Penni60

Thank you Chantal: I worked on the cancer floor and more specifically dealt with Leukemia, Lymphoma patients that needed to have Bone Marrow Transplants. We would have the patients in our care for sometimes 3 months. SO we really got to know the patients and their families really well. I did this work for 8 years. I burned out after 4 years and did some admin work for awhile that took me out of nursing for a year. Then went back to it and burned out again after 3 years. I left Nursing in 1999 a used up jellyfish of a woman. I am not beginning to get back some of my emotions. It is very draining and all consuming to deal with death and dying on a daily basis. I Commend those that keep doing it. I just couldn't and maintain my sanity. I got TOOOOOOOOOOO caught up in the patients and their families.

ok being a former Cancer nurse as well, I have many stories of patients passing away in the night. I had this one patient, JOE (not his real name). He was young around 25 maybe. He was very sweet and kind and had a good attitude for someone dying of cancer. He had went through all the stages of dying and had come to acceptance. His family was not so quick to reach those steps. THey were still bargaining for his life when he passed away one night. There is certainly an air "feeling" you can become cognizant of when you work a cancer floor. You "know" when it is time or near time for someone to pass away. My girlfriend and I were working the night Joe passed. He had been laughing and telling jokes all night. I worked the 7p to 7a shift. He calls us into the room to change his bed sheets. He said he wanted to feel the clean sheets on his skin when he went to heaven. We not only changed his sheets we gave him a full bath, shaved him, brushed his teeth, put some cologne on him, and gave him a full massage to ease his sore muscles. When this was all done, he looked at both of us and simply said in a quite tone, "Thank you both for preparing me to meet my FATHER." Then he passed away. Sorry I get chocked up every time I think of him. Shortly after he passed away, every patient we would put in that room said they smelled his cologne every now and then. And they smell the fresh sheets and the soap used to give him a bath. They say they usually smell this when they are at their lowest point and want to give up. They said it gave them reasurrance that everything will be OK no matter if they pass or recover. I am a true believer in Angels, the after life, reincarnation, and ghosts. The unknown is simply something that hasn't been given a name yet by the mainstream public.

I can't stop laughing. OH MY GOSH!! Too funny.

Hey I plan on bringing some of my size 20/22 clothes to Vegas. I might even have some 24 size to bring as well. I am currently getting into size 18 and if I shop at Avenue (Which I do) I can fit into their 16/18 shirts and depending on how the7are made some of their 16/18 pants. I think it would be GREAT if we swapped some clothes at Lisa's on Saturday. We just put them out there and have a free for all with the clothes. LOL!! Good idea Zoe

Welcome aboard Katie!! I was born and raised in PRinceton, KY which is about an hour east of Paducah and an hour west of Nashville,TN. Anyway, welcome and congrats.

I ain't giving up but I am admitting defeat here. LOL!!!

Pre Banding I had all kinds of knee and back issues. I was taking Ibuprofen like candy and got minimal relief. I ended up with stomach problems "pre-ulcer" so my doc put me on prevacid then prilosec OTC which helped prevent the ulcer from the ibuprofen. I stopped taking the Ibuprofen for the knee and back pains and started taking Glucosamine Chrondroitin. That worked miracles for my arthritic aches and pains. Almost overnite I felt relief and it did not bother my stomach. Post Banding I am off all meds for the arthritis at this point. I might have to take them again down the road but at least I know the GC works for me now.

OK pretty bummed right now. I just weighed myself this morning. I am up 1 lb. Back to 250lbs. UGH!!!! I am not at all surprised that I gained a lb. I did not eat band friendly while I was in Nashville and Kentucky for the funeral and Mom's tests. I was very very very bad. Binging alot. Late night eating in the hotel room. Bad Penni Bad Penni!!! OK now that I am back home I can concentrate on losing that lb and lots more. I have to call the doc and see if he can squeeze me in this week or next for an appointment. Hopefully he can. HOORAY!! I just called him and I have an appointment on the 30th this THursday. So Lisa I will at least lose that one lb and maybe 2 or 3 more before the BASH. I think it is a safe bet that you will most certainly WIN this thing. So, what you want?

