Tijuana for 3 surgeries and still have all my organs!

Betty, I agree to wait till my incision is healed. BUT... based on my history, what if it doesn't heal? I'm on a tight schedule. I talked to a fill person this morning, who is going to call my doctor and discuss my situation. I'll let the pros decide, but I do agree that they'll need to be really, really tender with my port. If someone can't do the fill on the first try, I'll have to walk away.

Safest for me to break the candy habit altogether. I've never been a grazer or a muncher. I'm a quatity eater, so I'd have to eat several boxes. I'm having carrots and apples tonight. Period. Woof.

When I was banded, this hot guy was hanging around my room and getting friendly with the other band patients. He was the 13 year old's dad, and he was so sweet that he melted my heart. He loved his little girl and didn't want to see her unhappy. He collected all our names and e-mails to help support her. Strange to see such a gorgeous young guy with a heavy daughter. I thought he was her older brother. He appeared much, much younger than her mom (I thought her mom was her Gramma.) But her mom had the bypass, and I've heard that bypass patients look much older after losing weight. They were both so supportive and loving. She reminded me of myself since she was tall and big boned. It's hard enough being the tallest kid, let alone being overweight. She was probably 80-100 pounds overweight (nothing morbidly obese in my opinion.)

Solid protein... solid protein... solid protein. I'm grocery shopping after work, and I'm buying solid protein, solid protein. Snacks of veggies and solid protein. Thanks, T.

I got rid of most of the junk yesterday. I have never, ever been able to live in a house with goodies, cuz they keep me awake at night screaming. Chris has his own drawer, and the crap he likes isn't even the stuff I get into. I had a bunch of kids go shopping with me and I let them go hog wild, which is why all that crap was in my house. There are safe goodies I can keep around for Chris that won't bug me (licorice, Hot Tamales.) Tonight I'm going to the grocery store after work for veggies and fruit. I love both, but somehow I stopped eating them as Snacks. If I can eat fresh veggies just one night as a snack... then maybe I can do it 2 days in a row. And I'm lucky that I love raw brocolli, carrots, even raw asparagus. I also have no problem with individual sized snacks, like lunch size bags of Doritos. Chris likes those in his lunch. If the package is small, it doesn't bother me. It's only when there's things in huge abundance that makes me want to eat eat eat. Thanks everyone. Today's a new day, new week. I even exercised over the weekend, but then last night had to finish off all the candy bars. Coo-coo. I want my fill back! Lopez said there was only 1cc in my band, while I was under the impression I had 1.8. Lopez filled me to 1.7 but I can eat too much. I need another fill. I need my restriction back.

Frizz Ease makes my hair worse and really hard to manage. My hair isn't curly, it's just wavy in all the wrong places. If all the waves went the same way, I'd probably like it. I'm stuck on my new ceramic Iron. I used to wash my hair every single day, now I can stop all that damage cuz I only washed it once all weekend. Thanks, Vera, but it's just my hair that got skinny. I gained 5 pounds. Boo hoo. And Paula, stop being so cute! Darling pic, you look fantab!

Hey everyone, Kelly called me on the phone and told me about this post, but even after doing a search, I never got it. Kelly found it for me.... makes me wonder how many posts I'm missing. But thank you! This is a great avatar, I wonder if I'll be able to get it up and running. And thank you everyone for such nice compliments! I am a teeny-bopper! On the inside, anyway!

Yes, a 13 year old, if you can believe that. Her aunt was also getting banded the same day. I became very friendly with her parents, who were both at her side the entire time. Mom had undergone a gastric bypass and lost over 100 pounds. When the little girl asked, they weren't able to say no. I'm not sure if anyone in the US would give a 13 year old a Lapband, but anything goes in Mexico. Unfortunately, even though we exchanged e-mail addresses, I've never heard back from her.

I've always believed in buying American, so my first new car was a Hyundai Excel. I bought it at the Ford Hundai dealer, so I naturally thought it was an American Ford. I got a lot of crap from my guy friends.

I thought this would be a fun thread to share stupid things we've done. I'll start by telling you that I have an unusal amount of stories that involve laundry and laundramats (thank God I finally own my own washer and dryer.) Many moons ago, I loaded the public washers at my apartment with everything me and my boyfriend owned. I went back 30 minutes later and put Bounce sheets and quarters in the dryers, then left during the dry cycle. A half hour later I went back to add more quarters cuz I really jammed those machines full. When I went back to fold, all our clothes were gone, every last stitch. My violent-natured boyfriend was going to hammer down every door in the building looking - the whole apartment complex got involved to find the Clothing Bandit. That's when somebody opened up the washing machines and found all our clothes. Somehow I managed to get the Bounce sheets and quarters in the dryers but I forgot to add the clothes. DOH! Next.

Good job, Michelle. I feel less restriction than prior to port replacement. I'm gaining every day.

I love that "recovery" picture! What sweet babes, I have a LabDane who looks a lot like that baby.

I kept it really simple. I told my husband, "Honey, I love you, but I love me more." Once we gain so much weight that we aren't happy and living, then it's not time to worry about anyone else but yourself. If he loves you, he'll support you and want you healthy, happy and alive.

Whip, I was just thinking of you yesterday cause you haven't been around. Hope to hear you back soon with some good, painfree news.

I really want a little more fill, but I'm concerned with my new port. It's only been in place a couple week, so it hasn't had time to "become one" with my body. I hate to have someone mash around my port and pull it out of place. Yesterday I finally ate 3 satisfying meals - all band friendly. I felt amazing. But at 9:00 at night, I couldn't lay still and got up and hit the kitchen. I ate THREE candy bars and a bowl of Dorritos, then went back to bed. The candy slides down like butter, no problem. These cravings are uncontrollable. I'm worried.

I think the doctors in Mexico will band anyone, regarless of weight. A woman had her band done the same day as me, and I was frankly shocked cuz she was average height and probalby only in a 14/16. I didn't think she was heavy enough to go trough surgical invetervention, but the Mexican doctors don't have to follow FDA's requirements of being 100 pounds overweight. There was also a 13 year old girl banded the same day as me in Mexico. So, right now Money is too tight to jet off to Chicaco. I tried finding the local fill guy here, but no luck.