DeLarla

What's the girl's name that plays Suki on Gilmore Girls. I hadn't seen the show in a few months, then suddenly she was amazingly thin. Now she's heavy again, but I don't know what timeframe I'm watching (maybe I'm watching refuns?) I wonder how she lost?

My girlfriend is an actress that's done Jack in the Box, Suave, and lots of other commercials. She said the Suave screwed her hair up so bad that she had to get a professional cut and deep-condition after the job was done. She did the taco commercial for Jack in the Box and they had a trash can next to her. She'd take a bite, chew, then spit. She said, "I'd never eat that crap." Trimspa, Baby? If it were that easy, obesity would be extinct.

Sorry, we don't have any nails.

I love those!

Anyone that comes to Vegas gets a DeLarla Do-over! hair & makeup. Then I'll get the scissors and cut off your sleeves, then make some darts in all those big old stupid baggy shirts that you think are hiding your body. Fitted, off the shoulder, sexy, sparkles, earrings. LIP LINER! Sa-mooooooooch! Thanks for the compliment on my pic, but I'm not fishing for compliments, I'm just trying to show you that I've got an attitude better than lots of skinny women. My girlfriend models bikinis but has a huge glove collection because her little pinkies have a crook. She actually thinks that makes her ugly. I stand in front of rooms full of women, and every single one feels awkward for one reason or another. Size 2 women have cellulite and stretch marks. Even if we lost the weight, we'll NEVER have nice bodies. Even with plastic surgery, we're left behind with Frankenstein scars. Heck, turn them into ivy tattoos or something, and take that baggy shirt off!

Betty, your love, patience, forgiveness, warmth, compassion and positive outlook are things I try to learn from. Thank you for all you do here. You must be on top of the world. Can't we have a before & after side-by-side? P.S. Did I mention forgiveness? Much love, Lis

Thanks for checking in - been worried about you.

I want to kiss you right on the lips! You'll always have a home in my heart and my house. xoxox Congrads.

Lisa Bonekovic aka DeLarla, Baby.

I'm really frustrated today (aka PMS.) I keep reading and hearing women cracking insults about themselves, afraid to post pictures, afraid to show their arms, afraid to "feel" beautiful. Get over it. If anyone honestly thinks that I "think" I look sexy, you are dead wrong. I'm a fat, flabby, frizzy, wrinkled, puffy 250 pound blob of human flesh that used to weigh 315, so I've got body parts hanging over stuff I can't find. I have 11.5 boat feet that shoe stores don't carry sizes in. I look like a circus freak in heels considering my girth and height. I come from abusive parents - father is dying of alcoholic related liver problems while mother fights the law from putting her in the funny farm. I sweat too much, my skin rubs, I'm morbidly obese. When I look at my naked body, I see a stupid, loud-mouthed, fat, disgusting body. But ya know what, I don't pay attention to the outside. The outside is what GOD created, the inside is what I created. AND I'M DAMN PROUD. Next time I see even the slightest negative remark come out of anyone's posts, I'm coming there to doll you up leathers and feathers, makeup and sparkles. I'm going to show you how sexy you really are from the inside out! Here's my latest Marilyn pose. I'm damn hot, and I don't care what anyone else says.

I've personally suffered many, many complications with the Band while several people I know have lost all their weight with the Bypass. I won't pooh-pooh either. I do have a question for you experts. Why do Bypass patients gain back weight? I understand they stretch their pouches so they can eat more, plus they eventually retrain their bodies to accept sugar and other forbidden foods that once sent them into Dumping Syndrome. But even so, the food still passes so quickly that it shouldn't have time to absorb. Why do they gain back? One of my oldest friends had a Bypass 10 years ago and has since gained back every single pound. My heart breaks for her, because now she's lost the weight again on Opti Fast, but we all know she'll gain it right back after she stops that diet, don't we? Gaining and losing 100 pounds ain't no picnic. I'm sick of it all, but life goes on!

