Penni60

Oh don't get me wrong I love a heated discussion as well. I love to argue my point but not at the detriment of the arguee. IS that even a word? LOL!! I also am adult and mature enough to know when to agree to disagree. I just never understand the need or desire to sling names and make assumptions about peoples lifes. None of us know what each and everyone of us go through or experience on a daily basis. I have several irons in the fire right now and this stuff on LBT is taking time away from that. This pisses me off. Yes, I know I could just turn off the computer and back away from the keyboard but as a Moderator we don't always have that luxury. The rest of the membership here DOES have that option. If you come here for support then look for that support and not look for ways to cause problems that moderators need to deal with. Thank you. Now I am going to try to get busy on those 37 necklaces I have to get done. LOL!!!

THIS POST IS NOT A SLAM ON ANY ONE MEMBER. IT IS A SLAM ON US ALL AS A WHOLE. SO BE FOREWARNED IF YOU OFFEND EASILY. STOP READING NOW! OK YOU WERE WARNED. I have been a member of LBT for almost 3 years now. I was asked to be a moderator about 6 months into my membership. Some of us (yes me included) had ups and downs with regards to behaving on this forum. Here is my line of thinking after I learned the hard way how to deal with something I don't like being said. IGNORE it. You just feed into the drama if you respond to something you don't like. The TRUE friends you have will know better about your true character. If someone came on here and said that I used my body to get money out of men and was a drug addict and had my kids taken away from me because of it. What do I care? How can that possible HURT me physically with my TRUE friends? And if the rest of the membership chooses to believe those comments then no matter how much I protest they will think I it is true. SO why expend all your energy when that is what the other poster wants? Just to keep the drama flowing. Stop feeding into it. I know it is hard to not do that but come on people. This is grade school or high school either. Who cares what people say? Who cares what doctor is the best or worst? WHO CARES? I, as a moderator and a member, am tired of the bickering and fighting and rehashing of old topics. Why do you insist on opening old wounds that have healed and left NO scars? What purpose does it serve? Let them alone. Leave them alone. Shit happened on LBT it will happen again, after all we are women, We eat our young. LOL!! Laugh here please. LOL!! If what I have said makes Alex remove me as a moderator then so be it. It is a hard job and it really depresses me when I see people I consider battle sisters and brothers in this war on obesity using that energy wastefully. Direct that anger or whatever it is on tackling and beating that obesity horse. That I can sink my teeth into. See it all goes back to food. LOL!! Laugh here too! LOL!! Get a life! Stop posting on threads if the subject doesn't speak to you. And ignore the people tha slam you. I will say however, that inflammatory comments ARE NOT ACCEPTIBLE! You tread a fine line when you make those kinds of statements or assumptions. Just think before you speak people. Ask yourself would you say this to your Lord, Buddha, Goddess, Muhammad, whatever you worship. The devil or dark forces seems to have a hold of some of us and using us for no good. Take back those reins and smack him off the horse. OK I am done. I might be done literally as a moderator too. IF so then this will be my parting post.

Thanks for all your valuable input. I will explore the bowels of the Copyright laws and see where I fit in.

Vera, I can't begin to say how much your friendship means to me. I am so proud that you are at goal. You were gorgeous at the First Bash but you are absolutely stunning now. Yes I am jealous!! LOL!! Big ole hugs to you.

