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Hi BJean, In answer to your question about who might possibly follow Tony Blair, That is very difficult. Blair is going early, well he says he is but one can never tell with him. Gordan Brown who is chancellor of the exchequer, that is the one who is in charge of the countrys' budget. he likes that job and has done well. He has never spoken in public about the war, but that does not mean that he might not disagree with it because, as a cabinet member and also number two in power, he would have to resign immediately because that is the way things must be done, it is called collective cabinet responsibility. In private he may disagree with the policy. He has a history as a true socialist, being the son of a scottish prestybarian minister. He learned as a young boy, about the problems of poverty and unemployment as his father helped people and he never forgot how miners were treated so badly. Blair on the other hand had wealthy parents who educated him privately, in fact his father was something important in the conservative party so that is the diference. Brown has always worked hard and went to Oxford by working hard and winning a scholarship, that is the socialist way so he is a true Labour man. The only doubt I have is that Brown is very pro American, but we shall see because soon he will lay out his claim to be the next party leader, then we shall read his manifesto. If he does not express his doubts about the war then I suppose I shall have to vote for the Green Party or the Liberal Democrats. Brown has done so much good for poor people here, such getting single mums back to work with tax breaks and credits. There is Sure Start that helps Mums on their own with things like free nursery places and how to educate their children at home and gives them emotional support. So there You are that is my long rambling answer ! I think if I was in America they would think that I was some sort of communist or something, they have never understood the difference between a socialist and a communist there. My husband ias a former refugee from communists in Hungary, in 1956, so it's not likely is it!

Hello Billiejean, Well if you did happen upon some young men outside Liverpool they would certainly not be Blair supporters, Liverpool is and always has been solid socialist, like most of northern England and almost all of Scotland. Blair is stepping down soon, or so he has announced and the quicker the better. He is looked on here, by the majority, according to the polls, as nothing but Bushs' poodle. As for myself, Labour all my voting years, I am very, very disappointed with him. Heaven only knows he is no socialist, which he always purported to be before he took office and I. was so glad because everybody I know suffered badly under Maggie Thatcher,whose name I can hardly bring myself to type! Years ago America tried to get Prime Minister Harold Wilson to support them in Vietnam but he refused saying that it was illegal and immoral, which it was. The CIA played some dirty deeds against him but he would not change his mind. After him Ted Heath was put under pressure to support Pakistan against India but he told America to find other shoulders to stand on because he could not interfere in that skirmish. What makes Blair different? here the papers believe it is down to religion, both of them being born again Christians. Others believe he enjoys playing the world statesman. If it is down to religion then I hope that they are haunted by the thought of those little children of that family and the 200,000 other Iraqis who have died when they are busy praying. None of them bombed New York. Bush's friends the Bin Ladens did that .All the bombers were Saudis. Americans forget that the Bushs used to entertain Bin Laden at their ranch. The Saudis have oil though don't they! It was only when the taliban changed their minds about The pipeline going through Afghanistan, that they suddenly became 'evil' in american eyes, although all Europe knew what they did to women and others.

Dear Wootsie, Shortly after the start of this dreadful war I watched a Iraqi man and wife standing in their small living room, crying and holding photographs of their five dead children, all under 12years old. They had all been killed by an american cluster bomb. I felt ashamed that our prime minister was supporting America and I remembered seeing some young Americans sitting on a fence in some state that was pretty empty country."Oh boy we are going to kick them iraqs asses" they laughed. They could not even say where Iraq was. This is the popular picture that the rest of the world has of America now, which I find very sad as I have visited several places over the years and have met some very nice kind people.

Hi Paige!, Thanks very much for your advice. I will give it a lot of thought over christmas and make a decision when everything is back to normal. I have joined weight watchers, something which has not pleased my husband very much because he does not want to believe that there may be something wrong. This is simply because he was advised by his nephew, in Hungary, to persuade me to go there. He arranged everything and so i just went along with it. Mind You it was very clean and the whole team, some english speaking, were very kind. Once again thank you very much for taking the trouble and I don't think that you are negative at all, just realistic!

Thanks also Woodys(Carol). It is coriander here and it does look like flat leaf parsley.

Many thanks AngelaT, We do have it here and it is known as coriander. In England it is used in many dishes, especially Indian food. Because of our history we have thousands of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restuarants and coriander has found it's way into English cooking.

Hello Paige, Thank you very much for your answer. I came away from my meeting involving Mr Super , lasting less than 5 minutes, with no knowledge that I didn't already know and £85 poorer! I thought that he was arrogant and wasn't bothered about me because I had my band abroad. Altogether ,with his little speech and the fill,it cost me £400 and they lost the X-rays, which as a private patient, my own doctor said I was entitled to have. I got fed up phoning round and round the hospital, trying to find them.This was my only experience of private medicine in England and I didn't think much of it. I am retired so I could not afford to have the band here. Thank you for mentioning Dr Khan, I would be grateful if you could send me details and maybe I could contact him, or my doctor could. My doctor laughed and just said Mr Super wasn't so super after all !.

Dear Paige, I had my band fitted in August 05 and quickly lost a lot of weight. I was nearly 20 stone (approx 280 pounds) for the op and went down to 144 pounds, by august 06. As I had the op in Hungary I decided to have a fill with your Dr Super, over at Solihull. He didn't actually do the fill himself , just the initial interview. His report was sent to my own Dr in Harborne. In it he said that my band was in the wrong place and that I would have trouble swallowing and would never feel full. Since then , despite my weight loss, I've been very depressed and have gained 10 pounds. I now seem to be able to eat what I like and I feel like a huge failure.

