phyllser

Hmmmm..... botox??? cheeks? eyes?? What a lovely family!! My gosh... kittens all look exactly alike!

Wow--both within three months. That's great! I can see why the doc wouldn't do both at the same time, but I still think I would've been glad to just get it over with. Now I may have to go through this again next summer depending on how the right one is doing. I had a partial done on it about 6 years ago, but surgeon says it needs to be converted to total. Does sound like the same bread we bought. I think DH must have eaten most of them because I think I only had two!

Big and loose is GOOD! Big loose capris... even better. I don't like hospital gowns, but switched to my own nightgown in the hospital. Wore the big loose capris home.. with my Elvis shirt from Lucky #7's reunion! Wonderful of your LapBand surgeon to want to come visit you in hospital! That's impressive. I wanted to know if I needed an unfill prior to surgery, but he assured me I wouldn't. I thought of a couple more things to tell you... I am thinking it's possible the pain pills aren't absorbing well sometimes, based on last time I ate and what might still be in my "pouch". You might consider asking for liquid pain meds. I think hydrocodone comes in liquid. Another thing is... if I had it to do over knowing what I know now, I would have paid a lot more attention to the booklet they gave me at the joint replacement class that showed all the post-op exercises. Because I'm thinking that it would have been extremely beneficial to me had I attacked those post-op exercises as aggressively as possible BEFORE surgery to strengthen the muscles as much as possible. Someone on one of the threads... maybe this one, and I don't remember who, gave me a few exercise suggestions but I should've worked a whole lot harder! Hi, Charlene! That was you that sent me a card, right? THANKS so much! That was sweet! Those sandwich thins... are those the ones that sort of look like anorexic hamburger buns?? Those are GOOD! Go down easy, too. Neighborhood BBQ on Monday so maybe I'll get some and splurge and have a hamburger!

Hmmmm... so you think she changed her hair color??? She's going to keep us in suspense a little longer apparently! LOL Two POSITIVE milestones today. (1) PT, Sam the man, graduated me to 2X a week from 3X because I'm doing well. Full extension and flexion getting close to 90 degrees. (2) RN, Lee, my case manager was here... met her for the first time. DD had me call her yesterday because she felt it would help the pain if staples were out. They were scheduled to come out next Tues. But when Lee checked my records again and figured out today was the 10th post-op day she decided it would be okay to take them out today. So I've graduated to steri strips. For some reason this is making Earl very nervous. He wants me to cover it up with another dressing. And he's nervous about my pants rubbing on the incision!? It's FINE!! I'm not covering it up! It's ugly, but looking good, really!

Good Morning! Yeah, what happened to the chick who teased us with those comments??? It is a beautiful sunny morning here.... 65 degrees at 9 a.m. is nice. Unfortunately, I am in a really BAD mood! LOL! I had a terrible night with little sleep and a lot of pain. And I am so MAD at my smart a$$ niece who put on my FB page last night that I should be on tylenol or motrin by now! Can't wait until she has her hysterectomy in a month or so because she's one of the biggest whiners I know. She is a (fairly new) RN who thinks she knows everything. She really pissed me off. Said she had two post-op knee patients yesterday who were 2 days out and only taking darvocet every 6 hrs. Yeah, and their nerve block probably hadn't worn off yet, chick! Or maybe they still had their PCA pump!! HAHA! anyway, I can't tolerate darvocet.. too strong. My daughter (also an RN) said to tell her we know how to manage pain here in the Pacific NW. Tylenol indeed!! Anyway... back to last night... since I found out the oxycontin will NOT be renewed I decided to use them only at night. To be frankly honest, I don't feel any relief from the damn things anyway. I think the hydrocodone is much more effective... and a side note.... seems to me that pain pills taken when there is food in my pouch takes a long time to take effect. So... I did take an oxycontin at 10:30pm, then went to bed to read for a while until I started to feel it. Well, I never did. So Earl came in, watched the news and we turned the lights out. At midnight I was still awake and hurting and could NOT get comfortable no matter what I did. So I took one hydrocodone. Slept in 20-40 minute spurts all night. Up to the BR at midnight, 2:30 a.m., and once more I think. Took one more hydrocodone at about 3:30 a.m. I think we took the ice warp off somewhere around that time and switched to small ice bag just on top of the knee. I think I was a little more comfortable after about 5 a.m., but no good sleep at all and got up at 8 a.m. because PT and nurse both scheduled to be here first thing this morning. Okay... I'm done whining.. Linda... especially want to hear your take on how I am managing the pain. I don't think I'm a wimp... I think I'm a pretty tough broad when it comes to pain. Don't know if I'm doing something wrong... maybe too much ice wrap??? Going to ask RN and PT this morning how often I should be using it. Definitely need it after exercise sessions... I did 3X yesterday. Oh, nice visit with youngest DD and three little grandkids yesterday. They were here pretty much all day.. they tolerated it well and so did I. Did ride my scooter down to our little playground area to watch them play but didn't last long because it hurts too much to sit with my leg down like that. So I couldn't sit at the dinner table with them either. Earl made a delicious pot roast in the crock pot which drove the neighbor nuts all day because it smelled so good!! LOL! So he took her a big bowl of it for her dinner.