It has been difficult being good today but I have tried really hard. The Exercise thing is a huge thing for me. I do leg exercises every night to the point of making my muscles burn. So that is a plus for me. I have to work harder at doing more to burn more calories. If I don't do it in the AM then it won't get done. Anyway here is my report for the day. Today's plan accomplishment: I will follow my Nutrisystem meal plans (1200 to 1500 Calories per day). (I am recommitting to this plan of action. I am committing to eating healthier and making better food choices. Will attempt to journal every morsel that goes into my empty cavern.) So far so good. Breakfast: Cup of Coffee 1/2 cup of whole grain cereal (Kashi Heart to Heart) YUMMY!! About 20 Blueberries with cereal Lunch: 1 small salad with Blackened Chicken, Mandarin Oranges, Apples, Walnuts, Avocado, Sprinkle of Blue Cheese, NO DRESSING Two 20 oz glasses of Ice Tea w/ Equal 20 oz of water so far. Snack: UGH!! Venti Mocha Frap from Starbucks (450 calories right there, but oh so good) Dinner: Small portion of Spaghetti Two 20 oz water I will exercise for a minimum of 20 min a day 4 days a week. (Working on this today is not gonna happen. My exercise for today is to run up and down the stairs to my jewelry studio. Tomorrow is anutha day.) I will lose at least 1 lb a week. (Not even gonna stress over this one for a long long time. Just gonna walk the walk for now and whatever I get is gravy.) I will drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. (Getting in the water is easy.) Positive reinforcement mantras: I will continue to eat healthy and hope to lose weight. I will continue to exercise and hope to lose weight. I will continue to be proud of myself with all the accomplishments to date.

Haven't received anything as yet. I am leaving town on the 30th of Aug and won't be back home till the 11th of Sept. Might be waiting for me upon my return.

Dr. Hellmuth BIlly in Ventura, CA

My 7 month old Grandson has some immune system issues. The doctors are baffled. He is going to see a specialist in Nashville on Oct 18th. With my nursing background I fear it is Leukemia. I can't be certain though. But that is my gut instinct. SO keep him in your prayers. This will be devastating to our family. October 18th is just too far away.

Ya know the hardest thing sometimes is finding the RIGHT doctor. I have that I completely trust Dr. Billy. I just have to make a decision of what to do or not to do. That is my issue. Paula and Leatha: Yes I have thought about all those issues. This is what has me leaning with the bypass but my big question is "do I really want another surgery to recuperate from that will re-design my insides." Big question for me. That is why I got the band in the first place. SIGH!! I didn't want my insides re-designed. SIGH!!! Praying every day sometimes two and three times a day. I know the "BIG GUY" is getting tired of seeing me on his caller ID. LOL!! Kathy we are going to be in East TN and then Baltimore, MD. If interested then email me privately at penni@pennimerrick.com Paula, Louisiana is not on our radar map this trip, but keep us in mind if you wanna ever do one. Just shoot me an email at the address above. The Endo's would be for the duration of having the band. He wants to catch any sign of erosion early. He is just nervous re-banding me.

Anyone know if you can Copyright Jewelry Designs? I looked online at the Copyright website and at first glance it appears yes you can, but with all the legal ease speak it can be confusing. I wanna protect my designs but not sure how to go about doing that and if it is even possible what the steps are to take. HELP!!!!:help: :help: :help:

Today's weight: 269 Lbs (notice I weighed this back in June too---maintenance is a cool thing---just need to get the scale moving in the right direction.) OK Who is with me on reviving this thread? No rules, no checking in unless you want. No pressure at all. Just being true to yourself and following your own committments. Today's plan accomplishment: I will follow my Nutrisystem meal plans (1200 to 1500 Calories per day). (I am recommitting to this plan of action. I am committing to eating healthier and making better food choices. Will attempt to journal every morsel that goes into my empty cavern.) So far not so good. Lunch: Barbeque Sandwich = gadzillion calories Two 20 oz glasses of Ice Tea w/ Equal 20 oz of water so far. Resisted the urge to eat two chocolate chip cookies. YEAH ME!! I will exercise for a minimum of 20 min a day 4 days a week. (Working on this today is not gonna happen. My exercise for today is to run up and down the stairs to my jewelry studio. Tomorrow is anutha day.) I will lose at least 1 lb a week. (Not even gonna stress over this one for a long long time. Just gonna walk the walk for now and whatever I get is gravy.) I will drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. (Getting in the water is easy.) Positive reinforcement mantras: I will continue to eat healthy and hope to lose weight. I will continue to exercise and hope to lose weight. I will continue to be proud of myself with all the accomplishments to date.

