secretstolen

Ooh, I like the Food Network folks, too. Paula Deen doesn't bother me much. I'd love to be fixing up some soul food in the kitchen with her and gossiping like two hens or something. I love Giada De Laurentiis, though. She's my favorite. I can follow her recipes much easier than others. (And I love Italian food.) Plus, her kitchen is my ultimate dream.. and she looks like Liesl from "The Sound of Music," and that's my favorite movie. Plus, Giada made those amazing croissant panini and they looked so good that a friend and I made them for a get-together with others and they were a hit. So good. And I've got a crush on Bobby Flay. Seriously. But as for who I've had enough of? In general, I'm burnt out on Katherine Heigl and Keira Knightley. Whenever Heigl opens her mouth, she either sounds like she's whining or like a pretentious hag. As for Knightley, I just don't get the appeal. (Admittedly, I am going to see Atonement this weekend on a date, so..)

Hey there.. never talked to you before, but just wanted to tell you congrats! That sounds like such an awesome career. I wish you the best of luck!

bert99: Thanks. It's a good point you make about the picture. I'll sleep on the thought of taking it down, though. Elena M: Your post is incredibly touching. I'm sorry for all of the pain your family had to endure.

Thanks, Amy. Yeaaaah, I was a little angry. Venting about it made me feel better though.

(This is long. Sorry. This break-up just happened on Black Friday, so it's still a fresh wound. And it's very angry and bitter. Just a warning. Heh. Also, the girl he cheated on me with knew of me and was aware of my presence.. so it's not like, "Oh, don't attack her! She's an innocent victim!") Dear Ex-Boyfriend, After the year that I spent in a stressful, draining long-distance relationship with you, all I can say that I know about you is that you're a liar.. and that you're a piece of sh*t. I'm glad that I stumbled upon the baby registries online and discovered that you were sleeping with that hateful, sloppy whore while you were professing your love to me, and that it lead to the daughter you'll be welcoming together as a couple on February 15th. I'm glad that the teller at Bank of America slipped up and asked me if I was her when I went to deposit that $175 for the MacBook you sold me into your acount. As it turned out, you moved out to California in February and never told me. You've been living with her for months and you were still lying to me about how you were in New Jersey. I'm glad that I broke things off with you days before I found the registries and you made me feel like shit by calling me an unsupportive girlfriend and blaming our break up on my temper, especially since I got to call your voice mail and let you know that I knew all about the baby.. for no other reason than to make you aware of the fact that you could no longer blame our failed relationship on me when you were the one f*cking this b*tch, living with her, and having a joint bank account with her. I'm glad that one of your ex-girlfriends stumbled upon my information online and sent me an email, enlightening me on your trail of deception and abuse, including the revelation that you never worked at the NYSE (which means all the excuses about working late and that big promotion in May were BS), that you made up a friend to set her up on a date with after she rejected you, and that you didn't even own a car and you spent all your time hanging out at the Menlo Mall like a loser. She and I have spent hours chatting about you and the things I know now are astonishing. I'm glad that I only had to spend one weekend with you during our entire relationship and because of it, there was only that 5 minutes of sex in which you were barely bringing any game, much less your A game. That's made it much easier on me because I don't have to mourn the end of closeness/intimacy (since there never was any) and I'm not missing out on any fireworks in the bedroom (because there's more chemistry between me and my underwear than there was between us). I'm also glad that I didn't burn bridges with the guy I dated before you, even though you insisted on me doing so, because to this day he's been more of a man and more of a friend to me than you ever were. I told him all about what happened between us and he reminded me that in the beginning of my relationship with you, he warned me that you were a douche. I wish I had listened. Most importantly, I'm glad that I saved this picture so I could post it on all of the social networking sites where you frequent, including message boards and chat rooms, just to inform everyone that they are in the presence of a player.. a player with a nicer rack than the broad he knocked up. Have a nice life lying to your daughter's mother and trying to pretend to be "Father of the Year" when deep down, you and I both know that you're no better than your disgusting pig of a father who cheated on your mother and supposedly destroyed your family. Looks like history repeats itself, huh? Have fun explaining it to your little girl, Joy Kathleen, when the time comes. I'm sure she'll be proud to have a father like you who was f*cking around with her mother while he was in a serious relationship with a girl on the other side of the country. Drop dead and I hope your d*ck becomes infested with a flesh eating bacteria that renders you sterile and unable to curse the world with anymore of your spawn and gives you the anatomy of a Ken doll. -The girl formerly known as your "Punkin" who just wants you humiliated to make up for the year of my life wasted on you PS - I'll just assume that the $175 that you stole from me went towards a gift for the baby. Glad I could help you two out. Too bad distance prevents me from doing a real favor and beating both of your skulls in with a baseball bat to render you better people and role models for your child (even in vegetative stages!) than general consciousness and your collective upbringings have made you thus far.