Lisa you crack me up!! HUGE congrats on the license and ride if you want or just pretend to ride so you can aggravate and piss off Chris. That is worth all the torn shoulders in the world. LOLOLOLOL!!!!!

There is also a great liquid Vitamin as well. Please click on SEARCH above and then key in Liquid Vitamin. It will bring up the post I started on Liquid Vitamins. I take Source of Life liquid vitamins. They are great.

Penni: 4/6/04 -- 47 lbs Lisa: 5/5/04 -- 51 lbs Becky 6/03/04 - 53 lbs Denice: 8/12/04 -- 20 lbs Leatha 05/29/03 - 67 lbs Michelle 4/6/04 -- 49.75 lbs Marie 5/26/04 -- 39 lbs Donali 1/23/03 -- 102 lbs Kathy 5/21/04 -- 41 lbs Cindy 7/22/04 -- 40 lbs Teresa 5/8/04 -- 63 lbs Kelly 8/20/03 -- 65 lbs Kyleigh 9/23/03 -- 60 lbs Bright 10/28/03 -- 70 lbs Michelle 6/14/04 - 20 lbs Babs 6/23/03 -- 136 lbs Nancy 8/27/03 -- 55 lbs michelle - shellyj 8-18-03 - 130 pounds Vera 8/14/03 -- 64 lbs Jacky 4/5/04 - 40 lbs Chris S. 9/02/03 - 54 lbs Debra 7/19/04 -- 17 lbs. Janie 5/6/04 -- 41 lbs Denise 5/28/04--33 lbs. Kim 8/23/04 -- 28 lbs. Andrea 9/8/04-- 12lbs. Carol 12/2/9/03 -- 102 lbs. Maureen 3/17/04--49 lbs. Carolyn 2/27/04 -- 61lbs (-81 since 1-8-04) Greta 3/12/04---37 lbs. Anne 8/13/04 -- 20 lbs. Zoe 8/26/04 -- 16 lbs. Kim 9/15/04 -- 5 lbs Mary 3/2/04 -- 62 lbs Rica 6/13/04 -- 36lbs Lisa G.: 7/23/04 -- 23lbs Total: 1808.75 I re -calculated the list and this is the total I came up with.

HOLY COW!! WOW!!! 1800 lbs Almost a ton!

You know the green color threw me off as well at first. I just look at it as a mint julep and chug it down. LOL!!!! The benefits far outweigh the color. Really great product. I can also tell when I DON'T take the Vitamin. I get very sluggish. Glad it works for you.

WELCOME aboard the BAND wagon. LOL!!

Hello guys: Just got back from Kentucky. Mom had her colonoscopy today. Well they tried to do the thing. Her colon is pretty tight in that one section that they wanted to try to view and they could not get a pediatric scope through. So they did not try to force it for fear of puncturing the colon. They elected to do the barium enema, instead. They won't know the results of the test till Monday. I spoke with the DR today and asked him if there was any reason for me to extend my stay. He assured me that there was no reason for me to stay. Mom is weak from the prep prior to the scope, but when I left her she was going to take a nap and sleep off the Versed they gave her. She promised to call the ambulance and go to the ER if she ever gets like she was before. So, I head home on Monday. I am tired and ready for my own house and my own bed. THanks for all the support you guys have shown and I will keep you all updated.

Becky: HMMM!! I was given a gift cert for a mani and pedi for my birthday. SO I will schedule that when I get home. THanks for reminding me of that. Now did you all clean your houses and only weigh yourselves once a week

Chantal: My heart goes out to you. THere is nothing as devastating as being betrayed by the person you thought you could trust. My advice, take it or leave it, is to confront both her and him about the relationship. Approach it that you KNOW it is going on. Keep coming back to talk. That is what kept me sane through my ordeal.