I think I have to count to TEN before I respond!! :biggrin::cursing: AMEN, SISTER!! I absolutely agree that physician/surgeon should not try to persuade you one way or the other. Mine presented all the pros and cons of each and left the decision to me. I was probably not a "good" candidate for LapBand because I had over 175 lb to lose... and that still won't get me to a "normal" BMI. Also, because of my age... and restricted mobility due to arthritis in both knees. HOWEVER, as you can see, I've lost almost 120 lb...it's been a little over 2 years... so it's slow, but steady. And, I had knee replacement on the left knee last week so as soon as I get through the recovery phase I will be able to ramp up my exercise. Your success is based on how bad YOU want it! If you're willing to change your lifestyle by completely changing how you eat, what you eat and implement some exercise, YOU CAN DO IT!! I'm so glad you are going to see someone else.

Just emailed you Steph's phone #s

Hi, there. I am surviving!! LOL! Yeah, recovery is not fun, but I knew it would be difficult. I'm in my second week and it is getting better. But the first couple of weeks, pain control is the challenge. Finding the right balance... so you're not in agony but not in a coma either!! :biggrin: And move, move, move, even though it hurts. My doctor's office encouraged us to buy this ice wrap thing from them... Aircast... Well, it quit during the night ....they replaced it, no questions asked. But you might ask your doctor about it. Medicare won't pay, and I don't know if other insurance does or not, but at $125 I'd say it was well worth it. After I exercise it feels SOOOO good to put that thing around my knee. I have it on most of the time, actually. It really helps ease the pain. Have to take it off from time to time so you can get the constriction/relaxation cycle thing going on... helps the body to pump the excess Fluid back out of the leg to the kidneys and get rid of it. But... I LOVE it! Can't imagine just ice bags because this thing pumps the ice Water through the bag.. has an attached thermos type thing that you fill part way with water and then ice. DH is getting his exercise walking across the street to buy bags of ice! Go through about 2 bags a day and don't have a very big freezer! I have in home PT for about a month, then I'll be going to outpt therapy. I have had MANY people tell me... the first few weeks are a BEAR, but you'll be so glad you did it.. well worth the pain.