I second to what OnmywayJenn said. I had my surgery done just last week by Dr. Brian Mirza (who is in the same office/practice with Dr. Stelmack) and I am so impressed and happy with my decision. No complaints at all about their staff - from the receptionists to the nurses to the dietician to the surgeon. Everyone has been wonderful. In my own opinion, Dr. Mirza is incredibly professional and still very friendly and he makes you feel comfortable in his presence. During my overnight stay after my surgery, he came by 3 times to check up on me and he wasn't rushed or at all bothered by questions. He even laughed and joked along with my weird family members who were cracking stupid jokes and being down-right embarassing. One of the RNs in their office, Lynette, popped by numerous times to check on me while I was there also. About 45 minutes before my surgery, she came by where I was being prepped to make sure I didn't have any questions or just in case I needed to talk to calm my nerves. She came by later that evening before going to a conference just to see how I was doing. Then she came by the day I was discharged, too. I know that they have certain amounts of times that they routinely check on their patients, but I was thoroughly impressed. It was reassuring to know that if I had concerns, they were always nearby. (Also, my entire experience with not only the surgeon and his staff but also with the hospital and their staff was excellent. Every single individual who assisted me or had a part in my care was just as helpful and friendly as the last.)

I was just banded on 12/13. I was in a lot of pain the day of and the day after. Not constantly, but for the majority of the time. I've never had surgery before this, so the entire experience was new to me. I'm drinking constantly, trying to stay hydrated. I've only been nauseous once and that was hours after. Once the nurses started me on small amounts of fluids, I was given pain meds in pill form. So that was fun, swallowing those, which set off the nausea. I've been advised that if I get dehydrated, the nausea will set in again and I'm not looking forward to that. I've had a cup of coffee today. I diluted it heavily with half-and-half and left out the sugar. It felt nice after 2 weeks of pre-op prepping with no coffee at all. I've been nursing this normal sized cup for at least 2 hours now. Farewell to the beverage portions I used to drink. On average how long do you think it takes before the gas bubbles are all gone? I feel like I have a constant rumbling in my stomach, but I'm not hungry. I think it's just the gas bubbles.

Mine's December 13th! Yay!

Hey there! My surgery is on Thursday, December 13th. Don't worry; like everyone else said, you're totally normal to feel like that. I haven't started having the "what if I don't make it" thoughts yet, but I have been wracking my brain to make sure I remember to do silly little things before hand. I'm paranoid that I'll forget to do something like shave my legs the morning of the surgery (and it'll gross out the surgical staff), or that I'll be late to pre-registration that morning and they'll cancel it. The fact that you're a mom, too, is definitely a factor. I don't have any kids, but I can't imagine not having those thoughts if I did. Good luck with yours! I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Oh, crap! Sorry! Didn't realize I might trigger cravings! I'm drinking my first Slim Fast of the AM.. woo.. :help:

I start my pre-op diet tomorrow morning. Fourteen days of Slim Fast Optima and Water.. deeeeeeelish! (Sarcasm.) I had my last sweet tea and Chick-Fil-A sammich tonight. And yeah, I'm gonna be sending out the office email to "my girls" at work to let them know my behavior over the next 2 weeks is only a by-product of my prep. Good luck on your prep! If you need to vent, send me a message and I can be a friendly ear for you.

Congrats and good luck! Keep us posted on how it goes.

