divaofsongs

Thanks everyone so much for the wonderful compliments on my voice. My CD is not ready yet, however it will be available in March of 2008. For now, you can listen to it on MySpace.com - Mone - Everywhere - House / Club / Soul - www.myspace.com/divaofsongs or Mone DIVA OF SONGS. By the way, thanks to all of you for the compliments on my pictures, as you can see, they are all head shots. I would not dare put anything lower than my neck in the shots and I had to cock my head out like an ostrich to get rid of the double chin that so ungraciously sits above my neck (or what used to be a neck before it all just came together as one big roll from my chin to my chest! :heh:) I will keep everyone posted. I will also give a free download of my new song to any member here that wants one.

I am so excited I could just scream! 16 days left til I get banded and I doubt if I will get a minutes rest until then. I am so excited I can't sleep. And when I do sleep, I keep having dreams of little Dutch girls in wooden shoes dancing around windmills twirling Lap-bands around their arms singing "You're gonna be a small bitch after all! You think I might need a psychological eval first????? Just kidding. But, I am really excited. December 13th at 12:30 P.M., come quickly please.

When I lay down, my boobs disappear. They fall under my arms and deep into my armpits. So, for about 7 hours a night, I am flat chested.

Thanks Karen, I will call her tomorrow. Can anyone tell me what Dr. K requires for the pre-op diet?

I just had my sleep apnea test last night and it looks like I have it. Grrrr, I do not want to wear one of those ridiculous things on my face.

I missed 2 calls from Paula Pierce at Dr. K's office. She gave me a different number than the office number. Does anyone know who she is? I hope she is not calling to cancel my surgery date

Right now, my mini-goal is not to kill anyone while I am on this pre-op diet. :angry :dead Seriously, I usually set my short-term goals in terms of 10 pound increments, or dress sizes, or even inches lost. If you set small, achievable goals, you will have more of them to look forward to and you may stay more encouraged.

Thanks to all of you for your comments on my vocals and singing. I cannot wait to get small enough to get back on stage and perform. I have not done a performance for over 8 years. I miss my singing career and I miss not being able to use my talent because I am too out of breath to stand on stage for more than 5 minutes. My new song is being released in March of 2008, it is called "Viva La Diva". You can hear a sample of it on my myspace site, the link is in my signature. I will make sure any of you that want a copy of the CD will get a signed copy for free.

Hmmm, it seems that one way to get unstuck is to BURP yourself.... I know when a baby doesn't burp well, if you put them over your shoulder with their arms up, it will usually do the trick. I guess my husband better get prepared, because I don't like being uncomfortable. I will very quickly jump on his lap, throw a towel over his shoulder and put my arms up and have him rub my back til the stick comes unstuck! Thanks everyone for all of the great advise. I will be carrying pineapple juice with me everywhere. I just hope someone doesn't make me mad, because I can think of some pretty interesting things to do with the slime everyone is talking about.:spit:

It's really funny that when these things happen, it seems like you are the ONLY person in the world that it has ever happened to. It is comforting to hear that others have gone through similar incidences. There are certain things that only we can relate to. I can remember last year I went to my aunt's house for some stupid party that she was throwing (she is always throwing parties, trying to make herself look like she's rich, when she really just lives paycheck to paycheck trying to impress all her stuffshirt friends.) I had on high heels, which I had worn the little black plastic things off the bottom of. You know, when those plastic things wear off, you have a little hard metal spike left. As I walked on my aunt's new kitchen floor, my heels were punching little holes in the floor! I didn't even notice at first until my aunt started yelling at me.:yell: "OH MY GOD, WOULD YOU LOOK AT MY BRAND NEW FLOOR. YOU HAVE RUINED IT! YOU ARE SO HEAVY YOU PUNCHED HOLES IN MY BRAND NEW FLOOR WITH YOUR CHEAP AZZ SHOES!" I was mortified AND PISSED that she embarrassed me and yelled at me like that so I yelled right back at her:argue:, "THIS IS NOT A FLOOR, IT IS CHEAP LINOLEUM, MADE OUT OF PLASTIC! THE PROBLEMS IS NOT MY CHEAP SHOES, THE PROBLEM IS YOUR CHEAP AZZ FLOOR! IF YOU WOULD SPEND LESS MONEY THROWING PARTIES TRYING TO IMPRESS YOUR STUCK-UP FRIENDS AND MORE MONEY BUYING FLOORING THAT WAS WORTH MORE THAN $10, THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SOMEONES HEELS POKING HOLES IN YOUR CHEAP AZZ FLOOR!":heh: Needless to say, we haven't spoken since. Speaking of heels, I have also had my heels stuck in the heat register at church. Grrrr, that is annoying no matter what size you are. I have learned to snap fight back when people make fun of my size.

Wow, thanks everyone! You all have made me feel so much better. I start my 2-week pre-op diet on Wednesday, I tried to start early but unfortunately, that episode yesterday landed me smack dab in the middle of the fast-food drive-thru, or should I say SEVERAL fast-food drive-thrus. It's funny how things like that make you eat. I always said I was not an emotional eater, but I think I just proved myself wrong yesterday. I completely forgot about another experience that would probably be in the close running with yesterday. I was on a Greyhound bus one time and squeezed myself into the bathroom. And when I say squeezed, I mean I had to squeeze myself into that bathroom in sections. NOT CUTE! Once I managed to get all my sections in, I went to get leave and I could not get out. I was stuck! The door on the bathroom opened IN. I was standing on the toilet seat trying to maneuver myself out of there but it was just not happening. The story ends with the bus having to be pulled over to the side of the road and the door being removed from the hinges. Back then, I had an "I Don't Care What You Think About Me" attitude about myself. I made fun of myself before others had a chance to. When I finally got out, I announced quite loudly, "Well, I guess that'll teach me not to have that second piece of pie. Busdriver, can you stop at the store so I can pickup some DEPENDS? I won't be trying THAT again!" Of course, when I got home, I cried myself to sleep. Thanks again for the great encouragement. I hope to be of the same support to each and every one of you.