Good Morning! Another good night's sleep except my fancy dancy electric ice bag quit working shortly after I went to bed and acted up intermittently all night. It is a "God send", so it was upsetting to have it not working correctly. It circulates ice water through the bag constantly... is attached to a thermos type thing that you fill with water and with ice. So now I'm sitting here with ziplock ice bags for the time being. Earl is taking the "electric" one to the dr's office and they are going to give him a new one. Figured out I will run out of pain pills over the long weekend, so I called for refills on those. Oxycontin, I found out, is only for right after surgery, so when it's gone, it's gone. They'll give me a refill on the hydrocodone. And apparently they faxed the Rx for the new walker back yesterday, so I'm hoping that will be delivered today. My old one has small wheels. PT guy wants me to have a 4-wheel walker with big wheels, brakes and a seat. Big 4-wheels make it a lot easier to walk on carpet and outside over the sidewalk seams, etc. Swelling seems to be down quite a bit, so maybe I'll venture on to the scale again this morning when I go back to shower. Youngest DD and grandkids are coming later and staying for dinner. Earl has pot roast in the crock pot. CBL

Tracy ended up getting a dog from the animal shelter... two puppies left by the side of the road. They took the female. Vet is guessing she is Australian Shepherd/Lab. She's beautiful... kind of beige w/darker brown spots and blue eyes. I think the name is still being debated, but I keep hearing Jim refer to her as "Blue"... which is also their last name. She was just here for lunch, showing off her new iPhone! I WANT one!! Sam the PT man was here.. Monday he got 75 degree flexion in my knee... today we got it to 82. He's pleased with my progress and added two new exercises. He is trying hard to get me a new walker.. a 4 wheel w/seat and brakes. Mine is only 2 wheels and they are small.. bigger wheels will make it a lot easier to walk. This old one is not particularly safe. Dr's office is lagging in signing the Rx and getting it back to the supplier. That's the only thing holding it up. Glad to see you back Karri!

I don't think it's necessary. And you're right... that's one of the reasons I chose LapBand over bypass... we don't lose our absorption.. Good multivitamin and the sub-lingual B-Complex would be cheaper, I would think. Target, WalMart, etc. sell that sub-lingual B for less than $10/bottle and it lasts a long time. I take Centrum Silver Chewable multivitamin... around $10 for 60 of them. I slept GREAT last night and woke up raring to go. I started my exercises as soon as I stood up. Then went through my whole PT routine and took a walk outside before coffee and breakfast. Much better pain control overnight, and today. A very encouraging morning. Pt guy, Sam, due here within the next 30 minutes or so. May try venturing out on my scooter today. My latte stand moved across the highway over the weekend and I may go see if she's up and running yet after Sam leaves.

Yeah, that pot roast idea has been talking to me, too! Time to exercise again. Pain is not responding well to Rx today. Earl got away for an hour. He needed it! He keeps saying he has cabin fever. Is hoping I'll be ready to go shopping at Costco by the end of the week??? He's been cranky all day, so I was glad he decided to go over to Tracy's... played with his '53 Chevy and the RV and the new puppy. Meanwhile, Tracy stopped by and brought me a Starbucks and helped me get unhooked from my ice bag and pillows so I could go to the BR.

Good morning, gang! Pain control not so good this morning and didn't sleep well last night. Tolerable all day yesterday, 2 good PT workouts plus 2 walks outside, one of them to the end of our sidewalk. Then last night, pain pills weren't touching it. Went to bed at 9 pm, read for a while. This is miserable but I WILL get through it. One week today since surgery and just the 3rd time for tears! I guess that's not too bad. My whole leg, front and back, is black and blue. Now I've bombarded myself with ALL my pain pills... 1 oxycotin, 2 hydrocodone. That may put me in to a coma, and is already making me sick to my stomach! But... need to get some pain relief so I can shower and do my exercises and maybe take another walk outside... though we don't have any sunshine at the moment. I deleted Alisha's comment, so you won't be able to find it. It started out "so you think I'm an idiot" (which I never said and don't know where she got that from.. haven't even talked to her in weeks) and then went rambling on about "MENOPAZ"... huh???? That was about 15 years ago, sweetheart, and was just very nasty, insulting and disrespectful. Par for alisha... a week or so ago she posted on FB a message to her mother telling her to "get the broom out of her a$$"! She will be moving out VERY SOON! I think she's lost her mind. Earl thinks there may be drugs in the picture.

