AlysonRR

Do you agree that a parent has the right to choose public school or private school? That a parent can choose any private school they think will meet their children's educational needs and goals? There are Waldorf schools that don't teach reading until age 7 and don't let the kids use computers until high school. There are Montessori schools that don't have testing - it's obvious to the teacher by observation whether a child is grasping a topic or not. There are independent democratic schools where students vote on which staff to retain, and where the only subjects studied are student-initiated. There are independent schools where students learn from completely different curricular materials compared to the public schools. Heck, my niece transferred from one public school to another in a neighboring county and she couldn't pass the math tests because they followed a different sequence and she hadn't yet been exposed to part of the new school's curriculum. Homeschool families have all those options to choose from, plus as many others as their imagination and creativity can envision. How would you propose writing a test that would effectively gauge their progress? Testing is only a valid measure of education if the population being tested have been exposed to the same information. Since there are many educational philosophies, and schools and homeschools where a family can choose these alternate philosophies, testing will not be a comprehensive way of gauging progress. We don't insist on high stakes testing of private school students - we assume that if a parent chooses a private school and pays for it they are happy with the progress their child is making. Testing is why some families homeschool - I know several families who started homeschooling in the last few years when 'No Child Left Behind' turned into weeks of "teaching to the test" followed by a week of high pressure testing. So no, I don't think testing, at least as a sole option, would be an acceptable compromise between the desire of a family to guide their children's education and the desire of the state to ensure children are adequately educated.

How can the state ensure every child has a quality education? They can't. They can't even ensure every public school child has a quality education. That's why we have compulsory attendance laws, not compulsory education laws - the state can insist they attend, but cannot make them learn. Some schools suck, some teachers suck, some children don't get the information at the right time for their brain to learn it, some children are too worried about being safe, etc. The state and it's citizens should have the basic assumption that parents have the best interests of their children in mind when they make child-raising decisions, including education. Those parents who choose to abuse their children or neglect them have failed their trust and their children deserve our support in order to have a safe home. We don't take infants away from parents, or even monitor families, in order to ensure that every baby gets the same nurturing and opportunities. We assume parents have their babys best interests at heart and interfere only when it's become obvious they are not doing a good job. I think it should be the same with homeschooling. There are parents who are teaching their children all sorts of things I think are wrong, but in this country we have the freedom to think and believe different things, and to raise our children using the values and beliefs we hold. Children who are poorly educated, whether at home or in a public or private school, can go on to overcome their educational deficiencies and go on to excel in their chosen career. Some will not - they'll find crappy jobs and either be happy or not. But it's impossible to guarantee every child has an excellent education, whether at home or in a public or private school.

This isn't the first time CA has had a judicial ruling that homeschooling is illegal in CA - the last time was in the 1950s, and the current ruling relies on that previous ruling when it affirms that the only legal way to homeschool in CA is for a parent to be a certificated teacher, or to hire a certificated tutor. There was also an attempt in 2000 by the superintendent (or equivalent) of CA schools to prosecute all homeschoolers as truants based on the 1953 ruling. But there are several US Supreme Court rulings that affirm the parental right to choose their children's educational path, including homeschooling, so I don't ultimately expect this CA ruling to affect anyone but this particular family. I can think of many ways the judges could have ensured the physical safety of these children without affecting the education of hundreds of thousands of other students - pretty short-sighted. When a teacher or other school employee abuse a child they are rightly held at fault. The school may be implicitly at fault, if they did not make reasonable attempts to prevent the abuse, but no one points at the entire institution of public education and says "It's the schooling that's the problem". It's unfortunate that homeschooling usually only comes to national attention because of a family who is already being observed by social services. I want to yell "It's not the homeschooling that's at fault, it's the parenting!".

Glad it helped - hopefully you can strengthen your ankle and have fewer injuries, too. Has your doctor sent you to physical therapy at all? I went when I had the first acute knee pain and they gave me a series of exercises for strengthening the muscles supporting my knees/hips - they really help (gotta start doing them again - I'm procrastinating on exercise at the moment...). Good luck with your surgery, and I hope you and your husband feel better soon :-)

Yes - that's what I do now - split or crush the 100mg tabs when I have to. I did take one XL pill since being banded, but I got a fill the next day and was worried about the size, so since then I've stuck to the 100mg ones. Interesting that you can't take the XL, Donna, because I found that the SR didn't work for me. Funny things, those brains

B: about 3/4 of a poached egg on a morningstar sausage patty with 1/2 oz cheese L: about 3/4 of a sandwich = mountain bread, .5T light mayo, 1/2 c spinach, 1 oz deli meat, 1 oz crumbled bacon, 1/2 oz feta D: 1/4c oikos greek yogurt plus 1/4c fiberone plus 1tsp honey S: special K iced tea Definitely more restriction with this fill - I'll start working in more vegetables and fruit tomorrow. Woo hoo - 50 lb down today!

