phyllser

This is getting kind of funny.... kind of! Catch 22: Ortho surgeon won't schedule knee replacement until I get clearance from primary care doc. So I went to see her this morning. She is a sweetheart and always has plenty of time for me, asks lots of questions, is truly interested in ME! I love her. But... she says she can't do pre-op clearance without surgery date (LOL), or at least, formal request from the surgeon detailing what exactly he wants done. She did all my routine blood work in Sept. and insurance won't pay again until next Sept. because all the numbers were GREAT. She thought the plastic surgery consult was a great idea and she documented, too, that the ortho guy didn't want to do the knee until I had some lipo and skin removal on the upper thighs. She always has her laptop with her so she looked up the PS guy I was thinking of going to on the internet and we looked at his web page together. And then she put a note in my records that she was referring me to him. She is very pleased with my weight loss and BP was great (100/60). SO, I came home and called the PS to get a consult appt. LOL again! First, earliest appt they have is July 23rd. That date sound familiar??? Second, they don't take Medicare or Tricare. Third, she gave me very little hope that Medicare/Tricare would cover PS on my thighs no matter what the ortho and primary care docs said. She said to plan on being a self-pay and it would be $8-10K. DH, of course, balked at that and wants me to just tell the ortho doc that I will take my chances with infection risk and get the knee replacement ASAP without pursuing the PS any further. Now, if you've had the patience to dig through all this, I am ready for any input anyone might have. I'm feeling very discouraged about the whole thing right now and my attitude at this point is, SCREW IT!! Ortho doesn't want to fix my knee until I have PS, DH doesn't want me to have PS, PS I picked doesn't take my insurance and doesn't have any appts until the summer is practically over. Is anyone on MY side here????

UGH!! Guess I shouldn't have done anything on the Wii Fit tonight! PAIN, big time! Had to take a couple of tylenols! Hope I can sleep tonight. Trauma of the cortisone injection + 20 minutes on the Wii = PAIN!! What was I thinking!! Should've given it a day to recuperate!

Hi, Gang! Yeah, I miss all those early posters, too. A lot of them are on FB... I think all those mentioned are on my FB friends list. Okay... reposting from "I'm here to help"... so if you already read it there, you can stop reading now!! LOL Had my ortho appt today. X-rays don't show much change in the right knee... that's the one I had the partial.. about 5 yrs or so ago. He was concerned last year because the hardware was collapsing. Thinks that one can wait. Very little pain in that one. But left one is "shot", in his words... no cartilage. And lots of pain and immobility. But, lots of excess skin and fat just above the knee that concerns him because of increased risk of infection. So he is very reluctant to do it right now. He will if I press it, but wants me to see my primary care doc first, and even recommended a plastic surgery consult. I was glad he did that in front of DH because he has been fighting me on that "tooth and nail". In the meantime, he injected the knee with cortisone, and I assume some novocaine because I had just about instant relief. Even did some exercises on my Wii Fit tonight. Knee hurting a little bit after that. Wii Fit says I'm down several pounds this week... maybe I'll make it back to -110!! I'm not getting my liquids in lately... no where near as good as I do with that in the motor home.. and at Sky Valley. I get thirsty in the pool/hot tub and usually finish two 20 bottles before lunch. Not anymore!! Still working on my first one of the day! Also checked the exercise log. LOL.... first time I was back on it doing my balance games was Friday night. Saturday morning.. that's when I woke up and couldn't put any weight on my left leg! It didn't dawn on me until yesterday that it may have been Wii Fit that aggravated it. At any rate, this is the game plan... calling my primary care doc tomorrow for an appt. Ortho won't even talk to me about scheduling surgery until she gives me the okay. He says I am probably anemic and may have some other nutritional issues that need to be addressed.... because of "absorption" problems! I tried to tell him that was not the case with band patients, but he was not listening to that. Then I am going to get an appt for plastic surgery consult for my legs. That's my story for now, and I'm stickin' to it. HUGS!

