HunnyBun

Thank you!!! Ringworm is much less scary than skin cancer LOL!

Thank you very much for the help. I woke up this morning to see that this thing has kind of dried! Now it looks almost like a light color scab. Not the usualy dark red one. It definately didn't get bigger or worse. I did take benadril last night to help me fall asleep, maybe that helped heal the thing. I did get a new puppy a couple weeks ago and she does lick my face a lot. I'm hoping it's just an alergic reaction. My mom decided to inspect my body to see if I got any more of these things and turns out I have 4 more small crusty bumps on my shoulder, arm, and back. I'm gonna find a family doc today and make an appointment for tomorrow. Thank you all so much for taking time to respond. It gives a great deal of comfort to have someone to talk to, even if it's just online.

If my understanding of a blemish is correct, this is not a blemish. It looks more like a round patch, rasied red ring on the outside, ugly yellow wet infected looking inside, about the size of a dime. I may be just over reacting, I'm always just a tad paranoid when it comes to health issues.

My insurance is provided by the state so they dont play coverage games, they will pay for hospital and urgent care without worry, the problem lies with finding a doctor that accepts state insurance.

A few days ago I saw something growing on my face. It first looked like tiny red patch but over the last few days turned a bit bigger, darker and uglier. I've been applying rash cream but nothing. It's just getting larger. I looked online to see what skin cancer looks like and it kind of resembles what I saw. I called a dermatologist that accepts my insurance and they told me the doctor is booked through the end of June and is going on vacation after that. I told her that I have something growing on my face and was looking to come in as an emergency patient, and she answered 'You'll just have to go to your family doctor'. Well, I don't have one right now. I dont have a dermatologist, I don't have a family doctor, and I don't know what to do. I can't find another dermatologist nearby that accepts my insurance. I don't want to go to the ER in case it's nothing. Isn't it a bit silly to go to the hospital because of a little something on my face? I don't want to look stupid and waste their time. What would you do? Give it a week to see what happens? Go to the ER? Wait til my dermatologist is back from vacation? Find a new family doctor? I'm just so stressed out, I don't know what to do, I can barely fall asleep from the worry.

I'm reading 'Children are from Heaven' by John Gray, 'Learn to Meditate - A practical guide to self discovery and fulfillment' by David Fontana, and 'The Handbag Book Of Girly Love Emergencies' by Laurel Glen. That last one is just to lift my mood a little. Been so stressed lately.

...and what an NSV will it be the day it reads your weight Oh wait, it won't be a NSV, will it?

:deadhorse:

Hey guys I have news. I finally decided to go forth with the process of getting the band. In a few short months I too will be a bandster! So... When I talked to the super sweet lady at my doctor's office she scheduled me for a seminar on June 5th. Then she told me that every patient must go through 16 weeks of supervised diet before surgery. She said I will have to see a dietician every week and some weeks a psychologist. She said most patients lose about 20-30 lbs during this time. Since my BMI is 48, I will still qualify for surgery even with the loss of 30 lbs. She said that when they submit the paperwork with proof of a supervised diet they will not get declined by my insurance. She also told me that my insurance is easy to deal with and will give me an answer within two weeks after the paperwork is submitted. I am not super happy about having to wait, but not sad either. I guess I'm just anxious. Has anyone done a supervised diet before surgery? What happened during the meetings? What was expected of you? Did you lose weight? How do you feel about it now that you're done? If you could go back and have surgery without the diet, would you skip it? What should I expect? Thanks!!!

Oh wow that is one hottie there, and I'm talking about YOU! LOL You look really pretty. That's a good looking man too! Gives me hope that us fat girls can still find a gorgeous man to call our own

I love home made stuff. How do you make your own laundry detergent???? Please tell!

I think we use shoes to protect our feet from the harsh surface and dirt outside. The floor in my house is washed by hand every 2-3 days, and if people wore shoes in here it would happen daily. In my home, I walk around barefoot all the time and would hate to walk all over crumbs of dog poop or worse. I never ask my guests to take off their shoes but usually they do it anyway. At my last house I had this gorgeous carpet in the front room that was brand new when I moved in. The cable installer guy came in with his work shoes on and pretty much ruined the carpet. He had something on his shoes, maybe mud from the alley. I was so upset. I think shoes should always be removed when entering someones home. Unless ofcourse they are needed for a medical reason or something. A friend of mine allows people to keep their shoes on if she hasn't washed the floors because her dog makes a mess and she doesnt want people to get their feet dirty. When that happens, I keep my shoes on, but when I have to go into her bathroom, I leave them outside of the bathroom door so I don't get her bath rugs dirty. Just respect IMO.

Ooohhh favorite home products! I have many! I love the lavender vanilla downy dryer sheets and fabric softner. I'm a big fan of Origins room spray. Must have huge bath towels, I have a whole closet full of towels so big I can wrap them around me once and a half! Love The Good Home Company household cleaning supplies. Have lots of soy candles everywhere. I like making my own but when I buy them, I always get Archipelago Botanicals. Pricey but soooo worth it. Love my Hoover Floormate. Also, love Perfect Glass for cleaning mirrors and glass tables. Nothing works quite like it.