Thanks, you guys! And congrats, aubrey! You're gonna be fine! I can't wait for Monday for you!

After playing phone tag for a week with one pre-op physician's office to fax results over to my surgeon, I finally have a surgery date! The office manager called to tell me that they were ready to give me dates. I go in on 11/29 for the nutrition session, and I have an all-day appointment on 11/30 for x-rays and so forth. Then on 12/13, I go in for surgery! Since I found out at work, I ran down the hall to tell my best friend (who's also a co-worker). We both jumped up and down and cheered (quietly), and I am so excited! I've been on the board lurking since I started looking into this around August, but this was one of the first places I wanted to share the news about my surgery date. Hope everyone's having a great day!

I had the same problem. I work for a non-profit health organization that runs a hospital and multiple medical facilities in the area. I have insurance through work, which is a self-funded plan administered by Aetna. When I called Aetna to find out, just to make sure I covered all my bases, I was told by the Aetna rep that there were many hoops I had to jump through in order to get the lap band covered. He even mailed me a copy of the documentation in their policy - which was about 30 pages - regarding bariatric surgery. However, I had already talked to our benefits department who assured me that our insurance covered bariatric surgeries at 100% with no list of requirements to meet, other than what the bariatric surgeon requested prior to authorizing surgery. The way a supervisor in our benefits department explained it is as such: The fact that my employer's insurance is a self-funded plan, of which Aetna merely administers, means that our policies and guidelines for certain services do not always adhere to those of general Aetna plans. Plus, the fact that we're a health organization also plays a slight part. It could be that yours is similar. Good luck!

I went in this morning thinking everything would be fine. The EGD/endoscopy was a little uncomfortable, but that was expected. What I didn't think would happen is my bariatric surgeon (who also did my endoscopy) would tell me I had a hernia. He took pictures of it and everything. *Sigh* He says it's not exactly a "No" to the banding surgery. He did give me a prescription for Nexium and one of the endoscopy unit nurses gave me a pamphlet about treatment for hernias. The surgeon said that he could try to repair it when the banding is done, but I think he wants to see how well I can adjust to the Nexium and the guidelines as such.. cutting back on coffee, caffeine, chocolate, peppermint, that sort of thing. If that doesn't help and they do another scoping and find that it hasn't improved, then I'll probably need to be referred elsewhere for surgery just for the hernia. So, I've taken my first purple pill. I guess at the moment that's all I can do. I cried in the endoscopy unit. The nurses were like, "Cheer up, things could be worse," and they're right. It's just that I'm trying my best to get everything done and to move on with my life. *Sigh* Just needed to vent. Thanks for the opportunity.

I'm listening to Feist's The Reminder, specifically "Sea Lion."

From my own experience, I support the right to bear arms.<br /> <br /> About 1.5 years after my dad died, my widowed mother started dating and I was assaulted one night by her boyfriend. He attacked me in front of my mom, who did nothing to stop it. He cornered me, slapped me, and screamed at me in a blind rage of anger that he would rape me and kill me, that he would hunt me down wherever I went so that he could hurt me over and over again, and that he would even kill my puppy just to be hateful. The guy was a freaking psycho. It was the 9mm that my father taught me how to target shoot with when I was 16 that saved me.<br /> <br /> I ran to where I knew it was safely stored and he chased me through my house. Once I had that pistol in my hand, had the safety off, and pointed it squarely in his direction, the tables were turned. He suddenly backed off, calmed down, and never laid another hand on me or raised his voice to me again. That was the first time (and only time) I've had to use a gun to defend myself, but believe me.. there was nothing more comforting than watching the douche bag who hit me and taunted me with threats of rape almost wet himself at the sight of a gun barrel pointed to his chest.<br /> <br /> I'm a little bit more of a liberal than I was raised to be, but when it comes to self-defense, I'm all for the right for law-abiding citizens to own firearms for their protection. If it hadn't been for that pistol, I don't know what would have happened that night.<br /> <br /> (But I respect everyone's opinions. I think it's a highly sensitive topic and everyone has their reasons for why they do/don't support gun control. Just throwing my humble opinion in.) Edit: And just to add, I live on my own and I currently do not own a gun. I feel safe without one right now, but in an issue such as the one I did go through, it was certainly comforting to know that if that 6'3", 320 lb., man charged me again to choke or hit me, I had the ability to stop him in an instant with a bullet.