Had my ortho appt today. X-rays don't show much change in the right knee... that's the one I had the partial.. about 5 yrs or so ago. He was concerned last year because the hardware was collapsing. Thinks that one can wait. Very little pain in that one. But left one is "shot", in his words... no cartilage. And lots of pain and immobility. But, lots of excess skin and fat just above the knee that concerns him because of increased risk of infection. So he is very reluctant to do it right now. He will if I press it, but wants me to see my primary care doc first, and even recommended a plastic surgery consult. I was glad he did that in front of DH because he has been fighting me on that "tooth and nail". In the meantime, he injected the knee with cortisone, and I assume some novocaine because I had just about instant relief. Even did some exercises on my Wii Fit tonight. Also checked the exercise log. LOL.... first time I was back on it doing my balance games was Friday night. Saturday morning.. that's when I woke up and couldn't put any weight on my left leg! It didn't dawn on me until yesterday that it may have been Wii Fit that aggravated it. At any rate, this is the game plan... calling my primary care doc tomorrow for an appt. Ortho won't even talk to me about scheduling surgery until she gives me the okay. He says I am probably anemic and may have some other nutritional issues that need to be addressed.... because of "absorption" problems! I tried to tell him that was not the case with band patients, but he was not listening to that. Then I am going to get an appt for plastic surgery consult for my legs. That's my story for now, and I'm stickin' to it. HUGS!

LOL! You have that right!! 105 down there today. We won't be going back until fall... mid to late Sept. DH would not like it but 105 is OKAY with me! I'm freezing!! Had my appt today. X-rays don't show much change in the right... that's the one I had the partial.. about 5 yrs or so ago. He was concerned last year because the hardware was collapsing. Thinks that one can wait. Very little pain in that one. But left one is "shot", in his words... no cartilage. And lots of pain and immobility. But, lots of excess skin and fat just above the knee that concerns him because of increased risk of infection. So he is very reluctant to do it right now. He will if I press it, but wants me to see my primary care doc first, and even recommended a plastic surgery consult. I was glad he did that in front of DH because he has been fighting me on that "tooth and nail". In the meantime, he injected the knee with cortisone, and I assume some novocaine because I had just about instant relief. In fact, I'm going to get off here and try some exercises on my Wii Fit!

The tricky part is the copy/paste of the BBC code in to the signature box on LBT. Have to go to "edit signature" and paste in the highlighted code. Most people are cussing by the time they figure it out! But then you never have to do it again because whenever you go to the ticker site, it automatically updates the data in your signature.

Kari and all, Still having mixed feelings about being back home. Yes, the girls and their families are here and that's nice. We got to see our three youngest grandchildren over the weekend.. and we'll be together with those two families for Mothers' Day, which will be a treat. Things weren't great with oldest DD last year and we didn't see her at all. BUT, the weather sucks... "November" type ("UNUSUAL") storm coming in tonight with strong winds and rain has already started. Let's see... last year we came home on April 15th and it snowed 5 days later. So we came home a little later this year... six days ago. And now we're having an "unusual, November type" storm, per the weatherman on TV. Heat is on and I hate that. DH just put on a sweatshirt... which I NEVER see him wear! And,I guess it's the weather that has aggravated my left knee... can barely put weight on it the past three days. Seeing the ortho surgeon on Thursday. No exercise... don't dare even try the Wii right now. So I went over to Target before the rain started and got some 2lb wrist weights. Not much in the way of exercise, but something! TOPS this morning and I gained a couple of pounds on the road, not to mention can't get weighed in my swim suit now!! :tt2::thumbup::ack2: Had to wear real clothes... add another 2 lb! But, they DID make me feel good because so many were downright excited to see us back. One lady who emails me a lot while we're gone.. gave me a BIG hug and I thought she was going to cry! But, ya see, my friends.... I'm not in a good mood. Got to get back on track. Got to get back on my feet. Got to figure out how to get some exercise. Not much incentive to go find a pool when I'm friggin' freezin'! I miss my hot mineral water pools/spa!! I know, it's HOT down there, right Janet??! But I think I'd rather be hot than cold! Where ARE my ruby slippers???

