hagerteresa

My parents divorced when I was 8 and my brother was 2. I am sure it was best for us kids. I had seen years of domestic violence and substance abuse by this time. Both of my parents loved us and always took good care of us but they had too many shattered dreams and trajedies together that it was best for all when they divorced. My dad continued to make it difficult for many years later by trashing my mom's name constantly and just being an donkeys butt in general. He seems to have completely rewritten history in his own mind too. All in all, it was tough but my mom was a 100X better off without him. As for us, we got to see him every other weekend till we were 18. He always paid his child support (with much complaint) and tried HIS best to be a good dad. I have angry thoughts about him once in awhile but he is my only dad and life has dealt him some serious blows. I mainly just feel sorry for him for the most part. Not sure if any part of this post really has anything to do with your situation but you do have a tough choice either way. Good luck, T

Hi Lori, I am also thankful you shared your story. I think it is important for anyone considering the surgery to get as many facts and statistics as possible. Lori, I was wondering who your doctor was and which city he worked from. Like you, I had my surgery done in Mexico. I used Dr. Lopez in Tijuana and stayed at the Oasis of Hope hospital. Thanks again for your insight and am sorry you had to go thru it. Teresa

Yeah Donali! is right. I've missed her all day and have been thinking about her too. Lisa posted on another thread too about her condition. I sure hope the pain passes quickly for her. T

Thanks for posting us Lisa and letting us know what's up. I can't wait to see her back on the forum and hear how she's doing. Poor thing... T

I grew up in a very old small town sorrounded by mountains full of old gold mines and ghost towns. It is so pretty and such a fun day trip truckin up there. As a child, my dad took us up there fairly often for sunday picnic like occassions. I have taken my husband up there a few times. There are dozens of beautiful swimming holes and old covered bridges all the way up there. Oregon is so beautiful, it is absolutely breathtaking. I have lived here all of my life and just never stop feeling lucky. The only other spot I would ever live is the Big Island of Hawaii. My husband was adopted and that is where his birth family lives. We have gone a couple of times and I actually cry when it is time to come home. Otherwise I have visited quite a few different states and can't help but feel attached to Oregon. Our economy usually stinks but otherwise the state is good. I have rented metal detectors before. You do have to be tenacious. There is some family story about a lost ring from a prior king of saudia arabia on a piece of property we inherited last winter. I was determined to find it one weekend and rented a nice metal detector. The weather wasn't real cooperative but I was determined... I found lost of old forks, metal lids, bottle caps, etc but no huge ring. LOL... I'm planning on future searching. Unfortunately the property is about 3 hours from where we live and WORK so permanent relocation won't happen for a few years. The house is heading toward derelict conditions as well. It is fun to camp in though. We still get the benefit of 4 walls and working appliances and still feel close to nature and roughing it. The story about the ring is pretty certain though. My husbands grandmother had thrown it out into the hillside and deemed it BAD luck. One of her sons saw her do this but none of the boys were supposedly ever able to find it. The fact that it is from the king of saudia arabia is also factual. Part of the family lived in saudia arabia for a long time (15-20 years) and were a part of a huge oil company. This was all back in the 60's and 70's. I love history, can you tell? I just went on and on. Sorry for getting off topic. Have fun, Lisa!!! Take some pictures! T

Maybe you should try to treat it like a hernia and tape it down flat with something. I am not sure how expert that sounded. LOL I am glad you are going in for a second opinion. That definitely doesn't look right but hopefully its nothing too serious either. Too bad Pam is sick. I definitely think she needs encouragement. I was thrilled when I heard you guys were initially getting together. Does she seem any more inspired? Best of luck to you, Teresa

I'll get stuff sent too. Teresa That protrusion looks terrible. I don't remember seeing that on the pictures you sent us with the big red irritated ring awhile ago.

I have always wanted a metal detector. They are the coolest! What kind did Santa bring him? I am jealous too. Camping would be so fun. We had a big vet bill last week and now are poor for this week. UGH! Well have a blast! T

Best wishes Donali! We'll miss you these next couple of days and will be thinking of you always. Take good care of yourself! Teresa

Dang! You are diligent! How is it going with Pam? She said she is still working out with you. Isn't she sweet. I think she definitely needs a fill though. When we were in the hospital together I would waddle down to her room just to see how she was doing and who was recovering faster. LOL. I am glad we still keep in touch. Seriously though Penni, GOOD JOB! I lost 3.5 lbs this last week and a total of 35.5 now. I was pretty happy. This saturday will be 8 weeks. I am hoping I just keep going down and would happily skip the fill fiasco. Have you mentioned the idea of the weekend trip to Pam? It would be fun to have her. Thanks again for all of your input, Teresa

Penni- That is amazing you get under a 1000 calories with no fills. I thought I was doing good. WOW. How much do you excersise? I do Water aerobics twice a week, some short dogs walks and try to burn calories with my housekeeping work. Good job. Lisa- Your input is ALWAYS welcome. Hope you are good. Teresa Dr. Lopez 5/8/04 362/326.5/? -35.5 lbs

I had mine with Dr. Lopez in Tijuana. The pain wasn't too bad. Definitely plan on being down the day after but otherwise it gets better from there on out. Take slip on shoes. That way you don't have to bend over. That is the worst thing to have to do for a couple of weeks. Teresa