Monday afternoon, I had an appointment with the surgeon. I gave them the documentation they requested from my PCP/dermatologist. They gave me a list of the stuff they want me to have done for pre-op.. -Some lab work -Pulmonary function test/clearance -Psychology consultation/clearance -Sleep study -Abdominal ultrasound -Copy of my results from 7/07 OBGYN routine exam -EGD/endoscopy procedure I started scheduling everything on Monday after I left the surgeon's office. I had the ultrasound this morning when I snagged a great cancellation.. I have the pulmonary function test tomorrow morning.. the EGD/endoscopy procedure is scheduled for the 15th.. I have a follow-up with the surgeon on the 17th.. the sleep study is on the 22nd.. I received a copy of my exam results from my OBGYN's office in the mail the other day (so that's in my paperwork to take back to the surgeon's office on the follow-up appointment).. and all I'm waiting on now is the psychiatrist's office to call me with an appointment date and time. I'm trying to get everything done by the end of the month. There's some more stuff I have to do with their clinic, though. I have to go to a 3-hour long nutrition group session, then go to a private 1-hour nutrition session as well. Once that's done, I should be cleared for surgery. Also, although my insurance covers the procedure and all of the pre-op testing 100%, I still have to pay fees to the surgeon's office. Total, it's gonna cost me $550. Not bad. There's a $250 program fee that all patients have to pay, then there's a $300 fee that covers the nutrition sessions, plus a visit from the nutrition advisor to check up on me after the surgery, and I'm assuming all of the fills thereafter as it mentioned post-surgery follow-ups. Not bad, really. So far, things look like they're going to be fine. The ultrasound tech who did my procedure this morning was a former co-worker (I'm in the medical field) who informed me at the end of the exam that my gallbladder looked fine, and she didn't see anything abnormal or anything to be concerned with. That's good. Let's hope the rest of it goes like that. I'll keep this posted.

Aww man, goo in my hair? Seriously? Ew. *lol*

I've got to have one, too. Mine's scheduled for 10/22. I don't snore, never have, but I do wake up with headaches most mornings. The surgeon wants me to have it done just in case.

I went to the information conference on 8/23, then had my first appointment with the bariatric surgeon around the middle of September. Because I was diagnosed with melanoma (Stage I) when I was 19 (and it'll be 4 years since my diagnosis/treatment in 12/07 with no recurrences), the surgeon wanted some documentation just verifying that I haven't had any problems since then and there is no current cancer. They called me a week later and set me up for my second appointment with their clinic which was yesterday (10/1) and gave me the list of pre-op stuff I've gotta have done. Mine consists of the following.. -abdominal/gallbladder ultrasound (routine) (sched. 10/12) -EGD/endoscopy procedure (routine) (sched. 10/15) -sleep study due to AM headaches (sched. 10/22) -pulmonary consultation and clearance (routine) (sched. 11/2) -psychiatric evaluation (routine) (yet to be scheduled) -CBC/CMP/TSH lab work (routine) (can be done walk-in, doing tomorrow) I was hoping I'd have a surgery date possibly before Thanksgiving, but it looks like the pulmonary consultation is going to keep me from it. I'm calling every couple of days to check for cancellations. So, yeah, it varies. It's a little discouraging 'cause once you make up your mind that you're gonna do this, you want it immediately. (At least I do. *lol*) I have to remind myself to be patient.

