SuperDaddy!

Happy Happy Joy Joy (singing loudly!) You know...sometimes it's human nature to just dwell on the tough stuff! As for me...I'm down 45 pounds with zero complications. I'm wearing new pants already, and I'm tucking in shirts again. Wahoo! The band is still not very restrictive for me...so tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner will be interesting. But this has been a great journey so far. Keep checking back...there's a plenty of funny things that pop up. Of course...the other big reason for a support group is to find strength through the tough times. You'll always have people sharing their trials here. It's part of the deal. Honestly...if you looked at some of the entries on the bypass support sites...you'd see that their situations have similiar joys and pitfalls. Actually, some of the threads I've read on bypass sites are far more serious and side-affects more dangerous. I wish I could tell you that it's rosey for everybody all the time...but you take the good with the bad in every choice you make. Weight loss surgery included. Best of luck to you in the future! Jon

Well...if I could also chime in for the male half of the world...it's true that many men cannot express their feelings and emotions to the point that they feel the situation is easier just to simply leave. I don't know your husband, but I assure you that his heart has ached and longed to make a deision to do this for a long time, and has just not been able to communicate it to you. It doesn't make it any better or easier, but I doubt it was something that he just spontaneously got up one day and decided to do. The father (and third grade teacher) in me immediately thinks about those kids. They need stability, and counsel...and they need a dad. He may not be ready to step up the the plate (and truly he may not be the father figure for them for long), but they need to have a male role model that compliments you as a model mother. And, if I my may be direct here...you and your kids need a church, the wise counsel of a pastor, a church body to support you, and to know that you are loved by the God of miracles, Jesus. He promises in the Bible that he is faithful, and he loves you, and he will never leave you. Find peace and strength for your family. My prayers are with you today. I see many, many children in my classrooms that come from broken homes, and my heart is lifted when I see some of those kids immerge from their situations stronger because of the support they found, and the faith they gained as a family. Grace and peace to you today. -Jon

Dang it Dang it Dang it! Not only did I fall off the wagon...but I think I killed the horse that pulled it. Bad news....I have to start over again on the no sugar treats challenge....a very bad few moments that I care not to speak of again. Good News...I just had my first fill...so I'm going to let that be a catalyst to start fresh (please please please). So...I'm counting again starting on the 17th. ...Still no caffiene, though. Yeehaw!

Finally...an outfit to match her big fat head. She now has a place store her ego!

AAAUUGH!!! Find a happy place.....find a happy place.... Did you see the cute lil' costumes my family wears?!? Check out Nana's Halloween posts. You Rock, Creepy Chick! Jon

Day five was the magic number for me. You've had some serious trauma...your body is rebelling for a bit. Check in with your doctor before you do anything is what I was told...and then the problem sort of solved itself. They said that it could take several days...even more if you had the bypass. Hang in there! Jon

I'm suddenly needing a night light before bed. Creepy indeed. You work it, girl! Jon

In this great country and information age, people can go online and pull up your public tax records and find out down near everything you'd never want them to know. Phone numbers (unless you're carelful), full names, tax ID, and more. So in other words...if you're a nervous nelly, you can crawl under a rock, and never turn your computer back on...then you should be safe until somebody calls you during dinner sell you timeshares and chimney cleaning. Or you can gaurd your Soc Sec, watch your credit card statements, and be careful with your persoanl information. If you cared about people seeing your weight, you probably never posted it to begin with. It's OK, gang...we're not telling 'em anything they didn't already know! Jon (...or IS IT JON?...OOOooooo)

Help! Calcium Citrate and other meds? <HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Yuck! Blech! Ack! I'm supposed to take 600 mgs of calcium citrate 2x's a day. I is important for obsorbing nutrients (or something like that). No matter how much I pulverize these big honkin' HORSE pills I cannot swallow the powder...or at least I haven't found anything to hide it in well enough. Is there any kind of calcitrate chewables that you've found to take. On the line with medicine and supplements...are any familiar with the glyconutrients company called Mannatech? Any luck with these supplements. They sound fantastic so I'm willing to be a guinea pig....but I'd love to hear other bandsters that have tried it. Anyone, Anyone? Jon

