Sunta

Good for you. I'm glad you've made that clear to your loved ones and they're willing to give up on you.

Actually I consider myself blessed to have friends and family who respect me and who would fulfill my wishes despite what their own desires and interests may be.

So was he alive and did his life have value for the 19 years he was in a coma?

If he feels his life had value for those 19 years he was in a vegetative state, good for him. I'm glad he had the choice to issue a directive about his care before he fell into the coma so his family knew his wishes to be kept on life support.

As for me, no thanks. All of my friends and family know my wishes and they know to pull the plug immediately should I fall into such a state. I would rather be at rest than be forced to be kept in a vegetative state for 19 years, or even for two years.

Further, I would like to post the divorce statistics for Porkchop, since he or she seems to think it's Gays that cause the breakdown of the family:

The divorce rate in America for first marriage, vs second or third marriage

50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.” According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:

The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%

The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%

The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%

Before you start making generalized statements like gays causing families to break down, why don't you do some research and think a little bit? It would help.

Quite frankly, I'd prefer people got this upset over the fact that there are so many Americans who can't afford health care and a large amount of elderly Americans who can't retire because they can't afford to pay for their Rx medications.

For the record, I am extremely upset this issue. I am as upset about it as I am about the Gay rights issue. Health care is one of my big issues, for sure. As a matter of fact, I was recently attempting to find a non-profit that accepts donations to directly benefit people with no insurance (as in, give direct grants to pay for healthcare), and after Googling for awhile, simply gave up. I could not find a group that gives direct grants to families. If anyone knows of such an organization, please direct me to it.

As for the comments about Gay dating sites discriminating against straight people, no, I do not think it's acceptable to discriminate based on anyone's sexuality. So that is just as wrong. I would never say that was ok.

As for Porkchop, AIDS is not a "Gay" disease. It doesn't discriminate based on sexual orientation. And the breakdown of the family? Wouldn't you say that our over 50% divorce rate would contribute to that more than, say, people like my friends (lesbians) who have been together for 15 years and have a baby and a business together?

Yeah, I think so.

I didn't know this until tonight, but eharmony does not include Gays in its services, so now they're being sued! GOOD!!! Screw them!

I hope they either get shut down or that they're forced to change their policy and include Gays and lesbians!

End discrimination now!!!

I think those who decide not to have

a large family and can afford it are selfish people.

Remind me not to copy your carbon footprint.

Thats funny we don't shout hooray when the blood of baby's are spilt (unlike you some people)

What?

This doesn't even make sense.

Because it has no punctuation and incomprehensible grammar, your statement could be interpreted several different ways.

I'll assume you mean the following:

"That's funny, we don't shout 'hooray' when the blood of babies is spilt, unlike you do, as well as some others."

Is that what you meant to say?

If so, let me assure you that I do not, in fact shout "hooray" when anyone's blood is spilt, unlike you do, as well as some other fundamentalist Christians.

"Romans 13:1-5 Paul instructs Christians to submit themselves to the authority of the state, because "The authorities that exist have been established by God." Referring to the authorities, Paul writes in Verse 4: "For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." The reference to "sword" might be interpreted literally (to refer to capital punishment) or symbolically (to refer to the power of the state to punish wrongdoers)."

This is what Christians say, not what I'm saying.

I didn't say that Romans was in the Old Testament. I said they often use the old testament to support their opinion.

Thank goodness! I wish there were more like him in the world, and that the law would change to reflect people's empowerment over their own bodies and lives.

I am not in favor of the death penalty. Did I just prove you wrong?

Well I know how fond you are of saying "one person thinks 'X', so 'X' is true", and anecdotal experiences over scientific fact (for example, you friend who was Gay and is now "straight"), but no, one person's opinion does not a consensus make.

The truth is, most conservative Christians do support the death penalty, because in Romans 13:1-5 it demonstrates that the death penalty can still be applied. Since fundamentalists frequently use the old testament to support their opinions, it makes sense they would cite this as the reason for their support. Conservative leaders state it is biblically acceptable, and studies show that the majority of conservative Christians strongly support it.

And, as a matter of fact, on this very thread, there have been more conservative Christians who have come here and supported it than the one who stated you do not.

So, sorry, I appreciate hearing your opinion, but no, it does not prove me wrong.

You might find that you get less defense with less venom.

There's alot more venom in the fundamentalist's posts to me than in mine to them. Hence just one of the myriad reasons I think some of them are hypocritical.

I don't think it's venomous to point out that the majority of people supporting the death penalty would be Christians, do you? Is that not, in fact, the case?

Personally I think fundamentalists just can't stand having their own hypocrisy brought to light.

I follow an easy rule: if the subject involves violence, bloodshed, execution, or war, the fundamentalists will be on the front lines shouting "hooray! I support that!"

I've not been proven wrong yet, now have I?

You know why it is so easy to bash christians? Because we rarely put up a fight.

ROFL!

I assume you're kidding, here, right?

Betcha wouldn't be opposed to the death penalty if all those peske fundamentalist christian's heads were on the choping block...after tall they ARE the scourge of the earth, right?

