Wheetsin

After 9/11 my husband was laid off. It took him exactly 1 month to have another job offer, but that month REALLY sucked. For my husband, his desirability to employers is a huge ego driver, and with what he does and his experience he usually has potential employers pursuing him, trying to lure him away from his current job. It was new to him to have to compete, and the thought of having to do an interview, vs. getting a cold offer... that was virtually uthinkable. This all really got to him, really really, and very quickly, and situational depression kicked in. Within 4 days he was "giving up" and not even looking at jobs. I'd call him from work to see what he was doing and he would have just woken up, or be playing a stupid computer game. Did you look at new Monster postings? No? Why not? (I don't take crap so I updated his resume and sent them out for him). Ah well. I don't know much about the automotive industry, but I know that my father (jet/helicopter mechanic chief) loved getting guys with auto mechanic history. For a while he was a line manager at a local airline and would also look for "generic" mecahnic backgrounds with some specialized training (A&P license). Has your husband considering pursuing something like that, which might land him a different type of job, but in the same general field of mechanics? With my husband, I told him not to freak out if he didn't get his dream job in a year, but that I would give him 3 months to look. After 3 months, if he didn't have anything, he was going to be a door greeter at Wal-Mart, even if he had to do it nights so he could interview in the day, because I wasn't going to work while he schlepped around the house not even trying to bring money in. So - tell him to get his ass out there and get *A* job, because that's better than *NO* job, even if it's not *THE* job.

They would have if it hadn't been deserted. :redface:

I dont' know, which do you think is more annoying? This Sentence is. THIS SENTENCE IS. this sentence is This sentence is. So yeah, I guess give me something that's text-based any day...

Surely there's more than one surgeon to select from, and one of them is a network provider...?

Going to move this to the TX board since you're specifically looking for people from there. You might get more attention to your thread that way.

God am I admitting this? I've weighed my head before, just being silly. I put it in a produce scale at the grocery store.

The band doesn't change the alcohol's potency, and we aren't steeply affected like people with malabsorptive procedures are. Just thinking in terms of logic here, maybe there's some difference because you're probably going to have less food in your stomach with the band than without... most people find alcohol is the same for the pre-op as post-op.

I think US self-pay prices start around 10k, give or take 2k. There's someone in Colorado who seems to be the cheapest, they're maybe 8k-9k (don't remember). Actually one of the ads on the right side just flickered $6,750, mylapbandsurgery.com.

Largest/most painful incision will be the port 99.999% of the time. The extra soreness comes from stitching it in. They don't do the same disruption at the other sites, hence not as much pain. My port incision is about an inch and a half below my bra line, on the right side of my body, just slightly off center. The port itself is a bit lower and farther to the right.

Tilapia is my favorite. Any whitefish should be similarly mild: cod, pollock, haddock, hake, etc. Catfish is fairly mild too. Swordfish, and shark is fairly milkd (I can't stand fishy flavors or smells, e.g. salmon.)

Don't be afraid of sleeveless dresses. It doesn't mean you have to go with bare arms. A pashmina, shawl, wrap, cropped cardigan, etc. all can work and cover up the arms.

Well, what made you think that the smart start would be the healthiest? Was it advertised as the healthiest or something? (I don't know, I don't watch much tv).

I hated Curves. Aside from being a medicore workout at best (let's face it, resistance machines aren't ideal for everyone, especially when you're taller than the target audience). I was self-conscious having to be in a circle with not much to look at other than other people. I hated having to deal with the crotch/butt sweat from the person who used the machine right before me. The music was lame, the little pep rally activities were lame, etc. Can you tell I'm not a fan? That being said, I don't kno what auqafit is, but could it be worse? Sounds like Water aerobics, and I would do those in a heartbeat if I could find ap lace near me that offered classes.

Yeah, they really should have provided verbiage in the denial (which both you and your surgeon's office should have received) that explained why, but this doesn't always happen, unfortunately. Even though they're our policies and we pay for them, it's not unusual (as happened in my case) that the surgeons' office learned of my approval before I did.

I have one of the UHC PPOs and I needed a BMI 35+ with 2+ comorbidities or BMI 40+ (very standard). That was it.

Just call them and ask, it doesn't have to come from your doctor's office.

They owe you an explanation. Find the reason for denial and go forward from there.

The band does not stretch. Stretched pouches that are diagnosed tend to be linked to overeating.