Welcome, Lois! Do you have insurance that might cover your surgery? Criteria varies per doctor and per insurance company. Most will look at a combination of your BMI, history of previous weight loss attempts, and co-morbidity factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep disorder, high cholesterol, heart disease, etc. If the seminar is conducted by the surgeon you have chosen, they will be telling you what their criteria is at that time, as well as a lot of info about the surgery itself, pre-op requirements and post-op management.

Hi, Carol, Thanks for the welcome home. Yeah, a bit of a shock to the system. My tan is fading quickly. And I so much miss my daily water aerobics and soak in our mineral springs hot tubs! My left knee is killing me the past couple of days and I have an appt with my ortho surgeon on thursday! Hoping he'll agree to do the total on my left SOON! He says the right is more critical, but that one doesn't hurt! Had a partial on it a couple of years ago and he says the hardware is collapsing from the weight loss. He wants my BMI down to 40 before he does them, but I just can't wait any longer with this left one. I was doing great in CA, but after four days home I was having trouble even putting any weight on it. Bummer! Had to dig my cane out again just to get to the BR during the night! And, oh boy, big storm with lots of wind, a "November" type storm coming this way in a couple of hours, according to the noon news weather report! YUCK! Trying to stay positive here!! I AM enjoying being home with our daughters and families and it was fun to see our three youngest grandchildren last weekend!

Welcome, Sherry! There is a thread for 60+, and you're certainly welcome to hang out here, too, as I do! http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f121/new-60-thread-50100/index59.html#post1215122 You can get a lot of meds in liquid form. What in particular are you wondering about? I find I am able to swallow most tablets and capsules as long as they aren't too big. Immediately following surgery you will probably want to have some liquid Tylenol onhand. I take a few Vitamins, and I use Centrum Silver Chewables, Calcium chews, liquid B-Complex (sub-lingual). My Rx are all small enough to swallow. And within a year of my surgery date, one cholesterol pill was discontinued and one of my two BP Rx half strength, making a much smaller tablet to swallow. So if you are on prescription meds, you may find your doctor eliminating some as your weight goes down.

GO, KARRI!! Watching her progress on FB!

HI!! So good to hear from you again! I used to do that kind of nursing! Hard! And I did it in the days before GPS! I was always getting lost trying to find addresses in and around Seattle. I preferred private duty whenever possible, too! But, I have to admit, one of my very favorite jobs was the last one I had.... pre-cert for medical insurance. I loved being on the computer a good part of the day, and talking to all the doctors' offices, etc. I really enjoyed it. But then Prudential sold out to Aetna and within 6 months, Aetna eliminated about a dozen of our 20 or so RN/LPN jobs. They transferred the pre-cert function to Denver and just kept a couple of case managers, the ones who went to the hospitals to harass th doctors to discharge their patients! So... you need to get back on track, huh!? It really takes a lot of discipline, doesn't it!? I don't keep any ice cream, cookies, etc. in the house because it would "talk" to me! Sometimes I buy "Skinny Cows", or low calorie fudgcicle bars. But pretty much my "treat" is one Jello low cal pudding a day. I like the rice ones... especially the Creme Brule and Cinnamon. They are 70 calories. But, you are right... it's very important to get in that "hard" protein first, and some veggies, to keep you feeling full. Protein drinks, Slim Plan, very tempting.. especially in the morning. I'm spoiled because DH fixes me a small egg beaters omelet w/art. crab, a little moz cheese every morning. But this morning he was gone and I was ready to grab a granola bar or make a quick protein drink.. but I knew I'd be hungry in an hour or two if I did that. So I made the omelet... and it kept me feeling full until about 1 pm!

Hi, Gang! Finally got a Verizon tech support person who knew what he was doing and we're back online.... on our own network! We were using an unknown neighbor's network the past two days. Also finally got our car fixed today, too. It's been giving us problems for about a month! DH finally decided maybe he should take it to the Honda dealer! Duh! $450, but, it's fixed, and they gave us a car wash coupon, so now it's clean, too! Got a few more clothes put away, and a few more in to my Goodwill stash! Also got my Wii set up and did a little over 20 minutes on it before the batteries in the balance board died. I'm out of practice.... bad scores on the downhill, the balance board and the soccer game!