CONGRATS!! That's GREAT! I remember when I passed that mark and it was a wonderful feeling! Had my knee replacement surgery a week ago today. Doing in home PT and making progress. Pain control is a challenge.

PT is going well. Intake person was here on Saturday.. she didn't do anything but talk to me. This guy, Sam, that came today was great. Hope I can get to the walk route and/or closing ceremonies. Right this minute it doesn't look hopeful, but that's more than a week away.... and it's nighttime... pain seems to be worse at night... after a few exercise sessions. Yeah, shower felt great. My sister is a rehab nurse back east. I told her about my problem and she said "hot prune juice". So Earl went and got the prune juice, heated some up in a mug and it worked in less than 2 hours! Hah... FB.. did you happen to see the lovely comments my DGD put on there in the midst of the others?? What a snot! I'm not sure why she's pissed at me... or anyone for that matter. A little later she said she was "unfriending" all of her nosey family. HUH??? I haven't seen the chick in a month. She has "issues" with her parents.. who think that she should probably come home at night. At 19 she says she's "a grown woman", but she doesn't act like one! Sure feel for Tracy & Jim right now because the girl has lost her mind! Well, pain is getting to me again, so I need to get off the computer and relax!

Okay... here I am checking in. Just not motivated to get on the computer. Pain meds make me groggy. Leg is elevated making it harder to use the laptop. My Outlook program is all screwed up and I can't see most of my email. Taking Oxycotin q12 hrs, Hydrocodone in between... can have 1-2 q4-6 hrs. But if I take more than one I just sleep. Earl is making sure I do ALL my exercises 3X a day. And today I took my first shower since surgery. They didn't even offer me a washcloth and towel in the hospital... I was on my own. Good thing I brought my own stuff. Oh, yeah... hydrocodone has me very constipated. That's quite miserable. Colace 100mg 2X a day and trying to drink my crystal lite/benefiber. Just don't feel much like eating and drinking but doing better with liquids today than yesterday. Tracy brought me a latte today, Earl walked over and got me one yesterday. Morning coffee doesn't taste good. The crystal lite doesn't either. Okay.... I'm done whining... well... almost.. Got on the scale when I got out of the shower... went up 3 lb. :mad::wink2::mad::ohmy:

I am here. Coming home... an adjustment, but I'm doing okay. Getting in to our big high bed was not a challenge at all and I was really worried about it. It IS an awful long walk to the BR from my recliner in the living room, but that's okay. In between bathroom has kitty box in the way. Sex rules won't be referred to for a while!:tt1::frown: Now wait just a cotton pickin' minute here! I have NOT abandoned you for FB! I just had cars to move and one Lexolus turn to take. I wasn't there very long. Did not have much tolerance for laptop yesterday. Trying to figure out how to keep pain under control without being a zomby all the time. Haven't eaten much of anything all week because pain meds keeping me sick to my stomach. So now I am on MY routine. I think I'm going to take the strongest one only at night and the others... one, not two... in the daytime and see how that goes. All I wanted to do all day yesterday was sleep. Then friend from Three Rivers CA was in the area and she stopped by. Tracy stopped by and brought me a latte and a casserole she made for our dinner. But I am feeling awake and alert and not too much pain this morning so I think it will be a better day. Seahawks not looking so good so far but hopefully they will get better. Aaron Rogers was my very first fantasy pick when we did our draft last Sunday. I had him last year, too. I can't believe that baby is having a birthday already!! One year old, right!? Wow! This is not good news.... my current "nurse" has a bad cold! I hope I don't get it!! He's been complaining about it for days. I have an in home PT gal coming around 1 pm and I'm supposed to have an in home nurse coming today, too, but haven't heard from her yet. Dr's P.A. told me to make sure I take a pain pill before PT gets here and another when they leave... and he looks me right in the eye and he says "cuz they WILL hurt you!"