I don't understand how "loving" parents can let their kids run to hell and back. With today being like it is, how does it not scare the crap out of you? Tell you what, I won't even address the kids running around after hours, vandalism, etc. I'll narrow it down to stores (more confined spaces). How can parents be ok with just knowing their kid might be in the store, somewhere? I can't tell you how many times I've seen parents shoo their kids away so they can gossip with someone they ran into (the two of them now blocking the freaking aisle with their carts, btw). So the kids start trying to beat each other with loaves of bread, or they go to the toy area and trash the place, or they're trying to play hide & seek in the furniture department. I can't tell you how many times I've hit, or come very close to hitting, kids in stores because they're running around like banshees, not watching where they're going, and I turn an apparently clear corner... and then mom wants to get mad at me for "running her kid over" with my shopping cart. How are you in a store the size of the stores we have today, not know where your kids are (I'm not talking about teenagers, I'm talking 3 and 4 y/o), and BE OK WITH THAT? That just doesn't register to me

The average lapbander doesn't lose that much BUT the average lap-bander doesn't have that much to lose. You guys are kind of making me sad, I keep seeing "I'm not sure if it's attainable..." Keep in mind, the band is not like a pre-paid gift card. It doesn't give you 150 lbs to lose and that's it, you'll never lose another lb. But you'd think it has some sort of pre-set loss limit attached to it the way people talk about it. YOU are the only thing that will keep you from reaching your goal with the HELP of the band. YOU have to go into this with your mind made up that you're going to beat the statistics, because you're the biggest roadblock you'll find anywhere. I have about 40 lbs left to lose, down from about 210 to lose. I'm not trying to lose right now because I'm pregnant. But when I'm no longer pregnant, I will lose the rest of my weight. It may take a while, but it will happen. I didn't come this far to settle for still being obese. I mean - that doesn't even make sense. So just remember that there are average weightlosses with the band, and just like every average out there, there are people who set it higher, and people who set it lower. Decide which you want to be, set your targets, go and don't look back. There's no reason you have to settle for anything less than healthy.

There is a state many people go through when newly introduced to low-carb eating, usually called "induction flu" (induction is the introductory phase of the Atkins diet) or "Atkins flu". It's temporary, and usually lasts 3 - 5 days. Many people who go through it come out feeling much better than before they entered it (clear-headed, extreme energy, etc.) Common symptoms include: Feeling run-down or fatigued Extreme headache that may not go away with pain relievers "Flu-like" body aches Shivers Cold sweats Dizziness Nausea

Would the Dressbarn job (thinking in terms of commission sales) be better than one of the other PT jobs, if all of them is too much on your plate?

I don't use the card. At best it maybe encourages a restaurant to give me a discount, but it's not a guarantee, it's honored at their discretion. That's kind of an integrity thing for me personally. I never offered to pay more when I ate more than everyone else, so why would I ask them to charge me less now that I eat less? I'll just pay what it costs, and eat what I want. As I see it, the price is more than the food, it's the company. But that's just me, and doesn't necessarily apply to anyone else. If the cost of the soup bothers you, maybe suggest somewhere else to go? A place that lets you carry home your extras, so you can have multiple meals, or some to share with someone else. Lots and lots of places have soup/half sandwish, soup/salad, soup/potato combo lunches that are good options (and I'm TIGHT during the day, very limited on what I can eat and quantity, so I've looked just about everywhere). I don't eat from the children's menu usually because it's such poor quality food. When I can find good quality items I order them, no card, I just say I'm not that hungry, won't eat that much, and want to order from the kids' menu. Been doing this for over two years and no objections so far. Most often I order a regular menu item and just make several meals out of it. Or I go with a side. We went to a steakhouse with friends this weekend, and I ordered the side item baked potato.

I haven't read all the posts so maybe this has been addressed, but there's no such thing as the pre-op diet. Most surgeons have some personal variation of a pre-op diet, from nothing to super strict 4 weeks. If you share what your surgeon has specified, then we'll be better able to help you with recipe ideas. My surgeon required 2 days of sugar-free, Clear liquids. My recipes were chicken broth, SF popsicles, SF Jell-O and Water.

What about sports? I was a scrawny kid, but would pudge up (well, like 10lbs... nothing I'd blink an eye at now) in the winter months when my sports weren't in season. Then as soon as summer rolled around and I was going to practices, games, etc. the weight would come off without me changing anything else. Not that it's THE solution, but I think it would definitely help. Especially sports that involve aerobics, like soccer, softball, volleyball... waterpolo is a fun butt kicker, if you have it in your area (that was one that instantly whipped me into shape). Doesn't address the eating issues, but a lot of times better body image will give you the incentive you need to take care of those. Does your daughter "sneak" food, or eat openly? Token economies, and hell - real ones too - can work well with children. Could you essentially "bribe" her to lose weight with something she's wanting? E.g. my parents hated that I bit my nails, so every week that I didn't bite them, they took me to the beauty college for a manicure. One of the off-seasons when I was pudging up, my grandfather offered my $1 for every pound I lost, and I could spend it on anything I wanted. Got scrawny again pretty quickly. Anything you could interest her in during the summer, perhaps with some friends? E.g. local pool (heck of an aerobic workout) with swim classes, parent-child swim nights, etc?