phyllser

So sorry, Karla!! Too bad you can't snag one of those "clunkers" that are getting crushed and put out of commission even though they're still perfectly good cars!

You're doing GREAT, Don! Can see a big difference in your profile picture. I want to hit "ONEDERLAND" by the end of the year, too. How about a challenge!!?? How's your wife doing?

CHEEZ, Laura! What a mess! Hope things start looking up again soon. Wonder if the kidney quit working or stint problem or what??

Sorry, Jailbird Janet.... couldn't resist! And this one is SO perfect!! Great story, BTW!! Hate to disappoint all of you, but I was so busy on Sunday I didn't have time to cook anything! I washed a couple of loads of clothes, set up our vitamins/Rx for the next six weeks (took over an hour!), cruised the neighborhood several times including visiting with my favorite baristas, and never got around to cooking! Earl, Tracy & Jim thoroughly enjoyed their climb to 5000+ ft and the top of Mt. Pilchuck and came back with great photos. Earl went straight to the hot tub when he got home! Remarkably, only sore muscles he had yesterday were in his arms, from using his walking sticks. Stomach issues past few days, Reflux at night keeping me awake for HOURS! PB, sliming and just plain barfing, last night 5-6 hours AFTER i had dinner, which was a 4 oz filet w/sauteed mushrooms & onions, and less than 1/4 cup mixed veggies. Lost my first cup of coffee yesterday morning! What's that about??? Today wondering if I have a touch of the flu or something as I feel completely yucky! Earl just talked about making us some salads for lunch and I just can't face lunch! I'm about to go out to mail something, deposit a check, and get my latte, but even the thought of the latte is not appealing!

Hi, Great.... My surgery is one week from today, 8/25. We went to a joint replacement class a couple of weeks ago so I wrote down a bunch of questions at that time. So when I had my pre-op appt last week I was prepared with a list! Things I wanted to know were: type of anesthesia used (there is a trend towards epidural/spinal blocks with light anesthesia and I like that), type of hardware used (titanium, ceramic, ??), post-op pain control, home or rehab for PT after discharge, etc.

AMEN!! Me, too, Steph!

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f120/hey-50-over-gang-we-have-new-spot-48751/index428.html#post1301182 50+ thread... click on the above and it will take you there

So glad your Dad is doing better, Laura, and hope Mom feels some relief from the stress soon. Nice that you go to Celebrate her birthday with her. Seafood... my very favorite, too. I have developed a taste for oysters this summer and had my first oyster stew a few weeks ago. Hugs to all of you! My "Multi quote" didn't work this time so I don't remember what else I was going to respond to!!

I have nasal prong mask. I started out with the full mask, but the top edges were irritating my eyes and leaving big lines on my face. This is the 3rd type mask I've had and it's supposed to be especially designed for women. I've had it a few months and not so sure I like it. I seem to have difficulty getting it to "sit" right every night! It's 62 here this morning but supposed to be warming up to the 70's and 80's SOON. Until Friday, anyway. Then it cools off and might rain. Of course, we're supposed to go to a picnic that day! UH OH! Sorry you're having a bad day! Yes, the summer went by too fast. My dilemma.... I LOVE being home and I LOVE being at Sky Valley!! And I can't be in two places at once! YEP... it's OKAY... today is about what YOU want! ENJOY! I'm missing church AGAIN! Last week I didn't feel good. This week.... Earl has the car... and it's just sitting over at Tracy's! I could've taken him over there in my jammies this morning but I wasn't motivated to do so. He is climbing Mt. Pilchuck with Tracy & Jim (DD & SIL). He has NEVER done that before so I hope all goes well! It will probably take them about six hours to go up and back down again. Not sure of the elevation. The sun is out, though, so soon I will go get my shower and get dressed and go out and cruise around the neighborhood on my scooter. And maybe I'll sit outside and read my book later. AND... I can do some laundry and maybe COOK something with NO interference!! LOL

