DeLarla

Leatha, I feel the same way about my brother. He didn't excel in other areas, but he's loaded with talent, and it makes him happy. I'm proud, too.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I was banded 5/5/04 and have had nothing but complications. I had to have a second surgery to remove my port. My wound is still open. I need a 3rd surgery to remove my port but can't until my wound heals (could be months.) But I'd do it again in a heartbeat! It's very exciting. I was a size 26/28, and today I'm sqeezed into size 20. Rock on, and good luck!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE LITTLE RED CABOOSE! Sorry it took so long to post, but Penni, you should see my house. It's shredded to pieces... after Chris bought the Harley, I had to re-fi our house, so I'm throwing in much needed home repairs. New carpet, new tiles, lighting, pool repairs. So I'm sorry for being late but I busted my rear ripping up old tiles & carpet, plus rode the bike all day Sunday. But guess what? Chris did the nice thing you made him do! We had to go to Harley for a part, so I was trying on leather jackets for my birthday present at the end of the month. Chris said, "let's just get your birthday present today." I said, "nope, this has to be the nice thing you promised Penni, then I get another birthday present at the end of the month." So he agreed to buy the jacket PLUS I get another present on my b-day. THANKS FOR THE CUTEST JACKET! They don't carry our "petite" sizes in the shop, so they ordered a 2x for me... all girly with fringe. Oh, and don't forget that dress when you come to Vegas because it will be TOO big on you by then, so you may as well give it to me since I'm falling behind on eating again (one good day, two bad days.) Rock on, you look fab! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Marie, good post, but I'm not going to read it because I gave up all artificial sweetners after being diagnosed with a lung disease. I have an autoimmune disease called Sarcoidosis, which was diagnosed by accident after an abdominal scan related to my band. The radiologist saw a mass on my lungs in the corner of my abdominal films, so my doc ordered a chest MRI. There's no known cause for Sarcoidosis, but I've read reports that believe Aspertame could be one of the culprits. Now I have a lung disease. So I use plain old sugar now. Just a spoon in my morning decaf. And I occasionally endulge in tea with honey. No more artivicial crap for me.

And as far as your films are concerned, can somebody please get out a pointer and show me what the heck you see? All I see are blobs and some bones.

You did the right thing by coming here. I had a lot of complications and had to be my own doctor, but I couldn't have done it without all the info shared here. The most important thing (in my opinion) is to get more than one medical opinion. I've been through several doctors, and I'm still in the dark. But keep posting questions here because everyone here has bands and we've all had different band experiences. You're bound to find clues and direction that will eventually lead you to the answer. I don't feel very mentally sharp today after a long 3-day weekend, so I hope my posts make some sense and aren't offending anyone.... it's just goofy old me in slow-mo.

Where in Calif does your rock star son live? My 24 year old brother lives in So. Cal. and also plays guitar and drums in a band called Thyus.

Hey Leatha, thanks for the great pics. It's nice to see you!

Kimber, so happy to see the operation is behind you! Glad you're healing well. Good luck to those of you who are in the first stages. Nice to see you! Can't wait to see your faces.

Is anyone else back from a 3 day weekend but your head is stuck in stuck in neutral so you can't move? I need a jolt. Why do we have to work?

It's official: I'm a gang member! We rode all day yesterday in a pack. But they're really not a gang, just a great bunch of people that meet every Sunday at Starbucks, then decide where we'll ride. About 10 bikes. Went to the lake, ghost towns, etc. We stopped in Nelson, NV at the train tracks and all put coins down. Bunch of bad ass bikers acting like kids smashing pennies. It's horrible on my back. I had back surgery, and after 1/2 hour my back goes numb. But at least it's something that burns calories even if I'm just sitting on the back since fear speeds up the metabolism, and we were doing close to 100 for a while. We stopped at about 4 bar & grills, and everybody ate at one point in the day but all I had was beef jerkey and tons of liquids. So I made up for it by eating too much today. Naughty band girl!

Teresa, you look like the cutest little girl. Your loss is inspirational. Weekends are still hurting me. Even if I don't drink, I don't make wise food choices. Today I starved all day then ate 3 dinners real close to each other. Even got the golf ball, but waited for it to go away so I could finish that one last chicken wing. But I'm done eating for the night. I gotta get back down to my lowest weight of the 51 pound weight loss. I'm sure I can do it! Thanks for the pics!

Penni, that's a great shot of you! I got down to my lowest weight, which I posted. I've gained a couple back, but I'm only posting on the 5th of each month, which is my monthy band anniversary, so let's see if I can get a little lower by next month. Next weigh in is just a few days before the October bash. I better kick fat's fat butt by then! Hi everyone.

Okay, all you people with cabins and boats and homes on the lake make me want to poof smoke out of my nose! Jealous - that's my dream. However, Chris has built a quite impressive trailer for the Harley. Someone dumped a hunk of junk off a week ago, and today it's shiney black with snazzy lights... I'm impressed at his work. What this means is traveling in my future! He's gonna have to spiff the truck up next, then we'll be off to camping trips all over the place, plus have the bike on the back for long rides. My class starts 9/24, then I'll try for my license at the end of the 3 days. So yes, my house is falling apart, but there's nothing I can do about what Chris already spent, so at least I can look forward to having some fun at the end of all the repairs, right? I keep telling myself, "Lisa, none of this is gonna matter one day anyway." Tomorrow is my official 4 month weigh in. I'll do my best!

This post doesn't have anything to do with sex, but I KNEW the title would grab your attention! It's quiet in here... what's everyone up to?

