tarrn13

lil mis bandaid, I never even thought of making pics on the jean jackets with the pins, how cool would that have been?? acid wash with safety pin pics, I love it!!!

2b banded, what was prison nursing like, just something I thought might be interesting even though I've never actually known anyone who has been one.

Heart and cheap trick, tamboclan I am jealous!!! I bet those will be fabulous shows, my show for the summer so far is Dave Matthews here at the Gorge in WA, he's rad every year, I was hoping for Jack Johnson too but doubting I will get 2 weekends off in a row. Another great one will be Neil Diamond, too bad he'll be at my vacation spot for July just a few weeks early.

l2l, i felt pretty RAD in my acid wash cropped jean jacket with zippers, i can hardly type this as i am laughing so hard i could cry!! one thing we had where i was from in canada which from speaking with my friends here in the US now I don't think you guys did, we used to pin our jeans, so you took safety pins and pinned the bottoms and up to the knee with about 3 pins so your pants ended up looking like jodphers, also some would pin right up to the hip, all the pins you put in had to be undone at the end of the day to get out of the stupid pants!! It was a pretty hot look as I'm sure you can all imagine.

BBK, how did you rip your bellybutton?? OUCH!! I can only imagine the discomfort, but don't get discourged as it will all be worth it in the end!!

eyespy, not much was different after surgery, I went back to work as a ICU nurse 2days post op and the only thing that was different was I had 5 little cuts on my stomach, I still had to walk my dogs, feed them etc, I guess I wonder why everyone who posts their post op preparations as if this is major surgery, you don't want to be sitting around as it will just make the gas pain take longer to go away and your healing process will be longer too, get up and moving, walk to the kitchen to get a drink, go sit outside and get some fresh air, that is the kind of stuff that will make you feel better. Good luck to you,

bbk and rames767, I agree it is nice to have an age specific chat area, the stones, aerosmith, U2, Bon Jovi just have staying power, oh and talent too!! I hear them in the car and totally rock out, whereas a montage of NKOTB hits was too painful, a friend of mine is planning to go see them on their tour, she has no idea what she is in for! Hope your all having a great holiday weekend!!

BBk, I saw the NKOTB preform on one of the morning shows, it was painful to watch, I was humiliated for them and had to turn it off, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, these 40 year old men singing about "the right stuff" and trying to dance, they're no Justin Timberlake is all I'm saying. When I was 12 I loved NKOTB as much as the next girl but some things should stay buried in our memories and not come back to life.

deboregon, fill centers charges 349 for 1st visit and 165 for all other visits for fills, if just an office visit then i think it is about 85 and a fill under floro would cost more. I go to the auburn WA center and have been very happy with my doc that I see there.

go to itunes and search NIKE running, that should give you a starting point for some upper tempo music to work out by.

loving the collarbones and my neck, oh and no more double chin, no more jelly roll of a belly over my jeans, the only thing I am not loving is the top of my inner thighs, I'm a little worried as the last 30lbs comes off that i will have some saggy skin there, I am just hoping that with losing slow enough and being young with pretty good elasticity that the sags won't happen. oh well, I guess you can't be perfect.

I just found this post here at work tonight and was cracking up reading it!! My add to the list of annoying is people who post with poor spelling, I can't even read their posts!! I should not have to sound out the words to try and figure out what your trying to say, I realize that not everyone is a brain surgeon but how are people supposed to take your advice seriously if you can't even spell basic words?

