DeLarla

I'm going to walk in the morning. I have no clue what's going on with the pain in my feet & legs, but if Marie says walking helps with arthritis, then that's what I'll do. Actually, I'm usually really good about getting in a real good walk several times a week, but I lost so much sleep last week that my bod is really mad at me.

The world's worst hostess? I think I got the crown for that one! I was in the pool while everyone else was cooking and cleaning. So, Leatha, what's your address? I'll cook & clean while you lounge around. Worked for me!

Mary Kay makeovers? I thought she was giving us all pedicures?

Okay, Penni, wash the make-up off your belly and stop trying to compete with me cause I won, fair and square, and my port is grosser than yours. But all kidding aside, if you're really going to show Billy my pic, tell him I have Blue Shield of California along with HPN through Plumbers & Pipefitters. Yes, it has a California name cuz my home office is in San Diego, but it only covers me in Nevada. Tell him my idea on getting the new port down low in my belly, see if he'd consider doing it all in once visit while jumping up and down on one foot, rubbing your sore port and patting your head.

Lisa, my fur babies prefer peanut butter bones to the beef ones. They're big and stinky, but they won't mind sleeping with you in your bed,

Nobody took the velvet ones, so I kept them. They're a little short & a little loosey goosey, but I might get them tailored for my Xmas party. And the black jacket, very cool!

Like I said, my vet just needs to put me down. Goodbye, cruel world!

Lisa G., we all privately voted and we'll be at your house next Sunday. Please tell hubby when he's done pooping cement to fire up the grill. So far, 340 people have confirmed. See ya next week!

No, I don't have a bug. I feel like that every day. I watched my friend wake up one morning, and she's the same way, but she has Lupus. I wonder if it's my autoimmune disease. I think my Vet needs to put me down.

There's no way on earth I could ever stick a needle in someone... that is, until the day might come where one of my fur babies requires it, then I'll do whatever has to be done. My precious fur babies.

Yes, I just had a birthday where I turned a measly little 42. I'm not 92. Gosh, if this is how I feel at 42, I'm not sure I'll even see 52!

Wow. Standing up applauding. Leatha, awesome response. Bravo.

This achey hurting started about 2 years ago with my feet. I kept thinking it was "bad shoes" as I limped around. After getting banded, I figured it was just too much weight on my feet. But now it's my whole bod. What gives? Is this what Arthur Ritis feels like? For that past year, it's taking me at least 1/2 hour of lying in bed before I literally crawl out of bed. I walk like Ozzie Osbourne for about 1/2 hour before uprighting myself like modern man.

I can only answer for myself and for Las Vegas. There are three band doctors here, but none of them will touch a patient that had surgery in Mexico. It has the potential to be a huge problem. For someone like Penni, who lives in Southern California, she got lucky and found Dr. Billy nearby, who can and will work on Mexican patients. Or for patients that live in San Diego, well they're so close to the Mexican border that it's no big deal taking a couple hours out of their day to see any of the Mexican doctors. But for people like me, who live in a city where there's not even one doctor that will help us, that's when it becomes a problem. I know several people on this board who have had complications and have needed their band doctor. Quite a few, actually. When I heard about the band, I was so desperate that I trusted another woman that had the band (since she had such amazing results and no complications.) She did all the research first, and it seemed simple enough, so I went for it. I should have gone back to Mexico in July for a re-check. I'm learning as I go along. If I check prices, I can find flights to San Diego for under $100.00. Then add in the trolley and/or taxi, the medical visit, traveling expenses, taking the day off work, and cha-ching... it all adds up to more than I care to think about. But please don't let my problems scare you. Read everyone's success and weigh them against the complications. As far as my wound, there are people who walk around with open wounds for a year. I hope I don't have to wait that long, but it comforts me knowing I'm not a complete alien.

My wound is still open and leaking. I just got back from having a Cat Scan, so I'll take the films to the appointment I have with a local surgeon on 10/21. I had to drink a bottle of Cheetah before the scan - this milky digusting stuff that tastes like (RATED XXX)... well, never mind what it tastes like, but I had to gag down a 15 ounce bottle that's flavored with coconut as if that would cover the taste. This whole time I thought there was a hard cyst under the incision, and I've been waiting for it to break down and dissolve. I even massage it to help it along. But DUH, that's my tube! I always assumed the tube was part of the port, so all this time I thought they removed the tube when they removed the port. So the hard lump is tube. I wonder if I should cancel my local surgeon's appointment and just take the films to Mexico to save time and expense. Since this incision is apparently not healed, maybe Dr. Kuri would consider putting a new port in low in my belly. There's no way on earth he'll ever put a port in this place that refuses to heal. Then again, a new port is gonna be another $2,000, which I don't have. So I'm not sure what to do.