Hi, All! Pain control a little better today. After IV Dilaudid yesterday, I made sure I took the oral meds every time I could. Slept like a rock.. went to bed at 8:30 p.m. and didn't get up until 7:30 a.m. Oh, they were in to bother me all night, but I just did what I was supposed to do and went back to sleep. I was able to turn back and forth from side to side so I didn't have to sleep on my back. It takes a while to get over but I can do it. Home tomorrow with at home nurse visits and home PT. Have to give myself injection in the stomach for blookd thinner.

Thanks, Karla, and to all of your for your thoughts and prayers. Everything has gone very well Great list! I LOVE it! Yeah, Earl is great! But since we've been here, he's constantly rearranging the furniture or trying to do something to help. He went home for a few hours after lunch. I'd just been up to the BR and they forgot to put my foot squeezers back on. So he refused to let me call a nurse or aide to put them back on.. he wanted to do it himself. So by the time he got to the elevator they'd already fallen off! He's a cutie! Can''t remember what those things are called that I take. They come in little individual packets and I squeeze on on to a 60 calorie pudding. I found them at RiteAid once, and Costco had them once. I was surprised... they gave me a shot of B-1 today. Sorry about your RV frustrations! Can you find a friend to go with you... if you can drive that thing, that's what I'd do! Day started out GREAT. Of course, I still had the pain pump then. They also gave me long-lasting pain capsules. Then PT came in and had me walk to the doorway and then back to bed, and then to the BR with the OT gal later. So by then, I had to have a Vicodin. Then I had to get up and pee again... drinking lots of water. So about 1/2 hour later I was in excruciating pain. I begged for another pill so they gave me a percocet. That was at least 1/2 hr ago and I'm still in a lot of pain. But, I've walked twice to the BR and twice to the door of my room. Hope I can sleep tonight. And Earl has a cold.... so now I have a sore throat and I hope I'm not getting his cold. I've had visitors all day long so no time for a nap. First Earl, then he left, ministry team from our church came after that. They brought me a plant from the church. They didn't stay long, but a while later two of my Primetimers friends came by. One of them crocheted me a shawl type thing that I am currently using as a blanket. It's soft and beautiful cream color and lavender. And before they left Tracy came. She brought me a latte. She just about left and Earl was back again. He'd gone home for a couple of hours. So I'm tired and in pain. I'm waiting for my dinner now.. EArl went downstairs to find something to eat in the cafeteria. I ordered chicken marsala and whipped sweet potatoes and peas and raspberrry sherbet. WE'll see if I can eat all that! Probably not. I think I want to stay until Friday. I can't bend my knee until tomorrow. I just want to get in all the PT/OT that I can. They took away the drain in my incision, took away the IV, and removed the catheter. So all I have left is the foot squeezers and the bionic ice bag! That gets to go home with me, though because we bought it from the dr's office. Later, gals. Earl is insisting he take my laptop back home because someone will steal it during the night when I'm sleeping! He's ridiculous. Oh, well... I'll still have my Blackberry. It lets me read your posts but the LBT site won't let me do anything. Hugs to all of you... I appreciate all your support, loving thoughts and prayers! Thanks !! I LOVE you

Good Evening everyone! Pumped, nervous & ready for my surgery tomorrow morning! I watched a knee replacement online a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to see exactly what they do. Between that and the class I went to, I had a good list of questions. And I feel fully informed and prepared. I know the next couple of weeks won't be much fun, but it'll be worth it in the long run. I've been told I'll have one month of at home PT and one month of outpatient PT. But.... to have at home PT, Medicare rules say you have to be "housebound"... which they define as.. you can only go out to dr. appts or to church. I'm not sure I can take a month of that! I figure I'll be heading across the street on my scooter by this time next week (watching over my shoulder for Medicare spies!) LOL! I had a busy day today.... TOPS in the morning, Pulmonary Dr. appt after that. Then I went with Tracy to pick up her new puppy. When I got home Earl had his 53' Chevy over here, which meant we had to go back to Tracy's go get the Honda! Then phone calls tonight from youngest DD & oldest DS wishing me well. SIL & grandkids now calling me "the graminator" because of my soon to be bionic knee! Thanks for all your well wishes, thoughts and prayers... and for your phone call, Janet! I LOVE all of you!! Watch for me on FB when I get out of recovery and retrieve my Blackberry from Earl!