I was in TJ march 25th for surgery, it was fine, I arrived the night before, had surgery on tuesday the 25th and returned to the US on the 27th, I did not bring my jewlery, just a bit of cash and 1 credit card, my mom traveled with me and she is a 105lb lady who stayed by herself the night I had surgery, not once did we feel scared although I will say that we did not go sightseeing, we went to the clinic, the hotel and she walked across the road to go to starbucks and that was it. I think if you use your head you'll be fine, just like traveling anywhere in the world.

atallen, I also blend cottage cheese into tomato soups for the protein content of that, after my meal sometimes I have a popsicle if I am desperate for something cold.

you can drink right up until your meal, don't drink with it and then for 30 min after. I would give myself the 20-30 min post meal to figure out if I am really still hungry or is it just in your head, try adding protein powder to you meals and see if that makes a difference, unjury makes an unflavoured one that you can add to anything, by having more protein you should feel more satiated.

JSIL, I am a N-ICU nurse and was off work for 4 weeks when I had had mine done, I should have taken off 6 weeks but ran out of time. The worst part of the post of period was being so tired!! The longer you can take off the better.

hope4k, the difference between pureed and soft is, pureed has no chunks in it so thicker than full liquids, soft is like refried beans, has some soft chunks in it but nothing that requires alot of chewing like chicken.

I have to tell you, there was no way I could last on the pre op diet of shakes either that we had, I spoke with the nutritionist for my doc and we agreed that I would follow the cals for the day but could do it with real food instead since I didn't like to eat a bunch of chemicals anyway plus knowing that just drinking would so not fill me up, so a typical day had oatmeal (plain) raspberries, best life yogurt with kashi, apples and string cheese and lean cusines. Our limit was 775cals, I did more like 1100 a day, lost 15lbs pre op and also walked to ensure the loss. Good luck, maybe consider the idea of real food instead of shakes, just get through this short while before surgery and you'll be ok.

Hey there, I had surgery with Dr. Ortiz and his post op diet is liquids for 3 weeks post op (if you can drink it you can have it, use your head though nothing like milkshakes and such) and then no mushy stage just straight to regular food. I was not hungry at all for the first 3 weeks post op, in the 4th week I became slightly more hungry and at that point had been eating for a week, had my first fill just under 6 weeks for 1.5cc in a 10cc band and am going for my 2nd fill on thursday. I had no desire to sneak anything in the inital post op time, mainly since as a self pay I did not want to risk anything that may cause damage to my band. As for preop, we had a 1 2 or 3 week option to choose from. good luck with your surgery!!

so far i have had no issue with eating sushi and have had it a couple of times, I am cautions to eat it slowly though and each piece gets eaten in a few small bites, i do see though how the potential is there for issues with the rice and/or seaweed, reason why I am cautious with it.

hey, so to answer your question, I have had 1 fill so far and am going for my 2nd on thursday, so far i have 1.5ccs in a 10cc band, well I lost 15lbs preop and had surgery on 3/25 and have lost 13 since surgery so it's a little slow going but I'm very happy with the changes, i was in a tight 16 preop and am now in a loose 12, could probably easily fit into a 10 and have ordered a skirt in that size for the summer.

Hey BBK, Hope your feeling better now, and loving your new body even more than before.

cmayes, I was banded by dr ortiz 3/25 and use fill centers usa as my aftercare provider, had my 1st fill on may 1st and am having my second one here on thursday, there are 30 locations throughout the country so maybe there is one by you, I go that route since it is far cheaper than a flight and boarding for my dogs to return to Mexico, also dr o is on the board of directors of fill centers as he is one of the founders of it, you could also try private practioners but your success with getting accepted by one varies significantly, just have your post care plan in place before you have surgery. Since you asked my BMI was like 34.5 when I started and is now 30.5, getting down there slowly but surely, the biggest thing to remember is the less to lose the slower it goes. good luck, you'll have a great exp with dr. o, my whole trip was smooth sailing.

the regular port is fine on me and i was 205 preop ( my overall high was 240 though, lost a good part of it on my own)diet at 5ft 3 or 4, currently i am 177 and you can feel the port but not really see it, i too am a pear shape, i would get the regular size port for nothing else than it is easier to hit for fills, and not requireing floro all the time is a selling point too. good luck with your choice.

you look fabulous!!!! congratulations on your progress!!!