Obesity and depression and/or anxiety can go together so I imagine it's not unusual for a bariatric doctor to discover their patient is on an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety med. I had been on Wellbutrin for several years before going through with surgery, and my doctor didn't say anything about it. I still take it, though when I'm tight I have to take the 100mg tabs several times a day (instead of the extended or slow release tabs once a day), and split them or crush them. I don't see why it would affect your approval. Good luck!

Melinda - I'm not very far along in my banding journey, but before losing some weight if I stepped wrong or bent down to pick something up off the floor one or both of my knees would "pop out", leaving me unable to walk without immense pain for up to a couple days. I was using a cane almost all the time. Within a week after surgery, when I'd lost ~25 lb, I was able to stop using my cane and I noticed my knee joints didn't hurt as much when I bashed a foot against something. And after almost 50 lb I have a much higher activity level and my knees haven't "popped out" in at least a month. So yes, in my case, the repeated injuries have decreased dramatically with only a relatively small loss (okay, it's a freaking big loss ). Hope that helps, and good luck!

What I think is interesting (and to me shows that the appeals court didn't realize what they were doing) is that the way the decision is written, this ruling invalidates the public school programs that have catered to homeschoolers (and thus brought education $ back to school districts) because the students enrolled aren't physically in those centers full-time. And many private schools would be illegal, too, since they don't always hire certificated teachers. So in an effort to keep two children under dubious increased supervision of a public school (don't public school children suffer from undetected abuse?), the judges have potentially impacted the educational choices of hundreds of thousands of families. It's as if a public school teacher hit a child and a judge closed all the schools in the district/county/state to keep children away from the influence of potentially abusive teachers... Or put all infants/toddlers into daycare so parental abuse of a few could be better detected. I think it's extremely unlikely this will be anything but a CA issue, and I don't think it will impact CA for long. Most other states have clearly delineated regulations that spell out how parents can comply with compulsory attendance laws while homeschooling their children. The US Supreme Court has ruled several times about the constitutionality of parental choice in education, inclusive of homeschooling. I think this is a blip.

My standard lunch since starting solids about two months ago has been a sandwich made with Mountain Bread. It's a low fat, low carb flatbread - very thin but flexible - that I found first at Trader Joe's, and now at my local grocer. At first I ate a whole flatbread - lately (as my restriction increased) I've been cutting them in half. I smear it with 1-2tsp light mayo, layer 4-5 pieces of thin deli meat and 1/2 cup spinach, and roll it up. After I eat that I can sometimes eat 1/4-1/2 of a piece of fruit.

Ooh, and I forgot to update my ticker and signature - check it out :-) I don't talk about my actual weight often, but this last month's loss brought me below 300 for the first time in six years! Hurray! I'll be back posting meals tomorrow - keeps me on track!

I haven't been posting meals - I've been working on our house building process, tracking down subcontractors, and helping my two kids complete their social studies projects ("Foods Around The World") and science fair projects (one on the intestinal system of pigs, the other on electricity - we're building a potato battery) for our homeschool co-op. But a few days before my last fill I found a new favorite Breakfast - poached egg on top of half and ounce of cheese melted on one of the Morninstar veggie sausage patties. I tried cooking the patties a couple different ways, but ultimately I liked the microwaved patties best. MW on a plate 30 sec on once side, flip and MW 30 sec on the other side, put cheese on and MW 15 sec - let sit while the cheese fully melts, and put the poached egg on top. Yum - we'll see if I can tolerate it tomorrow when I'm off post-fill liquids. Hope it works for you!

I don't particularly like sweet beverages, but I can drink the iced tea one, disliked the strawberry kiwi (though my 6-y.o. sweets lover really likes it), and haven't tried pink lemonade yet. I think South Beach has a line of drink powders, too - not sure if they're similar in protein/fiber content.

Oh, and here's another idea - my kids really like these: Inarizushi: sushi in a bean bag | Just Hungry I get the fried bean curd at an Oriental grocer.

I'd only use raw fish that's sold as sashimi-grade, and I've only seen that in Hawaii and in Japanese grocery stores in the city, not anywhere local to me. I make sushi at home using cooked crab (my parents can catch crab in the Water in front of their house!), smoked salmon from Costco, and barbecued eel (unagi) from the freezer section of a whole foods type grocery in a nearby town. I also make tamago (Tutorial: Making tamagoyaki or Japanese rolled egg | lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento) for nigiri. Hope that helps! Have a fun party :-)

I've been doing better since I started having Kashi GoLean and/or Fiber One Cereal pretty much every day. I could handle 1/3-1/2 cup mixed with Fage or Oikos Greek yogurt (which also has fiber) until a couple days ago - I think my fill has kicked in and I could only handle 1/4 cup today. My liquid Vitamin has some fiber in it. For the last 6 weeks or so I've been averaging about 12g fiber, which isn't the 25 you're "supposed" to get, but I figured it was pretty good for my intake. The days I do best are the days when I have my vitamin, high fiber cereal, two veg servings, and a fruit serving. I really prioritize getting veg/fruit after I fit in my protein!

