DeLarla

You could use the Yoga DVD to play Frisbee with your husband. Remember, walking flat to the park or around the block is different than walking on an incline. I was walking at a level 2 incline, while Lioness is walking at a level 4. Walking is great, but start mellow then increase.

Good for a silly chuckle: One day a farmer's donkey fell into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive. 2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen. 3. Live simply and appreciate what you have. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less NOW -------- Enough of that crap . The donkey later came back and bit the shit out of the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected, and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock. MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON: When you do something wrong and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

Penni, please let me know how it goes in Ventura. How long does it take you to drive there, like 1.5 hours? Like I've said before, my brother, sister & friends live in the Valley. I'd rather drive the back way through Palmdale for a Valley visit than to San Diego through all those freeways. My brother lives in Reseda right off the 134. Not too far from Ventura, if I remember right. I'd like to know what they'd charge to replace my port. Meanwhile, you had given me a list of California doctors, but I got mad at my e-mails and deleted everything before printing it out.

Please don't take this really bad advise unless your doctor thinks it might help.... One of my "lumpy throat" days was so bad that I couldn't stand it, so I ate corn tortilla chips. I chewed them very slowly and got them real mushy. It might be in my head, but it felt like it was scratching my throat and pushing stuff along. Then I walked around the house bouncing myself like a baby to make everything settle. THIS IS PROBABLY REALLY BAD ADVICE... it just happened to work for me and now I'm gonna get yelled at by the rest of this wonderful group for sharing it.

Carmen, I had one really bad night like that. I felt like I was choking in my sleep. I couldn't even lay down, so I got up and made hot tea with lemon. I thought my lumpy-throat-for-no-reason was reflux or gas coming up from my belly because I was on heavy antibiotics for my port infection. I've heard about this a few times on the boards, and it seems to go away. I think I took a Raglan (prescription medication for acid reflux) with my tea when I was choking from the lump in my sleep. But always confirm anything I say with a professional. If you find out something from your doctor, please share it here, okay?

This is gonna be a long post, so either move on, or grab a cup of Jo: This is to apologize for all the skinny women I've judged as being a bitch just because they look good. It's wrong of me... it's wrong for any of us, to snare at cute, thin girls. I myself have made many derogatory comments and often judge the skinny book by the skinny cover. After spending the weekend with my 90 pound, big booby friend, she taught me a lot about what it's like to have a rockin' body. My other friend, Jessica, has the same type of figure, and she topped off everything I learned, so I got a double-scoop of what it's like to be thin. Thin women hate comments we (me, anyway) make about how lucky they are to be thin. They hate the extra attention men give them, because they never know when men are being genuine. Both friends said they have very few heavy friends, and that's why they love me so much, cuz most heavy women automatically hate them. Jessica hates being thin and tries gaining weight so that people will treat her normally. She said she feels like how really, really rich people feel since she's never sure if people like her for her personality or because she wears a size 1. Skinny girls with big boobs never get looked at in the eye. Sure, there are lots of bimbos that get fake boobs because they are shallow and don't want men to know their minds, but I'm talking about the average cutie at 7-11 or at the lake that we just love to hate for no reason. I could go on and on, but I won't. I love my skinny friends. I don't want to hurt them any more. Just wanted to throw this out there and see what comes back. xoxo

I wrote to Don Mills at Inamed but never received a response. Could you share their phone number? I'm going to send them a historical letter of my horrible band experience and lack of aftercare. Dr. Lopez in Mexico told me he'd refer me to a local Vegas doctor for emergencies. He referred me to Francis Teng, who refused to see me. Great referal. And good one about docs in jail for tax evasion!

Do a search for a post regarding "LUMP IN MY THROAT." I posted something similar about a week ago that got a lot of good responses. I learned the lump is from restriction. Eat slower, slow, slow, chew chew. But it's best for you to read last week's post by doing a search.

Leatha, I live in Las Vegas. I felt like Living-Dead-Girl for several weeks because my port was infected and I couldn't get local help. There are only 3 band doctors in Vegas, but they refused to treat me since their med-malpractice insurance won't allow them to. Yes, one of them would give me a fill, but he wouldn't treat my infection. I found a few people who will do fills here, but they are not doctors. My only option is Mexico at this point, so I had to go back to Tijuana to have my port removed. I'll have to go back in a few months to have it replaced.

Three weeks after being banded I was on the treadmill, incline level 2. During my 4th workout, I started feeling bad pain in my port area. Soon my port became badly infected. My surgeon performed a 2nd surgery to remove my port, and I'll need a 3rd surgery to replace it. However, in no way am I saying the infection had anything to do with exercise. It was probably purely coincidental. Or maybe I really did pull something at the gym. It's just not worth it to take unnecessary chances. When you exercise, the whole "endorphin" thing gives you a mental lift and makes you feel energized and active. After my workouts, I was energetic and rarely sat down to relax, till it was way too late. I was either going to get an infection for no reason, or I caused it myself, but I'll never know the truth. Better safe than sorry. Take as much time as your surgeon recommends before hitting the treadmill. Or at least lower the incline and your speed.

