Wheetsin

Are you familiar with the D&C -- its pros, cons, what to expects, etc? If not, find a reliable source of information and study up on it. It can certainly have advantages (and be advocated by doctors in some cases), but there are downsides to it as well. My mother had several miscarriages, and in some cases says she wished she had one, and in another wished she did not... part of her decisions being based on she didn't really understand what it did, what it could show, etc.

Stacy - nope, I'm in MO. His provider will (eventually) cover my OOP expenses, I'm not worried about that. It's just annoying because that's money I would have accruing interest were it not for their covered who hit me. It just chaps a bit that it costs me money, even temporarily, for this kid to be an ass looking for his cell phone while going 70 mph down a 40 street... but such is life.

If your surgeon has set Protein requirements, then you could eat your way to them. People usually supplement with Protein drinks because they can't (in the beginning at least) eat enough to get their requirements, or maybe because they're too tight for solid foods during parts of the day. But if you have to get 60 gm, and you can eat 60 gm, then who cares. There are protein drinks that don't use dairy. Some of the fruit/punchy ones don't taste anything like milk. There are also unflavored ones you can add to juices, etc.

Law has long disagreed with this. Providing food, water and shelter classifies as both abuse and neglect, and if the product of the environment lived, it would probably be feral at best. By your rationale, locking an infant or toddler in a shack (not heated or cooled) in the mountains, or desert, or wherever... and leaving them there -- forgetting they exist -- provided there's water and food within reach, is acceptable parenting? Or at least fulfills the responsibilities ofa parent?

I don't think there's consensus in the Catholic church. I think in a more traditional view it's bad (as is everything but abstinence), but on more modern views it's ok as long as it doesn't interfere with conception (their view of when life starts). (Emphasis on THINK) Since a birth control does its work prior to conception, I think it has become much more acceptable. My family is Catholic and I know my (expletive) cousins have been on birth control since they started their periods. And still had kids by the time they finished high school anyway.

I remember going to work with my mom, and she smoked in her office. They all did. She worked at the American Cancer Society. And I can remember if I went to work with her, one of the things she would do to keep me busy was give me old microfiche sheets to make glasses out of. And at the library we had to use microfiche to look up old newspapers and journals. (watches everyone under 30 going to look up what "microfiche" is...)

I wouldn't go in the ocean until I knew I was completely healed. As for closed Water swimming, I *think* my surgeon's guidelines recommended 6 weeks, but I could be wrong, it's been a while. Make sure to ask your surgeon if you don't get any info on recovery activities. GB and band are very similar (untechnically) procedures. I've had both, and 3/5 incisions were reused, timing was similar, post-op experience similar. If you've been given waiting guides for GB, and are using the same surgeon, chances are the waits will be the same. BTW, unless it's required for your approval, banding and GB removal can be done during the same procedure... saves you a trip under.

Eww, I can imagine. Kind of. Chickens really are gross animals - so many more smells for animals so small. In my parents' city there's a pork processing plant. On a "good" day, it smells something like meaty/bloody oatmeal cookies. A sweet, thick, pungent and acrid (all at the same time) odor - not at all as pleasant as "oatmeal cookies" might be... but with a definite sweet/oat undertone. On a bad day, usually when it has rained and then warmed up, you get the pure, concentrated stockyard smell and it drifts for MILES... Blech, makes being a veggie that much more appealing.

This may be one of our stickiest topics yet. I think part of the issue is that it's the parents' will imposed on the child, but not as cut and dry as that. Some religions (sects) believe in mass suicide. If those parents were to attempt (or succeed) to kill their child in the name of their religion, would that be ok because it's their faith? (I'm not even making an argument here, just posing some questions). And what's the real difference between parents having "faith" that killing their child (directly - giving them poison) is the right thing to do, and believing that killing their child (indirectly - failing to seek medical help) is the right thing? Religions indeed need their individualisms and freedoms. But can we let that supersede law (abuse/neglect)? We don't in the instances that are coming to mind... but it's late and I may well be overlooking something obvious. Something like Jehaova's Witnesses and blood transfusion -- I see that a little differently. To me, consenting to or declining a blood transfusion is along the same lines as a DNR order. Either way you're letting people do what they can to a point, and that degree of intervention is better than nothing at all. We all know the mind is powerful, and its ability to change things with the body is well-documented. I have no doubt people can fix or improve some physical ailments by improving their stinking thinking. No doubt at all. But sometimes it's no where near enough, and I have empathy for the young child who never gets the opportunity to live because someone thinks it is a standalone treatment (thoughts, prayer... word of choice). I'll have to give this one more thought.