Thanks for all the kind words and support. Funeral today: Ever notice that the first three letters in that word is FUN. Just what is FUN about a funeral? LOL!! Well listening to the pastor do the Eulogy today would make you think of FUN in a strange sorta way. He started the speech saying "I have several great grandkids and can never remember their names." Now did I miss something or was this a eulogy about my step father's father? HMMM?!! He then started a sermon on the correlation between "shadows" and death and dying. NOTHING about the man that died or his life at ALL. NOTHING I TELL YOU. HOwever my step father and Mom both thought he did a GREAT job. OH WELL!! My daughter and I both thought he was boring and made NO sense. LOL!! I might have mislead some of you to think that my step father was the mean one but in actuality it was his father that was the mean one. I love my step father and consider him my father since my own dad wasn't around much at all. My step father has been my father figure since I was 9 yrs old. He sat with me when I was in the hospital with double pneumonia and had a bad kidney infection when I was 10 yrs old. I was in the hospital for 12 days and he was there the whole time when my Mom had to work. His father, the one that passed, was a devil incarnate. EVIL EVIL man. I was scared of him. My step father, Keith, broke down several times during the funeral. I cannot stand to see a big strong hunk of a man cry. It kills me. I had to support him on several occasions. I walked into the funeral home this morning before the services and he practically ran into my arms and broke down. He introduces me as his daughter. After the services we went to the cemetery and again he broke down. It was a fast service thank goodness. I took Keith and Mom back to the house and then my daughter, ALicia, and I went to get some food for them. My mom is getting really weak now. I am really concerned about her health. She goes for her colonoscopy on Friday morning. I plan on being there to speak to the surgeon performing the procedure. I need to know if I can come home as planned on MOnday or If I need to change my plans. I do not have a good feeling at all. I will keep you posted.

OK as the designated MOM of the bunch here come the reprimands: Shame on you Lisa. LOL!! Stretch that hand out so I can smack it. OOPS! I guess I need to smack my own hand. I hate staying in hotel rooms. Especially ones that have a frig and a microwave. LOL!! Cheetos, Mounds candy bars, Mocha Frappucino's, Dr. Peppers, SIGH!!! Stress can do that to us. I have bought the domain name www.lapbandchat.com in the event something happens again to this site please look that one up. I am having my webmaster create a message board as a back up and when or if this one goes down we have a back up in place. My email address is Penni60@aol.com or penni@pennimerrick.com You can always reach me through either email address. More updates on the "gotta make a trip to Kentucky" thread

I was so scared it would not come back online that I went and bought the domain name www.lapbandchat.com just in case I needed to start another board. So if something happens again and it doesn't come back online look for this board. I will certainly start one. Yes if Alex ever decides he is not interested in continuing the site then I hope he contacts some of us and gives us the option of buying it from him. My email address is Penni60@aol.com or Penni@pennimerrick.com

I experience ZERO aftertaste with the liquid. If there was an aftertaste I would NOT take the Vitamins nor would I suggest it to this group. LOL!!

Lisa: Just wanted to warn you to look for something in the mail in about a week for your birthday. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!

OK Lisa might win this thing then after all. I gotta run to Kentucky tomorrow for a family funeral. I also gotta take my mom to the doctor. I posted all the details on a new thread. "Gotta make a run to Kentucky" or something like that. So me being gone this week I can't make the appointment to see Dr. Billy. So no fill for me before the Vegas BAsh. So Lisa I declare you the winner. LOL!! I will be under way too much stress to care about any challenge. LOL!! Love you guys. Penni

Hello all you lovely people: Just wanted to give you a heads up. I am frantically making travel plans and now gotta go pack my freshly unpacked suitcase for yet another trip. My mom sent me an email this morning and said her father-in-law just passed away. This would be my step father's father. I was so scared of this man growing up. He was 95 years old and meaner than dirt. But she is so weak from her health related issues that she can't deal with the funeral arrangments so I am on a plane bright and early in the morning. She has this condition called AVM (arterio-venous malformation) on her large colon. When she has a colonoscopy it looks like a birthmark. IT really is lots of blood vessels in one congested area. NOT A TUMOR but bad enough. When it gets aggravated (not sure what causes that) the blood vessels burst and she hemorhages. She has been doing this for the last two days. She is weak and her potassium is low. So Off to Kentucky I go to take her to the doctor and to help with the funeral plans. SIGH!! I will not be online too much checking in. So if you don't see me for a few days then that is why. I will have my laptop with me so I will check in when I can.

Paula: Nope it hasn't affected my appetite at all. Most vitamins can do that but this one doesn't. WHOO HOO!!