I just got back from my consultation with the surgeon. It went alright. The surgeon looked over my medical history and advised me that with my BMI (38), I needed 2 co-morbidities in order to justify having the procedure done. Looking over my medical history I submitted, he said I only had one - joint pain. I couldn't remember everything I had marked down, so I listened as he told me that the best thing for me to do would be to come back for a follow-up in 3 months to see where I was.. was I gaining, was I losing, maintaining? Did I have any new problems? Then take it from there. He did suggest sending me to be tested for sleep apnea after questioning whether I snored (no) and I admitted my sleeping habits were irregular. I mentioned to him that I have had persistent acid reflux over the past couple of months and it's caused me to cut out carbonated beverages completely. He flipped back through my paperwork and acknowledged that he had overlooked that. I had checked it, and yes, that was the second co-morbidity I needed. Still, he wanted to do the sleep apnea test. He did say that first I need to submit some additional paperwork relating to my medical history. He wants a letter from my dermatologist (since I was diagnosed with melanoma in '03) stating I have clean margins and have had no problems since the diagnosis and subsequent treatment. He also wants a 5 year weight history for insurance purposes. (I've called in a favor at my PCP's office and I've got an appointment on Friday with my doctor to have him provide that info and give me a once-over skin check. I no longer see a dermatologist as mine stopped taking my insurance and the only other one in town is not accepting new patients currently. I'll need to have him write up a letter explaining the circumstances with my dermatologist so I can fax that with my weight history.) Once that info is received, then he says we can begin scheduling everything. He advised me of the routine pre-op stuff that he wants done.. a gallbladder ultrasound, (I believe:) a barium swallow, the sleep study, some lab work, and so forth. He told me that he thinks I'll be a great candidate for the surgery if I have it done, as I'm young and he says I seem very motivated and dedicated. He also told me that it'll probably be within 2-3 months. But once all of the test results are in, they'll set up a surgery date for me. So, that's how it looks for now. Should I start calling around to set up my procedures? I've got a friend who works at a radiological facility, so I'm hoping she can help me get squeezed into the schedule for the barium swallow and the gallbladder ultrasound. The lab work will be a breeze; I can do that on my lunch break. The sleep study is what I'm worried about. We'll see how it goes, though. There are more procedures he wanted, but I can't remember at the time. I'll keep this thread posted.

I got the call from the clinic last Tuesday while I was at work. I'm scheduled to see the surgeon for the initial consultation with him on Tuesday (9/18) in the afternoon. That'll be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing whether he thinks I'm a candidate and hearing what he has to say. Also, in a strange note.. I got home Thursday afternoon and noticed one of the new tenants in my apartment complex was sitting in his car. He had just arrived minutes before me, obviously, and he was finishing up a conversation on his cell phone. I fumbled in my car collecting my things. When I got out, he had already started up the stairs and entered the apartment above mine. I didn't think anything more of it, other than, "So that's the guy who sounds like he's stomping around all day." I went to get my mail and started for the building as he came out of his apartment suddenly. We passed each other on the sidewalk and we smiled and exchanged pleasantries. The whole time I kept thinking, "Where have I seen him before? I know I've met him somewhere." Friday afternoon, another tenant and I were chatting outside briefly when she mentioned, "Yeah, you know one of those weight loss doctors lives in our building." BINGO! So, in a strange twist of fate, the surgeon I'm meeting with on Tuesday afternoon lives upstairs above my apartment! Apparently, the other tenant told me that she's spoke with him (because when she found out who he was, she went upstairs and proceeded to bother him at home with questions about the surgery for herself.. LOL) and he's living here while he's having a home built. Weird, weird, weird.. who would have thought, y'know? Anyway, I'll update after the consultation on Tuesday. Hopefully it'll be good news. (And hopefully it won't be awkward when he realizes I live in his building.)

The latest for me is as such.. I waited 2 weeks for the clinic to review my paperwork and finally, I got a call on Friday from one of the nurses saying that they looked over it and passed the paperwork to a dietician who passed it over to the insurance verification folks. As it turns out, I'm covered 100% for the surgery, which is a huge relief! The nurse stated that my chart has been passed over to the scheduling department and someone will call me in the next couple of days to set up my consultation with one of the surgeons. I'm really excited now! jetlagjane: That is so awesome! I can't wait to be that size! *lol* I can't remember ever being under 180 or so. I figure with the pre-op stuff, I'll lose some weight. Was your 20 pound weight loss due to the pre-op? nan42: Aww, I'm sorry he feels that way. As long as you're doing this for yourself, I think you'll be fine. Now, if you were doing it for him and he were feeling that way.. but sometimes you have to put yourself first and do what you know is best for you.