Sharon1964

Routine followup appointment today with my primary doctor. She is relatively new to me, as she replaced my primary who went to the dark side (Kaiser). My blood pressure was 118/84. My A1C was 5.3, officially below the cutoff for diabetes (5.7), and my diabetes is now considered resolved. BOOOOOOOOOYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Tell your therapist you believe you are being mentally and monetarily abused, and ask for their help in reporting it. They are required to help you. Your father doesn't have to be your payee, and he doesn't have to have control of, or access to, your money. You need a new, neutral payee. He stole from you. The government takes that very, very seriously, when they are providing funds for you. I think that is the first step to taking more control of your own life - take the financial control away from him. Then you are on more even ground and might be able to deal with the interpersonal issues.

I have a good friend that I can call or text and all I have to say is "I'm a horrible person" or "it's a bad day", and they will proceed to tell me about all the wonderful things I've done. When I'm feeling very rejected and like nothing can go right, that is what I need - positive words of affirmation. I have another friend, a platonic guy-friend (YEAH, I HAVE THEM!!!), who is good for a serious hug when I need one. He's taller than me, and envelops me and makes me feel delicate and small and protected. Those are my soothing things.

I know about the cup size vs. band size, but in all my years of yo-yo dieting, I've NEVER lost weight and increased cup size. EVER. I'm 51 yrs old, and I've been dieting since I was 5 yrs old.

I brought super loose sweatpants to wear under my gown for walking the halls. The two-gown thing chokes me.

Actually, real-time eligibility, benefits, and deductible status will tell them that. A few weeks before surgery, my hospital called me and said, as of now, it looks like the remainder of your out-of-pocket will be around $3,300. I said, that's correct, all the other bills have been processed (I looked it up myself). And I said, I don't think there will be much, if anything else, before surgery. I offered to pay $3,000 up front, and they ended up billing me for a hundred dollars or so (can't remember the exact amount). They would much rather try to collect $100 instead of $3100.

This is the new standard. So many people end up not paying their hospital bill that now the hospital wants what they expect your portion to be, up front. When I saw the title, I thought you meant you had to pay 100% up front, not your portion. I was all ready to tell you how to file a complaint about that. But paying your portion up front is to be expected these days. The lab I go to now has the same policy. They told me when I went in yesterday that they expected my portion of the bill to be $19, and they took my credit card info. In their case, it's not charged until after insurance processes.

These were on sale, plus $10 off for signing up for text coupons, total was right at $20 each.

I held them up to each other, poked one cup inside the other... they looked exactly the same! It's like the Twilight Zone when you're trying on bras.

So a month or so ago I bought four new bras because my old ones were too big. The new size was 48DD. The only time I've been less than DD was when I got down to under 175 pounds, a VERY long time ago. What the heck was I thinking - buying four bras?!?!? Today, I put on the nice black one with little gold dots all over it. Raised my arm to put on deodorant and whoopsie... the bra slides up right over the girls. Not a good look. I got out of work early because I finished a huge project and my boss was grateful and told me to take the afternoon off. Went to Catherines, tried on a 46DD. The band size was fine, the cups were far too small. Got a 46DDD and tried it on, fit perfectly. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. My girls have deflated. I almost have to start at the floor and roll them up and stuff them in. How in the heck did I go UP a cup size????? That's bra math. Don't try this at home.

Yep, me too. Must haves: teeth that look reasonably good (not all broken off) and brushes them regularly no anger issues a job ability to laugh together regular showers and wears deodorant The rest is a matter of temperament, personality and chemistry.

Come again?

Yeah, the date was just too much work.

Things have picked up. Today I'm one day shy of 6 months, and I'm at 273 - 14 pounds for the month and a total of 130 down. I'm good with that.

Shoe size... I have no idea! I responded, "big enough to keep me upright in a strong wind." Relationship... that's a good question. I think it's like the "fall in love" question. For some it takes one date, for others, no amount of dates is enough.

It's not an emergency. An emergency is when you can't breathe, or you have sudden pain that wakes you from sleep.

Latest adventure... I talked to this guy on the phone for a couple of hours. Very interesting, funny, had me laughing, all was good. We met for a bite to eat. He talked so fast I kept having to ask him to repeat himself. Okay, maybe he was nervous. He left his phone in his truck then went to get it to show me a photo. That's when he discovered his keys were in the ignition. Again, maybe nervous. He would ask me a question but then answer it himself. For instance, "do you like the food? You must like it, you're eating it." Maybe really nervous. He mentioned I was hardly talking, when I had talked quite a bit on the phone. He had weight loss surgery about 15 years ago maybe. We talked about that. Then he asked me what my weight and shoe size are. I guess he thought that since we both had surgery, those were acceptable questions. Maybe I'm making excuses for him. He asked me if we could see each other again, because when we met it was very last-minute. The jury is still out. PS: I almost forgot... there were some red flags regarding anger, how he reacted to being stopped by the police for "driving while not white" (he's Portuguese), and how he handled a minor traffic accident.

I have a hard time believing it's real. Before surgery, I thought I would fail at this. I really did. I would read through all the NSV threads and never thought I'd be posting here!

One of the few things I've done for myself consistently since leaving my soul-sucking marriage in 2006 is to have my nails done. Yesterday, I went to my regular place, sat in the regular chair at the manicure table (with arms), and I had a ton of room on each side. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT! Then I sat in the massaging pedicure chair. Ton of room on each side. All the girls that work there are about 98 pounds soaking wet, if that. They were all oohing and ahhing over my new look. It was awesome!

@@Elode Oh, my dear Elode... sit down, this is going to be a shocker. Now, I don't usually give this kind of news over the internet, but I don't really have any other avenues for it at the moment. Are you sitting yet? Maybe get a nice glass of wine. Something soothing. Turn the lights down a litte. Maybe put on some soft music. Okay? Yes? Ready? GIRL, YOU ARE TINY!

With a nod to Super Bowl Sunday... Today, Sunday, February 7, one day shy of 6 months post-surgery, I have reached the halfway point. 130 pounds down, 130 pounds to go.

Infatuation and lust are easy. You can get those instantly. Trust me, I know. And they can make you crazy. When the infatuation fades is when the real love begins. Love is both a choice and an action. You can choose to do loving things that makes your partner feel love, just as you can communicate to that person what makes you feel love. Can you tell I've been working on my love languages class since I haven't given the class in 3 years???

From the title, I thought for sure this one belonged in the naughty section. Just sayin'.

The question is not really whether Medicare pays (they do, and they have a policy on it), but whether or not Medicare will pay if the primary won't. Instead of calling the regular Medicare number (1-800-MEDICARE for anyone in the states), try calling the Benefits Coordination and Recovery Center (BCRC), at 1-855-798-2627. TTY users should call 1-855-797-2627. The BCRC is usually involved when there is a question of who should pay first, but they are also involved when the primary insurance doesn't pay and Medicare makes a conditional payment on your behalf (so you don't have to pay medical bills yourself). They might be able to tell you what the policy is on this.

But... but... but... mom!