We do a lot of our grocery shopping at Super Walmart. Hadn't heard that about weight loss/sleep apnea. I tried it on 12 last night but still felt like I was fighting the thing to exhale because it was blowing so hard in to my nostrils! Consider this..... I can drink a cup of coffee as late as 7 p.m. and still sleep just fine. But... if I have chocolate... it will keep me awake half the night. I don't know any statistics, but I've herad there is more caffeine in chocolate than there is in coffee. Sub-lingual B-Complex... liquid.. you can get at Target or Walmart. Might be cheaper than getting it online, but then I've never priced it online. Had a nice lunch at the Salish Lodge/ Snoqualmie Falls. Very nice waitress.. We were disappointed because we had looked at all the menus online and decided what we wanted only to fid out when we got there that the lunch menu is not available on weekends. So the menu they gave us had breakfast and brunch items and nothing that appealed to us. So she asked us what we'd seen online that we wanted and when we told her she went to the kitchen to see if they would make those things for us! And they did. We were very pleased. Earl had halibut and I had dungeness crab pasta.. lots of fresh veggies in it. Now Tracy has invited us over for dinner! She is making WW spaghetti from the WW cookbook.

Cut yourself some slack!! You're HUMAN.... just like the rest of us! :wub::thumbup::thumbup::)

Hope your Mom starts feeling better soon. Is she on antibiotics for the abscess??

Janet.... hugs from me, too! You just had too many frustrations over a short period of time and you caved! You know what to do now! You won't continue to slide down the slippery slope. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get back on the path!

So sorry about your school situation! So many teachers laid off these days! You'd think there would be a better pool to pick from! Earl took the call from the med tech this time and he wrote down all the instructions as he readjusted the machine. So if I'm still uncomfortable with it.. at 12.... we will adjust it down again. I have to go back and see that doctor a week from Monday. Its hard to dispute the sleep study stats but I don't understand how I could need the pressure adjusted upward after significant weight loss!

Welcome, Okie! We lived in OKC/Edmond for 15 years. Just moved back to WA 2 years ago. SLOW.... just keep bugging them. I had to do that, too.

Congrats on your progress, Dee! You're doing GREAT!! Keep up the good work. I have difficulty with exercise, too... need both knees replaced. But I've been able to do Water aerobics during the winter (we go south in our RV) and Wii/Wii Fit when I'm at home. Getting one knee done in 10 days (Aug. 25), and would appreciate all your prayers. God Bless!

GRRRRR! Finally got my CPAP readjusted. Incomplete records were faxed from Oklahoma before the sleep study so it never really was determined what the machine was set at. They should have put more effort into determining that. Didn't find out until the tech walked me through changing it over the phone that it was set at 9. So Pulm. Dr.'s office says they started me at 8 when I went in for the sleep study and I was still having apneic episodes up to 11. So the dr. had him reset it to 13!! I just had the most miserable night I've had in a long time. Earl said I was gasping and exhaling through my mouth, etc trying to keep up with the damn thing all night. It sounded like there was a tornado blowing through my head all night. I didn't get any good sleep until I pushed the mask up on my forehead around 5-6 a.m. Called the dr's office this morning and now they're going to have the tech reset it to 12! Does that make any sense???? It was at 9 for several years now. I've lost close to 120 lb and now I need it at 12???!! How does that compute!??? Okay.... I've vented! I feel better.... I think!

Hi, I was banded in July '07. Had my 2 yr checkup a few days ago and dr. was very pleased with my progress. I am 5' tall, started with BMI almost 64, now down to 40.8, I think. Are you at a point of good restriction now? What are you eating? Any exercise? Don't get discouraged! YOU CAN DO THIS!

Well, I'm so used to not having sweet stuff like that, I don't want to tempt myself! I just don't trust myself. But.... to be honest, I sort of remember someone was giving out teeny samples. That's when I was having "issues" with what I had for lunch. So I took it and put it aside... on top of my purse, in my basket! I did eventually eat it, but I think it came back up with that latte I was drinking!! LOL!! Sorry.... TMI!! Pre-op visit went great. First they took my weight... lower than the Wii or TOPS weight on Monday but I'm not logging any new weight unless I'm still down on Monday. Then they took more x-rays and measurements. Then the doc's PA came in... as I told Candice, not quite old enough to shave, but very nice. I had a long list of questions that I wrote down during that class last week. I liked all his answers... like, spinal and femoral block with some light IV sedation... asleep but not deep anesthesia and the block will help control the pain for 24-72 hours. Won't bore you with the rest of what we discussed, but I was pleased with all his answers regarding various different things they'll be using, etc. I will probably go home Thurs or Fri, they said. Apparently I could go to rehab if I wanted to, but they don't ususally do that if you have someone at home to take care of you. And my friend that had hip replacement at the same place a month ago said do NOT go to rehab. She says she had horrible care there. Doc kind of talked us in to buying this ice pack thing. Comes with a big sort of thermos jug with tubes.. you fill it about half way with Water, then ice and put the top on. Tubing attaches to wrap around thing for your knee. Then it pumps the ice water through the thing continuously. Sounded like a good idea at the time... $125 but Medicare won't pay, so we bought it. Then when we got home I started having "buyer's remorse", thinking... I'm ALWAYS cold! Why would I want that thing pumping ice cold water up and down my leg???? So I hope it isn't a waste of money! Sheba is a really pretty tabby. But who knows who the little slut paired up with??? LOL! Oh, Janet says a white siamese. Hmmm... might be pretty little kitties! So sorry about all your stress!! Job stuff sucks!! That's horrible! Glad the car thing worked out well. Gotta ask two questions: was the guy wearing a wedding ring and did you get his phone number!??? LOL Miss you when you're not here! Yes, I am brainstorming things we can do next year, too. Did we decide the NO thing, cruise, etc is out for sure? Earl & I are probably going to do a Mexican Riviera cruise out of L.A. in about March if anyone is interested. And about what you told me in Canada??? I'm old... I forgot!! LOL