Paula we discussed the Gastric Sleeve. He thinks there just isn't enough data about that procedure yet to see if it is successful as the other WLS. He said it is like doing half a surgery and it is pretty drastic to remove half your stomach as opposed to just re-routing your intestines. He doesn't think I would do as well with the GS as I would with a bypass. He is only reconsidering putting a band on me because he just did another of his patients the other day and is watching her closely with Endo's every 6 to 8 months. He said he would want to do the same with me if he put another band on me. SIGH!! For that reason alone I would consider the Bypass. Who wants to be Endo'd every 6 to 8 months? NOT ME!!! Gotta make some Insurance phone calls and see what they will cover and what they exclude. Then decide when or if I wanna switch plans to HMO. SIGH!! And all this on top of me leaving on the 30th of Aug for two weeks to go on a House Concert Tour with John through the Southeast. And also filling a rather LARGE order for my Jewelry. So lots going on these days with me. HUGS everyone

Avocado might have high fat content but it is the GOOD fat it contains if I am not mistaken. I love Guac and chips. Avocado on salads or on a burger or with chicken is yummy. OK now I am hungry.

Thanks bunches. I plan on processing the Credit card at least 10 days before the shipment leaves my hands to give time for the card to clear. I already know how much fraud there is out there and I can assure you I am no dummy in that respect. LOL!! Not that you were calling me one either. LOL!! I saved the info just in case too. Again I am no dummy. I never ever send out anything till I know I got my money. Just the way I do business.

For whatever reasons, Delarla is not here and I doubt she will come back anytime soon. HER CHOICE HER REASONS. We cannot and should not speculate why she isn't here. Dredging up old 'dead' issues is not healthy to LBT at this point. If this thread continues down this road it will be moved to the Rants and Raves section or Locked altogether. And ya know that would be a HUGE shame since someone was missing a board member and wanted to express that sentiment. If you did not agree or do not miss that member they WHY respond? Now back to regularly scheduled programming. I too miss Delarla posts but not the heated ones.

Yes I do Jewelry Parties. I only started this little business in October of 2005 and already going international. YAHOO!! I have instructed my contact in Nigeria that I will NOT ship till I have collected the monies owed. They are in agreement. Believe me I get the same skeptical emails and I know which ones to weed out. A simple response or two can answer lots of questions for me. I don't and didn't want this thread to be a step in advertisement for my business so if you peruse my site and like something PLEASE PLEASE email me directly. And yes it isn't even about the money I will make on this sale (although that is nice too), it is all about the recognition for an unbiased person regarding my collections. It is validation that I am talented and heading in the right direction. YAHOO!! Heather, shhhhh commission in tact. LOL!!

I value each and everyone of your guys input. Dr Billy mentioned going the HMO route since there is a clinic / group that refers patients to him for both surgeries that is within spitting distance from me. One other tidbit is that my PCP takes HMO and that would take a HUGE load off me. I was paying out of pocket every time I go see him. If he is under the HMO then cool beans. I have some calling to do tomorrow to find out when open enrollment is for our little company. It is just John and I in the company so it shouldn't be hard to figure it out and get the question answered. LOL!! Also gotta call Heather (Billy's insurance person) and get some feedback from her as well on the Insurance aspect from his side. The reason I haven't already done ANY surgrey is because I can't pay out of pocket for it and my insurance doesn't cover ANY of the WLS. But the HMO will cover them. GO FIGURE!! My co-morbities right now are High Cholesterol (again), joint pain (again), chest pains (again), etc. Everything I had before the Lapband has come back now that I have gained some weight back. So, I wanna nip this in the bud before it gets much worse. I have grandkids to enjoy now. Thanks again guys.