I live in Phoenix, AZ and the prices range from $13,500 (lowest) to $19,500 (highest) in this area. I am self-pay and cannot afford it so I am having my surgery in Aurora, Colorado by Dr. Kirshenbaum for $9950. It is the best deal I have found in the U.S. If you are willing to go to Mexico, there are some very qualified doctors that will do it for less than $8000, just be sure to thoroughly check them out. Good luck in your search.

I can't wait to get the Lap-Band on Dec 13th! I had an awful day today that confirmed just how badly I want and NEED this surgery. It started out with Black Friday shopping. I got halfway through the store and my back locked up so I had to have my husband go get me an electric riding cart. I stopped in the middle of the aisle and bent over to get something off the bottom shelf, and I lost control of the cart because my fat stomach pushed the lever to make it go forward and I didn't notice it. That made me go forward and I slammed into this old lady in front of me and knocked her down. It just so happens that she was bent over in front of me, picking something up. When my cart slammed into her rear end, she went flying onto the floor.:faint: Thank God she wasn't hurt but I was so embarrassed and humiliated, I just left the store without finishing up my shopping. Then I went to the salon to have my hair cut and sat (or squeezed myself rather) in the chair to look at the style book and unfortunately, the chair had arms. (Arms on chairs are not a good thing for me at all.) Somehow, the area between the arm and the seat seemed to act as a suctioning device and all of the fat on my thighs got sucked into the sides of the chair. They called my name to get my haircut and when I went to get up, THE ENTIRE CHAIR CAME WITH ME!:embarassed: I sat back down with the chair attached to my *ss and figured I could inch myself out of the chair, since I had done it many times in the past in similar situations. But NO, NOT TODAY, not on my worst fat day ever! I was STUCK! And I mean stuck. I could not get out of the chair, the sides of my legs were in so much pain. To make a long story short, they had to get a screwdriver and TAKE THE SIDE OF THE CHAIR OFF for me to get out! Meanwhile, two little kids were watching, pointing, and laughing, as if it were some sort of a circus act.:angry Needless to say, I did not get my hair cut today. To top my day off, I got home and took a nap because of all of the frustration. I must have had a bad dream because I woke up on the floor in front of the couch. THAT was just what I needed. I darn near rocked myself back to sleep trying to get up off the floor, which I finally accomplished with the help of my husband and sister. I am SOOOOOO ready for this surgery. I just needed to vent for a minute, thanks for letting me. Hopefully, someday in the near future I will look back on this day and find humor in it, but for now, it is NOT cute!

I am assuming it would only be temporary, just to shrink the liver until the surgery is over. I wonder if the high level of fat will make the liver more slippery?

I am having my surgery on December 13th and have been hearing a lot about being stuck and getting unstuck. What type of foods cause you to stick and how do you get unstuck?

I am a dance music recording artist. I sing all over the world, mostly in dance clubs and raves.

Thank you all so much for the encouragement.

Hello, I will be banded on Dec 13th, 2007. My doctor wants me to do the induction phase of Atkin's diet for 14 days prior to the surgery. I understand it is to shrink the liver but does the amount of fat intake matter? I know the induction phase has unlimited fat.

Welcome Jenn and the best to you!

I wanted to add a little more to my introduction. I am doing this surgery so I can be healthy and also because I am a recording artist (singer) and my career has suffered greatly because of my weight. I had 2 #1 Billboard singles in the mid 90's, both were dance music singles. Due to my weight, I stopped recording music a few years ago but have since decided to restart my career and my record label wants me to lose the weight asap. I have a new song being released in 4 months so the crunch is on. I look forward to all of the support I can receive and give on this board. I will be having my surgery with Dr. Kirshenbaum on Dec. 13, 2007. Can anyone tell me some of the experiences they had during the first few months after surgery that I should be aware of?

Brandy, my surgery is set for 12:30 P.M. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I started my pre-op diet 6 days ago and have already lost 11 pounds. I wanted to get a head start on the weight loss so I started early, unfortuntely, I forgot about Thanksgiving :-(:

I have heard that Dr. Aceves is awesome. He is in Mexicali, Mexico. I am considering him now.

Does Dr. K use Inamed Lap-Band or the new Johnson and Johnson band? Also does he use a low profile port or high profile port?

Hello everyone, my name is Mona, I live in Phoenix, Az, and I am getting the band by Dr. Kirshenbaum in Colorado on December 13, 2007. I have already started my pre-op diet 2 days ago because I wanted to get a head start on the liver thing, it scares me. I am worried about my BMI being 62 and afraid that my big liver may bend the metal thing holding it up. Is that possible?

By the way, I weigh 370 and am 5'5". I live in Phoenix, Az and I will be driving to have my surgery done on December 13, 2007. Can someone tell me how to add the ticker and my pic to my profile?