Yuck! Blech! Ack! I'm supposed to take 600 mgs of Calcium Citrate 2x's a day. I is important for obsorbing nutrients (or something like that). No matter how much I pulverize these big honkin' HORSE pills I cannot swallow the powder...or at least I haven't found anything to hide it in well enough. Is there any kind of calcitrate chewables that you've found to take. On the line with medicine and supplements...are any familiar with the glyconutrients company called Mannatech? Any luck with these supplements. They sound fantastic so I'm willing to be a guinea pig....but I'd love to hear other bandsters that have tried it. Anyone, Anyone? Jon

Darn it Darn It! I have lost a ton of weight pre and post op since early September....and then just before Halloween I completely stalled. I gave up caffeine...but then when I hit solids I have actually put on four pounds. It's probably becuase when I say "Solids" that included ice cream...a few donuts...pasta...and a bunch of other crap. Rediculous that after all of that work and momentum....I shot myself in the foot by old habits. I think for me it was such a shock to go back to solids. So I'm refusing to change my weight loss ticker....because instead I pulled out my little measuring cups and healthier food choices...and I'm going to drop that four off and lose 5 more before I get me first fill on the 17th! I think like most people I said that I knew it was just a tool....but I hoped and kind of expected it to just fall off easy after surgery. The people that are true success stories in bandland are the ones that decided that they were going to make a life change...and not use the band as a crutch. The catalyst has to be your own heart and perseverance! SO I'm picking myself up, dusting myself off, and starting all over again. So when you feel hungry and able...fight it! Stick to that diet. Enjoy the amazing results of discipline! Jon

Bandman- First...Congrats on your big move...and welcome to LBT! We need some more men here...I'm thinking about taking up scrapbooking and knitting with all the lack of testosterone! More importantly...I think I'm just chiming in with everybody else here when I tell you that it sounds pretty normal. I was given a "breathing measure" that I had to inhale slow and very deep breaths. It hurt so bad for a few days, but it helps you heal everything, especially your lungs from the general anesthesia. You need those deep breaths of oxygen to recover quickly, and opening up your lungs fully makes you cough out the junk...but it will help you avoid bronchial pnuemonia (spell?)...so little coughs are good right now. My throat was sore for a few days after the tube was out, too. So it all sounds normal...but if it doesn't get better...well it always sounds good to get some reassurance from your doctor. God Bless You. Heal Quickly! Jon

You folks are so funny! I just love my little LBT family! Thanks for the kind words. My little kiddos are all my pride and joy! Blessings on your day! Jon

All right, girls...and those boys who show up every once in a while...let's kick some serious band/chip butt this week. Thanksgiving is just a month away. make your family drool with envy over how freakin' HOT we are! And Oh dear dear Delarla....you should be warned, I come with some REALLY CUTE baggage! I doubt my lil' girl's princess slumber parties quite compare! Of course...now I can edit a whopping 42 pounds off this picture! I'll have get some new pics for Christmas. Have a great day, y'all! Jon

See Delarla...you just make us all laugh....so you can forget all that crap you said about taking time off. We're not letting you go! This is a co-dependancy! I say we just see how much junk we can pile into our signature lines ....that's half the fun! Jon

Check out www.despair.com You can buy them all in many forms (cups, posters, etc.) I'll try to post some more when I can. Jon

EEEEEEEWWWW! Words cannot express how thankful I am that I didn't see this before surgery. Ignorance was bliss.

For every winner, there are dozens of losers. Odds are you're one of them.

Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and never quit are idiots.

It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.

The are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inqusitive idiots.

It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile. But it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.

None of us is as dumb as all of us.

If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon.

When birds fly in the right formation, they need only exert half the effort. Even in nature, teamwork results in collective laziness.