Carlene

Here are Nolagirl's Before and After photos...

Also...I just want to say that I am sorry this woman lost her son. It is the most unnatural thing in the whole world to bury your child. But I think Anna Nicole Smith is just about the sleeziest thing around. I am just so grateful not to be related to her. I would be MORTIFIED.

Waiting for the toxicology report, although they say they are pretty sure what caused his death. They are also looking for someone who was in the room with him just before he died. Some sources say "no drugs involved" but who knows? What else could the tox screen prove? Poison, maybe?

DON'T MAKE YOUR BAND MAD. If you try and eat solids too soon, you will swell and be right back to square one. Be patient and stay on liquids for a couple more days.

So, TOM....do you like fat chicks, or would you prefer sporting around town with a Barbie doll on your arm? Be honest now. Not asking if you love your wife despite a few extra pounds, just what your druthers are. If Julia Roberts came on to you, would you turn her down? See...I think women are less shallow than men, generally speaking. (You and all the other males on here may be the exceptions, okay? I'm just saying "in general".) I think women value integrity more than washboard abs. Or maybe that's just older women. When I was in my early 40's I had a not-so-secret admirer - a cute kid (mid 20's) who insisted that he would never be happy until he was married to me. (He had dated my daughter briefly; that's how we met.) It was a great ego builder - HUGE, in fact - but I wasn't even tempted. What would we have done with the other 23 hours in the day? PS....I was married to an overweight man 10 years my senior at this time, the man who had raised my 4 children as his own, and who was destined to die in my arms 10 years down the road. Sadly, by the time he lost his battle with Cancer, he was almost skin and bones. I definitely liked him better fat!

Can't wait to see how the guys weigh in on this one. No pun intended.

So...you don't think it was in poor taste, do you, Carol?

If this doesn't kill it, nothing will.

Mine, too. My granddaughter is 14 and lives with me! :help: She lives with me because her mother (my daughter) is 34 and hasn't got sense enough to come in out of the rain. A couple of days ago, I had finally had it with the granddaughter's mouth. I had an Epiphany. I do not have to put up with this. I raised my children. I owe this kid NOTHING. So I told her..."I love you and that will never change, but if you want to live with me, your attitude and your smart mouth had better do a 180 - today. Otherwise, I am sending you back to your mom. Back to when you didn't know if there would be electricity when you came home from school or not. Back to when you took cold showers for weeks on end because your parents didn't bother to pay the gas bill. Back to no phone (never mind your cell phone), no milk in the house for Cereal in the morning, no one to give you a ride to school when it rains. Is that what you want?" It's been much better since then. Yeah....like we all believe THAT....LOL

I don't think, at this point, that it's any worse than most venues of this ilk. Most of the ones who left did so in support/protest because a few trouble makers were suspended, or because others weren't. One member left yesterday because she didn't like something one of the Mods posted. So be it. No matter how careful you are (and believe me, I try to be VERY careful), you will still get slammed occasionally. I think this happens, in part, because we are allowed to vent our spleen, pretty much (Rant and Rave), but I love that about this board. If we had to stay on topic all the time, it would be soooooooo boring. Many times I have written long, scathing posts and never submitted them. Why? Because sometimes, when presented with an opportunity to keep your mouth shut, you need to take advantage of it. Really. We just all need to remember that once you cross the line (name-calling, flaming, creating bogus profiles, etc), you lose the right to argue your point. You can be pithy without being a horse's @ss, I promise.

That happened to me, too. I called AM EX and asked if I really had to write them a check for 15 cents. They said "yes"...so I taped a dime and a nickel onto the statement and sent it to them. I know, from having worked at Master Card many years ago (yes, children...once upon a time there was just ONE Master Card) that they really hate getting cash. They can't process it with the automated equipment. I really wasn't trying to give them a hard time, though. I just didn't want to write a check for 15 cents.

Stephanie... I hope you don't get bashed for stating your point of view, but I also think you might be over-reacting just a wee bit. Jo Jo is loved and supported here, as are we all, but there will never be 100% agreement among the "family members", here or on any board and that's okay. The suggestion that the sales clerk might be entitled to the benefit of the doubt did not constitute an attack on Jo Jo. It was just a different perspective. Jo Jo, I'm glad you got that voucher. It says a lot about the store and how much they value their customers. Years and years ago, when my only weight problem was keeping my jeans up without suspenders, I was in some company's HR dept. filling out a job application. There was another girl there, doing the same thing, but for a different position. (I was a key punch operator...anyone old enough to know what those were?) After the other girl left the HR manager turned to me and said, "It's so hard on me when they're heavy. I can't put someone like that on the reception desk." I was speechless! So hard on HER??? What about the poor girl trying to find a job? It's true...fat people are second-class citizens.

Me, too. The old "drinking will wash the food thru the band" thing does not hold true for me.

