5.0junkie

My wife and I are finalizing an adoption of a little girl on the 18th and just wondering if there are any other members that have adopted, are adopting or want to adopt.

Ladies, I smoked for 12 years. Was up to almost two packs a day in my prime. One day I went into a convenient store to buy a pack and I had to pay with nothing but quarters and dimes because that was all I had. I came out feeling ashamed almost like I had a drug addiction and needed just one more hit regardless of the price I was paying both monetarily and physically. I stopped cold turkey right then and there. Gave the pack to someone else and moved on. It was a huge struggle for a couple of months but I've been smoke free for five years. You can quit, it's mind over matter. I ask one question of you though, if I'm reading right you are all quitting because you are getting WLS, not that you've had it already, so, if you "just can't quit smoking," what makes you think giving up a food addiction is going to be any easier? Just because you have WLS doesn't mean a food addiction goes away. I would strongly consider the strength and your power to over come smoking as an indication to how you will survive such a drastic change as WLS. Not trying to ruffle any feathers but if you can't quit smoking maybe its time to reevaluate your surgery and its potential for success and failure. I know you can quit smoking though. I'm a testimonial and so are thousands of other people. Good luck to you all on being a quitter!!!

I have not read the Connected Child. I have heard it makes for a good and insightful read. We have been working very close with a counselor both individually and for the family to help with all of the changes and adaptations we have and are going through. I have been reading some of Craig Groeschel's books to help find some deeper insight into myself and learn ways to be a better leader of our home. Connected Child is next on my list though.

You know it's funny, when people ask my wife or I about adoption, we usually get some sort of "really, you guys adopted?" Yes, yes we did. It's amazing really how small of group is out there that is willing to adopt children. We had two foster children that were much older for 10 weeks along with the younger two. That is 10 weeks of my life I don't remember. I just remember laundry, a gallon of milk a day, homework and more laundry. So to those of you that have 5, 6 or 7 kids, my hats off to you and best wishes are being sent your way. Its amazing how much of a full time job it is to raise a large family but the reward comes every time you hear the sweet and innocent laughter coming from down the hallway when those brief few moments happen that they are all getting along and having fun. I treasure the little things like hearing my daughters foot steps coming down the hall when she wakes up in the morning because I know that I have provided her with a warm and loving home and she no longer has to hide in the shadows waiting for the mean people to disappear. She loves my wife and I because she wants to, not because she has to or is forced to. It's just hard to explain that kind of feeling of love and trust to anyone that hasn't adopted or fostered. While I am not an advocate for the system necessarily, which honestly we had good experiences with, my wife and I have become huge promoters of adoption. It's been fun getting to interconnect with other families and share out experiences and stories. Hopefully our journeys will lead someone else into looking at adoption as an option.

No you're not. My dad would make us those with crunchy peanut butter but he would add a banana. That's how his grandmother made them for him.

I didn't say it was a bad thing! Just giving y'all something to think about

Since Butter is telling on Mrs Butter, Ill tell on Mrs Junkie. She dips her Wendy's fries in the Frosty. No ketchup needed.....

Well the idea for the creation did come from the "better than sex" cake recipe. So, I guess it could wet dream material.

Food Porn! Double layered chocolate cake with caramel melted into the cake, caramel butter cream between the layers, chocolate fudge icing, wrapped in mini chips and toffee chips on top

We will and always do enjoy it. Love the small town feel and how neighborly it is. I could see why you would like living there.

It's actually a pot designed specially for turkey frying. My taste buds are tingling just thinking about it!!

I guess it'd be the south part of town. Off Kerr Station Rd and several miles south of Bill Foster Highway. We spend quite a bit of time making trips to the Walmart in Jacksonville along with Gander Mountain when we decide its time to blow stuff up!

It starts with having a pot big enough to hold an entire turkey and about 4 gallons of peanut oil. I take and inject a seasoning of butter, garlic and some other spices into the turkey breast and thighs. Rub the outside down with season salt and then shove a metal rod through the turkey that has a plate to hold the turkey on one end and a loop on the other that you put a hook into. Holding the hook, you drop the turkey into the pot full of oil. As soon as you start to drop it in, the skin seers over and creates somewhat of a shell around the turkey. This allows the turkey to cook with no oil getting into the meat and no juices from escaping the meat. It is the most flavorful, juiciest and succulent turkey meat you will ever have. I've seen people eat oven roasted turkey and have tons left over. When you fry a turkey, people literally will sit there and pick meat off the bones just to get very last bite. It's hard to explain just how good and flavorful it is. Just have to try it!