This past Saturday night I was doing my Slumber demonstration for a room full of women. The rules are: No men, no children. Soon the doorbell rang, and someone yelled for me to meet their brother, Chuck, who proceeded to a chair and slouched into it. I immediately grabbed a towel and covered my demonstration table and explained that I can't continue with a man in the room. Chuck was a tall, buzz-cut, slouched, tattoed lesbian, who yelled, "I'm not a f-ing man." I died, right there.

I'm feeling pretty normal again. I'm still waiting for the referral to come through so I can see the Gastroenterologist. Heaven knows how many phone calls I'll need to make for THAT to happen! Nyk, sorry that you're having so many problems, too. Could you imagine how different life is for normal folks that don't have weight problems? Sad.

Yeah, I've heard it was reversible, I just haven't "heard" of anyone having it done. Do you know anyone? How are they doing?

Those are beautiful. I wish I had the time, patients and steady hand. I adore stained glass. Beautiful.

I lost count of my days, but no soda for me, and no goodies at night.

And here's my HELLO right back at you! You are very normal. Some people get good restriction with just the band, but other people have to wait for a fill. Be patient, because it depends on how your doctor gives fills. Some docs just give you a little fill, then make you wait for more (the "sneak up" approach.) Other docs fill you tight a few weeks after surgery. Why do you have to wait till December? Welcome to your new family

I went to a huge seminar on LB vs GB. Both have pros, both have cons. The two bariatric surgeons giving the seminar offered both. There's no way to answer questions of which is better. I know GB patients that have lost their weight and kept it off. I know GB people that have gained all their weight back. I know there are GB people that eventually get banded, and banded people that have the band removed and convert to GB. Both doctors said they support both surgeries, but that WE have to weigh the pros and cons and make our own choice. Neither are the answer, yet both were our only hope. GB people get two weight loss surgeries, which is why they initially lose so fast. They get their stomachs cut and are left with a small pouch that doesn't hold much food. But they also get their intestines rewired so the food shoots right through them. The best thing about BG is that most insurance companies will pay. With the Band, we eat, then the food slowly goes to the lower stomach where we absorb all the nutrients and digest food the normal long way. We only get one weight loss surgery. GB is good for fast weight loss, but it's not reversible and you have to take supplements the rest of your life since you don't absorb valuable nutrients. (**I've heard reversing a GB is very difficult and dangerous but I'm not sure if it is done.) Sure is a lot to think about.

It does and doesn't come down to doing your research... you have to be just a tad smarter than that. Some people think "research" is reading at LBT. It has to go way, way beyond that. Call every surgeon that will take your call. Ignore every positive post that you see, and jump right to the ugly ones (like mine.) What's more important, the majority of people that come out of Tijuana in great shape, or a bunch of people that came out with horror stories? Take your pic.

"Quote: are you saying that these doctors are re-using "disposable" Trocars?" I'm saying that a surgeon in another country, who is friends with Mexican surgeons, and who is familiar with the Tijuana surgical centers, told me that they re-use Trocars. He did not specify if ALL of the surgical centers re-use them. He did mention a very popular name that reuses Trocars. He said "Trocars cannot be sterilized because you can't get them hot enough without destroying them." He said, "Tijuan is very poor and the surgical centers can't afford necessary equipment." I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Tijuana surgical centers do NOT have an ICU unit. Better hope you don't have any complications with anesthesia or other potentialy life-threatening urgencies, because you'd have to get transported to an ICU, and that critical hour getting to an ICU could kill you, couldn't it? I'm not a nurse or doctor, just a nosey patient that talks to and meets a lot of Band surgeons. Quote: "What comes first, erosion or port infection?" Answer: I don't know. Two of my friends went back to Tijuana for fills. During the fill, the doctor noticed the barium wasn't flowing through the band correctly, so they each had to get an endoscopy. The endoscopy confirmed erosion. Neither had symptoms, and neither had port infections. Port infections often lead to erosion. Bacteria on the port tube leads to the band. Even if the port is removed, tiny bacteria usually remains. It can hang around for a couple years before growing again. Don't quote me, I'm just telling you my experience.