Hi, Gals! My BMI was nearly 64. I got it down to just over 60 before surgery. I'm flirting with "Onderland" right now and hope to make that mark by the end of the year. I'm having knee replacement surgery next week. After recovery I'm planning to be able to ramp up my exercise and hoping the weight will start coming off a little faster!

Good Morning, Linda, Karla and all! Very busy day yesterday! Started at 9 a.m. with mini-reunion at Starbucks with folks we went to church with about 25 years ago... hadn't seen 3 of them since then! Had a great visit.. photo on FB. Then... another "mini-reunion" with some other Sky Valley snowbirds who live in this area. A couple who live down there full time are in the area visiting after a 2 wk Alaska cruise. So we had a get together at a cabin near where we live. Didn't know so many were going to be there... about 20. It was quite an enjoyable afternoon. And, as per the pre-arranged plan, Max & Joy came home with us and will be here until we deliver them to another couple this afternoon. They would've stayed longer if I was not having surgery in a couple of days. They stayed with us a week when we lived in OK and we spent a few of those days at Branson MO. So we'll be doing a little sightseeing later this morning. So... I guess I better go get in the shower! Chill and enjoy the weeknd ladies! Stress returns on Monday... for you! Sorry!

WOW!! Blank check for PS!!! That's GREAT!!! Congrats!

I've got to tell you, Julie... flying is NOT my favorite thing to do anymore... just because it's gotten to be such a hassle! Take off your shoes, extra$ for bags, liquids in zip lock bags, etc.! BUT.... it was such a pleasure last month when we had our Lucky #7's reunion... to NOT need a seat belt extender, and to put down the lap table with room to spare! I don't remember EVER being able to put it down flat! It would always sit at an angle and I'd have to hold on to my drink, etc. It was GREAT!! And my butt fit in the seat just fine without putting the armrest up and my arms were not encroaching on my seat mate's space!

My excuse.... Seattle Science Center with Jodie & kids today. We had a great time... FIVE hours! Didn't notice until we were rounding up the kids one last time to try and get them out of there that my scooter battery was just about DEAD!! Barely made it back to the car! Last chance to spend some time with the kids before they go back to school (a week from Monday), and I'm laid up for a few weeks. And once I'm on my feet again... we'll be heading SOUTH! Kitties sound adorable. I thought the one you saved was the biggest of the bunch. If he was still in sac, mom was ignoring him for some reason. Good thing you were there! He for sure would have died! OMG.... went down to the waterfront last night with Tracy and Jim...I'm doing all these... "one last time" things! I will HATE being confined to the house for a while! My friend told me that the only way you qualify for at home PT with Medicare is if you are "housebound"... which they define as you can only go to dr. appts or church! So I can still go to Primetimers and church, but that's about it. So I wonder if I'll get away with riding around the neighborhood on my scooter! Do you think they have spies????? Anyway... waterfront story.... place called Anthony's HomePort down on Everett waterfront has this wonderful outside deck looking out on the water. It was a gorgeous afternoon. And they have great "happy hour" prices on drinks and appetizers. So I order a glass of wine and I wanted these BBQ oysters I had last time we were there... 50 cents each.... Well, they only have them in months that have an "R" in them. Huh... last time I had them it was June or July!! Oh, well. So only way I could have oysters was to order these shot glass shooters.. also 50 cents each so I order 4 of them. Well, turned out they were considerably bigger than the BBQ oysters... and I didn't realize they would be RAW!! Then I had to eat them to save face! Gross! But... it was a WONDERFUL afternoon and so nice to sit there in the sun right there on the water. But... NO MORE raw oysters.