LOL! Yes, I think Steph has what it takes. We survive the challenges of our teenagers somehow! We had a missing door for a while, too!

I have been bad on my fluids for the past several days. Have to get back on track with that. Pathwords.... 4000!! That's impressive! LOL!! Enough said, then! Been thinking about you and that upcoming marathon! Steph, sure keeping you in my prayers with the Michael situation! I tried home schooling our youngest once. I spent a couple of years just trying to keep him in school. He'd get kicked out of one and I'd get him in to another, or get them to take him back, etc. It was a mess. Then he wanted me to home school him. So I bought the books, worked hard on setting up a schedule I thought he could live with, etc. And the first time we sat down at the kitchen table and I tried to work with him, he picked up his end of the table and dumped the books in my lap and that was the end of that! I took the books, put them in a cardboard box and put them under my bed! Don't remember what happened after that, but he never did finish high school. Got too much in to drugs, kept running away and moved out at 17. Not a great uplifting story, but I didn't have the patience, even then, to put up with his antics.

I am no longer getting email notifications of new posts, and when I go to my "UserCP", only about half of my subscribed threads are listed!! Anyone else having problems like this?

Hi, Yes, we are on our way home... will get there tomorrow. Stopped at an outlet mall just south of Portland today so I could SHOP! DH left me there alone saying, "NO purses, shoes or hats!" So first thing I bought was a purse, then 2 prs of pants.. I can get in to a size 18 now!! Nice not to have to buy 3X, 4X! Bought one pair size 20, but I had to 18s on... just seemed too snug. So one is 18, the other 20. Cruise coming up in 2 wks, so I need some new things. Quartzsite is a great place.. in the winter, anyway! I guess it's a ghost town in the summer. We always go over for the big RV show every January, but just for the day usually.

Where is everyone??? Too quiet! We are 30 miles south of Portland, stopped for the night behind an outlet mall. I am going shopping.... as soon as I go get a SF, FF Starbucks. Haven't had one in a week and the spot they put us in looks right in to Starbucks back door! Bye!

Dinner with sister went well. Good food choices, too... cioppino, small shrimp salad that I shared with Earl, and he gave me a few pieces of his seafood... like one scallop, one oyster, a bite of salmon and a piece of calamari.

I think I might be a little nervous about my sister coming to visit today. Since I got back from my shower 1/2 hour ago, I've had on two different pairs of pants, four tops and two bras before I settled on my underwire, my jeans and my blue polo!! Geez! I'M the BIG SISTER! Why does she intimidate me like that???? She is extremely manipulative! Like yesterday... she wanted to know what time we were leaving our RV park just south of the OR border because she thought her DIL could drive her DOG up from San Francisco to meet us so we could bring the dog to OR for them to dog sit while her son (my doctor nephew) & wife went on a trip somewhere. That would've meant us staying an extra day with the elk because it would've taken her at least 6 hours!! First I pretended not to get the phone message. Then I emailed a short message that said, "phone coverage here weak. Leaving at 8 a.m." That could be why she was a little cool on the phone yesterday! She had to spend her day driving from central OR down to Mt. Shasta area to meet them and pick up said dog! She'd best not bring that dog with them when they come here today!!

Good suggestions, Meredith. In stores like Target, Kohl's, etc., I go straight to the clearance racks! Found some jeans I really liked at Target that were on sale for $6.25, so I bought 3 sizes! I'm now in the smallest ones (20) and they are baggy in the butt and I have to wear a belt (YES a BELT! Haven't had any in my wardrobe for many years and now have several!), to keep them at my waist. Re-sale stores are great! Find some good ones. We're on the road and stopped at Gilroy CA the other day. They have a Salvation Army store there that is GREAT! Huge, well-organized, good quality clothes. I got two tops, $2.70 each and then they gave me a 15% Sr. discount! Woo hoo! One of the tops was Alfred Dunner and neither looked like they'd been worn! I told my friend about it and she left with a bag full of stuff on Friday and it was a 50% off everything day! Tracy got us started on those Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches when she came to visit! 1/2 one not bad... then you're just getting 70 calories! But best not to have them around at all! Wow!! Long, you are doing GREAT!!