Me, too. The

From the "Pets" section of our local Craigslist.com...this is just too good not to share. NEED HELP ASAP!!! Please help!!!! After two long years of being on a waiting list for a dog, we have been notified by breed rescue that, at long last, our number has come up and ... WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!!! We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just wouldn't be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be arriving on Monday we MUST place the children up for adoption this weekend! They are described as: One male - His name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn't bite. Temperament tested. Does have problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had chicken Pox and is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained & gets Along well with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little training he should be able to read soon. One female - Her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), strawberry blonde hair, green eyes quite freckled. Two years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumb sucker. Has been temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy & can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little girls & little boys but does not like to share her toys and therefore would do best in a one child household. She is a very quick learner and is currently working on her house training-shouldn't take long at all. We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what's right for them; that is why we contacted a rescue group. But we simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may hurt our new puppy. I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we have a real emergency here!!! They MUST be placed into your rescue by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has to be our new puppy.

Wheets....you have a new avatar!!! I wouldn't have recognized you! You look like you are about 14 in this one....LOL.

I shred these, too, as well as credit card statements. The rest I throw in the trash, from whence they are retrieved by my anal retentive spouse, who, like you, shreds EVERYTHING. My daughter was the victim of identity theft, so I know that it is no joke. It wasn't her trash or mail that was stolen, however...it was a cancelled check, left on her kitchen counter, for some reason. The thieves turned out to be a ring of about 30. They use the routing and account numbers to make new computeried checks, using a name that matches an ID with their picture on it. It is a real nightmare if this happens to you. The bank suspects you, the police question you, the credit bureaus black list you, and it takes many, many months to get it cleared up.

Dr. Smith provides a year of free fills only for self-pay patients. But I agree...he is SUPER!

That's why I only drink Windex while reading the LBT boards.

I heard of a guy who had the same procedure. He took the extra skin from the surgery and made a wallet out of it. When you rub it, it turns into a briefcase....very handy.

I have told just about everyone I know that I had LB surgery. People do ask how much have you lost, but that's okay. It's been kind of inspirational, really. At least no one thinks I'm dying of Cancer. I had a cousin-in-law a few years back who had bypass surgery and did not tell anyone for a long time. Somehow the rumor started that she had terminal Cancer. Geez...when people don't understand something, they always have to invent an explanation. Last week we had one of those energy expert teams at our house - three young, fit guys. One of them said to me, "I saw your cruise pictures on the wall in the hallway. How did you two lose so much weight? You don't even look like the same person!". I told him about our surgery and he was VERY interested. His dad weighs 300+ pounds and had a heart attack last year at the age of 49. I like the idea of maybe making a difference in someone's life by telling him/her about the band. By the way, before I told anyone about my surgery, other than my husband and children, I was "outed" by a woman I had never met. Seems she has a daughter who knows my daughter-in-law, and she also plays bridge with a friend of mine. So my advice is even if you don't tell, don't lie, either. And if everyone in your small town finds out anyway, it won't be the end of the world. You may be the topic of conversation for a few days but you will NEVER replace the guy who had his penis shortened. He will always reign as the gossip king.

My doctor has changed his protocol since I was banded in 2004. Back then he did blind fills in his office (no fluoro) whenever you felt you needed one. Then he started making you wait 4 weeks between fills. He said he was tired of people coming in for fills every other day, then having to unfill them. Now he will not do fills without fluoro. He feels that blind fills contribute to over-fills, which lead to slippage, esophagus dilation, etc. My DH's fills take 1-2 weeks to "kick in". I, on the other hand, always swell and have to live with being a bit over-tight for a couple of weeks. Either scenario makes getting proper restriction a real challenge. You just have to work within whatever guidelines your doctor has established, and what works best for your body. There are no universal standards, and if there were, my body would probably just refuse to cooperate!

Go to "User CP" at the top of the page, then "Edit Avatar" on the left side of that page, and follow instructions from there. If you need more info, just let us know.

Actually, it's just an old saying: "A liar should have a good memory". I did not realize anyone would take it personally, especially since the statement was totally about ME, as in I am a lousy liar because I can't remember spit. Please, everyone, allow me to clarify my statement...I do not think failing to tell people you had WLS makes you a liar. If they ask you point-blank, "Did you have surgery to lose weight?" and you deny it, that might be a different story, but even then, you still have the right to disseminate your personal information as you see fit. And if I was really, really uncomfortable about having people know, I might lie thru my teeth. There are some people you have to tell, however. I went to my Ortho guy and in the course of the exam, he touched my port. The poor guy jerked his hand back like he had been burned! "What is THAT???", he wanted to know. His eyes were as big as saucers. I think he had visions of the Alien movie.

I tell everyone. You have to have a really good memory to be a successful liar, and most days, I can't remember s*. And I have not had one single negative comment from anyone.