plain

That's cool Chris. The only downside to dental devices is that they work by thrusting your jaw "out and up" all night, so you may notice a litle soreness when you wake in the mornings....

It's a bit off topic (but only a little), but here in Texas (the home of "no child left behind") public schools are a trainwreck. School funding is now directly proportional to the % of how many students pass the standardized test (keep in mind that the actual grades on the test don't matter that much. A perfect score is nearly weighted the same as 1 pt above passing). As a result, teachers spend the whole school year doing nothing but "teaching the test" (maximizing the number of students that will pass.....thus earning more dollars from the state). Teaching the test is ok for low achieving students, but for average and bright students, it is a huge dis-service. Don't believe me? Ask any public teacher in Texas. The days of a decent public school education in Texas are long gone. Basically, the students only learn what the Texas legislature dictates they should learn.

Wheetsin, what about the "patient's bill of rights"? It expressly states that a patient can refuse all or any part of treatments or therapy. Seeking a cure is taking the Pt's bill of rights (or a DNR order) to an extreme. Like Snuffy, I'm not really siding with the parents on this one. However, SOMEbody has to play the devil's advocate! Most of my opposition to forcing the parents to administer meds against their beliefs comes from my disgust at having the government pry into our private lives.

Here in Texarkana, the bariatric docs make every lapband pt get a sleep study. It's pretty cool having just been through it myself. I can usually answer a lot of questions....

tread carefully or somebody'll lecture you on how their DS allows them to eat "steak and candy" and still be healthy.

I admit to sometimes being a hijacker. But it's the only way I can get to Cuba, dammit!!

Laurend, why do you stay away from Ohio? Kidding.

But Laurend......there is no constitutional caveat about not paying taxes. There is, however, a little something about religious freedom. I couldn't convict these parents for following their religious beliefs ( assuming this religion has already been established......like they didn't start the church yesterday, and have a congregation of 3 people, or something shady like that) any more than I could jail an Amish man for being a "concientious objector" and refusing combat. It's such a complicated case. A big part of me (especially since I work in the medical field) is like "Of course your child is going to die without treatment, dumbass". But......in the hospital cultural and religious tolerance is a huge issue, and we're almost universally taught to respect the patients' (or guardians') decisions, even if we don't agree with them.

Uh, Sue....I'm glad you found something you like more than the band (or that works better for you than the band). But.....this is the "Rants and Raves" section of Lapbandtalk. If somebody finds some humor in something (and yes.....charcoal underpants and charcoal suppositories and being written up for having gas sooooo bad it would choke satan.......I find it funny) in this forum, why rip on them? It'd be like going to the Knock Knock Joke section and getting all angry that folks are posting knock knock jokes. If anybody on DStalk (an example to illustrate my point. I don't know if any such site exists) wants to open a topic making fun of the weird products a lapbander might need, go for it. I can pretty much assure you that nobody here will make an effort to go onto that site and post about how insensitive it is. You do sound bitter about not losing much weight with the band. I don't know if you really are or not.......but that's how you're coming off. Don't even get me started on the "my numbers are good so I must be healthy" stuff. That's for another post.

I agree 1000% with OH Juli (although, with that "1000%" stat, you can tell math is not my thing) about going to school later. Finish your bach now. It only gets much, much harder as you get older and life gives you more valid reasons to NOT go back to school. Just do it!

I'm a respiratory therapist and a sleep therapist.

I'm officially on the short-time countdown 'till I get banded. 3 days. Until then, I'm on the pre-op diet, and it's been difficult. I had underestimated the social role that eating played for me, until I could not eat. I find that I miss it. I mean, REALLY miss it. I think things will be better once I do get banded and can eventually eat solid foods. At least then I'll be able to accompany friends and family out to eat / talk (even if I do all the talking and they do all the eating) and not be so alienated. Until now, my relationship with food has been love/ hate. Perhaps this procedure will remove some of the dysfunction out of my eating. I'm determined to do this thing the right way, and eat healthy once I get banded. My plan is for me to take care of the eating healthy part, and for the band to take care of the portion control part. So, I think that's enough rambling for now. I actually just now stumbled onto the blogging capablities of this website, and thought I'd test it out. Will there be more blogs? We shall see.

I had my 1st fill today. I don't know what I expected, but wow.....totally painless. The only semi-painful thing was the horrendous wait. Ah well, we take the good with the bad, I guess.

When I first started reading this thread, I'll admit I thought "C'mon, what's the big deal? It's a fart. Have you ever encountered a fart that didn't stink?"........but wow......somebody on the DS thread wrote that they got WRITTEN UP at work over a gas issue!!! How does the boss conduct that meeting without laughing?!?

Personally, I feel like they were misguided. I'm baptist....and personally think God gave us medicine and surgeons for a reason. But I don't know how I feel about them being charged, if they did what they did for religious reasons. Christian Scientists have a religious aversion to most medicines. Jehovah's Witnesses regularly refuse blood transfusions........but then you read about kooks who starve and beat a child in an "exorcism"-like ritual. At the risk of sounding like a one-trick (or phrase) pony, It's a very slippery slope to navigate. I'm glad I don't have the final say as to whether those parents should be charged or not.

Has anybody thought how hellish their support meetings must be? Get a group of 12-14 of them together....... Charcoal Undies. Man, that is hardcore!

I requested my band be made out of sandpaper. 'Cause I'm tough.

Me no cheatee. As for my wife.......I would honestly be stunned to find out she cheated. We're just committed to monogamy (married 12 years this July).

Almost anything from Jeff Buckley. That'll take ya from slow dancing to Bow-Chinka-wow-wow.....

Hey I just had an idea. Maybe Fairyfacade could work with the just a drop people and create a new "rainbow scent". Sounds like a winner!! Wasa, I'm with you. I read a lot in their forum. I couldn't quit reading....it was TOO entertaining. I was literally reading with tears in my eyes from laughing (I know.....I'm a mean bast*rd.....can't help it). Especially the lady whose horrible smelling gas apparently somehow eminates from her mommyparts. Wow, romantic.

*sniff sniff* Excuse me, but it smells like fresh spring morning in this forum. Did somebody use Just a Drop?

Everybody has their own opinion here, and is entitled to it. But.....I don't get how some equate overfeeding to child abuse, or worse, compare overfeeding to underfeeding. What if a parent, for cultural reasons, wants their child to have a "chubby little face"? How many of our grandmothers implored us to "eat" or "clean your plate"? Did the grandmothers commit acts of abuse because we are (or were) overweight? Booboo Kitty, 200 lbs at age 7 seems pretty heavy, even to the point of being unhealthy. But to charge the mom..... How did they decide at what BMI a crime is being committed? Will we use the standard BMI charts? Would they criminally charge the parents of a sick child if the parents refused treatment? Rhetorical questions, sure. But this is a very slippery slope to navigate.

I'm surprised so many of you aren't horrified by the prospect of the government meddling even more in the private lives of its citizens. Like Mrs. flipflops stated, This would overwhelm and crush the foster care system. And we all know the foster care system has enough problems without new ones being added in. How is this much different from the lawmaker that wanted to ban obese people from eating in restaurants?

Agree with PhotoEgor. How can the state legislate parental theory? Outlawing spanking because some abuse.....why not outlaw alcohol because some abuse?

So, I don't watch BL very often, but I thought they picked the winner on the basis of percentage of weight lost? If they are going by pounds lost only......yeah, the women can't possibly hope to compete pound -for - pound.