Lulu, go read your e-mail!

First, you are all grounded from shopping. NO MORE CLOTHES. Geeze, that's a buttload of stuff you guys left, and it makes me think you plotted together since it's all my size. But my closet is already stuffed with all Michelle's clothes (and a few yummy pieces from Vera.) Chris works with a large woman, and he said she needs clothes really bad. She was supposed to come to the party because she's interested in the band, but she got shy. I'd like to offer some of the clothes to her then the rest to the women's shelter. I can't believe I'm getting rid of perfectly good cloths in my size, but there's just so much! Now the dirt. Some people think Chris & Babette (Vegas Bab) have something going on. If you only knew the whole story! Babs is the cause of most of my arguments with Chris, but for completely different reasons. The big question at the party was, "who's the 5 year old child and where' her mother?" Well, Babs pulled what she's famous for, which is dumping her kid off anywhere she can, then disappearing. Chris and I adore Chloe and wouldn't love her any more if she were our own. This is her 2nd home because Babs is seriously unstable, both mentally and physically. She drinks, stays out all night at gay bars (she pretneds to be bisexual to get attention) and takes Chloe on her "drug runs" to buy pot. Chris and I have played Crisis Intervention many times. I'd rather have Chloe here than driving around with Babs, who always has a drink in her van with the little one. Chris and I fight because he doesn't want Babs in our house. Her husband is like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. On the outside he's charming, talk, handsome blue eyes, and from a distance everyone is so jealous of how he dotes over Babs. But it's all psycho, because he's a porn freak with some kind of anger disorder. I took pictures of Chloe's bruises last week. When I told Babs, she just fluffed it off as, "Oh, that's just Johnny." She said she'll tell him to stop hitting Chloe cause he doesn't know his own strength. As if we were talking about him not giving her gum or candy, no biggy, just some bruises. As you all saw, Chris is really shy at first. It takes awhile for him to open up, then when he does, everyone loves him. In the 13 years I've known him, the man has never had one single enemy. He's just too easy going, so he's tolerant and cordial to Babs & Johnny in front of them, but he's ready to knock both of them in the teeth. I have a hard time calling Babs my "friend." Did anyone notice she's not even in one picture? I grit my teeth over how she lies to me & takes advantage of me... or she "thinks" she's lying and taking advantage, but I'm many steps ahead of her. The reason she's in my life is our precious Chloe, who needs her Auntie Lisa-Lo and Uncle Chrissy more than anything. You guys didn't even see the real Chloe, who is a rotten monster that controls her entire home. Babs is so screwed up that Chloe, at only five years old, makes the rules. A couple weeks ago Chloe locked Babs & Johnny out of the house. When Babs screamed to open the door, Chloe wrote, "NO" on a piece of paper and slid it under the door. They were locked out for 2 hours before one of the boys came home with a key. Babs has zero control over that kid, so she's famous for dumping her off at anyone's house that has an open door. It's not just around my house, this is an entire neighborhood problem. I worry that Babs is on the verge of doing something extremely drastic, because she's manic depressive and doesn't take her meds, and when she does, they're mixed with booze and pot. She's often missing for days straight, and Johnny just acts like the Stepford Husband, as if it's normal. During her last funk, I went over to find their 5 bedroom home shredded. Like a tornado went through - furniture overturned, everything from upstairs in a heap downstairs, 3 teenage boys playing poker at the table, and Monster Chloe screaming bloody hell, throwing stuff from upstairs at them - they'd just dodge stuff and continue the game. So I went in Babs' room & found her hiding under her covers, nearly comatose. Chloe ran and locked herself in the van. I thought she was suffocating because her face was frying red, but the boys were laughing and said it's just makeup. She painted her entire face with red cream rouge then tore up the house in one of her famous tantrums. So I started loading her favorite toys in my truck to lure her out, so she started screaming and got out of the van. The boys trapped her, we buckeled her in my truck, and I took her to Crisis Control Center (my home) and put her in the "crying room." I tossed in a cold rag and told her to clean her face, and when she's done crying we can talk. This is a regular at my house. She'll eventually cool off, and we've done this so many times that she knows the whole routine: Sit on the couch, drink a glass of cold Water, take a bath, then start apologizing. Then it's dinner and "time out" for the rest of the night. Chris and I fight because he wants Babs, or "that bag of antlers" (okay to laugh here) and "F-d up Johnny" to stay the hell out of our house, but they keep coming over. We fight because I tolerate Mom & Dad for the sake of Chloe. It's not going to be long before Child Protective Services takes Chloe away. When that happens, Chloe needs to know that Chris and I and Penni will always be here. I recently encouraged Chris to take Babs out on the bike. It took over an hour to pry her out of bed, but he finally got her geared up and took her up the mountain for burgers & chicken fingers. He nearly had to force her to eat, but the bike ride and getting away from her "hell' did worlds of good. I told Chris some people might think he's having an affair with Babs, and he was pretty grossed out. The only affair he wants to have with her is his fist in her teeth because "that's my little Chloe McSorley, and her mom is one screwed up bitch." However, we gotta worry about Chris and Karen H! He thinks Karen is the hottest thing cuz she's so cute AND loves Nascar. I asked him, "do you have a crush on Karen" and he said, "yep, she's cute!" So I asked Karen to take him, but Karen said, "NO Way, I already have a 13 year old. He's a loyal old dog. He calls me every day the second he gets home from work, then 2-3 times more before I come home. I tell him, "Honey, I'm busy" but he says, "but I'm lonely for you." I used to keep him on a tight leash, but he's proved himself more than trustworthy. He's got a built in homing device, so I always know where he is, which is either laying on the couch, or out with me. If anything, I'm the problem around her (considering Casey had to climb the wall to retrieve my shorts.) Some of us have privately talked about Babs. I don't want to play God, but I'm documenting everything, and I kept the pictures of Chloe's bruises. I'm open to any and all suggestions. I have to be very careful, because it's not just Babs & Johnny that we're involved with - they happen to live across the street from our best friends. Coco & CJ, who are also documenting, and have seen and heard even worse than me. We used to all be good friends, but Babs is super jealous and tried driving a wedge between us all, and it nearly ended our friendship with Coco, but our relationship is too strong for even Hurricane Babs. Babs doesn't know all my business. She thinks I hate Coco. She also thinks I hate Kelly (another friend.) I don't share much with Babs about my personal life because she is very destructive. She used to be a good friend, but she's also my worst enemy. She lies to me and takes advantage of me... so she thinks. Misery loves company. She even lied to Chris Saturday - he asked, "so, what did you do all day?" and she had the balls to say, "I was here at the party all day." Uh, NO she wasn't! But like Chris said when I told him I wanted a divorce (over the Harley purchase) "Lisa, just get over it cause we're not getting a divorce and there's always going to be Chris and Lisa." This might seem long, but it doesn't even start to describe the drama surrounding Babs, but again, Chloe needs a safe place, and that place is here in my heart and my home. Oh, and it's not just Chloe. Babs' sons, Kal and Jake, are warming up to me. Kal came over the other night and actually asked to spend the night. His house is too crazy for him, and he's a living doll, so this is his home, too.