I held my 6-y.o. daughter on my lap yesterday without having to elevate my leg so she wouldn't slip off. There was room on my leg for all of her! I walked up the stairs to my kids' gym observation deck quickly (though hauling myself with the rails, still) instead of my pre-band painfully slow one-step-at-a-time speed.

Anyone know of women who have been beaten or murdered because they're pregnant? I do. Every woman's situation is not ideal for bringing a child into the world... Some women would not choose abortion; some women (like the girl who committed suicide) should not.

I was on Medifast for two weeks prior to surgery, and I didn't feel particularly hungry. I had 5 Medifast meals (shakes, oatmeal, Soup, powdered eggs) and a "lean green" meal (5-6oz lean Protein plus 2 cups of green vegies). You're not hungry because high protein diets have a satiety effect. I don't know how much you're losing vs. how much you expected to lose, but my doctor said he wanted to see me lose 10 pounds on the two-week pre-op diet. I lost about 13 pounds in the two weeks, but I started at a BMI of just above 60, so my body was primed to lose Low carb diets also cause ketosis which is what's making your mouth taste yucky. My only suggestion would be to switch from gum to sugar-free mints after your surgery. I swallowed a piece of gum about 2 weeks after surgery (trying to get the yucky taste out of my mouth) and it was stuck for at least a week... Good luck!

I really like the cottage cheese that comes flavored with chives. I've tried just adding chives to plain cottage cheese, but I didn't like it as well.

I want to share that I was pretty crippled at my high pre-band weight (a little under 350); I was using a cane almost all the time and even with it couldn't walk much. After losing ~25lb I felt less pain, and now, with ~45lb lost, I'm much more active, can manage walking on uneven surfaces (like the beach), and can walk further without pain. So I imagine you'll feel a lot better with even a 10-15% loss. Good luck with your surgery.

I went to a French-inspired restaurant the other night and had two selections from the amuse bouche (sp?) menu (~1 oz food each) and an appetizer (2 large scallops with garnish). It was perfect! we both drank wine (not during the meal for me!) and hubby got dessert, and we tipped as though we had ordered two Entrees. When we go to regular restaurants I just take the leftovers home for another meal or two (or three!). I feel amazed when my husband finishes a whole huge restaurant portion (plus bread!) - it amuses me that I'm amazed since I would have eaten the same pre-band... I think the only time I would use the card (I got mine at my first fill appointment) is at a buffet.

B: 1/2c Oikos Greek yogurt, 1/4c Kashi GoLean, 1/4c FiberOne cereal, tsp honey L: 3/4 of a sandwich (couldn't finish): Mountain bread, 3 oz chicken, 1/2oz reduced fat cheddar, onion, 1/2c arugula, 1T lite mayo D: 4 cheese raviolis, 1/4 c spaghetti sauce, spinach salad

I wish I'd heard of and had Lap-Band surgery instead of my last diet, a medically supervised program that cost ~$4K for 12 weeks of intensive work and a few followups (I had to quit because we moved), and which resulted in a 25 lb loss followed by a 50 lb gain. I wish I hadn't spent so much time immediately post-op trying different Protein powder and obsessing over amounts of liquid and protein, I could have just drunk 3 tolerable tasting shakes a day and gotten my tastes fulfilled with chicken broth or carrot-ginger Soup or some other clear soup. That's what I do now during my two days of post-fill liquid, and it's much less stressful! I wish I had been more active after surgery. It took me a while to get back on a regular schedule and I think I would have felt better sooner if I had gotten off the couch more often! I wish I had weaned off the narcotic pain meds on day three instead of day seven - my pain probably would have been managed with Tylenol and I wouldn't have had so much nausea (I thought it was band-related, but in retrospect it was the codeine!). I wish I hadn't tried spicy soup on day 3 post-op - ouch! I wish I hadn't chewed gum and accidentally swallowed it a couple days after starting mushies, cause I had to go back on liquids! Good luck with your surgery!

I spent a lot of time while on the liquid post-op diet trying to find ways to tolerate Protein shakes. I found two, a chocolate (EAS Advantage) and a vanilla (Designer Whey) that I can tolerate by adding a shot or two of sugarfree DaVinci syrup, and/or some fruit. But after starting soft then solid foods I only have Protein Shakes for two days after a fill. I can stand three a day for two days without a problem. Some of the protein powders I tried tasted better when they sat, mixed with the DaVinci syrup, for awhile in the refrigerator before I drank them. Others tasted better when mixed with soy milk (I don't use regular milk, but the principle is the same) compared to Water. Kind of rambling - I think the answer is no, you don't really need protein shakes, but they are an efficient way of getting adequate protein during times when you're restricted to liquids.