Penni60

Here is Dr. Billy's info. Dr. Helmuth T. Billy 124 N Brent ST Ventura, CA 93003 Phone: 805-648-2227 He has never refused a patient yet. He only does fills on Inamed bands right now. He will take Mexico patients. His practice is getting full and very busy so take that into consideration. He has a RN working for him that does fills and sees patients when he is in surgery. I love Dennis he is just as good as seeing Dr. Billy.

Subject: FW: Sisters A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother. As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter. "Don't forget your Sisters," she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass." They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them. And remember that "Sisters" also means your girlfriends, your daughters, and other women relatives too. You'll need other women. Women always do." 'What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. 'Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup. Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile! But she listened to her Mother. She kept contact with her Sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, Sisters are the mainstays of her life. After more than 50 years of living in this world, here is what I've learned: THIS SAYS IT ALL: Time passes. Life happens. Distance separates. Children grow up. Jobs come and go. Love waxes and wanes. Men don't call when they say they will. Hearts break. Parents die. Colleagues forget favors. Careers end. BUT......... Girlfriends are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her can reach. When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, your girlfriends will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you. Or come in and carry you out. Girlfriends, daughters, daughter-in-laws, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mother, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family, bless our life! The world wouldn't be the same without them, and neither would I. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.

Heather: THanks I have won some minor awards for my photos. I have been published in a couple of books as well. I love to take photos.

Sending good vibes, white light, positive energy, and prayers so all is covered.

I hear you. I had one at 27 and after my son was born I bled for 8 months till the surgery.

Banded April 6, 2004 = 1 year and 4 months

Tracy and I are meeting for lunch on August 30th at 11:30am at TOSHI in Sherman Oaks, CA. Anyone wanna join us?

The throwing up part is a concern as you could slip your band in the process. I suggest you slow down eating those first two or three bites of food and let it settle in before you try eating anymore. Also, are you chewing your food enough? Are you drinking with your meals? Those two things will factor into the food coming back up. Second point if you are not hungry at dinner count your lucky stars but I would suggest maybe another protein drink or a protein bar instead of eating nothing. Just don't eat anything after 8p. Hope this helped.

I was walking into my house yesterday and looked at my gingko tree and saw this squirrel that had a HUGE green walnut in it's mouth. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and tried to get a pic. It jumped out of the gingko tree and ran up the palm tree. I followed and got this pic. Isn't it cute?

I hope it is Rachel. I can't stand either one of those characters. I really wish we could send home both Rachel and Janelle. LOL!!

Where is the check mark located?

I took a couple in Nashville for my Bachelors in Nursing and they are pretty straightforward.

Whatever happened to Mulberry scent? I loved that.

The food at Buca last year was really yummy. Enjoy!!

I get Trader Joe's Chocolate Flavored Whey Protein powder. Add a teaspoon of peanut butter and a banana and WOW!! YUMMY!!

Glad to see you finally got back in. So happy I could help out.

Always glad to have another Dr. on board. Welcome.

Funny you should mention this. I just got some added Life Insurance through Chase and they asked me all kinds of questions about the band but nothing they asked would have negated the increase in my Life Insurance. The guy was just curious about it. He said the only thing that might make it delayed being accepted is they might need to contact my Band surgeon to get some info. So far I haven't been denied Life Insurance. I have alot of coverage and this was just some extra I was going for.

Milli Vanilli

I kissed my doc when he told me I needed a hysterectomy. I was hemorrhaging from the fibroids almost constantly. I had my last baby and never stopped bleeding for 8 months. Passed out at work and rushed to the ER. I had a hysterectomy a month later. Doc told me mine was about the same size Zoe. They had to take everything out cervix and all because everything was covered in endometriosis and looked pre-cancerous. I was 27 years old at the time. I have NEVER regretted the decision one day. I feel great and don't take hormone replacement therapy. I just take extra calcium. Where are you having the surgery?

Kathy said it best, "allowed myself to be loved" sounds simple doesn't it? Believe me it isn't. If it was then none of us would be in the shape we are in. I have recently come out of a horrible depression where I wasn't sure I wanted to continue living. After some intensive therapy and an enormous LOVING man (who I had to set straight on one issue, LOL), I am now understanding what it means to truly be LOVED. The other thing is to LEARN to love yourself. Once you do that the REBEL will die. You can bury her and put her way down deep. Yes she will try to climb back out at times but you just stomp on her head and tell her "NO, I am loved and you go away now." You gotta get stronger. You have started down this road and fear of succeeding is what can hamper our success. We get comfortable in our skin the way we are and when we start to see a change it scares us. Or at least that is what happened to me. I work at it every day to improve myself. I have this same inner critic that I fight with every day. Only mine is about my art and my classes and other things. So be aware that if you kill one inner voice then another one might pop up in a different area. Therapy is a good thing. I also agree with Vines, I journal like mad. I holler and scream in my journal at my inner voice. That makes me feel better cause I am directing the anger in the right direction. Take what I said and use it or ignore it. Just my ramblings.

WELCOME BACK PAULA

I will accept whatever people want to send me and if I ever get enough I will do the book. I won't abandon it completely since I think it is a GREAT idea and such a motivational tool for others out there. When I get enough people to participate then I will submit for publishing.

I'm with you on that caffeine thing. I have stopped it almost completely. I have the occasional cup but then immediately regret it. So I have been weaning myself off for the last few months now. I have stopped STARBUCKS altogether and that alone stimulated my weight moving in the right direction. I drink a subsititute called Raja's Cup. It smells like coffee and tastes like coffee. It is an Indian blend and if you let the bag sit and steep too long it can get rather strong. You just don't get all the nastiness that comes with the caffeine. I have also sworn off any artificial sweeteners as well. I use HONEY to sweeten my Raja's Cup or my herbal teas now. Amazingly it is sweeter so I use less and less. I am there for you. I know all about those nasty headaches. Drink LOTS of Water and that can help flush the caffeine out faster. I just did a detox and that helped me immensely.

I have tried just about all the flavors and find them way too sweet for me. I will stick to either plain Water or crystal light peach tea or the lemonade. Anyone tried the Propel water?