This is too funny not to share. Babs just called me with her neighborhood drama (she lives a few blocks from my house.) People go flying through residential neighborhoods, so Babs has taken it upon herself to control this problem. She stands out front with a hose in one hand and an egg in the other. She sprays people that speed by, and the eggs are reserved for special cars that she's memorized from regularly speeding down the block. So today a lil 23 year old mom that got sprayed stopped, and they nearly had a fist fight. The girl went off on Babs for letting her 5-year old child play down the street in the culdesac for 5 hours at a time without Mommy ever so much as checking on her. Next, the husband got involved and demanded Babs pay them since Chloe drew all over their garage with Magic Marker. So now Babs is at home coordinating her next plan of attack.

Thanks Marie. I guess I needed to start this thread to take the wound more seriously. No more swimming till it's healed. I'm keeping it clean and using antibiotic cream provided by my doctor in Mexico. The area is not hot or red or inflamed. As a matter of fact, it hasn't bothered me at all till I posted this, and now it's sore and giving me the willies. I'm going to call the surgeon and see if they can squeeze me in earlier.

Okay, Zoe. So I've been having conversations with the wrong Lisa about the clothes she sent, and she's thinking I'm insane and not responding. So we have YOU to thank! You had me really confused, even though you have great taste in clothing! Thank you for contributing. I took Monday off work to recoup, so I put on your tall jeans (perfectly broken in, thank you) with a Harley Jamaica shirt that Penni got me. I took off on my motorcycle all day long.

Trust me, I'd be at Dr. Billy's office next week, but I'm all out of credit cards. I'm seeing a local surgeon in 8 days. If it doesn't go well, I'll see who is going to Mexico and maybe share gas and/or hotel. I'm fed up, so I'll be on the ball till it's resolved!

