"with the band"

Man - I will pray for you. I am so sorry for all of your troubles and worries about the costs. That is just all to horrible!!! I cannot imagine what a let down you feel. Know that my heart is with you and that I am feeling your frustration, fear and know that I will continue to say a prayer for you that all will work out for the best for you. Take care - Nancy

good luck - I will pray for you and hope that all goes well. Take care - nancy

congrats - hope you recover quick and that all goes well as you start your journey!!! You made it....that's a great accomplishment - now you have help...you have the band. Take care - nancy

here - you can always come home. I am a new Bandster - having mine in July - but I hear your struggle and wish you the best. One good thing - you knew to ask for help and you have made that first step. Take care - nancy

Have you tried any reflexology for your migraines. My husband and son get great relief from this. I can fix my husband in about 8 minutes. Good luck - I hope you feel better. Nancy

Vinesqueesn - I agree that everyone has artistic talents. They just don't recognize how they use them. Here is a pic of one of my Poetry Art Wall Exhibits. This one was for the Black & White Charity Ball for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.

Very very well....I'm banded now and I have the edge. I'm ready and excited. I will not even stress one little minute about it now. I have the band. I'm good to go. Take care- nancy

sleepyjean - I am so sorry you feel that way about marriage - it can be so much more - comfort, love, laughter, friendship, familiar interests, joy, exploration of life, travel, fun, passion, sweetness, soooooo much more than you are understanding it to be. Ladysplenda - I cooked every night for my DH - I made gourmet meals and told myself that I was not going to hide from food. I still make the same gourmet meals and now I eat along with DH - but much less. It never bothered me - but I enjoy cooking and would have missed it had I stopped just because I got the band. I never consider the fact that I am on a diet.....it just doesn't feel that way. Take care - nancy

Jini - don't freak out - I know it is normal - but really there is no reason. You will be fine. Think all of the positive thoughts of all the positive reasons you are doing this for yourself. I will be thinking about you and hoping you have a speedy recovery.....67 lbs. is not that much to lose and I am sure that you thought about this long and hard before deciding to do this. Try to regain some of those thoughts = and try to be hopeful. Let us know how you are doing. take care - nancy

honey - honey - honey - take a deep breath and calm down. Your body and your mind has just been through a trauma. I know the day I came home from surgery I thought I was going to flip my lid. I was an emotional basket case. Feelings of wanting this out of you - those are normal feelings just because you know that something foreign is in your body now. This is very normal - you will get better and you will start to heal both physicaly and emotionaly. Please try to do whatever you can to make yourself feel better and comfort yourself in any way that you can. Time will pass and you will see that you will start to feel better again. Please let us know how you are doing. Take care - Nancy

sweets have always been my enemy - my new trick is to go in my closet and look at all the great clothes I am still trying to fit into. I then try to drink some Water and have a healthy treat - such as a 1/3 cup of nice low cal ice cream or a cooked apples with cinamon and some vanilla low cal ice cream. I try to make sure that my treats are good for me, fruit based, but still satisfying that basic need for something decandent and totally good. Good luck - don't beat yourself up over this - just admitting it is half the battle. Cookies are so good and so bad - DH complained about not having any treats so I went on a 3 week cookie baking spree. Not too good - so I just tried to put them away and give them away. Take care - Nancy

Hope seems to be the common thread hereand I believe Hope is what the band gives me. I like to call it "the edge"; my secret weapon in this weight loss effort. nancy

Good Gracious Kare - I will certainly think of you and keep you in my prayers. Take care - nancy

Like the others said - don't beat yourself up over this and don't think that all is doomed. WE CAN ALWAYS START OVER - That is what you have to believe. You know yourself well enough and think of the place that took you to this road in the first place. That will start you over. Good Luck - Nancy

Yes - it is all disgusting Try to live the life - alone in the dark with the demons of hatred all around you from judgemental people who literally hate your existence because you are not pretty enough for their prescious eyes to look upon. All of the model types are dumb if they think they can know what we have lived with in this mean old world. Nancy

My daschund puppy - Venus Marie catches them for us all the time and brings their dead lifeless bodies to me like trophies....YUK!!! We have fondly renamed her Venus MouseTrap. Worst was in the summer and I was entertaining at the pool and she brought one and dropped it at my freshly pedicured bare toes in front of all my company.....I could have died. Nancy

Let's see... Blood Sweat & Tears ELVIS - only 18 inches away from him.....God That was great!!! Memory of a Lifetime! Mountain with Leslie West Aerosmith (Before and after they got famous) Bob Seger ~ sooo many times I can't count Bad Company REO Speedwagon Foreigner Chicago Boston Kansas Peter Frampton Billy Joel Sting Rush Def Leppard Foghat Styx Lover Boy Robin Trower Pat Benatar Lynard Skynard Led Zepplin Hall & Oates John Mellenkamp Moody Blues Savage Garden The Animals Queen Yes Kid Rock The Oakridge Boys (Know them) The VanSant Brothers Sha Na Na Don Henley can't think of any others but I am so sure there are a bunch that I forgot to list.... My last concert was KID ROCK - OH MY GOSH!!!! I absolutely love him. But the best ever had to be ELVIS - nothing can top that - you just had to be from that generation that I was from growing up watching elvis movies all weekend long with my mom and sisters. Nancy

Here is one of my color pencil sketches..... nancy

1. Lettuce 2. Apples 3. Tomatoes 4. Soft Mozzerella 5. eggs 6. Walnuts 7. Cream of Wheat 8. Canadian Bacon 9. Beans 10. Peanut Butter Men - let's see 1.) My DH (He is hotter than anyone I've ever met....dark and gorgeous..a rough boy! 2.) Josh Holloway (Sawyer on Lost) Yummy! Would give up all the food for him. 3.) Kid Rock (LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM) No one else - other than Josh and Kid Rock - never knew of another celebrity type that I liked. Now if you could put all three of these guys together I would say I died and went to heaven. Too much fantasy....got to go back to painting. Nancy

My beautiful daschunds - would be appalled....they look nothing like that - I about fell on the floor laughing. Too Funny_ nancy

It's been about 3 months for me also - down 43 lbs. and tons of inches....I have legs again - I too have had different problems - but am glad I have the band. I pray that it will stay good "inside" of me and that I will live a long time with the band and be healthier for it. Take care - nancy

Good for you - let us know how you are doing. Take care - God Speed! Nancy

You will be good - we will be thinking about you. Take care and take it easy - try to feel peaceful. You made your decision - that was the hard part. Now just take it easy and let your body heal. Take care - nancy

Thinking about you and wishing you well. Take care - Nancy

DiSanders - my bit of wisdom for your weekend.... You are a gem in your own rite...no one can be as beautiful as the precious gems that are your eyes - the sweetest spirit that is your soul. In the eyes of your beloved...you are the sun and the moon and the streams of the earth. Beauty is knowing that someone looks upon you and sighs with love. Beauty is how we conduct ourselves - with pride and self esteem. Know that you are so uniquely special - that you will feel like the gem that you are. There is no size that replaces self-esteem. Love yourself enough to feel for yourself the way you would feel for your best friend if she was in your shoes. Take care Diane - My Genre - Hope all goes well with your surgery - you will be fine - and we will be thinking about you and waiting for you to check in and give us an update. Take care - Nancy