Wheetsin

Hi Blessed, what are you wanting help with? Lots of advice & experience on the board, but I don't see any questions or concerns.

Breakfast yesterday - nothing lunch yesterday - half of a small lobster bisque, 2 pieces of salad bar chicken breast Snak yesterday - pluot dinner yesterday - Pasta dish I made up with wheat spaghetti, shrimp, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, and scallions. Breakfast today - nothing Lunch today - nothing

This isn't new news, but I just heard about it tonight. Very interesting. Here's my non-scientific explanation: Scientists are in the second stages of testing a vaccine that tricks the body into thinking that it is being attacked by the nicotine molecules. This causes the release of antibodies that bind to the nicotine. The molecules themselves are small enough to make their way into the brain, but when bound to an antibody, they are too large. This prevents the nicotine from entering the brain and - as such - decreases the the activity of the nerve cells that are effected by the nicotine molecules. In other words, people can still smoke, and still have ill health effects, but the addiction can be diminished because smokers would no longer get the same stimulation they get from smoking. Results of testing so far are showing a success rate of smoking cessation near 60%. The highest that any other methods can claim is a low of about 3% for "cold turkey" and a high of about 30% for prescription aids such as Zyban - with an average success rate in the 20s (therapy, OTC treatments, etc.) This could have some amazing ethical implications.

Sounds like you had your first PB. The pain comes from what the esophagus is doing to clear the food, or it can be a referred pain. Spitting up was probably from the sliming -- so much salivation that you can't keep up with it. The burping is quite common - always precedes my PBs. I get a mix of needing to burp but not being able to, and being able to burp very small burps. Gurgling is also common at this point. What you threw up was most likely not mucus, but saliva. The saliva that is associated with PBs is much thicker and ropey - not the relatively watery saliva that you're used to. It can definitely look like mucus, and it wil hold its own in Water. Sometimes people equate it to egg whites.

Definitely a possibility. I have a bad reaction to most adhesives. When they took off my staple covers, skin came off with them. Steristripsleave welts and weird things that look like tiny cuts. I won't even go into what Band-aid brand bandages do.

Sorry, but it's worshipper, not workshiper. Had to get that out there. :eek: You're qualifying a group compared to my personal beliefs. By doing so, you eliminate consideration of individual differences. Through your definition, you've reduced them to nothing more individualized or specific than, generically, "those who believe." As an analogy, if you lump people from 15 countries into "people," they can be no more than "people" generic. I do not believe that "people" are without individual, etnic, cultural, etc. differences. And I do not that "believers" all believe the same thing.

I submitted before I meant to, and don't want to edit all that, so just add to my list the difficulty in finding pants (which is how I got to this post from the jeans talk). I can go "average" and look like I'm gonna go dig for clams, or I can go "tall" and have the bottoms of my cuffs drag on the ground, a l'emo. Usually I go with the talls and wear heels, but sometimes I would like to wear flats without having dirty pant legs. Or looking foolish. I've found ONE pair of pants that have the perfect length for me, and I bought it in the next 3 sizes down, went back to get second pairs, and they were no where to be found (got them at Gordman's, so you never know what the inventory will be like from day to day).

I didn't put it on my list, but sometimes I would like to be shorter. Or live a day in a world designed for people who are taller than average. Just like with being shorter than average, there are things you have to deal with that no one really thinks about unless they're also dealing with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giantly huge, I border 5'11. DH is about 6'4, so he has it worse. Here are some of the things we have to deal with: Countertops are designed for people who are roughly 5'8. When you're taller than this, you have to hunch over farther. Ow my back! Buffet sneeze guards are designed for people shorter than 5'7, on average (factoring in children). If I go to a buffet with a sneeze guard (umm, pre-op obviously!), I have to bend sideways and stoop to reach anything under them, OR leave a forehead print on the glass. Most cars do not have the option to raise or lower your seat, just change the front/back position, and sometimes the pitch. My husband now drives a truck so this isn't so much of an issue, but when he drives a regular car, he has to recline the seat way back to keep from having his head press into the top of the car.

You guys know that I'm not one to condone Lane Bryant but I will say that their new line of denim (comes in three body types) is a nice change. They still don't fit me well. It seems like I'm just taking a good fit for one body part and trading it for a good fit somewhere else. E.g. they fit my hips nicely (normally to fit my hips, I have to go with a gaping waist), but I get crotch wrinkles. How much FUPA do these designers think we're cursed with??? How much freaking fabric does anyone really need down there?

I think at a very fundamental (or perhaps infantile is a better word) level, people are looking for ways to explain things that they cannot otherwise explain, e.g. origin myths. Indeed! Ask a satanist if they worship the same deity as christians.

Some people are afraid of losing loved ones, and religion brings them the comfort of "life after death" or "reuniting with your friends and family." For the people who cannot, or opt not to, consider life and existence is the most generic term as finite, religion works for them. Some people choose specific religions based on the religion's leniency or tolerance. They find that it alleviates a sense of personal responsibility, because I can always just "confess" or "pray" or "do penance" and be forgiven. For these people looking for ways to avoid personal responsibility for their action, religion works. For people wanting to make money, religion can be very profitable. Religion works for them. Just a few examples.

Laurend, that's complimentary to what I posted. "It works because it's comforting. " It's very hard to say whether or not I agree with Brad because Brad hasn't really said anything. In reference to what I said above, if Brad (being <population> in this case) is seeking comfort, and religion provides it to him, then religion works for him. "Works" needs some work.

Religion is a very effective means of accomplishing some outcome. It would make sense to say that religion works in so far as it is able to accomplish its outcome. The extent to which the outcome works for <population> is dependent upon <population's> desire to achieve the outcome. I don't think it can be made as a blanket statement that "religion works" - that leaves too many questions.