Since unbanding last Dec, I have been seeing Dr. Billy about every 6 weeks. The last visit was this past Friday. He had initially said he wouldn't consider re-banding in my case due to scaring. But Friday he said he might reconsider that thinking. So, my options now are to either do the RNY or another LapBand. HMMM? Decisions Decisions. LOL!! I can't even begin to think about either till I change from my PPO to HMO. UGH! Wonder how difficult that will be? Anyone changed from PPO to HMO lately? Gotta make some calls Monday and check it out. The good news is I have maintained my weight since June. HOORAY!!! :clap2: The bad news is I weigh 269 lbs. UGH!!! :faint: I have done enough research on the RnY to consider it seriously. I know alot about the LapBand. LOL!! I just don't know if I want to go through ANOTHER surgery period. SIGH!!

I just got an email from someone in Nigeria wanting to order some of my jewelry collection for his store. I am so pumped. This is gonna give me a HUGE profit. I am thrilled. Well Ok maybe not too thrilled with the actual filling of the order but I just gotta keep the eye on the prize. They want 37 pieces of my collection. HOW COOL IS THAT? OK that is all. LOL!!

It is about darn time you posted. Where is SARGE? We have been waiting patiently for Sarge's return. So stop your slacking and get back to hounding us again. LOVE YA GAL!!!! Continued prayers coming your way.

Got mine all packaged up and it will be in the mail tomorrow. Mine is heading into Canada as well. Hope you like it. If not send it back and I will keep it my own self. LOL!!

Some friendships can be quite TOXIC to us. I have had to cut ties with a friend years ago because HE was TOXIC to me. It was the hardest thing in the world to do because I loved him dearly, see he was my husband. When I started gaining weight he ignored me and fled to the bed of one of my so-called friends. He immediately apologized and came home with his tail tucked begging for forgiveness. I caved. We had children (4). He was good for awhile. He jumped ship again and this time I did not throw out a lifesaver. He drowned in his own shit. We divorced and it was the happiest day of my life. And the saddest. But let me tell you the bright moments came later (about 4 years after). He called me one night saying he knows he screwed up with me and was wondering if there was a second chance for us. I gathered up my courage and strength and said these words to him, "Not a chance. Only when HELL freezes over." And hung up the phone. That was the hardest thing to do. We now have a healthy respect for each other since we do have children together. It gets easier since the kids are adult now. But still it kinda stings every now and then. He was my high school sweetheart. I just adored that man. I have my soul mate now. He is my dream man. I found him at the age of 38. We have been together now for 8 years. Couldn't be happier. Long story to make a point HUH? LOL!! Someone that LOVES you truly will not USE you and make you FIX things for them. Whatever situation he put himself in that ONLY YOU can fix is a bunch of hooey. He made the problem let him fix it. TOUGH LOVE. I have experience with that as well. It sucks!!!! But in the end only they can change things for themselves. NOT YOU. I will keep you in my prayers.

My understanding after several phone calls to Inamed after my erosion last December, is that they suggested to all Surgeons placing the Band in both US and MX to start using the Pars Flaccida. Inamed went on to say they can only suggest this technique to the surgeons. They cannot regulate how each person runs their practice or their techniques. I do know that my band surgeon in MX used the perigastric (OLD TECHNIQUE) and that is most likely why I eroded. Although it couldn't be considered absolute reason. Just my theory, after speaking with my US Surgeon and Inamed. It boils down to you just don't know for sure what technique is being used unless you ask. This goes back to being more informed and doing your research.

So far I have walked in about three. And all have been a blast. Really alot of fun.

I do the 5K Walk in Los Angeles every year. It is an awesome feeling to cross that finish line. My time was just under an hour. Something like 58 min and 15 sec. There is a walk in Sept in Santa Monica, CA. I will sign up for that and then also find another as well. Hey we should get pics of us at the event and then post them here. What fun? After everyone posts their pics I will put them in a Collage and then repost it. What fun? Now I have something to occupy my down time. YEAH WHAT IS THAT?!! LOL!!! Hugs to all