Unfortunately MOST of what you smell if you head downtown comes from the abattoir. Or in the other direction, the water treatment plant.

I'm 32, but on the cusp of many things in that list. I remember having to use the card catalog. I also remember having to tune our TV by turning the little inset knob and having to mess with the antennae. I remember when I was in elementary school and we got cable. We had "The Movie Channel" and if we wanted to watch it, we had to get up and flip a little box switch from "A" to "B". I remember too well trying to nab songs off the radio with my "boom box" (Escape Club "Wild Wild West," or Mike & the Mechanics' "The Living Years" anyone?), and being so pissed when the DJ would stop it too soon. I remember handwriting reports, and then I remember things got fancy and my parents bought me a typewriter. And then a few years later I upgraded to a word processor, and I was damned happy to have it. Anyone else remember ditto machines and their blurry, crappy purple text?! Damn, the teacher would bring the copies in, still hot, and the first thing we did was shove them into our faces and inhale as much of the ink fumes as we could. I remember getting our first microwave. I think - seriously - my parents paid like $1000 for it. It was about the size of my washing machine. And the night we brought it home, my father broke it by microwaving smores (in foil packets). I remember my parents not being afraid to let us play in the yard or walk through the neighborhood to the park. I also remember our first VCR, it too was seriously like $1000. Hitachi. It still works to this day, btw. My parents debated long & hard whether to go with VHS or BETA. They chose VHS. The VCR had a new thing called remote control, but back then the remote had to be plugged in still, so you could only take it as far away as the cord would stretch. It had 4 buttons on it: stop, play, rew, ff. And it was the shiznit!

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I think that's where my lack of interest in Krispy Kreme comes from. But when I travel to FL for work, the hotel I prefer to stay at is literally right across the street from Krispy Kreme and I will admit -- few things smell as good as fresh donuts. (Except there are two coffee roasterie plants downtown, one small one mega, and on a good day the smell of coffee fills your car... another thing I don't really like, but enjoy the smell of...)

Haha, you guys post too fast, I didn't even see these messages come up. How do you track the 24 different conversations all going on at once? I'm pretty damn random, and I still get mighty confoozled. So follows my attempt... As others (who saw this before I did) have already mentioned, I didn't call anyone ignorant, so I'm not sure what you're quoting, but it's not me. We used to have LaMar's but they closed down. I think.... I really don't dig donuts the way I used to, but I remember being quite fond of a local grocery store's cinnamon rolls. They would make them normal, then deep fat fry them again, just enough to make the outside all crunchy and perfect. Then they would dip half of it in a thick fudge sauce. MmmMMmmMMmMMMmmmm. And where I grew up our local donut chain was called "Yum-Yum" and they had buttermilk donuts (not so sweet, very nice). MmmMMMMmmmm. What other conversations did I miss out on? I've pooped my share of colors, but never a rainbow... (that's probably a different thread, eh?)

Seriously, how can you guys even stand Krispy Keme? Ugh, horrible horrible. Don't get me wrong, I can - and on rare occasion do - eat donuts (no food intolerances here)... but Krispy Kreme? It's like you took sugar and turned it into dough, then fried it in sugar, then put sugar on it. Blech... I'm NOT a fan of over-the-top sweets. But guess what? They're the rage. People are picking arranged stacks of Krispy Kremes in lieu of wedding cakes. I can't stand them myself, but to each their own.

Usually if you're going to have a problem you'd know it within a relatively quick time. You may have gotten off lucky, unless it's clinging somewhere above your band. :thumbup: Truly lucky, I've seen people going for days with gum stuck...