Has anybody even had any good sex lately? I think I'll put it on my L.O.T.T.D. for tomorrow (List of Things to Do)

My whole world is broken! Now my phones are broke (all I can hear is static.) Phone company did a test and said I have an in$ide wiring problem. hahah, cracking up. No TV, no phones, and my front room has electrical surges. Forget about the Harley, I'm trading in my truck for an Amish buggy! I called the phone technician... now I'll sit on hold for an hour with the cable company.... the electrician will show up when my front room explodes and all the lights in Vegas go out.

Geeze, Marie, would you stop being right already? I'll call the #$%!@$^#%^#$%^! cable company! HAHAH, XOXOXOX

Hi all, my cable is still out so no TV and no computer. It's driving Chris INSANE cause he keeps telling me I gotta call the cable company. I refuse. He's the dickdork that let the tech hang up after I held on the line over 1/2 hour - let him call them back! Anyway, I started the day off on the wrong foot with really fattening coffees. TWO of them with whipped cream and extra fat. But now I'm drinking my Water. Last night was good. Gosh, I may not be able to post till Tuesday since it's a 3 day weekend and I have no cable connection. Withdrawals. Best wishes to all... Teresa, I'm handing you a Kleenex since I cried the first time I stepped on the scale and was no longer in the 300s. Friggen GO GIRL! Darcy, pm me that number, just in case! Michelle - living in your wardrobe! Biker chick - excellent suggestion to learn on his bike before screwing up my own! Funny! However, I doubt I'll ever buy my own. I'd rather have a boat, but great idea just in case.

Ouch, just had bad news about car repair$ and $wimming pool repair$. Betty, maybe I should sell my Jimmy for 10 grand and buy that $6 grand Sportster to save a buck - hahah. Sorry, I need 4 wheels to cart around the fur babies! How's everyone doing today?

Hi everyone! I haven't been posting much cuz spending way too much time doing personal stuff at work (like now.) But wanted to send peace, love and flowers to everyone. Can you tell I'm having a better moment? I haven't been on-line at night because our cable is out. I sat on hold with the cable company for 35 minutes, then handed the phone to my hubby to talk with the tech. He grunted once then hung up the line. They instructed him to check the splitter, so he checked but the splitter was fine. So he told me to call them back. I was livid cuz everyone knows that once you get the tech on the line you DON'T hang up. You make those people stay on the line so you don't have to call back and hold another hour. Anyway, I told Chris he'd have to call back himself. But since he doesn't have patience, we have no cable. Did you girls hear that? My husband doesn't have TV. And I LOVE it! Betty, we went to dinner on the bike then visited friend's houses so I got to practice in a different hood. And I was good to my band yesterday. NOT having a TV rocks! This morn I dropped my truck off at the mechanic's. I normally call for a ride to work, but today I walked. About 25 minutes. Good girl!

I just ate 1/2 a chocolate business card and I'm feeling really queazy. It's like the time someone convinced me to take a shot of Jaggermeister (can't stand the stuff and wonder why it's so popular.) It doesn't feel like a PB, more like I want to vomit. Marketing people schmooze us all the time with goodies. This was my first chocate business card, so I had no choice other than to eat it... dial 911 - I threw half of it in the garbage. But as sick as my mind is, I took it out of the wrapper before throwing it away, just in case I decided to go fishing later. There are 2 buckets of mini candy bars here all the time. I used to eat piles of them, but have completely avoided them since getting banded. But when someone brings the cutest pretty silver box wrapped in pretty bows, I just had to eat it. Anyone else have problems with chocolate? DON'T THROW YOUR SHOES AT ME!

Every day I tell my self, "self, today I'll actually do some work to prevent getting fired." Then every day, here I am posting my insanity for the entire banded world to hear. Donali, you don't have to say much, but pop in at least once a week somewhere, okay? Hey, how many days till the Vegas bash?

Letha, La Madam just went for a fill. She went with her friend, who hasn't been banded very long, and Dr. Ortiz said her friend's pouch already showed signs of dilation. So this whole pouch-packing thing has me baffled. I never eat till I'm simply satisfied - I eat till I'm full. Heck, for the price I paid CASH for my band, an alarm should sound off and lights should flash when I've had enough food. So if someone can show signs of stretching so early in the game, I'm thinking a bunch of us are putting too much in there. There were huge arguments awhile back because a lot of people say you should only eat 1/2 cup of food per meal. I'm starting to wonder if that's really how we need to eat. I think I'll die right here, right now if I have to eat 1/2 cup of food. That's how much I drop on my shirt while scarfing the rest down. Still laughing tho. Tell me people, is this too much: B-fast: Protein shake with 1 cup nofat milk & whole small banana lunch: 4 oz tuna salad, 6 baby carrots, 2 celery sticks & 2 pieces of cocktail bread (the kinda bread you make horsd'vors (sp?) on. I know I have restriction left, because I'm stuffed. But come ON... that's one elf-sized lunch compared to how I used to eat. Now dinner is another story - I have dinner issues with portion control. Thanks guys for making me feel better. Mucho love to you.

So far so good today. I'm having my lunch. I use the Gerber Baby Food containers - tuna salad in there. 6 baby carrots, 2 small celery sticks, 2 pieces of bread. Ha ha, not normal bread, just the little cocktail hors'dvours (sp?) ones. It doesn't seem like much, but I should probably eat 1/2 the tuna and 1 bread. But 2 tablespoons of tuna don't cut the mustard for me! I've never had a baby so I don't know how many ounces of baby food fits in this container, but I'm guestimating about 4 ounces.