I didn't say I oppose the death penalty, and I didn't say I support it. I said that the majority of people coming on here and defending it would be the fundamnetalist Christians, and I've been proven completely correct in my assumption.

I would never oppose or approve of a law (especially one as serious as this one) based on someone's religion.

And I highly doubt that anyone else would either.

And as for "hypocrite", 396power, there is no one on this board who has proven themselves to be more hypocritical than the fundamentalists, so give it a rest.

Want to make a bet on something? I'll bet... The majority of people who will come on here and defend the death penalty... will be Fundamentalist Christian. Any takers on my bet?

Yeah, the bras, you know you have a good friend when she tells you, wow you look great, you'd look even better if got a new bra to pick the girls up!

I can relate. My friend at work actually had a "talk" with me about my saggy boobs! She said she had even consulted with her mom to figure out how to tell me that my boobs looked horrible and I needed to get new bras! Her mom said "you just have to come out and tell her" LOL. She was very happy when I walked in with some new underwires. Hey, losing 90 pounds is great but it sure doesn't do the boobs any favors, ya know?

Is it possible that since Im weightlifting and bulding muscles even in my stomach that the band gets tighter?

I do think that's possible actually. I think alot of things can make the band tighter. I've been thinking about what happened to me and trying to figure out why it happened so suddenly like that, out of the blue. I did have my period, and I know alot of people get tighter during their period. As for you being unfilled and getting tighter, I have heard of that before. I do think our stomach muscles are just like other muscles and tissues and they can get built up by exercise and/or they can swell up due to different factors. This band is a fickle thing, isn't it?

I will get my fill back on Wednesday (only 1cc though) but it has been heavenly having this break! I've been able to swallow big pills (all the supplements I've been taking!), eat whatever I want, and have no esophagus pain. It's wonderful. If I wasn't scared of overeating, I wouldn't even get my fill put back in.

I'm still doing well but I did get really hungry yesterday and ended up overeating a little bit at dinner. I am actually dreading getting the fill back because for the first few weeks-month after a fill I PB a whole lot. Maybe I will stay on liquids for like a week after it to try and curb that.

Hi everyone!

Well I had to get a complete unfill exactly one week ago today. My band had suddenly clamped down out of the blue and I couldn't swallow liquids. I was terrified of hunger, weight gain, etc., so I decided to start a pretty intense regimine of supplements to offset being unfilled. Let me say that I do not endorse nor sell any supplement, but I do want to tell you all who are unfilled about my experience in the hope maybe it could help you. The first day after my unfill I was starving and I realized pretty quickly that I was going to gain weight. I went to my drug store and this what I picked up: Hoodia Sure Rapid Gels, Accelis, and Mega-T green tea liquid drops. I've been taking the Hoodia in the morning and evening (sometimes I even take an afternoon dose too even though it says to take it only twice a day.) I take the green tea drops in the morning and late afternoon. Then as directed, at bedtime, I take the Accelis (this one says it's "clinically proven" to cause weight loss). Well, I don't know if it's a placebo effect, or what, but my hunger level is much less than what it would be if I were not taking anything. my hunger level is about 20% more than when I am filled, but pre-surgery I would never have been able to stick to band portions as I would have passed out with hunger, and this entire week I have been sticking to band portions completely, with little trouble, and certainly no lightheadedness, dizziness, or irritability.

Somehow, I have also managed to drop about 1.5 pounds and prior to this week I had been stuck on the same weight for over a month! so essentially, I'm doing better unfilled than filled!!!

Like I said I have no clue if it's just a placebo effect, or what, but I wanted to share my story for those of you who are unfilled. I honestly do believe though that there are effective diet supplements out there and that the drug companies are the ones who start all the hype about nothing working. It seems that there are just too many anecdotal stories out there to discount every single supplement.

So now, I'm acutally considering holding off on any fill for even longer (I'm supposed to get 1cc in next week), since I'm doing so well without one! And I loooove being able to eat scrambled eggs and hot dogs again!

Anyway, that's my story and I hope no one thinks I am trying to endorse any supplement or anything but I did want to share my experience.

Each orgasm felt great of course, but weird in the port site. As we continued, I was almost dreading the orgasms. After about 7 or 8 orgasms, I was dying...I finally had to hold up the white flag. It hurt for about 2 days after that. The pain was dull, but constant.

OH how I envy thee of the 8 orgasms! Not all women are able to have multiples, though I know alot are capable. Even the most liberal/sexually free/experimental among us are sometimes just physically doomed to "one and done".

As for the hurting, yes I would say it was several weeks before the port area (whole stomach actually) stopped hurting. I guess all the muscles contract there too. At least we know we're having "whole body" O's!

Anyway, good for you on the multiples and hooray for lezzie sex!

I am unfilled right now for another week, but normally prior to the unfill I could eat anything except eggs, hot dogs, and fast food. I could eat Pasta, bread, rice, sushi, chips, you name it. I try to have a diet full of variety with healthy foods as well as treats. Hopefully when I get 1cc back in next week, I will still be able to eat everything just as before.