Sounded like an invite to me! So, what should I bring? HA HA HA

Megan - LOVE the new avatar. I never imagined we'd all have new faces to post from the bash, the bash just keeps giving and giving. Sorry I was so out-of-control that I didn't even slow down long enough to chat, but I had an insane week and barely slept. By the time you all got there, all I wanted to do was... well, jump in the pool with a bucket of margueritas! So that's what I did. I mailed your clothes out yesterday. Tell the Brigs thanks for joining us, and I was suprised people stayed as long as they did, cuz if I didn't live here, I'd want to hit the Strip myself! Thanks to everyone who donated clothes. I hate shopping, so it was really hard to let go of my favorite things. But I got so much in return. At the last minute I donated nearly my entire wardrobe because Michelle mailed me tons before the bash. I was in the pool during the clothing exchange, so I didn't see half of what came in, but SO much was left behind! Greedy me went through the stuff again last night and found another huge pile. Yesterday I wore some pretty burgundy cords with a flower top. Today I have on this flowy green & blue sweater. I wish I knew whose clothes I'm wearing! I think the special thanks goes to Penni for kick starting the whole thing. And seriously, everyone that pitched in cleaing and cooking, Carol, Vera, Ginny, Penni, heck the list is too long. I was seriously spent, and it was sooo nice waking up to a clean kitchen! Donali - I still can't believe you gave me such a cool gift. I have been burning the candle at both ends for too long, and didn't even get a chance to open it till last night. I figured out how to play a disc, so I layed in bed, turned off the lights and listened to classical guitar. For the first time in 5 years I went to bed before Chris, cause I was out before 8pm. And thank you for the eggs.. I still haven't opened mine cuz I'm like a kid and I like the presents to last a long time. I'm saving it for a couple more days. And thanks to John for showing us how to find silver. I have the samples in my office with other rocks I've found. Penni - geeze, where do I start? Too many thank yous for you & John to even list! The paints for Chloe, ten tons of clothes, presents from Jamaica, private concert, chauffer, maid service, party coordinator. I got the tiara, but you earned the crown. Vera - I don't remember the actual ceremony, so are we married? I woke up wearing the 11 karat diamond ring you gave me. I LOVE that ring - goes well with the tiara! Thank you for that ring, it's so fun to wear and I see you in it. Everyone at work thanks you cuz I brought some enchiladas for them. Thanks for all the hard work you did in my kitchen, you rock! Carol, you're just too nice. Thanks for buying and making all those margis. Sorry I drank most of them. Thanks for being so tolerant of me - I shoulda been a more graceful hostess, but stress will do that to a girl! Michelle, again, thank you so much for all the clothes. We're close enough that I'll be seeing you again soon to actually spend some time together. Leatha - Thanks for coming swimming with me! How fun was that? I'm sorry your boob flopped out (no I'm not.) I have your package ready for mailing, but I deleted my PM box because it was too full (oops) so I need your address again. You are a living doll, what a nice person you are. Congrads on all those scars! Ginny - Brilliant minds, yadda yadda... not only do we own the same blouse, but most of the stuff I mailed yesterday was once mine. I think you're amazing for taking care of those boys. Teresa - your little sunshiney face just matches your darling little heart. Thanks for playing in the pool with me and for sharing our intimate concert & thanks to KC for being such a supportive guy to you and the rest of us. He's just right in the middle of it all, that's so cool. Texas Babs - What a cute & fun girl you are! Glad you had a blast in Vegas. You look amazing. Karen - well, I owe my whole band to you, so how do you top that? Vika - I finally met one of the mysterious Vegas Bandster! Thanks so much for coming and for bringing the guac. I'll see you at the next Vegas Bandster lunch. If I forgot anyone, it's Megan's fault! Megan, sorry for using your post to copy and paste, but I wanted to make sure I got offical thank yous to everyone like the rest of you did. I'm always running to catch up!

I edited this so I could list the names: From left to right (freshly landed safe in Vegas): Carol, Michelle, Texas Babs, Vera, Ginny.

"Delarla normally would have more to say but she just hosted a whole group of lapbanders at her home in Vegas over the weekend and I suspect if you were at here house now she is probably sitting at the computer...typed out Howdy from Veags and fell asleep. The woman has energy like no other. But it has to catch up to her sooner or later." Greg, stop reading my mind, it's not polite! I usually go to bed around 10:30. Last night at 7:45, I finally opened up the MP3 player that Donali gave me. I popped in the "Meditative Classical Guitar" CD (one of several that she gave me with the MP3) and was out like a light. Too pooped to post!