Wheetsin

I lost my appetite a few days before surgery. I'm now over a year post-op and it has never returned. If I don't eat all day I *may* feel hungry, but even then food isn't appealing. I've had to set reminders on my calendar at work to go eat, or I will forget and work through the day. Not good for my metabolism or daily minimums. I know they've studied RNY patients in regards to ghrelin production pre and post op, but I'd be curious to learn (haven't seen anything yet) if anyone is doing the same for LB patients. Maybe just maybe that little pouch of ours and the things it does impacts ghrelin production somehow.

Google "flax seed muffins". I've made them, but can't google right now. They're not the best, but they fit the bill, and own fiber counts.

DH and I, before he was DH, got "caught" once by his parents during an unannounced trip they made to his apartment. When his dad showed up unnanounced, he came right on in - had his own key. But knew I was there visiting, so - figure that one out. I'll skip the details about who was where and covered with what... point being his dad opened up the fridge to get a drink, fridge is empty except for two cans of whipped cream. DH eventually gets free and does downstairs to head him off, and his father asks about the whipped cream. The best he can come up with is, "We were going to make a cake." (Keep in mind fridge is empty, so a cake that needs whipped cream (their common frosting), but not eggs or butter or...anything.) Good one, DH. *Edited - eekgad, I put "they're" instead of "their". HAPPY MONDAY TO ME!

DH was fairly slim when I met him. He's about 6'5 and wore a 36 pant. Then again -- I have no room to talk. When we first met he would have me put his pants on because he thought it was "cute" how saggy baggy they were on me. :tired DH gained, I GAINED. Now he's still gaining and I'm losing. I'm pretty sure we're about the same weight now. In fact, I may be under him again. WOW. That hasn't been the case for a LONG time. :clap2:

Many people go to Mexico because the prices are cheaper (and for other reasons, but it seems like price is the main one), and there's a surgeon in CO people have mentioned here, who has a fairly low rate. Why were you denied? I was relatively healthy before my surgery, had never been on meds other than the occasional antibiotic, etc. -- had normal levels, good BP, no chronic illness or pain... and I was approved. What reason did they provide?

Yes! Around here I hear "I'm not racial!" after someone makes some kind of racial slur. They just don't get it. Question, since we're talking about referring to people by various "traits". Does being called "fat" offend you? IMO - I *am* fat, so of course I'm not offended if you call me that. I call myself that. Just the other day I was telling a work friend about a shirt DH surprised me with and thought I would love, that I would not wear because it's a halter and "while my shoulders are broad enough for it - eww - who wants to see my back fat or my fat, jiggly bat wings?" She didn't get offended, but couldn't believe I would refer to myself as fat. But why not? I am. It's like skinny people think that's something they only get to call us when we aren't around. :eek:

You guys make me feel like I need to go take a shower. Ok, not really. But the first (well, I guess it just happens once) time I learned what a Dirty Sanchez was... now that made me want to go take a shower. I heard it on the radio, promptly got to work, Googled it, and was thankful it slipped by our web sense. So anyone who is curious, unless you're at home, don't Google it.

Hmmm... Just need one. The audio book entitled, "How to Escape from a Deserted Island".

I have a 16 y/o pair of Doc's. :paranoid Not to mention 11 other pair. They last for freaking ever.

The information my surgeon provides estimates that surgery costs, outside of his fee, run about $7k. That's the hospital fee, anesthesia, etc. Disclaimer - this info is about a year old, and fees vary greatly. Sorry I can't help more.

Get my torn ligament sewn back together *sigh*

Must... not... get... distracted... (working on a midterm of my own, of sorts... a write up of a "non-instructional intervention")

Argh, yes! Even though I'm guilty of it myself. :guess Or tenses... The car pulled out in front of me so I broke and my tires squealed.

Can I add a little story about my wedding that I just remembered? Well, not really my wedding. My reception. Since lots of family et. al. didn't have a chance to attend, we held our reception a month later, back home. I left the music selection up to my husband, the audiophile. Hubby, not being an American citizen, well... let's just say it's hit or miss on what movies he has seen, what "connections" he knows about, what cultural references will make sense to him, etc. So anyway. Reception goes, all is well. Music is playing in the background. Right is we go up to cut our cake, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells starts playing, and everyone just kind of freezes. People are literally dropping their glasses, and food is literally falling out of their agape mouths. See, this song is one of my husband's favorites. It reminds him of spring, of fishing at his parents' mountain cabin, and of picking raspberries with his grandmother. He thinks it's one of the happiest and most upbeat songs he's ever heard. But this song is also known as the eerie "doodoo doo doo doodoo" theme in The Exorcist. Husband, having never seen the movie or heard any jokes referencing the "doodoo doo doodoodoo", had no idea what associations we had with that song. And of course 95% of my family are devout Catholics, and the other 5% pentacostal. A long explanation ensued, and most went back to normal, but there are still some in our family who have never looked at us quite the same. Ah well, that's my story. Carry on. I remembered this because he just played the song, and started laughing, and asked, "Do you remember this??"