I will be in Cabot for the holiday. Have been celebrating thanksgiving there for years. I've got family that lives there. Very nice small town and a great place to visit. Speaking of how things are done in the south, I started a turkey frying tradition for the holiday. Now that's how we do it in the south!

Did someone say BBQ? This is how we do it in Oklahoma

Hey Butter, can we work out one of those deals like they do in the movies where you "take care" of my in-laws and I'll "take care" of yours???? I despise mine so much that I don't even claim them as in-laws. My wife's mother needs a prison shank in the throat. You interested?!?!?!

Soccermomma that is great motivation. I too found myself motivated for WLS and change when I would think about my children. I never wanted my son or daughter to be able to say "my daddy never" or "my daddy couldn't" when they get older because of my weight. Not that I was immobile, my own insecurities would keep me from letting loose and having a good time with my kiddoes. Things such as not be able to ride roller coasters or bumper cars was always something I wouldn't do because I felt I couldn't. For the first time I took my son and some friends to a hockey game last Saturday. It was great knowing that I would be able to feel comfortable in the seat. I was able to enjoy myself and enjoy watching the kids because I wasnt worried about crowding anybody. We are already planning a trip to Six Flags next year because I feel like I will finally be able to partake and be right there beside the kiddoes every step of the way instead of off on a bench somewhere.

You know what ladies, I think you are all doing great coming into your new life with the band. It is a struggle to retrain years of habits. I know I struggle with portion control. When I do eat I try to keep it around 1 cup of food or less. I still mainly do liquids being my shakes or muscle milk because those give me the most satisfaction hunger wise. Keep up the good work ladies!!!!

And we thank you!

I was told the same thing about insulin. They went as far as telling me that the sleeve can cure types of diabetes. This I would like to know true or false on

Laura this is a great question. I hope someone other than me can really dive into this but I'll give my two cents. I strongly believe that there are too many docs out there that do not educate their band patients enough. I for one was not educated. I was self taught and found much help on LBT. My surgeon is a great surgeon but terrible educator. I don't fault him for that cause I would rather him specialize in keeping his skills honed on surgeries and not necessarily making his patients feel all warm and fuzzy. That's my opinion though.... As far as a percentage goes, does anyone really know? I think numbers and polls always get construed my mathematical equations and the ability to round up or round down. I have never seen any hard data to confirm any numbers. It is my opinion that many people that got (past tense) the band were jumping into something they were not educated about and were not taught how to work the band so they ultimately had self inflicted failures that were not the bands fault. I believe in present tense though that many more people are being educated thoroughly about the band from both their bariatric office and social groups such as this one. It appears that there are fewer and fewer complications with band patients especially the self inflicted complications. However, there are plenty of documented cases where the persons body just simply rejected having a foreign object in their body but this is often misconstrued with being a band failure. There are documented cases of pure and simple band failures as well. The band is a man made product and any time a product is manufactured there is always room for fault or failure. The only band failures I have heard of though are leaks and port tube leaks. There is a the whole other topic though of it just being a bad install from the surgeon. That is heard of but not very common at all. Now I could go back and make up some percentages on these cases if you like but they would just be pulled out of thin air. I'm simply stating what I have read, heard and researched. Like I said, I hope a more seasoned bet will chime in and clear up some of the myths on the subject of band failures. I would never go as far as saying any percentage to band failure is the patients fault. How could that ever be truly pinpointed when so many people want to protect their own egos or point fingers for blame instead of just accepting that they failed and the band didn't.

Haze, I will agree that no fills are very rare. I should have clarified a little more. Thanks for pointing that out.

True or False - The sleeve procedure can actually create a metabolic flip meaning a slow and tired metabolism can turn over and be a super hyper one therefore creating huge numbers in pounds lost? I had a doc tell me this but haven't researched enough to know if true or not so I'm curious.