There's a recipes area that might have some good info for you. My band doesn't effect my ability to cook, have people over, etc. Either I add in something to accomodate myself (e.g. if we're grilling steaks, I will get some turkey hotdogs or turkey patties since I don't eat red meat). BBQ when done right is very tender and moist - ideal band food traits. dinner for friends - this hasn't changed one bit. I still enjoy cooking for friends, and will eat some variant of what they're eating (variants only needed when it's red meat).

You can't see my port but you can feel it. It does get sensitive with certain sexual positions. But keep in mind there are at least 3 - 5 common port placement sites, and which you have will have a lot to do with it.

Do be honest. Lying (including by omission) is only going to hurt you in the long run.

Fluctuations are normal. I can easily fluctuate 8 lbs without changing anything. Just focus on the overall, or a non-scale measurement if you have one.

The onyl question I don't care for is, "How much have you lost?" I just think that generally speaking that's a tactless question to ask. I don't ask them how many pounds they weigh, why would anyone ask me how many pounds I've lost. Oddly enough, I've volunteered the information many times. I don't mind sharing it. I mind when I'm asked about it. There are two people in particular who ask every time they see me. I actually tryt o avoid them. "Looking good, how many is it now?" That's not a band thing though, I've been that way with every means of losing weight.

Try foods that fall within your surgeon's guidelines. E.g. if you're in "mushies" don't limit yourself to just one mushy food, the variety will help each stage go faster. The foods you listed are generally part of a "mushy" stage - the tuna only if you have it really wet. I didn't hit mushies until a bit longer than 1 week post-op, but go by your surgeon's guidelines.

I'm not 20 but I'm of reproductive age and aware of my cycle. If that counts, then I had a minor disruption of 2 days late (not unusual for me if I'm stressed, take a medication, etc.) If preggo is in the back of your mind, why not take a preggo test?

I've seen in the area of 7 - 9 years pop-up on occasion. People who went to Europe, Asia or MX before the band was approved for use in the US.

I had to go to court a few weeks ago (as a witness - I was rear-ended in January). It was pretty funny. I dressed nice just because I figured you should, and I looked like one of the lawyers (under-dressed, you'd think). Everyone else was in J-Lo style velvet track suits, jeans, sweatpants, etc. I even had someone ask me if I was their lawyer. This was my first time in court and I was kinda surprised at how it worked. There were probably 60 people in this room. They actually had the bailiff come out and make everyone rise - I thought that was just on tv. They would call people up in front of everyone else, no privacy here! The people next to me -- couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but the guy kept pinching his gf/wife/whatever and saying "Baby just keep your mouth zipped and lemme do da talking." But when the judge called people up they would try to be hush-hush since they were embarassed, and the judge would say "What son? I can't hear you, gotta speak up!" No secrets that day. One of the people there had apparently given her daughter's information when she was arrested, and her mom's SSN, her sister's address, etc. The judge asked her why she lied so much and she was like, "I'm a changed woman! I used to have the devil in me!" One of the guys asked to have his fine reduced from 5k to nothing because "My woman spends mad money." All these people would ask for reduced sentences/penalties, and give lame excuses... it was pretty amusing. BTW, I got yelled at. I sat there for about 3 hours and finally the guy who hit me was calle dup, but I wasn't. Everyone else there as a witness was called up when the guilty party was called, so I tried to ask if I should go up and "Silence! No comments from the benches." So I tried to go up there and was yelled at again -- I had to wait until my name is called. I sat there for like 2 more hours, after the guy who hit me was long gone, and finally crawled to where the prosecutor was. I handed her my summons and she was like, "This guy was called back hours ago." I told her I know, but I was yelled at every time I tried to ask or move... she was like "He plead guilty to all counts." So - "Do you need me?" "Nope!" All damn day in a stinky court room with some seriously stinky/creepy people, and I didn't even need to be there.

We do the same thing - TIVO the very, very few TV shows we agree on so that we can watch them during dinner (we're definitely not "dinner at the table" people). This is the crappy tv season where the only show we both like is Ghost Hunters (hence Wed is our "date night"). The other... 2 or 3 shows we agree (Eureka, 4400... that might be it) on haven't started up yet. We usually end up with something like "wildest so and so (police chases, dumbest criminals, etc.) videos"... Mystery Diagnosis, Diagnosis X, Trauma in the ER or something generic like that.