YEP!! That's the one! My very favorite of several that I read. And I got to (sort of) meet the lady when a friend took me to one of her LapBand support group meetings. She tells it like it is in person, too!

He was really very nice and very complimentary. But these docs are all keyed in to the "STATS" and he was just regurgitating those to me. They're based on averages. And we are ABOVE average here!! Anyway, a comment like that is just incentive for me to show him I don't fit in that square! Well, in his defense, there is a sweet side to his control issues. Like when DD & I flew to NY a couple of weeks ago.... he knew we were going to be on that plane for about 7 hours and nothing but their wimpy Snacks. And we left so early, no time for Breakfast... I took NatureValley Granola bars with me and ate one for breakfast... So, by the time I got up and showered and got ready to go.. he'd packed a lunch for me and DD... ham sandwiches, so we'd have something to eat on that long flight. He's a good guy, when he's not being annoying! And some of it is my own fault. I need to be more assertive. When I got back from that vacation and was down 2 lb... I knew I drank a lot more wine than usual, and I ate things I normally would not have eaten... and I lost weight. When I thought about that.. it was not only because we kept very busy, but I was doing for myself.. and he is always wanting to do everything for me. His favorite line, "I'm just trying to HELP!" So I have been making a concerted effort to be more aware of that and not let that happen. One way I've done that this week.. got two loads of laundry done when he wasn't looking! LOL ! So I have made up my mind to be more assertive. That sounds good! What kind of pasta? I will have to go visit that site.

Laura, so sorry about all your Dad is going through. Was hoping for a better report! Will keep him in my prayers.

LOL! scales can be stubborn sometimes! YEP! He IS lucky I haven't killed him by now! LOL He's such a control freak I haven't figured out how I'm going to break away to go shopping to get him something! But he's not big on gift giving, so I doubt he's going shopping! Two yr follow-up appt went GREAT today. We got there early and I was all signed in with 30 minutes to spare. But I barely had time to use the rest room... they were waiting for me when I came out. My appt was for 10:30 a.m. but was on my way out the door by then! First time I'd seen the doctor since the fall of 2007 because I always see that snotty PA! I was going to tell him how rude she was last time but I forgot! He said I've lost 56% of my excess weight and that I "probably" wouldn't lose much more!! So I told him I was planning to lose another 60 lb! He said I was a "poster child" for LapBand! He was very pleased with my progress. Primary care doc might have to just eliminate one of those BP meds because it was only 90/54 today! All in all... a good appt. Told me to come back in a year.

Oooops... I forgot... Sheba is the pregnant one. Didn't know she was such a slut! I really LIKE that cat, too! LOL I was trying to figure out who was getting a new grandchild! Was going to go to DD#2 after my 2 yr follow-up appt tomorrow, but they are fighting stomach flu. I think Earl brought it home last week and that's what I had on Sunday, but not taking any chances. Frustrating that we'll be down in the "south end" and not be able to go visit. Haven't seen them since the weekend before our trip back east. Tentatively blocked out next Thursday for them in hopes everyone will be healthy by then. Celebrating our 45th anniv with lunch at the Space Needle on Saturday. Hope it is a nice sunny day.. rotating restaurant with fantastic view... Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, downtown Seattle.

Touching story about your DH. Sounds like a very sweet, sensitive guy. Glad to hear some encouraging news about your Dad. Hope it all goes well.