Well, I have tried a little, ahem, solo-ish (DH here, just not active participant) sumpn-sumpn, so obviously there was no actual physical activity that hurt. But when "the moment" arrived (well, ya know, the body sorta involuntarily tenses up) it did hurt and pretty much offset any good feelings it produced. So I think I need to wait at least a week or so before I attempt anything else...

Oh my goodness I really relate to this!!! LOL! I did the same thing the day after I got back from the hospital and I'll never forget that port pain when "the moment" arrived. Sorry everyone if this is TMI!

The next day my and my girl actually tried it out and somehow we made it work, but my port didn't stop hurting during "the moment" for about two weeks!

My post goes to all here that feel a woman has a right to choose , but should not have too many kids! I finally see that you do not belive in a womans right to choose (cause if you did you would not complain about their choice to have 15 kids. And I could care less about what you say about dwindling resources if you really belived that you And I would not be here, as larger than normal on a lapband site. (And I'm not making fun of our weight remember I'm fat also) so then what do you people really belive, womens rights or are you just on a political ramp about something you really know nothing more about than what your dorm roommate told you she belives. And if that is it then please tell me so I can put you on ignore list.

Dorm roommate? What are you talking about? Are you referring to me in your post?

As I've stated a million times, my only wish is that people would become better educated, period.

If you want to go toe to toe in terms of environmental education, I promise you I'll win.

If you want to put me on ignore, that's totally fine by me. Quite frankly, people who state they are Christian and then write such nasty posts really freak me out anyway.

Hello Gay and Lesbian Bandsters!!! How did I miss this thread? I've told (part of) my story a million times on the Rants and Raves forum but in a nutshell I am lesbian but I am married to a man. I got married really young and I still really love my husband but we are living like brother and sister rather than husband and wife. We have an arrangement that has been working for us for three years now; I have a girlfriend and otherwise for him it's an "open" marriage. We're a very unconventional couple to be sure but we love and respect each other and have a life together that we have built and that we love. We went through alot of pain to arrive where we are now and there were alot of tears. But I can honestly say we've been pretty happy for the last year or so and things have really stabilized now. He and my girlfriend are friends with each other. We're definitely not "swingers" or anything like that but we found ourselves in a situation where I realized I was Gay but I did not want to leave him and he didn't want me to leave either. So we're making it work for us. He is a great person and a great support and I love him alot. I'm so happy to meet all of you fellow peeps and look forward to supporting each other!

Ugghhh! Everything was totally fine until yesterday! I'd had 1.5cc's in my band for nearly seven months with NO issues whatsoever. Then, totally and completely out of the blue, I took a sip of Water yesterday and my band just clamped shut! I was so shocked! I had it happen one other time, but that was one week after a fill, and this time I'd been going along perfectly for so long, not even PBing that often at all and really enjoying life.

Anyway, my band totally shut down and up came the water. I was so shocked and shaken, I immediately thought my band had slipped. I tried some warm tea, and up it came. Then I tried some chewable gas-x and an antacid. All came right back up. I waited about a half hour and tried the warm tea again. Nope. Nada, nothing was getting through at all.

Not being one to wait around when I can't swallow liquids, I immediately called my doctor and they said to come in right away. Thank god it happened on a day he happened to be there! I went in and he took ALL of my fill out. I could then drink normally thank goodness. He sent me immediately to the hospital for a swallow study.

The radiologist said everything looked good to him and he didn't see anything unusual, and my doc called this morning and said the same thing. Actually it was his NP so I am now waiting to hear back from him as to when I can get refilled. He didn't tell me to stay on liquids or anything so I've been eating normally and so far, so good.

What the heck caused this??? It's sooo scary that it can happen out of the blue like that! I did have my period but that has never been an issue before (some people say they get really tight during their period) in the 15 months I've been banded.

I want to go to Italy in October, but really dread traveling so far away from my doc when the band can just shut down like that out of the blue. It's horrible!

So I'm totally unfilled and am terrified of hunger. I'm taking hoodia and it seems to be doing something slightly I guess because I was actually able to stay on bandster portions all day today.

I just wonder what the heck happened. The water I tried to drink did have ice in it and it was morning. So maybe no more cold drinks in the morning ever again! But, I've been having cold drinks all along with no problems.

I wonder if it could be a stomach virus or something?

Life with the band is really wild!

I would definitely go to Vegas! I would love, love, love to meet some of the people on this board!!! Tell me when and I will be there!

It's not my place to judge him.

That's really super that you actually follow Christian values.

However, he did not. He was a person who judged people very harshly and created alot of hatred for people that didn't deserve his judgment.

His venom against people suffering from AIDS, his put-downs of women, and his vile attitude toward Gays were certainly more typical of an anti-Christ than a Christian.

He contributed to a social environment of discrimination, hate, and anger against people who are just trying to live their lives and live peacefully in the world.

Surely his cruel words against people living with AIDS caused a huge amount of pain and hurt as did his campaigning against feminism and the ACLU. His wish to squash people's civil liberties and his blaming of Gay people and others for 9/11 was an outrage, and a hurt that won't be forgotten.

The world is better off without his nasty and terrible venom.