First of all, I did thorough research before banding. I followed Doctor Karen H., who has her medical degree and doesn't let doctors touch her without knowing every aspect of the facility, surgeon, techniques, skills, experience. According to her research, my resarch, and stellar recommendations by Inamed, both Karen and I were banded at the best facility with the best band surgeon, so for anyone to insinuate that some of us might not be doing our research is like a slap in the face. And I hit back (laughing here, so don't take offense.) I don't know if rubber tube can be disinfected, but rubber tube doesn't sound very expensive. I only said the very expensive tool was being reused. Tijuna is disgusting. Maybe the surgical centers seem clean and well-equipt, but LQQK at the city, LQQK at the buildings that the surgical centers are in! My husband was horrified that the pillars would cave in because the buildings aren't up to code. Most of Tijuana, Mexico is a scary, creepy, nasty, foul place. These Tijunana surgical suites are recently remodeled office buildings. Imagine going to a 10 story bank in a creepy neighborhood. Climb up a couple crooked stairs while wondering why the building looks slightly slanted. Pass the grungy lobby, into the dank smelling, rattling elevator that makes you wonder when it was last serviced. An elevator shared by all the other businesses in that building (trust me, nobody in surgical scrubs in those elevators!) Exit the 3rd or 9th floor with bad carpeting, then finally come to a door with fancy writing that says, "Surgical Suite." THAT is what you get when you go to Tijuana. Nice new floors, fresh paint. Tea served in china, not sterile hospital dishes. Tiles crooked - everywhere. Hmmm, what business was being run out of this suite last year? Is there proper ventilation to prevent germ spreading? What's in the Craftsman tool box? Perhaps surgical supplies? Is a Craftsman tool box a sterile environment? Did they steralize it, or did it come out of a truck from the Craftsman warehouse? The only place I'd ever "consider" in Mexico is Monterey (probably the same facility mentioned above.) The big hospital in Monterey runs by American standards. They don't reuse tools. I did not say Tijuana surgeons reuse tools. I said, "a top surgeon informed me that he has firsthand knowledge that surgical centers in Tijuana reuse tools." I'm basically spreading a rumor because I believed a top surgeon so I repeated what he said.

I have sever anxiety disorder and missed 10 years of my young life over it. I have had a few anxiety attacks over the band inside me, but a Valium or Xanax fixed it. Now I'm fine but I carry meds just in case.

"Tonight I learned that I'm effeminately not a lesbian or even a bisexual." Talk about funny, I don't even know what that word means! I typed that in Word then did a spell check, then pasted (too lazy to spell at that hour.) I wonder what I was trying to say?

I just learned that Dr. Rumbaut has had his for seven years. I know there are older ones, but I figure if you pass the 7-year-itch you should be good to go!

Woo hoo, I'm a step ahead of the game! When I was typing this thread in the morning darkness, I saw my little tenacious neighbor lady power walking past my window (she's out there daily, like 75 yrs old.) So I grabbed the dogs and hit the park, then did push ups, sit ups, weights. Now I'm taking a short break before cleaning like a mad woman to 80's party hits! I love snap peas, and I'm going to stock up! It's pretty funny throwing my helmet up because every time I wear a hat I act like Mary Tyler Moore, but nobody gets it. I'm glad ya'll are whacked like me. I need Protein powder! I'm out of shake makins! My song is, "I WANT TO BREAK FREE." I went to We Will Rock You last weekend, which is a musical set to Queen music. I bought one of those orange rubber band bracets with Queen on one side and I WANT TO BREAK FREE on the other. I'm going to put it on. Time to sign off. I'm not burning any calories here! Now my turn to get tough: Why is Corrine the only one that wrote her weekend plan? HUH? Log it in here, babies!