Leatha, this is the first time I heard about accidentally poking the tube. Thanks for that post in case I ever considered having a fill without fluoro. No way, Jose'!

Donali my pretty petunia, I'm sorry it took so long for me to reply to this post, but DeLarla's been busy getting kicked off the StupidBandster board. I removed myself from that ugly, ignorant board, and now I'm home in the land of love. I realize we're all different, but I think my number one sabotage is to allow myself to get too hungry. It screws me every time, so I'm glad to see that one on your list. Could you bump it up to a higher number for Lis? My friend (hi secret friend) shared a private conversation she had with Nurse Jessie, and it seems Lopez has a higher rate of erosion. Don, any thoughts?

During my mushy stage I ate liverwurst with mustard (someone here hooked me up with that one.) I also found a salmon spread at my deli that was really good. Someone also suggested refried Beans with melted cheese and hot sauce, which went down just fine. Hummos is also good - but is there sufficient Protein in garbonzo beans? A baked egg dish is good too, lil' sprinkled cheese. Darn, hungry now.

Did somebody say Vegas? We could have a BBQ bash at my place. I only charge $2.00 admission to my petting zoo. If everyone pays for their travel & hotel, I could pop the food bill, unless 100 of you show up! I'm just a few miles off the Strip. Small house & hubby's got a dirty mouth, but he's good on the grill.

Kathy, she's darling in her very first Logo T-shirt! You must be thrilled and relieved that she's finally here. 'Rads to you, Gramma!

Magnolia, I don't know if it was too soon, but I was doing the treadmill 2 weeks after surgery and ended up with a severe port infection. My port had to be removed. I doubt it was from the exercise, but once my port gets put back in, I'm going to walk much slower with no incline.

Leatha, you get double-whammy-triple gold starts. That's incredible! Losing and quitting. Good going!

So, Gross Darcy, are ya gonna ask the doctor to perform your surgery under a local so you can watch the grossness?

Well, every minute that goes by has me loving the little cuties a little more. They're starting to be more comfy around me. I just stood by the cage and 3 of them walked to the corner. They act like my dogs with their jelly filled bellies. They actually snap at each other fighting over my attention. As far as the mess, I shoved Chris out of the house this morning and told him not to return with a top-of-the-line Dust Buster. It's plugged in now, right next to the messy bugers!

Buy 4 new Cockatiels because 2 dogs, a cat, an 80-gallon aquarium, and a 9-year-old husband aren't quite messy enough. Yes, ladies, my husband built me a bird cage and was going to buy me parrots, but the selection was nil so we decided on a couple Cockatiels. Don't ask me how a couple turned into 4. **** shakes head side-to-side grumbling like Lurch from the Munsters******** I missed my boards today because we had out-of-town company, plus we have Chloe (Babs' 5-year old angel-monster.) She helped us pick out the 4 birds. Aye yaeh aye.

Alex, you must have had an easy time after surgery. Running around in the car? ICK. I was a mess. Then again, I was driven by a crazy Mexican taxi driver to the San Diego aiport, where I sat for a couple hours. Then the flight home, the airport. By the next day I didn't want to do anything. I moved around and walked up and down the street, but if it weren't for my husband running to the store, I'd have dehydrated. Some just do better than others, I suppose. I could have been way more prepared.

Nancy, 4 Cockateils is huge for me, because I'm the kind of mom that has to give each one of my children individual attention. Right now the grey one with white cheeks is having quality time alone with me while I'm here posting. I still have to medicate my cat, feed my two dogs, monitor the fish tank, then make spend an hour each with the other 3 birds so they'll all be trained and amazing pets. But I gotta admit, I'm already loving them. Having 72 to me isn't right because you can't give them individual attention that way, so I guess I'm glad my husband stopped at 4.

Gross Darcy, the irony of my weight loss is that I can now fit into some of my zip up jeans... but I still can't wear them because my port incision still hasn't healed. Nothing zip up! Loose, baggy pants. Huge t-shirts and panties around the house! I was even wearing big t-shirts with spandex biker shorts in a size 4x with plenty of room, but that even felt too restricting. Granny panties, baby!

Could be that we're plain ol' people watchers. But I stare at half-naked girls in the gym, wondering if it hurts to look that good! Never been caught and I avoid their fun parts (except boobs, I have to know what it's like to have perfect boobs.)

Poor puppy's foot.. I'm a sucker for animals. Chloe named one birdie Daisy Sunshine. I have a real mean on on my shoulder now that I'm thinking of calling Captain Pharoah. My first day at my part time job was fun, but I think I'm down a buck. I only made $24, so that's about $19 after taxes, but I picked up dinner for hungry husband at $18.00. Minus gas, I think it cost me to work. Donali, sing louder so I can hear you hear! Miss you guys when I work my silly job!