I love it too!

I have an addiction to beauty stuff so here is what comes with me if I'm ever leaving the house overnight, even if it's just to spend the night at a boy's house. 1. Sephora chocolate Raspberry shower gel 2. Nivea firming body lotion 3. Clinique face soap 4. Chanel Age Delay spf 15 moisturizer 5. Too Faced - Rip Off eye makeup remover 6. Dove deodorant 7. Bare Escentuals face foundation and brush 8. Other colorful makeup like Clinique lipstick, Chanel eye shadow, Bobbi Brown blush and shimmer, Cargo lip gloss, Laura Mercier Mascara and Chanel eye liner 9. Intuition Shaver 10. Armani Sensi perfume BTW I too LOVE LOVE LOVE Allure, or any Chanel perfume. I especially love Chance. I'm a cosmetics addict. I love Dior Addict too! lol The most favorite products ever though are probably mineral makeup, a good mascara, and perfume. I can get by with just those three.

Maybe your hubby is just worried. Does he know that the risk of death is not nearly as high for lap band patients as it is for RNY patients? I have never actually heard of anyone die from Lap Band surgery on all the lap band boards I go to, but I have heard of several from RNY. Maybe all he needs is a little more info.

When I was 14-15 I used to hang out at a park with a group of friends. There was another little bit older group and one of the guys would always say 'elephant butt' to me and make really ugly heavy walking sounds when I walked by. I was mortified because he did it often and in front of my friends. The saddest part is that the guy is missing an arm. From a story I heard, he was involved in an accident where he lost his left arm at the shoulder. This was 8 years ago and I still see him often when I go to a local coffee shop. He always looks at me and he knows that I know who he is, but he never says hello. He just looks and keeps on walking. One time he was there really drunk and as his friends were walking him out the door, he stopped and stared me straight in the eyes ready to say something, but he didnt. I think he was trying to either figure out what to say or maybe just wondering where he knows me from. It's kind of weird but he's the one I feel sorry for. I can always lose weight and he'll never get his arm back. It's just so sad he took it out on another person with physical issues. I've been downtown chicago by the lake and as I was crossing a street some jerk in a car yelled out 'someone didnt skip dinner!' or something similar. I was furious but kept walking. Once I was walking in a park and some guys driving by rolled down their window and yelled 'fat-ass' to me and drove off. There were a few situations where my family said things like 'you look like you're pregnant' or 'you're getting TOO big now' etc I never respond, I always just keep on walking. I wish I had the balls to say something back but I'm just too afraid to.

A year or so ago I had asked my doctor about weight loss surgery and if she could refer me to a surgeon, and she told me that it's a cosmetic thing and my insurance will not cover it. HA! I never saw her again after that.

I agree with them, it wouldn't be fair to a bunch of unbanded people if someone who has a band joined the competition. Bandsters have an advantage over the others. I do agree that it's still work, but it's definately easier than without a band. If it wasn't, there would be no point to getting one.

I'm confused.

My house is a three bedroom, one bath ranch that we got for $330 last summer. After installing new windows, roof, ripping apart the inside completely and putting in brand new walls, kitchen, floors, bathroom. After adding two more bathrooms and a bar, family room, laundry room and small kitchen area in the basement, it's now worth nearly 500k, this small little cramped and crowded ranch. I wish we could afford a bigger house. For 1mil, we could get a nice 5-6 bedroom good quality home, but it would still not be huge. We own a house in Poland that is enormous. Probably worth about 5mil if you put it in a good area of Chicago. I still can't believe I went from a mansion to a small ranch.

I speak Polish primarely and English as a secondary language. I know a little bit of Spanish. I am hoping to learn Italian someday as I would like to live in Italy. My son knows English, Polish, and Chinese. My sister if fluent in Polish, English, German, and French.

Your stories are very inspiring, thank you so much for sharing. I'm not banded and am struggling to make a decision, but I am leaning towards getting the band some day. I am trying to lose weight without the band and it's very difficult. My biggest issue with the band is fear of complications, infections, erosion etc. Seeing positive stories reminds me that it is not all bad. I'm glad this thread was started! Thank you!!

Hey boys and girls, banded or not (I'm not), let's get a little group going. I would love to meet other Chicago people who are dealing with weight loss or have dealt with it. I know there was something like this before by another LBTer but I missed out on the fun. Anyone?

I've worn clothes so big they went from tightly hugging the upper portion of my butt, to nearly hanging down to my knees! I still insisted on wearing them though, only in the house Three years ago I wore a size 12 or 14, now I'm a 24, but I still have some of my favorite size 14 clothes hanging in my closet. I'm VERY sentimental about my clothes. I have bags and boxes sitting in every empty space of my house, so many that I even had to stick one in my son's room, under his desk. None of them are ever going away I don't have a point, it's too early lol. Congratulations on your bittersweet NSV!