DeLarla

I'm guilty of not using the Total Gym, too. My house is so small that it's in a cramped little corner. My handyman is supposed to finish off the master bedroom tonight so I can move stuff around and hopefully find a place to move. By the way, major cramps... isn't this bitch central? Darcy, you can whine better than that, can't you?

Penni, if you get a fill, I'm a cooked goose. I have zero restriction, so I'm working with only willpower, which failed me today because I had 2 pieces of designer chocolate for breakfast! If you get a fill, I'm taking diet pills and getting my jaws wired! And no, the -51 isn't accurate as of today. That was what I weighed on my 4 month anniversary, but I'm up several pounds. Yo-yo, yo-yo, ding dong, ding dong. Oh, and I'm looking at my calendar and the 8th of October will be my precious monthly bloating (perfect timing for you.) So everyone put your money on Penni. I don't think I have a chance!

Breakfast - 2 pieces of chocolate and 1/2 Poppy Almond Yummy Muffin. And it's only 9:00 a.m. OOOPS.

Uh, is it me, or do we have a one month countdown? And were are we, Penni? Who is in the lead? Have you kept track?

I hate to say it, but my face has aged years in the past 4 months since being banded. I tend to think the wrinkles were being pushed out by the fat, but yes, I'm looking droopy and older. Geeze, we can't win, can we. I never thought of a face lift (tummy tuck yes, but my face was fine.) But now I'm wi$hing for one all the time.

I hate to say it, but my face has aged years in the past 4 months since being banded. I tend to think the wrinkles were being pushed out by the fat, but yes, I'm looking droopy and older. Geeze, we can't win, can we. I never thought of a face lift (tummy tuck yes, but my face was fine.) But now I'm wi$hing for one all the time.

I always round up. I struggle with food all the time. Last night was bad. I ate and ate, then chewed at my nails and peeled them all down to nubs. Nervous head hunger, so I went to bed early at 8:30 pm. Today I took off work to get household things accomplished, so I'm feeling pretty good about stuff. My carpet is in and the handyman is coming tomorrow to fix tiles & finish off floor borders. Then the big job - they're draining my pool and replastering it... I'll have to get re-plastered myself to deal with the expense, but it will be a huge worry off my mind. My pool is damaged so I have dreams of Mt. St. Helens errupting in my backyard. Like the end of Poltergeist where the mud and dead bodies shoot straight to the sky. Oh, and all my friends were really obnoxious about my selection of tiles. Trying to make me feel bad for my choice. OUR choice - get this, Chris and I actually agreed on something today! Progess.. baby steps! Darcy, I'm sure between all of us there will be gobs of pics! Tons of them!

Hi everyone. I was mostly band-friendly today, except I just ate a bowl of ice cream. I decided to have ice cream once a month - a big glob of it right before my female "monthly visitor." I used to eat a pint at a time once or twice a week. It was really too sweet, but heavenly. Hope all's well. My carpet was installed today, and I'm sleeping on our brand new matress tonight... can't wait. We got one of those memory foam ones.

Like I said before, I never even read the article. Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby! Anything can be bad for you. You could choke on a piece of raw carrot and drop dead, but I like the hippy natural thing. Naked, sugar, real boobs, etc. I limit myself to a spoon of sugar in my morning decaf. Last night I had a candy bar and too many Pringles, but the night before I ate like a banded angel. We wouldn't be here if we were obese, and I know sugar didn't cause me to be obese since it wasn't allowed in my home when I was a child. I became obese on wholesome foods (the only kind my mother bought.) No chips, cakes, pies, goodies, just meats, cheeses & veggies. As an adult, I went to OA and abstained from sugar and alcohol for two years - it had zero affect on my weight. Blah blah blah about sugar in carbs.... I just wanna be normal, and normal people eat normal sugar, not 10 packs of artifical stuff a day to get a fix. Sorry if I sound bitchy, but I am. It's 2:00 a.m. and I'm supposed to be sleeping but I have insomnia (once a month due to my precious monthly 'female" visitor.'

Sept 29 but in denial. No more birthdays, please.

Sugar has been around since the beginning of time (as far back as my brain can calculate.) Sure, it's got carbs, but isn't it worth the real thing once in awhile?

No, our finances are actually worse! I had to refinance our house to fix the problem Chris created by buying the Harley, so I borrowed extra do do the repairs. Now we're even deeper in debt! And the "royal tour" is funny. My house is really small!

Nah, my open wound and me go way back. I just started the home repairs this past weekend. I have a "seroma" which is something that happens when an implant is removed from the body. It causes a cavity - an empty space where something once was, and the empty space collects Fluid. The fluid needs to drain... actually, it's supposed to eventually absorb back into my body. Gross Darcy got her name cuz she likes blood & gore... she's not very gross though, not at all. As a matter of fact, Darcy, your belly didn't look very fat to begin with. Yer no bigger 'en a corn nub.

Betty, I know exactly what you're talking about - the feeling of being on meds. When I drank Diet Pepsi or anything with artificial sweetners, I actually felt high or medicated or something weird. But when I stopped drinking diet and drank regular Pepsi, I never felt that way. There's something in sweeteners that makes me feel bad. And I don't care what anyone says, the artificials sweeteners have an addictive quality. I tried quitting Diet Pepsi for years, but I was so addicted that I'd be grouchy as hell if I couldn't get one. I weaned myself off by mixing diet with regular. Now I'm finally off sodas, but I took a sip of a Diet Pepsi yesterday, and it was so gross. Hard to believe I used to drink the stuff by the barrell.

Oh my goodness, Gross Darcy, that's really gross! But I love it! I'm feeling gaggy again because I'm really tired of my leaking incision. Goo Goo, go away, come back some other day (but not in my lifetime!)

Saturday I hammered out tile from my bedroom. I had carpal tunnel surgery last year, and taking up that tile really screwed up my hands and back. Sunday we rode with about 10 bikes all over the desert. Yesterday I finished pulling up the tiles. Our entire house is tiled, but the previous owners carpeted 1/3 of the master bedroom. It's always driven me nuts because I'm a Libra and I need my balance, so part tile/part carpet in my bedroom drove me batty. So tomorrow I'm having carpet installed in the master and also in the guest room. New ceiling fan, cable repair, pool resurfacing, repairs to the kitchen floor. I hate it all too, but it sure feels good when it's done! Oh, and I splurged and bought a brand new California King bed for the master, but I won't pick it up till the carpet's in!

Betty, keep us posted. You've got my ears up.

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!