Yeah Darcy! Glad your all done with surgery and made it back safely. The liquids will go by quickly and the mush will seem heavenly after all those liquids. Best wishes to you and TAKE IT EASY! Teresa

Thanks for the info Alex. I have still not had my first fill and my calories range between 1200 and 1500. I am almost at my 8th week post surgery and am still losing so I am going to just ride it out till I plateau. I am trying to guage my calorie intake with other bandsters. I am sure restriction definitely helps decrease the calorie intake. I have heard you and Lisa describe days with very little food when you are restricted well. I am happy with how I am eating right now and my weight loss so I just don't want a fill till I really need one. 5/8/04 Dr. Lopez 362/326.5/? -35.5 lbs

Hey Roy, You can do this!!! I don't neccessarily follow the Atkins way but my carb intake is definitely less. I haven't had a single fill yet so on a very rare occassion I allow myself a small biscuits and gravy, or 1 small tortilla, regular bread doesn't work at all but I have been able to try toast. I like potatos too. I just really watch my calories and eat very small meals. I get between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. I like a lot of variety and try to achieve it. One of my favorites is a BBQ'ed lean hamburger patty with all the fixings but without the bun. Yummy. Keep trying new things! Like Donali said, you can get back on track anytime. Another thing I love are those rotisserie chickens they have at every store. I can do about 3 entirely different recipes with one chicken. Good luck to you and keep coming back. T 5/8/04 Dr. Lopez 362/326.5/? down 35.5 lbs

Hey Folks, I had a yummy Breakfast today, it was 5 pitted bing cherries, 1/2 banana and about 1/3 of a vanilla yogurt all mixed together. Yummy... Anyone who keeps track of calories, let me know what your average calorie intake is a day. Thanks Teresa

So does everyone agree October 8-10? I want to start shopping for tickets. T

Hello, That is what we are here for: to be supportive to people that need it. You should post more often. We are a very non-judgemental group and I know other people are having similar struggles. I haven't been banded real long but one thing I have already come to love and depend on is www.fitday.com. It tracks your calories consumed, Vitamins, activity, etc. I also absolutely detest excercise but found I LOVE Water aerobics. You should give it a try. It is fun, refreshing and still excercise. My doctor definitely told me the list of food priorities too: Protein #1 then vegetables, fruit, carbs last... Hopefully you get the perfect fill soon too. Best wishes, Teresa

I love the idea too. T

I am with you Donali, my mom loves to buy clothes and fairly often they are too small for me (yes even my adorable mom under-estimates me). I have two whole drawers full of new clothes still with tags on in varying sizes. Just in the last few weeks I am fitting back into my last year summer clothes (recall I had a 40 lb weight gain last year that scared me into getting the band). I can't wait to where smaller and smaller things. T

Hi Donali, My thoughts are with you over the next few days. I am sure everything will go smoothly but wanted to let you know I am thinking about you and hope you have a short easy recovery. I am hoping your tummy has shrunk A LOT with all of that weight loss this past year and it won't be so difficult after all to maintain your loss and keep losing. We are all here for you for whatever you may need. Sorry you are having to go thru this at all. Teresa

Good job Lisa, Both of those stories were positively hilarious. When I was in school it was kind of funny because I was teased just as often by other FAT kids as from skinny kids. Never could figure that one out. You would have thought we would have banded together, but no. Best wishes to you, Teresa

Most friday nights I take my husband lunch at his job in the evening (he works swing). I had quit doing this while I was healing but once I was on solid food I started back up. I only took a few bites and felt that funny feeling but at that point I wasn't real coordinated about the band. I decided it would be okay, I don't need to run yet. We go outside for a few minutes. My poor hubby keeps asking me if I am okay and suddenly I decided at that instant I needed the bathroom. I did not even get two steps toward the door. I barfed right there at my hubby's feet right in front of his bosses office. OOOOPS. LOL T

Note the roundness of my head... LoL Yesterday my nieces were visiting and I hadn't seen them in at least a year. One is 4 and the other is 2. I don't think they have ever really been around heavy people before. The 4 year old looked at me curiously and rather innocently and a bit concerned sounding she said something like, "you are fat." A little later I was taking her to the bathroom. She hadn't seen me standing up since we were all at a table. Suddenly her eyes got all big and WOW'ed and exclaimed,"boy you really are fat!" Since she is only 4 I could not take any offense but her poor mom (my stepsister) was just horrified. It was pretty hilarious. I just confronted the issue with the little girl and made light of it. Told her about my stomach surgery in simple terms to fix being fat. LOL Later she cutely rubbed my arm and told me It was skinny. She is going to give my stepsister a hell of a time growing up. She is as cute as a little pixie and has an impish streak a mile long. Her baby sister is beautiful and so peacefully silent. Their names are Dahlia Rayne and Karia Rose A little too hippy for me but the names have grown on me. Speaking of hippy, anyone been to the Oregon Country Fair? It is wild and really fun. Thousands of hippies congregate and sell their wares, have many concerts and entertainment and just pure craziness. Look it up on the web. Teresa

About ice-cream....I got some of those healthy choice fudgscicles and they are really really good. They have them at costco. They only have 90 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. MMMMM, YUM. Their ice cream cups are good too and only have 130 calories. Both products taste really creamy and I don't think it tastes like fake sweetener at all. I also like this topic and would like a month of food diaries from each person who has been very successful with the band. LOL T