Hello All. Please could someone tell me what cilantrio is because I haven't heared of it here in England. Maybe I could find something similar. Thank You for your interesting ideas.

Hi ! Roberta and Kay, I was banded last August, in Hungary, with Dr Bende, at Petorfy Korhaz ( Hospital), Budapest. I was 280 pounds when I was banded and as of today, I am 147 ponds. I followed a diabetic diet (low GL), because I am diabetic. I know it is a very fast loss but I have enjoyes a varied diet and just ate my food from a side plate. I too have the "head thing struggle" and found a book called Eating Less by a phsycologist called Jillian Riley. Good Healthy eating,Eleebana

Hi All !, I have lost 130 pounds and now have the blood pressure of a young girl. Unfortunatly I also have the body of a 100 years old woman ! I'm recovering from a tummy tuck and go to see if my stitches can come out tomorrow. Somtimes i think that i resemble one of those shai- pei dogs that never grow into their skins !

I always take my remove my shoes when entering anyone's house because in England it is considered good manners to respect another person's home, however it is also good manners not to inconvenience others so the host often says"oh no don't bother', while being secretly pleased that you did !

Hi All ! I am 62 and had my band august 05. I weighed 280 pounds and now I'm 157. At this time I'm in Hungary having a tummy tuck, which has gone well so far. I couldn't get this on NHS, well I didn't try because it is not really a health matter, so I didn't think they would agree. Trouble is all my Hungarian relatives want to feed me up as I recover! All the best to everybody

HI RoZiroZee, I too was a compulsive binger, in fact a proper food addict. Like an alcoholic hides drink, so i would hide food. Sometimes i would forget and come across some cake or other goodies in the most strange places! You have to work hard at getting your head straight or the band won't work. It is only an aid and you still have to follow a healthy eating plan. Fizzy soda, whether sugary, or sugarless, are a no-go, because they are dangerous for anyone with a band. I was 276lbs(english pounds) Last August 2nd and I'm now 174 lbs. Believe me, my eating was really out of control. I ate if I was miserable, through depression, if I was happy I ate, most of all i enjoyed planning binges. Now my biggest battle is trying not to pick at the food that I cook for the family. I cant eat it because I'm on a liquid only week since my 2nd fill. Good Luck, but don't forget, the hader you work at it, the luckier you will be! Anne

Hi Michelle, Have you tried self hypnotism? We have a very good man called Paul McKenna here in England, on TV. He teaches the art of it and sems to have some success with helping people. It can be done by listening to tapes and at least when you are relaxing and listening to the tapes you wouldn't be eating! He advises that you should always eat thoughtfully and slowly, no reading or watching TV at the same time. When you get real cravings for something that is not too good for you, try to imagine it as something really horrible( maybe consult the messages about that anti- fat drug thread that is running at the moment!) that might help to take your craving away. You are a very attractive young woman. I wish you all the best, Anne

I did read an article, on the e-diets site, about something called 'protein starvation'. It said that the craving for protein slowed weight loss, so it was most important to get enough.Anne

What are protein shakes? Are they like Slim Fast meal drinks? or something else and would I find them in a health shop? Has anyone found Slim Fast or the equivilent useful? Anne

Hi! Thank you for answering my post. I have had one fill of 2ml, last September 15th. I fly back to Hungary this coming May. My doctor here has written a letter to the local NHS surgeon who does lap-banding, but I haven't heared anything yet. I think that I will have to go private and have more fills.Hungary is a thousand miles from here and my own doctor doesn't know much about lap-banding. He told me that all he really knew was that the results were very mixed, but was very pleased about how well I looked when I returned to see him. The trouble is that everytime I eat a meal I panic and drink water or cofee because I think that I've eaten too much and stretched my stomach pouch or something. I think that if I drink, it will help the food to leave the space quicker. I know that this may sound strange to you but I just don't know if I'm right.

Please will someone give me some advice on portion size, this is really a desperate call for help. i keep worrying that i am eating portions that are too big and that I've ruined the whole thing. I don.t see the dr until this coming May. The reason that i joined this site was the hope that somone could give me some advice. Thanks, Anne

Hi! All, Iam 62 and live in England but went to Hungary to have my op. They were lovely and I could not have been treated better. I could have had it done on the NHS here but I would have had to wait and at this age I thought that I had earned it!

Please can someone help me? I have been banded since August 2005 and had one 2ml fill, before leaving Hungary, I'm going back this coming May to see the surgeon. I have never been sick or had any odd symptoms but I am sure that I must be eating too much. The only advice that I was given was to chew my food really well. I have lost 40kgs which I think is about 76pounds. However the loss has really slowed down and sometimes I'm sure that I've eaten too much. Anne

I don't know anything about Greek hospitals, although I have read some alarming reports of people going on holiday there and being taken ill. Their care did leave something to be desired. However I think that it is somewhat arrogant to think that a poor country's hospitals must be dirtier than american ones. I live in England, not a poor country, but I went to Hungary, which is a much poorer place,to have my banding. It cost me £2500 as opposed to £8000 at home. Everyone there, even the staff behind the enquiries desk, wore clean white uniforms, if not modern and new. The cleaning lady came into the room twice a day and every patient had a MRSA scan before admittance. I can honestly say that the hospital was cleaner than the very large one opposite my house. We can thank the wretched Thatcher for that!

I am diabetic, have high blood pressure and cholestrol so I take eight tablets a day. I bought a pill crusher because crushing them between two spoons became a chore! I also take a vitamin and mineral tablet. None of this has caused me any trouble. I was banded on 2nd of August this year and have lost 38kgs, that's nearly 80lbs! Just drink water and make sure that tablets are ground up to powder. This was my surgeon'advice. Best Wishes to all