Ok, I thought this was going to be a reference to the mechanical jobber they used to prop his eyes open.

Are you completely unfilled now? Have you had an endoscopy?

I can't believe he could find someone willing to have an affair with him.

Kat - the meniscus is what I tore, back in my sports days. I begged for the operation then because my sports were a big part of my life. I had a full ride scholarship to play, and had been recruited into the Olympic scouting league. I wasn't ready to stop playing. I went to 4 different surgeons and all refused to operate, and assured me I wouldn't find anyone willing to do it on someone my age, and on someone who was just a "hopeful" and not yet dependent on the sport as a career. Will, I never would have been a career player, so there went that. The ligaments can sort of "stick" themselves together, but re-tearing is always a risk. My original tear was around May of 1993. It has retorn 6 times since then. Most were within the first few years. The last one was about 7 or 8 years ago. I don't have daily pain, but my knees will get "stiff". And sometimes I know I've bent wrong because there's a sharp pain. The doctors aren't sure if this is stress on the ligament, or if this is some of the "disjoined" cartilege coming loose and wedging where it shouldn't be. It's kind of like when you have a joint that has to pop. You can feel it has to pop, but you know the pop is going to hurt... so all you can do is try to make it as gentle as possible.

Yepyep, wallet in the purse.

If you need an interim treatment steep some colloidal oatmeal and either add it to a bath (making sure you get the surface oils in the water) or rub the surface water over the affected areas. The oils released from colloidal oatmeal work wonders (Aveeno products use this, so you could also buy their treatments if you can't find the oats). At the very least perhaps something like witch hazel, hydrocortizone cream, or calamine can give you some temporary relief.

One of the better treatments (or rather, disguises) for ketosis breath is parsley. But who wants to chew up a bunch of raw parsley?

You guys are hurting me. I have a torn ligament in my knee, and "disjoined" cartilege. I did it back in 1993. I begged for an operation then to fix and and I was told no for two reasons: 1. It almost always leads to arthritis, and at my age they would rather I deal with occasional explosive pain of a re-tear, than the daily pain of arthritis and 2. Having the surgery guarantees nothing. I could not have it and never have a problem again, or I could have it and 5 days later it tears again. It isn't knee replacement, but thinking about our bad joints really does give me chills.

I'm really bad about the purse in the top of the cart thing, and about walking away with it still there. But not far, and I do remain aware of who's around. If I'm using a cart that has one of those child straps, I will hook it through the straps on the purse so it's "belted in". :girl_hug:

No idea on your approval. I don't even like to pretend to make a guess. Third, I would like to know what a typical day in the life of a bandster feels like. Could someone let me know how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat, how you eat, and how quicly you feel full since you've had the surgery? I am very curious. Honestly, it's like a typical day in the life of a non-bandster, only you get full faster, may have some pain to contend with, and might not have certain things that some surgeons outlaw, e.g. carbonated drinks. I eat twice a day. I know I should eat more frequently than that, but I just have no appetite. Here's what I ate today: lunch - two bites of a tuna salad blend, and about 4 oz of a salad bar mix consisting of tofu, chicken breast, bleu cheese, sesame sticks, egg, and cottage cheese topped with a small amount of balsamic vinaigrette. dinner - went to Chili's and ordered the chicken fajita quesadillas, substitute mashed potatoes for the rice. Skipped the Beans. Ate about three bites of mashed potato and two pieces of the quesadilla (which equals about half of a small tortilla... the soft taco size).

I agree. Especially with the whole white/black thing. It's just annoying, really. But sure enough, the first time you aren't PC, someone will jump all over you for it. I think that by being such a PC culture, we're causing more harm than we're helping. We're forcing people to remain conscious of the differences rather than just promoting an environment of "being". We're almost making it taboo to rcognize honest and true differences in our backgrounds and upbringings.