Turtlenecking is when you stick your head out past your chest. Keeping your shoulders still, try to touch a spot about 3" in front of you with your nose, and you're doing it. In 1d pictures the distance difference doesn't show but it usually will straighten out a double chin. Then again, I've seen some pics where people are clearly doing it (too much) and all their neck tendons are popping out like Lou Ferrigno. People do it all the time to make their face appear more slender, since sticking it out will not only take care of the chin but also tighten the lower half of the face. Note: DON'T turtleneck if you carry your weight in the top of your body, unless you plan to crop out some of the sides of the picture. I see people doing this and it kills me -- here's this "slim" face on a large upper body. It is NOT flattering in pictures. If you're wanting pictures for eharmoney or similar, I would recommend going with natural shots, not ones that flatter. If you think you're fatter in pics than in person, or just aren't sure, ask a friend or someone you trust whether or not the picture accurately shows your size/feature/etc. Then you'll know whether or not it's "you." But that's just my recommendation - and is worth exactly what you paid for it. :eek:

No tricks or magic, just desperation. (I've had to take prednisone, cipro, and a host of other nasties since banding). The best method I've found - grind it up, and a little at a time sprinkle it between layers of yogurt smoothie (the kind you buy in the yogurt section). I get a deep spoon, fill it maybe 1/2 with smoothie, sprinkle on some med, top it off. Put the spoon as far back to my throat as I can comfortably, and then tip back. With any luck, it just pretty much runs down my throat. This won't work with water/milk because they don't have the viscosity to float the medication. Floating is key. If it floats, you can pour it back. If it doesn't float, you have to use your lips or tongue to get it out of the spoon = you're gonna taste it. And I haven't had much luck with things thicker than the smoothies because they are a little too thick and like to sit too long. The smoothies, shaken well, are the perfect consistency (for me), taste good, have low carbs & fat, and give me Protein to boot.

Be careful with that, you may have run into a matter of luck witht he pill going through vertically instead of horizontally. And you definitely won't be able to do that when you're tight. One of my worst PBs was on 1/4 piece of Tylenol that I thought would be small enough. There are ways to get yucky pills down with little to no taste.

If you could change: 1) One physical (other than weight) thing about yourself, what would it be? 2) One non-physical thing about yourself (mental, situation, etc.), what would it be? And how about the same two questions, only now applied to your partner/spouse? For me, 1) I'm knock-kneed and I hate it, I don't wear shorts or skirts above the knee because of it. 2) I would like to be able to get out of ultra mode with some things. There are certain things I'm never satisfied with, no matter how many of my goals I meet, and I'd like to be able to just sit back and enjoy what I've accomplished sometimes, long term, without thoughts of another goal to reach coming to mind. For my spouse, 1) Fix his eyes. He's not a good candidate for LASIK and can't wear contacts. So he has to wear glasses and he HATES wearing them. 2) Improved & sustained self esteem. He was dragged through the dirt in a few prior relationships, childhood, etc. and his self esteem still suffers from it. His issues cause severe limitations for him in just about every area of his life, and that makes me sad.

For what purpose? Are you just wanting something to have, or do you need it for a professional event? If you want something that looks professional, focus on lighting and composition. If you want something that photgraphs you in a way that maybe helps you appear smaller than you are (flattering is what I read that to mean), then try holding your body at slight angles, focusing on what your body is doing (e.g. are you arms relaxed and splayed everywhere, or held tight to your sides), and doing the turtle neck.

You'll find answers to your questions stickied in the FAQ area. Thread

Don't be embarassed, it happens more often than you'd think. Pushing shouldn't have bothered your port, you're using different muscles. My body likes to get about 1/3, maybe 1/2 way through a BM, and then just stop. Like - it doesn't want to budge another inch. I've had to get very creative a few times.

Laurend, I lost my appetite on the pre-op diet, and I'm neaing 18 mos out and it's yet to return. I'm very, very rarely hungry. I feel hunger -- maybe once every few months. If I followed the advice of, "Don't eat if you aren't hungry" I'd be getting by on 200 calories a week. :car: For a while, I thought my low calorie intake was driving my long plateaus (I cant point to that correlation any longer, and any newbies out there, please do not think this means "starvation mode"). I had no interest in eating more, so I ate higher calorie foods. It was the only thing I could think of to move beyond 400 - 600 calories per day, if that. Didn't make a bit of difference. I'm probably still under 1000 calories 98% of the time. Due mostly to my restriction. For the most part, Breakfast is out and lunch is a x-small Soup, or nothing. So come dinner, I've maybe had... 400 calories, at MOST (if it's a fatty soup), but more often than not I've had 0 or damn close to it.

Is the exclusion carrier enforced or employer? If you consider changing plans, be sure to find out what they exclude before you leap, or you could end up in the same boat (this happens all the time). I was banded in the US and covered by insurance. If I hadn't been, I would have self-paid in the US. No MX surgery for me, but that's just my personal decision. Many people have gone to MX, and hopefully they'll chime in.

Why not go ahead and start your supervised diet? That way, if your new carrier also requires the 6 months, you're already halfway through instead of having to start from scratch in Jan.

I'd like to find some people to bounce ideas off of, share ideas, etc. I find the decorating messageboards are a bit too elitist and cliquey for my taste.

<p>Morbidly obese is a BMI of 40 or greater. Obese is 30 - 40. I know it sucks for him to have burst your bubble like that. Just don't take it personally. DOctors tend to be extremely matter of fact, and what he said was very matter of fact (although arguably wrong).