Good Morning! Internet here is spotty at best! This morning it's working well. It may be a bandwidth problem and we're up earlier than most on this cloudy, rainy Sunday morning. Yes, we ARE back in the Pacific NW complete with clouds, rain and cold! It's 46 now, but think Earl said it was 38 when he got up, and it's 34 at home right now! Ick! We are on the OR coast at a place called Winchester Bay. It's quite beautiful and it was sunny when we got here, so we took a stroll around the park. I was all bundled up and on my scooter! We're right on the bay with a lovely view of the bay and marina. Friends from Sky Valley are parked right in front of us. They live in Salem and are here for a week with some friends. This was a planned stop for us to meet up with them. This afternoon, DS, BIL and probably nephew coming over to visit and go out to dinner with us. Tomorrow we will head out again after two nights here, and probably travel about half the distance between here and home. We don't want to rush this! Earl gets tired and cranky after about 6 hours on the road so we won't try to make it all the way in one day and will probably stop somewhere short of Portland. Trying my best foodwise, but it's a bit more of a challenge on the road! We have a favorite stopping place in Port Orford called the Crazy Norwegian, so I was bad and had fried fish for lunch yesterday. Little bit of this and that. Cole slaw was not mayo based, but vinegar dressing, so that was good! And I gave all my fries to Earl, and most of my clams, and one piece of fish. Two prawns were MINE, and one small piece of fish, a few clams. He had a hamburger because he knew he'd get most of my dinner!

We are in Santa Rosa, camping at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. I can't believe I"m online. I found an excellent signal on an unsecured network! Did I post the picture of the pink fabric?? That's what she's going to use in between all the squares, and I think for the border as well. Do you think some of the rest of us could get in on the raffle.. like if you buy a big roll of raffle tickets, anyone who wants to could get some from you and sell them to friends/family. I can take pictures of the quilt when she brings it to me and email it so anyone interested would have a photo to show when selling tickets. What do you think?? Thanks for the kudos! It's great to get in to that size!! Posting a photo soon... of Earl & I and his brother & wife. It's the pink top I have on in the photo.

OH, but it IS the band that is interfering. Doesn't necessarily mean your fill is too tight. Our bands are very fickle and sometimes tighter than others, especially first thing in the morning. And "First Bite" syndrome is quite common. You see your doc today, right?? We're hitting the road on our RV today so internet access the next few days will be spotty. Usually I get the email updates on my Blackberry and can read posts. But sometimes they don't come! So, hopefully, I'll be able to get your doc update on my Blackberry, but may or may not be able to respond until we get to a park with WI Fi.

Good Morning! It is still morning here on the west coast! FB friends... check out the photos of the quilt my DIL is making to benefit the 60 mile walk. She is doing such a great job. You've got plans as to how to raffle this, right, Steph? DIL will bring it to me in June and then I can mail it to you. She is really spending a LOT of time on this and I really appreciate her! Plus she wants to split the cost of the fabric with me. She's a jewel! I've been kind of tight all week. But comfortably ate a small bowl of chili last night for dinner, with a little rice. Then a couple of hours later I had a small strawberry shortcake. But this morning I'm tight again! DH made me a one egg omelet yesterday and I could only eat half. So I had the other half this morning, and much to my surprise, 1/2 hr or so later, I was carefully sipping on about 1/3 of a cup of coffee and a tiny little cough triggered loss of a good part of my breakfast. TMI--- it was just a very sudden projectile fountain all over me! YUCK! That was 3 hours ago and I still can barely sip on my crystal lite and we're getting ready to go out for lunch with DIL, BIL & SIL! Think I will be sipping on soup! On a lighter note, I am wearing a size petite LARGE polo shirt I found at a Salvation Army store, like new, for $2.70 minus Sr. discount! I am a GOOD shopper, and I don't remember when is the last time I could wear a top in a large! I was happy to be in XLs lately.